<Nistur>
but the top part appears to be ready. The bottom is still causing me trouble though
<Regenaxer>
Cool! I'm sure your experience as a game dev helps a lot
<Nistur>
for some reason OpenSCAD doesn't like something
<Nistur>
... I wonder... how feasible would it be to make a scriptable model thing in PIL :P
<Nistur>
... that would be shaving some serious yaks
<Regenaxer>
perhaps a component DB
<Nistur>
but while I am finding OpenSCAD far easier than trying to use an actual 3D modelling package that uses a *shocked face* mouse... it is _very_ frustrating in a lot of ways...
<Nistur>
the main issue is that OpenSCAD has limitations, and bad error reporting, so I've had to do a bunch of things in meshlab, which has far less friendly scriptable interface (it literally just encodes the popups for each stage in XML files: https://github.com/nistur/pentinsy/blob/main/model/01-rescale.mlx and even then getting it to act on the right objects... yeah... it's less fun)
<Nistur>
but yeah, the top is currently printing. At some point tomorrow, if it doesn't fail, I might have my first full scale test piece I can put keys into. I cannot put the controller board in, because I soldered pins into the one I have, which won't fit the case (I considered making it so you plug in the board... but that seemed like far more work than it was worth... at least for now) so because I cannot be
<Nistur>
bothered to desolder it, I'll order another board, they're only about £5 anyway. And I'd quite like to keep this one to continue testing with
<Regenaxer>
Do you also plan to distribute it later?
<Nistur>
the scripts are on github, I'll make sure to put a proper license on it (I usually use zlib as it's nice and simple) and I'll upload the generated model files to Thingiverse when it's done... but I'll also offer to print any for anyone that wants one... I am _intending_ to make it so I can easily scale it to fit anyone's hands and it'll automagically generate the correct layout of keys... it's... part
<Nistur>
way there (which is why it's so overengineered right now)
<Nistur>
the cost to make it is something like £20, so I can affort to make a few of them for a few people in order to hone the pipeline, if there are people interested. After that I might make them at cost, if there are still people interested. I played with the idea of offering it for sale on something like etsy or tindie or something too... for a slight markup, because it will take a decent chunk of time and
<Nistur>
effort to make, and I'm not _that_ kind to random strangers :P But that seems like a lot of effort, and I'm not sure if there are enough people interested, so probably not
<Regenaxer>
true
<Nistur>
there is a (relatively) local charity which deals with disabled children, mostly to help them play video games. I know they've commissioned games controllers etc. While Penti is certainly not good for playing most games, I might still see if they're interested in one or two
<Regenaxer>
The Android Penti isn't installed significantly either
<Nistur>
and don't worry, when I get around to writing a README etc, I will point all credit back to you :D
<Regenaxer>
Thanks! :)
<Nistur>
because of how USB keyboards work, it unfortunately doesn't support 100% of what the Android version does
<Nistur>
a number of things are limited by the keymap that the OS will recognise
<Regenaxer>
I see, but I thought Penti uses *less*
<Regenaxer>
it generates Unicode, not key codes
<Regenaxer>
With key codes there are more combinations possible
<Regenaxer>
like Modifyer + FunKeys
<Nistur>
there are some things I cannot send. For example... um... I couldn't find a keymap that the OS would recognise, where I could send both... ¿ and ÿ or something
<Nistur>
I cannot recall the exact limitations
<Regenaxer>
ok
<Regenaxer>
also, generating Kanji etc might be difficult