Double shot replacements ROUND TWO!

[muchadoaboutnothing]

I don't remember getting a choice there.  

I like polls - what's a CSV?

Comma separated values. Survey tools like LimeSurvey will put out to it and it's pretty compatible with everything (works with Excel too; so you can export the CSV, Excel can convert it to an XLS, and then you can run whatever VLOOKUPs, SUMs, and formulas if you want.

Simple but effective file format.

Or you can open it in an entirely different program if you choose.

[Lanx]

Damfino. I'm using a Harbor Freight Tools $20 special. Centech I believe. Works well enough for my needs.

at the end pages of some magazines (maxum, pop sci) there is usually a harbor freight coupon page and usually the digital caliper is 8bucks w/ coupon (or 10?)

[Phaedrus2129]

at the end pages of some magazines (maxum, pop sci) there is usually a harbor freight coupon page and usually the digital caliper is 8bucks w/ coupon (or 10?)

IIRC they had three; one $15 one that came in a half-blister package (probably the coupon one), my $25 Centech one which came with a case and a couple extra batteries, and a branded one that cost $45.

[Phaedrus2129]

Wait... What setting was my caliper on?

One sec



Edit: Derpaderp. It was set to imperial. Those measurements are inches.

[Phaedrus2129]

Yay!


Ok, here's another thing to consider.

Nubs for F, J, and 5


I vote the centered dot style if possible.

[Mr. Perfect]

The blue on black looks sweet. I wonder if they have a shade of blue that matches the blue LEDs on the Filco brown boards. :wink:

What does the gaming booster pack consist of? Colored WASD keys?

[Fwiffo]

There's not been any discussion of what a gaming booster pack might consist of. Special colored WASD keys would probably be part of the base set. I was thinking a gaming pack might include keys with special icons, but the number of icons, games, etc. may make it cost prohibitive.

[Lanx]

oh man game keys would be awesome!
fireball (hadoken)
pistol
knife
machinegun
hurricane
2 boots
shield
grenade
lightning bolt
tire

10 possible icons that could probably be used in most games and interchanged.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

fwiffo, if you want, I can set up a LimeSurvey instance on a free web host. That'd allow you to conduct a survey (with images and a variety of question forms) and get usable data regarding what people's preferences are to a much greater degree than a vBulletin poll allows.

I just need a little advance notice to set up Limesurvey on a free webhost (it'll support SQL, but it'll get slow if more than a couple people are on at the same time. We're not serving video, so I doubt that'll be a huge problem).

Anyhow, let me know.

[Phaedrus2129]

Maybe do two gaming booster packs. One for FPS, one for fantasy.

Most FPS games have a pretty consistent weapons system.
1 - melee
2 - pistol(s)
3 - SMG(s)
4 - shotgun(s) OR sniper(s)
5 - explosives
6,7,8 - special (could use lightning bolt as a generic)

Those keys would fit 90% of FPS games I've played. Really since those would all be on the number row you'd just need melee, pistol, SMG, shotgun, sniper, grenade or TNT or something, and a few lightning symbols. Don't even bother with the shift key or anything like that, just the weapon selection would be awesome enough for most I think.

The great thing about something like that is it can be marketed to the OCN gaming crowd. You could do a batch of 50 booster packs, then hawk them on OCN and other gaming forums. Might even be able to convince people to get mechanical keyboards, just for the awesome custom keycaps.

[Fwiffo]

re: surveys - I'm not too worried about it at this point, but I'll keep that in mind. I figure whoever puts themselves in charge of organizing the order gets ultimate veto power over the set. :-) Anyhow, I'm a programmer at a web development firm and could put up a survey or whatever on one of my own domains. Again, I'm looking at doing this order in the new year.

re: game booster packs - I'm still inquiring about what kind of pricing we're looking at for custom art on double-shot keycaps. It could easily be in the range of $5 per key. Yeah, there might be a market for such keys, but $40 for a set is probably going to be too steep for most people.

I was really thinking about SCII packs, but the number of combinations is a lot more complicated. Even if I just did number hot-keys, the combinations of the number of units, buildings, etc. If I did unit or building hotkeys, that's even more icons and I have to handle both standard and grid layout for all three races... And the time it will take to develop all the art that looks good in two colors and fits the detail restrictions...

We are a bit limited on the detail with the 2-shot process as there has to be adequate room for material to flow on the keycap. The general rule is if there are gaps or 'islands' on a character, the space must be at least 0.008".

I'm going to bite the bullet and getting a sample ring of the available colors -- it's 35 bucks, but I figure I can send it off to the person who organizes the next project after me.

[Mr. Perfect]

SC2 packs would be a pretty big hit with the Koreans buying up all the Filco boards.:suspicious:

Was the Filco font extra?

[Fwiffo]

Filco font is a no-go. They were talking about doing it, but they've actually been backlogged and doing something like adding a new font is a huge project. It doesn't look like it's going to be available anytime in the near future.

[bakageta]

Aww... What other options for font do we have then?

[Fwiffo]

Different sizes and placements of the same font. :-/

[bakageta]

Well, I suppose if they were roughly the same size/location as the Filco keys I'd be ok with that. I'd just rather not have the giant retro look going on.

[MyNameIsDan]

Well, I suppose if they were roughly the same size/location as the Filco keys I'd be ok with that. I'd just rather not have the giant retro look going on.

I'm with you. The first round on double shots looked a little funny with the huge retro letters in dead center. Filco placement and font is just too nice. At least having the placement like the Filco would be great.

[strikeme]

That's why blanks make so much sense.
1) no font problems or disputes
2) cost less (probably)
3) they're awesome!

[MyNameIsDan]

I'd be down for blanks too, just black blanks
Well, I guess whatever goes well with majestouch, the orange was too much for me.

[Azuremen]

I'm down for blanks. If we do go with legends, I would like it if they were small and in the upper left or some such. They are kind of nice to have sometimes for those of us that aren't perfect touch typists, but certainly don't need much contrast I feel.

[Fwiffo]

I have inquired about prices/options on blanks. I'm certain they'll be much cheaper than custom-manufactured double-shots anyhow. But no reason it couldn't be part of one big order to get the maximum possible price-break. And I have gotten kinda excited about purple or blue legends on black keys.

[bakageta]

I'd be down for blanks too, just black blanks
Well, I guess whatever goes well with majestouch, the orange was too much for me.

I'd say there's no real point in doing a set of black blanks, when you can already order a full set of filco black blanks... We might get them cheaper, but I'd imagine quite a few people who'd be interested in black blanks would've already ordered them. I'd be interested in colored blanks, depending on the color, but that may be even harder to get people to agree on...

I have inquired about prices/options on blanks. I'm certain they'll be much cheaper than custom-manufactured double-shots anyhow. But no reason it couldn't be part of one big order to get the maximum possible price-break. And I have gotten kinda excited about purple or blue legends on black keys.

I'd be very interested in just how cheap sets of blanks would be, or what kind of minimum order it'd take... I'd love a bright pink set, but I know it's something that not many people would be interested in, so it's probably nothing I'll ever have. Maybe if the minimum order is small enough I can drum up some other interest in em...

[woody]

Do two piece blank-likes - shell and a small frame on top in one colour, the rest of the top surface in other colour. Make few different selections for the "other" colour, i.e. the outer shell colour stays the same. That should satisfy the rainbow mania, be Otakuish, and be on the cheap side.

EDIT: This way, the legend will be rounded rectangle, filling most of the keycap top. Try experimenting with other ideas, like centered circle, Ying-Yang, etc.

[eMps]

I'd be very interested in just how cheap sets of blanks would be, or what kind of minimum order it'd take... I'd love a bright pink set, but I know it's something that not many people would be interested in, so it's probably nothing I'll ever have. Maybe if the minimum order is small enough I can drum up some other interest in em...

Heck yes. Bright pink blank keys with a white case.. that would look awesome.

[Twitchy]

Do two piece blank-likes - shell and a small frame on top in one colour, the rest of the top surface in other colour.

I assume that two piece blanks like this would need tooling, unless they've produced them before?

[verbel]

I would definetly be down for a set of printed keys no matter what the colors are. I would also be interested in blank keys but only if they are in a differnt color as I already have black ones. I like the orange in Twitchy's avatar :nerd:

[Fwiffo]

As far as I know, they don't do two-piece blanks, and I'm not sure what the benefit would be...

[woody]

I assume that two piece blanks like this would need tooling, unless they've produced them before?

Just a setup for a single keycap. I saw discussion for creating many custom keycap legends, so I understand the crowd is ready to swallow tooling costs.

[woody]

As far as I know, they don't do two-piece blanks, and I'm not sure what the benefit would be...

The "blank" is as to lack of information from the legend, normal two-piece otherwise. It could be just a large rounded square or other figure.
Benefit - single tooling setup, Otaku style, your favourite legend all over the keyboard. Suppose you do a set of say 6 colours, 30 pieces each - then one can arrange his/her own rainbow Feng Shui.

[Phaedrus2129]

I still vote black and blue. I think that will appeal to the most people.



On a side note, for better or worse I'm calling the headsup over at OCN. You're welcome.