Author Topic: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator  (Read 17828 times)

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Offline BarfightSpectator

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Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« on: Fri, 02 April 2021, 22:09:34 »
I'm currently building a Keyboard building Simulator, Keyboard Configurator, Realtime Renderer or whatever one would call such a thing.

Update 01:
The embedded version doesn't do it justice

Update 02:


Download the latest build:
* https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_02.05.21.zip


Previous Versions:
* https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_10.04.21.zip
* https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_08.04.21.zip
* https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_06.04.21.zip
* https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_01.04.21.zip


What's you primary Operating System?
https://strawpoll.com/kejc5cppv
« Last Edit: Sun, 02 May 2021, 14:21:49 by BarfightSpectator »

Offline fpazos

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 03 April 2021, 04:26:26 »
That is very cool. If you use Unity it has compatibility with lots of systems included web, which is compatible with every system.

You should contact vendors to see if they help you with models. Also you can find lots of useful models on thingiverse as keycaps in diferent profiles. An stl is quite easy to convert.

Enviado desde mi Redmi Note 7 mediante Tapatalk

 

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 04 April 2021, 14:34:04 »
That is very cool. If you use Unity it has compatibility with lots of systems included web, which is compatible with every system.

You should contact vendors to see if they help you with models. Also you can find lots of useful models on thingiverse as keycaps in diferent profiles. An stl is quite easy to convert.

Enviado desde mi Redmi Note 7 mediante Tapatalk

Thanks, except for the wrinkle that I'm using the hd render pipeline and that's not compatible with OpenGLES. So if I want to make a webGL version instead of an offline one I'd have to use an inferior light transport algorithm. Maybe once I'm done with the code bits and get to putting in more models.

265911-0
Now that I've implemented switching PCBs and putting in stabs I've actually got an important question for _everybody_:
Should I allow only physically possible layouts based on PCB/Plate combo or should I allow all possible layouts?
The first is the kind of hand-holdy thing we're used to from modern games but it also means you can't build a config that won't work. The second gives you more freedom to make mistakes but could also possibly be a learning tool for beginners.. I think. 

I'm really not sure on that one so I'd like as many opinions as possible.
« Last Edit: Sun, 04 April 2021, 14:36:35 by BarfightSpectator »

Offline suicidal_orange

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 05 April 2021, 14:42:37 »
First this looks amazing, I wasn't sure what it was from your previous thread but the video shows it off nicely.

I know next to nothing about rendering but surely if you render a layout that's not supported by the plate it would look bad as there would be gaps between switches where the plate should be?  That doesn't sound good.  If you are trying to make it hand-holdy you would have to add a way to define what cap sizes are available in each keyset as well as what's supported by the PCB and plate though, and that's going to be a lot of work ongoing.
120/100g linear Zealio R1  
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'Split everything' perfection  
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SA Hack'd by Geeks     
EasyAVR mod

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 05 April 2021, 15:48:13 »
First this looks amazing, I wasn't sure what it was from your previous thread but the video shows it off nicely.

I know next to nothing about rendering but surely if you render a layout that's not supported by the plate it would look bad as there would be gaps between switches where the plate should be?  That doesn't sound good.  If you are trying to make it hand-holdy you would have to add a way to define what cap sizes are available in each keyset as well as what's supported by the PCB and plate though, and that's going to be a lot of work ongoing.

Thanks :) In the meantime I finished the layouts part, only physically possible layouts will be.. well possible :P

As for the time: Yes and no, it did take a lot of work to make it all come together the way it is now but I'm at a place where i can add new boards or parts with very little hassle. Let me tell you, the architecture I wrote for this project might be the best/most beautiful thing I've ever written. Let me break down the basic concept:

265982-0
What you're looking at here is the Scene Hierarchy in 3DsMax for the XD64, the board I've been using to build my systems. If you have a look on the left hand side you'll see the names of the scene objects and their place in the hierarchy. You'll also notice certain [tags], these are used by my importer to identify what they are and process them accordingly. Thanks to that I have to do almost no additional work in the engine (after building the hierarchy and naming things properly in Max of course).
If you have a look at the board on the right hand side you'll see little green boxes. These are the ones with the [switch] and [stab] tags on the left. These little helpers define where, in the layout, the switches are, what rotation they have, and the profile of the caps that go on top of them.

The switches caps and stabs are reusable pieces separate from the boards. and get placed acoring to the helpers I define in Max. Color Profiles are not in yet but there will be a "few" *caugh*hundret*caugh* presets when everything is done.. AND a painting mode where you can just paint the caps and legends with normed colors. Probably RAL since we mainly use that at work.

There will be a photo mode, the ability to change light situations and background/environment later. So you can also share your builds.

Here's a little sneak preview, don't mind the animations.. they are temporary/work in progress.
As always, check it out on yt for full quality:

Now I just need a few more boards  :cool:

Offline darzzy

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 05 April 2021, 22:23:14 »
So cool! Can't wait to see the final results  ;D

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 06 April 2021, 04:21:17 »
So cool! Can't wait to see the final results  ;D

Thanks :)

I just made a copy of the project and ported that over to the Universal Renderpipeline. That means I can build this for webGL.. which means you can now run it in the browser.

Right now my only concern is if it works for everyone, materials and lighting will come next.
So have a look at http://barfightspectator.com/ and let me know if it works and if it works fluidly while moving around the model.
If it doesn't work let me know your browser, the version and what operating system you're on.

Takes a hot minute to load, it's 60ish megs and my server ain't the fastest

New Poll:
High Quality or WebApplication: https://strawpoll.com/g34yefgbe
« Last Edit: Tue, 06 April 2021, 06:35:53 by BarfightSpectator »

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 08 April 2021, 14:35:11 »
Well almost nobody seems to want the web version so that one's canceled, instead I focused on the offline version. It's still very much a work in progress but I think I consider this one "playable".

Windows Unity build:
https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_08.04.21.zip

There is no quit button yet so just Alt+F4 it  ;)

Let me know what you think

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 09 April 2021, 10:46:57 »
Just in time for the weekend I made a second video to show you the current state of the application:

 :)

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 10 April 2021, 14:11:19 »
266309-0

New Build, now with screenshot mode and Eclipse Keyboard:
https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_10.04.21.zip


Check out the Eclipse at: 
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=104755.0

Offline azzipa

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 10 April 2021, 15:59:44 »
thanks for your work on this! i just checked out the web version (before i read you will drop it) and found no issues with quick load and available functionality. i'm on macos 11.2.1 browsing with firefox 86.0 and current download speed is 547mbps. i plan to download your build when i have more time available to play with it.

ps - i found this through Eclipse discord, that board looks amazing!

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #11 on: Sun, 11 April 2021, 03:52:01 »
thanks for your work on this! i just checked out the web version (before i read you will drop it) and found no issues with quick load and available functionality. i'm on macos 11.2.1 browsing with firefox 86.0 and current download speed is 547mbps. i plan to download your build when i have more time available to play with it.

ps - i found this through Eclipse discord, that board looks amazing!

ikr, check it out with gmk carbon:
266344-0
that just looks tasty af

I added the ability to change the background materials this morning. Slowly but surely this is getting to a really nice point.

btw there is no mac build yet, only win for now as i'm iterating this quickly. once i stop pushing a new build every 2nd day I'll set up a vm to build for mac tho

Offline fpazos

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 11 April 2021, 06:33:48 »
Hi!!

Just tried the apps.
Web app doesn't work on mobile (due to Unity) and this could be the best advantage of using the web version.
Also, as you stated before, the desktop version graphic quality is much better than the web one. Thinking about that nearly 100% percent of mechanical keebs users have a computer that shouldn't be a problem.
It works fine, but I tried it on a laptop with a Ryzen 7 4800h and an RTX 2060, using a performance profile it works fine on highest quality while on power saving modes, when the keyboard is fully built I appreciate frame drops, it is a quite demanding app.

I thing that's a great job, I like the animations and you are making fast progress. You should find a way to share assets with you or collaborate. I could help you with some as I am a bit knowledge on 3D for video games and worked on some amateur projects and also I'm an amateur case designer, I think it's possible to add legends to the keycaps from Unity.

Great Job!
 

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 14 April 2021, 13:47:21 »
quick fyi: there won't be an update this weekend, my rx570 is dying and i gotta get a new gpu in this market  :'(

Offline darzzy

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #14 on: Wed, 14 April 2021, 21:07:25 »
So cool! Can't wait to see the final results  ;D

Thanks :)

I just made a copy of the project and ported that over to the Universal Renderpipeline. That means I can build this for webGL.. which means you can now run it in the browser.

Right now my only concern is if it works for everyone, materials and lighting will come next.
So have a look at http://barfightspectator.com/ and let me know if it works and if it works fluidly while moving around the model.
If it doesn't work let me know your browser, the version and what operating system you're on.

Takes a hot minute to load, it's 60ish megs and my server ain't the fastest

New Poll:
High Quality or WebApplication: https://strawpoll.com/g34yefgbe

I just tried out the website it works great! I didn't encounter any issues yet.

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #15 on: Sun, 02 May 2021, 14:21:00 »
So cool! Can't wait to see the final results  ;D

Thanks :)

I just made a copy of the project and ported that over to the Universal Renderpipeline. That means I can build this for webGL.. which means you can now run it in the browser.

Right now my only concern is if it works for everyone, materials and lighting will come next.
So have a look at http://barfightspectator.com/ and let me know if it works and if it works fluidly while moving around the model.
If it doesn't work let me know your browser, the version and what operating system you're on.

Takes a hot minute to load, it's 60ish megs and my server ain't the fastest

New Poll:
High Quality or WebApplication: https://strawpoll.com/g34yefgbe

I just tried out the website it works great! I didn't encounter any issues yet.
Oh that's great news, unfortunately the web-version has been discontinued due to current technical limitations.

I added the ability to change out the backgrounds, so you can choose between different marbles and other placeholder textures.

@fpazos Anybody wanting to get their board into the engine can still contact me via pm or email in the meantime.

@azzipa here's Taiga: https://barfightspectator.com/Klack_02.05.21.zip

Offline YangZS

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #16 on: Mon, 31 May 2021, 06:35:59 »
太棒了 ;D

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #17 on: Sun, 24 April 2022, 02:18:30 »
Hello there,

I think we can all agree that I didn't really have a good plan for where I wanted this project to go and what I wanted it to be. What it turned out to be was a keyboard configurator, not a keyboard building simulator.

In the past 3/4 year, while I was busy with work an following other whims (made a puzzle game prototype: https://barfightspectator.itch.io/ducklinggame) I kept mulling this idea over and have a pretty good vision of what I want this to become.

 Fade from white, youre stood in a lit room. There's a desk, chair, a window right next to it highlighting the polished concrete wall on the back of the desk. Railings going up the wall hold shelves at different heights; one carrying the weight of an entire monitor and a cactus. A Cactus! There's some decorations but overall the satined light wood desk surface itself is cleared and only covered by a light grey felt deskmat.

 First person controls to navigate the game-world (wasd, mouse, controller)
 no UserInterface visible
 You can move around, freely inspect the room you're in
 Certain items get a little lighter color when you directly look at them
 You press random keys until you find out that E is the one to interact
 You can pick up and place items back wherever you like, rotate them. Okay, that's interesting.
 When you interact with a box right besides your desk, propped up on a stool, the camera locks into a perspective where both the box and desk surface are visible.
 There's a corner of something visible in the box so you click and pull it up.
 The first component comes out, it's a PCB.
 When you let go of the mouse the component floats back to a position above the box.
 You pick it back up and move it above the desk, a little round white indicator appears on the surface, you let go of the component and yop. That's where it dropped. okay.
 So unboxing it is.
 One after another you pull out all the components you need for your first mechanical keyboard simulator build.
 When you pull out and place the last one on the desk, the camera shifts back into your previous position.
 You interact with the chair, thinking it might sit you down. And that it does.
 First things first tho. Reordering everything on the desk.
 With the same drag/drop of before you can pick up and place down all the items you see before you.
 With everything where it's supposed to be you grab the pcb and place it close to you on the surface.
 You pick up a stabilizer and when you hover it over the board it snaps to different positions as you move it across. You let go at the Spacebar and that's where it sticks.
 Alright, so grab a thing, drop it into place. cool cool cool.
 You continue to piece together you keyboard one item at a time. By hand. or mouse rather. Putting into place every key and switch one by one as the birds chirp outside your window and the sun warms you virtual cheek.

 At least that's the idea.

Offline suicidal_orange

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #18 on: Sun, 24 April 2022, 02:36:56 »
Wow, was this really a year ago?  Glad to see the project's not dead.

I'm really struggling to save the suicidal ducklings though, should probably wake up before attempting puzzle games :(
120/100g linear Zealio R1  
GMK Hyperfuse
'Split everything' perfection  
MX Clear
SA Hack'd by Geeks     
EasyAVR mod

Offline BarfightSpectator

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #19 on: Tue, 26 April 2022, 12:55:57 »
Wow, was this really a year ago?  Glad to see the project's not dead.

I'm really struggling to save the suicidal ducklings though, should probably wake up before attempting puzzle games :(

Suicidal Ducklings.. hadn't heard that before lol

Here's the basic idea of the natural interaction/building system

Offline PlayBox

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Re: Project Klack - Keyboard building Simulator
« Reply #20 on: Mon, 13 June 2022, 01:20:39 »
download links doesn't  work for me
propably sent from my amazon kindle 10th gen