not-so-slim-box 01/23/24

what and why

summer of last year i finally made the plung into fighing games. armed with a keyboard, a copy of Guilty Gear -Strive- and way too much free time, i learned how to play a fighting game. after playing with a keyboard for 60+ hours im ready for a change. this darn thing just has waayyy to many buttons for my underpowerd brain C.P.U.

i did some googling to learn about other controller options. turns out theres a lot. like so many. i liked the look of the hitbox, only problem is the $250 price tag. so it was time to gaze into the D.I.Y. abyss.

many much more googling later i found the slimbox and GP2040! it looks easy to make and its cheap! this was exactly what i was looking for ~(^_^)~! annnnnd there's a remix for charry MX style switches (called not-so-slim-box) which is great because i already have a butch of left over gateron yellows!

learning how to solder

for years there has been a major blemish on my status as a tech nerd, i dont know how to solder. for the sake of the not-so-lime-box i must surpass my limits!! i must become 1love2.0 solder edition!!! i spent about 10 minutes on youtube learning.

my 3D printer has a broken wire so to test what i leared i'll repair it. annnnd i nailed it first try! turns out basic solding is really easy. i thought this would take a lot longer and be a lot harder to learn. i guess im glad i was worng lol.

making the box

after fixing my printer i should have leveled the bed.. but i didnt. one corner of the first print was way too high, and the opposite corner was a little too low. luckily this only made the corners ugly so whatever, i can live with it. everything else printed great.

after slapping in the switch all that's left is to wire it all up. turns out this is the hardest part. i really should have planned it out at least little bit. buuttttt nooooo i just had to sold everthing together while high as shit on weed. i had to redo most of it and i even burtout a pin. thank fuck pi picos are idiot proof. i will defintly make a wiring plan for my next project. all i had left to do was put on the back plat.

overall im happy with how it turned out!! i learned a lot! and have a cool new contraller! i'm a very happy robot :3