Great gaming keyboard for $40 or less! (linearised Bigfoot)

[chyros]

Something a little different this time; a video on how to linear-mod an AT101W to make a great linear mechanical gaming keyboard, and cheaply too. Hope you enjoy the video!

[iLLucionist]

Something a little different this time; a video on how to linear-mod an AT101W to make a great linear mechanical gaming keyboard, and cheaply too. Hope you enjoy the video!

What's the purpose of the letters on the function keys??

[chyros]

Something a little different this time; a video on how to linear-mod an AT101W to make a great linear mechanical gaming keyboard, and cheaply too. Hope you enjoy the video!

What's the purpose of the letters on the function keys??

Oh that's just something I added myself, to distinguish it from my other AT101s. As you can see I've got quite a few - more than I know what to do with, really.

[FoxWolf1]

A keyboard with 2KRO is not a "great gaming keyboard" or even a good one IMO, regardless of feel or build quality.

As I see it:
Bad: may run into problems with common games.
Okay: can handle the kinds of games that are popular but may run into trouble elsewhere.
Good: you can rest assured knowing that no matter what kind of crazy stuff you dig out of the abandonware archives or the indie game sites, there's no chance you'll run into trouble. Even if you load up a game and it turns out to be a local multiplayer game with both players using both hands on the keyboard, and the game designer seems to have assumed that every player is some kind of mutant with eight fingers on each hand, you just don't have to worry.

[SpAmRaY]

If anyone ever does a keyboard documentary I hope chyros is the narrator.

[iLLucionist]

If anyone ever does a keyboard documentary I hope chyros is the narrator.

Is there a keyboard documentary already? That would be friggin' awesome!

[chyros]

If anyone ever does a keyboard documentary I hope chyros is the narrator.

Haha thanks mate .

A keyboard with 2KRO is not a "great gaming keyboard" or even a good one IMO, regardless of feel or build quality.

Really though? I've never really needed it all that much - what are you playing that needs it so badly? Oo I've played FPS, RTS, shooter, platformer, and just about every other genre under the sun. Even really ****ing hard games where you need unbelievable reflexes and skill to succeed. It's all been fine with 2KRO, really.

There are so many things manufacturers use to try and appeal to the gamer community to try and squeeze money out of them it's unreal. People don't need NKRO, pentrachrome backlighting, modern fonts, or a shape like a stealth fighter, to play games well. I think it's just all a ploy to sucker customers in, making them believe they need stuff that's actually totally redundant.

This keyboard has very nicely weighted switches that are super smooth and super responsive. And it can stand big knocks in the process. To me, that's all a gamer should need .

[FoxWolf1]

If anyone ever does a keyboard documentary I hope chyros is the narrator.

Haha thanks mate .

A keyboard with 2KRO is not a "great gaming keyboard" or even a good one IMO, regardless of feel or build quality.

Really though? I've never really needed it all that much - what are you playing that needs it so badly? Oo I've played FPS, RTS, shooter, platformer, and just about every other genre under the sun. Even really ****ing hard games where you need unbelievable reflexes and skill to succeed. It's all been fine with 2KRO, really.

There are so many things manufacturers use to try and appeal to the gamer community to try and squeeze money out of them it's unreal. People don't need NKRO, pentrachrome backlighting, modern fonts, or a shape like a stealth fighter, to play games well. I think it's just all a ploy to sucker customers in, making them believe they need stuff that's actually totally redundant.

This keyboard has very nicely weighted switches that are super smooth and super responsive. And it can stand big knocks in the process. To me, that's all a gamer should need .

Well, for one recent example, when I play Ring Runner, I run into the limit more or less constantly on a 6KRO keyboard, let alone with 2KRO. And that's with one hand on the trackball!

With 2KRO, it'd probably be easier to try and find the games where I don't run into problems. Turn-based games are fine, of course, and I don't recall ever running into trouble with RTS. But as far as I can recall, that's just about it. Playing FPS with 2KRO is terrible, in my experience.

Maybe we just have different standards? I don't have any tolerance for any limitation on my playstyle imposed by lack of rollover. For example, if I'm moving around in Urban Terror, I shouldn't have to release the keys used in movement to perform other actions, since that represents a penalty to my speed. Just the movement is generally 3-4 keys: forward, sprint, and left or right in alternation are basically constants (so that's 3, although it can actually be more if I press the second direction a little before I've finished releasing the first), and then, depending on which seems more promising for dodging in the particular situation, I'll usually be jumping and/or adding periodic brief crouches to my movement (which brings us to 4, excluding those situations where I have to crouch while jumping because of a low obstacle). Next, if there's a friendly nearby, I'll often hold down my medpack key as well so that that'll just happen automatically when I bump into him (which brings us to 5 keys being held down for an extended time). On top of that, you have to add any keys that I'm not holding down but just using momentarily, like the action key to open a door, keys to change weapons, keys for the scope (I don't believe in using the mousewheel for gaming if it's avoidable), and so on. If I'm especially unlucky and try to do two of those things at the same time, I can run into the limit with 6KRO. This doesn't happen very often, but it'd still be more accurate to call it "tolerable" rather than "ideal". 2KRO? Not a chance.

[ThoughtArtist]

I'm trying this on the AT-101 I just acquired, and I think removing that tactile leaf has helped a lot with providing a more elegant feel to the board. It turns out that there really wasn't much, if any, dust in the switches. It just seemed like the tactile leaf was causing a bit too much of a "chopping" feel; like I was chopping a vegetable. Now it feels like slicing through warm, sweet butter.

Taking apart these switches is definitely an interesting project. I have a NIB board (KB6551) with virgin white Alps coming, so that should be interesting as well to test. All the info and vids have been very helpful. Thanks!

[klennkellon]

The 2KRO actually has gotten in the way of my gaming before, with my Model M and my FK-2001.

I have almost 2000 hours in Team Fortress 2, I communicate with my team frequently so I will commonly be holding down "W" to run and "V" to voice chat, however when I press "R" to reload my guns the "R" key does not respond.

[ThoughtArtist]

The 2KRO actually has gotten in the way of my gaming before, with my Model M and my FK-2001.

I have almost 2000 hours in Team Fortress 2, I communicate with my team frequently so I will commonly be holding down "W" to run and "V" to voice chat, however when I press "R" to reload my guns the "R" key does not respond.

I have to admit, there have been instances with me having this issue. I believe it was Far Cry and/or Crysis, but there are instances where I would try the move diagonally while leaning and get the beeping instead. Thankfully, I game way less now so I'm not as concerned. Kinda started getting dragged down by the fact FPS games mostly revolve around mass murder (that's another topic though).

[ThoughtArtist]

OKay, I just got the WASD cluster finished and tried Quake 1 [Darkplaces] (no vsync) paired with a G303 and it's pretty sweet. It definitely feels better than the Cherry Browns to me. I went back to the Cherry Browns and just missed the butteriness.

[chyros]

If anyone ever does a keyboard documentary I hope chyros is the narrator.

Haha thanks mate .

A keyboard with 2KRO is not a "great gaming keyboard" or even a good one IMO, regardless of feel or build quality.

Really though? I've never really needed it all that much - what are you playing that needs it so badly? Oo I've played FPS, RTS, shooter, platformer, and just about every other genre under the sun. Even really ****ing hard games where you need unbelievable reflexes and skill to succeed. It's all been fine with 2KRO, really.

There are so many things manufacturers use to try and appeal to the gamer community to try and squeeze money out of them it's unreal. People don't need NKRO, pentrachrome backlighting, modern fonts, or a shape like a stealth fighter, to play games well. I think it's just all a ploy to sucker customers in, making them believe they need stuff that's actually totally redundant.

This keyboard has very nicely weighted switches that are super smooth and super responsive. And it can stand big knocks in the process. To me, that's all a gamer should need .

Well, for one recent example, when I play Ring Runner, I run into the limit more or less constantly on a 6KRO keyboard, let alone with 2KRO. And that's with one hand on the trackball!

With 2KRO, it'd probably be easier to try and find the games where I don't run into problems. Turn-based games are fine, of course, and I don't recall ever running into trouble with RTS. But as far as I can recall, that's just about it. Playing FPS with 2KRO is terrible, in my experience.

Maybe we just have different standards? I don't have any tolerance for any limitation on my playstyle imposed by lack of rollover. For example, if I'm moving around in Urban Terror, I shouldn't have to release the keys used in movement to perform other actions, since that represents a penalty to my speed. Just the movement is generally 3-4 keys: forward, sprint, and left or right in alternation are basically constants (so that's 3, although it can actually be more if I press the second direction a little before I've finished releasing the first), and then, depending on which seems more promising for dodging in the particular situation, I'll usually be jumping and/or adding periodic brief crouches to my movement (which brings us to 4, excluding those situations where I have to crouch while jumping because of a low obstacle). Next, if there's a friendly nearby, I'll often hold down my medpack key as well so that that'll just happen automatically when I bump into him (which brings us to 5 keys being held down for an extended time). On top of that, you have to add any keys that I'm not holding down but just using momentarily, like the action key to open a door, keys to change weapons, keys for the scope (I don't believe in using the mousewheel for gaming if it's avoidable), and so on. If I'm especially unlucky and try to do two of those things at the same time, I can run into the limit with 6KRO. This doesn't happen very often, but it'd still be more accurate to call it "tolerable" rather than "ideal". 2KRO? Not a chance.

Well, it depends on the matrix, of course. You can still get 6 keys or more out of a 2KRO board. I've found the bigfoot matrix to be fairly well designed.

[FoxWolf1]

Well, it depends on the matrix, of course. You can still get 6 keys or more out of a 2KRO board.

Right, but it's not just one big key combination. It's several closely related ones. I'm hard-pressed to think of any three keys on the left half of the keyboard's alphanumeric area where I'd be okay with them blocking. Short of a so-called "gaming optimized matrix"-- and all of those that I've used have had other, serious issues-- problems are inevitable.

I've yet to see any non-"optimized" 2KRO board that would be close to acceptable for gaming IMO. I've heard people say that the Model M has a well-designed matrix, but I find it completely unusable for many games. My D07-135 was also a miserable failure where gaming was concerned.

Here's a basic test: hold down Q, W, and E simultaneously. While holding them down, try pressing A, D, Z, X, C, or space (a note on technique: A and D can be pressed by flattening the fingers that are holding Q and E, respectively; you don't need a different finger for them. The rest are all done with the thumb-- when playing Ring Runner I've been known to press all four of them with the thumb simultaneously, but this is only a basic test, so we'll settle for doing them one at a time). If any one of those keys blocks, or if Q and E together block with any of the numbers from 1-5, then it's not a keyboard that I'm going to use for gaming.

[ThoughtArtist]

Well, it depends on the matrix, of course. You can still get 6 keys or more out of a 2KRO board.

Right, but it's not just one big key combination. It's several closely related ones. I'm hard-pressed to think of any three keys on the left half of the keyboard's alphanumeric area where I'd be okay with them blocking. Short of a so-called "gaming optimized matrix"-- and all of those that I've used have had other, serious issues-- problems are inevitable.

I've yet to see any non-"optimized" 2KRO board that would be close to acceptable for gaming IMO. I've heard people say that the Model M has a well-designed matrix, but I find it completely unusable for many games. My D07-135 was also a miserable failure where gaming was concerned.

Here's a basic test: hold down Q, W, and E simultaneously. While holding them down, try pressing A, D, Z, X, C, or space (a note on technique: A and D can be pressed by flattening the fingers that are holding Q and E, respectively; you don't need a different finger for them. The rest are all done with the thumb-- when playing Ring Runner I've been known to press all four of them with the thumb simultaneously, but this is only a basic test, so we'll settle for doing them one at a time). If any one of those keys blocks, or if Q and E together block with any of the numbers from 1-5, then it's not a keyboard that I'm going to use for gaming.

I've read Ring Runner plays best with a controller with dual analog sticks. So moot point, no? Just kidding!

It looks like a cool game though. I'm downloading it now!

[FoxWolf1]

I've read Ring Runner plays best with a controller with dual analog sticks. So moot point, no? Just kidding!

It looks like a cool game though. I'm downloading it now!

I'll believe that when someone with a controller can beat me at PvP.   Keyboard turning ftw!

It's definitely one of my favorites. Took a while to get into, but the payoff was more than worth it IMO.

[ThoughtArtist]

I've read Ring Runner plays best with a controller with dual analog sticks. So moot point, no? Just kidding!

It looks like a cool game though. I'm downloading it now!

I'll believe that when someone with a controller can beat me at PvP.   Keyboard turning ftw!

It's definitely one of my favorites. Took a while to get into, but the payoff was more than worth it IMO.

Hey, it actually looks like I'll have to play with KB/mouse anyway as it looks like you must have a Xbox 360 controller! Even with an x360 emulator on my Logitech Dual Action, I can not use the controller. But I can already see why you'd want NKRO on it!

EDIT: MAYBE NOT! I missed a whole config step for x360ce where you copy some files over to the game directory. Anyway... it's not really the topic but I just felt like I needed to say that.

[saxophone]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

[iLLucionist]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

Purely seen in terms of transactions / money, yeah. But don't you think it is also fun to work on something of yourself, just some relaxing time?

[chyros]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

Unless you work full-time without a wage or benefits, like me .

Anyway I'd think a project like this could be quite fun .

[iLLucionist]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

Unless you work full-time without a wage or benefits, like me .

Anyway I'd think a project like this could be quite fun .

That's why I want to get into this DIY / custom builds. Relaxing... be in the moment. Only thing in your head is soldering the switch or what else. Must feel awesome. Like meditating.

[chyros]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

Unless you work full-time without a wage or benefits, like me .

Anyway I'd think a project like this could be quite fun .

That's why I want to get into this DIY / custom builds. Relaxing... be in the moment. Only thing in your head is soldering the switch or what else. Must feel awesome. Like meditating.

I'm actually starting on a custom build project myself that I've dubbed Project L. Should be fairly awesome, or at least very unique!

[iLLucionist]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

Unless you work full-time without a wage or benefits, like me .

Anyway I'd think a project like this could be quite fun .

That's why I want to get into this DIY / custom builds. Relaxing... be in the moment. Only thing in your head is soldering the switch or what else. Must feel awesome. Like meditating.

I'm actually starting on a custom build project myself that I've dubbed Project L. Should be fairly awesome, or at least very unique!

Cool man! What ya gonna build exactly?

[chyros]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

Unless you work full-time without a wage or benefits, like me .

Anyway I'd think a project like this could be quite fun .

That's why I want to get into this DIY / custom builds. Relaxing... be in the moment. Only thing in your head is soldering the switch or what else. Must feel awesome. Like meditating.

I'm actually starting on a custom build project myself that I've dubbed Project L. Should be fairly awesome, or at least very unique!

Cool man! What ya gonna build exactly?

Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise .

[ThoughtArtist]

Record how much time it took to clean up the keyboard + mod switches
Take your standard hourly wage and multiply with hours taken

Suddenly it's a bunch more than $40, can only recommend if you're a keyboard nut who enjoy doing such things.

Unless you work full-time without a wage or benefits, like me .

Anyway I'd think a project like this could be quite fun .

That's why I want to get into this DIY / custom builds. Relaxing... be in the moment. Only thing in your head is soldering the switch or what else. Must feel awesome. Like meditating.

I'm actually starting on a custom build project myself that I've dubbed Project L. Should be fairly awesome, or at least very unique!

Cool man! What ya gonna build exactly?

Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise .

I look forward to seeing your creation! With all those parts you have, there is no telling what you can come up with.

I kind of wish I had discovered the linear Alps mod a couple of years ago when I was still gaming a lot, but maybe this will inspire me to play some more games to experience how good it feels. I just love the "butterfied" WASD cluster!

There's definitely a lot of potential there.

[dante]

My days of Alps are long gone but I do have two questions.

1. So I hear the word simplified and think there is less junk in the switch as opposed to complicated.  So will this trick work easily as well on complicated switches or will it be some sort of hellish nightmare like reassembling space invaders?

2. While the switch is open is it possible to add the dampened bumpers that Matias uses?  If so, can you demonstrate this in a follow up video?

[chyros]

My days of Alps are long gone but I do have two questions.

1. So I hear the word simplified and think there is less junk in the switch as opposed to complicated.  So will this trick work easily as well on complicated switches or will it be some sort of hellish nightmare like reassembling space invaders?

2. While the switch is open is it possible to add the dampened bumpers that Matias uses?  If so, can you demonstrate this in a follow up video?

1) Quite the opposite actually. The complicated design is much better in every way than the simplified one, including in reassembly. Simplified switches are pretty hard to put back together again, which complicated ones are very easy.

2) That's not really the way the dampeners work. The dampeners are located in little slots in the slider; these slots aren't there on non-dampened sliders such as those from black Alps. Although you can replace the sliders with those from dampened switches, you can't transplant JUST the dampeners - not that that would be useful anyway because that would be much more of a hassle than just swapping the whole sliders xD . I'm not 100% sure Matias sliders fit Alps switches; I think so, but I could be wrong (I know some parts are just slightly different in size).

[ThoughtArtist]

It worked well on my cheapo, but compact,  White Alps board too.

[ThoughtArtist]

An interesting thing I just noticed with the White Alps version of this is that I liked how I had the WASD cluster linearised, but something like R for reload as clicky.

[ThoughtArtist]

As an update, I noticed a slightly different feel in the linearised White Alps. They seem to have a bit more tactility at the bottom of the stroke, almost like it's a halfway MX Brown. I'm not sure I like this. Part of the problem is that it feels almost the opposite of the MX Browns where the actuation is right at or after the bump, but with the White Alps, it is right before the bump. That just feels a bit odd. The Black Alps seem to be more linear feeling toward the end.

Also, I just like the feel of the Bigfoot better than that cheap board I was using. 

[rainb1ood]

Props for Quake 1 dude

[digi]

Wow, that is pretty cool Chryos, thanks for sharing!

[ThoughtArtist]

Props for Quake 1 dude

It's like a fine wine. I've still yet to do a play-through at 144+ hz, though I've tested it, and I found it to be splendid. This game just keeps getting better. I think when I do finally get to play the whole game at 144+hz, I'll be using the "Butter-board", for sure.

[chyros]

Heheheh, Butterboard, that's a damn good nickname xD .