I will be upfront about this. I am not a gamer: PC, console, mobile or otherwise. But, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, like every pre-teen and as it turns out, many adults, I was bitten by the Fortnite bug earlier this year. With not an X-Box nor Playstation to my name and no sign of a mobile version on the horizon at the time, I was limited in the platforms I could choose from to play it on. So I fired up my recently retired MacBook Pro, slapped a fresh coat of Windows 10 on it, and hit Epic’s site for the free Battle Royal download.
On what could hardly be called an optimal platform the game performs surprisingly well. The screen is a little small, but my 46 year old eyes could be part of that problem. What did not perform well was me. I could not get used to using the keyboard as a controller. And not because it was a laptop. I tried an external keyboard as well.
Before I go on, I want to head off a flame war. Even with my limited experience gaming, I understand that keyboards make for superior controllers. I am not anti-keyboard. I just didn’t have the previous practice, and I didn’t have the patience to develop the muscle memory that comes from hours of playing.
Did I mention that it was my 12 year old daughter that introduced me to Fortnite? Anyway, she wasn’t thrilled with using a keyboard either so the two of us hit GameStop to pick up an Xbox One controller. She took to it right away, mastered it, and is using it to this day. And I mean literally. She is playing now.
Who’s OG? Not this guy.
I played with the Xbox controller for several weeks and became proficient at navigating, interacting with the environment, and building, but I couldn’t hit the broad side of a Dusty Depot hangar from 10 meters with a pump shotgun. That might be an exaggeration, but my aim was terrible. I just could not get the hang of aiming with the controller’s joystick. From my limited time playing with the keyboard and mouse, I knew that the mouse was infinitely better for aiming. I was stuck. I needed a controller with a joystick for navigation, and buttons for jumping, picking up items, building, etc., but I needed to be able to use the mouse for aiming and shooting.
It didn’t take me long to come to a solution. I was addicted to the game so my motivation was high. I had an extra Arduino Micro lying around, a joystick, lots of buttons, and plenty of wire so I thought maybe I could craft my own. Even luckier, the Micro’s ATmega32U4 microcontroller has USB communication built in. Getting a computer to think it was a keyboard was trivial.
I started by wiring up just a single button to the Arduino and programming it so pressing the button would simulate pressing the space bar. I logged into the lobby, and when Private Rando jumped in synchrony with my button presses, I knew was on to something.
v 1.0
My first attempt at a limited functionality controller was ugly and uncomfortable, but as a proof of concept I considered it a success. Granted the buttons were just stuck into a breadboard, so more often than not when I got excited and pressed a button frantically it would pop off, shoot across the room, and I would be crawling around on the floor while Rando was getting knocked and his teammates were laughing at him/me through my headset.
The Robuster
I am currently on the third iteration of my custom Fortnite controller. I have dubbed it “The Robuster” because it is finally stable and sturdy, and I use it for busting heads. Well, not so much the latter. It is still not a looker by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve tweaked it to function almost 100% the way I want it to. It feels very comfortable and natural to use it with my left hand while using the mouse with my right. Of course I’m not sure anyone else would find it comfortable to use since the size, shape, and placement of every element on it was done with my left hand in mind, and I’ve got small hands. Not Trump small, but small.
In another post maybe will I get into all of the technical details: what every button does, how it is wired up, what the software that runs it looks like, etc. For now I will leave you with a few more pictures. But then I have to run. There are some noobs waiting in Tilted Towers to get Robust-ed.
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Hey how is it going? I am in the same situation and way behind. Started playing Fortnite with my 13 yr, figured if I wanted to spend quality time with him I would need to learn fast. I am an Arduino enthusiast and have close to zero exp but have done some of the small LED projects.
I just came across your post and was hoping to find technical stuff. If you got the time and dont mind sharing code with me I would really appreciate it.
Author
I’ve had a few requests recently so I am going to write a more detailed follow up. I don’t have a ton of electronics experience but have spent quite a bit of time playing with a handful of Arduino models. This controller is basically an Arduino Micro, a handful of tactile switches and the software that makes it work. I honestly spent way more time on the ergonomics of it – trying to figure out through a ton of game play what functionality to include in the controller versus what I would use the gaming mouse in my left hand for. If you have any questions before I am able to get that post up, leave them here and I will try my best to help.
Thanks for your reply! I did some brainstorming and went from a full on build from scratch to soldering buttons on a controller as paddles.
So I settled on learning some code basics and fit a micro into a game controller and rewire the buttons.
I got stuck on ergonomics as well. Even bought some molding clay and stuff. But I figured there was no reason to reinvent the wheel.
I did have a question for you. You said you started with a button and worked your way up, did you start with a sketch or build your own sketch?
I tried looking at existing sketches and using cut past but I found out real soon I was going nowhere.
hey I tried making one, and when i went o set up controller on windows, and then clicked on properties it shows that my joystick works, but then when i load up fortnite and i move the joystick nothing happens, could u help me out? or maybe make a second post like you mentioned?
Author
Since I’ve gotten a few inquiries about it recently, I am going to write a more in-depth follow up, but if in the meantime you’d like to post here what you’ve tried maybe I or one of my readers would be able to help you out.