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I've always wanted something like this board, buttons which can light up (preferably a few colours), to use to make games. Anyone ever found such a board which

I've always wanted something like this board, buttons which can light up (preferably a few colours), to use to make games. Anyone ever found such a board which is hackable / programmable?

rmnclmnt 7mo ago
Novation Launchpad used to be exactly that: you send MIDI CC messages with proper values and you can light up the grid (with different colors). Did that a few years back, i guess this might still be possible
- 1313ed01 7mo ago
  > used to be Looks like they are still around? https://novationmusic.com/launchpad https://novationmusic.com/launchpad Also seems to be in stock locally. The device that I think popularized that design (citation needed) was the Monome (https://monome.org/ https://monome.org/) that looks like it is also still around and it has (always had?) some kind of open source license (https://github.com/monome https://github.com/monome).
  - rmnclmnt 7mo ago
    Thanks for the heads up! I have been out of this loop for quite a while, glad to see it's still there! Yes Monome was this initial inspiration then followed by many, but it was way more expensive and niche IIRC
Cthulhu_ 7mo ago
https://www.adafruit.com/category/280 https://www.adafruit.com/category/280, they're ready made from 4x4 to 16x8 but in theory you can just put more modules into an enclosure.
sodaplayer 7mo ago
There's custom firmware project for the Novation Launchpad. I had a fork of this at one point where I made GoL for it and had mapped the lit cells to a MIDI output. https://github.com/mat1jaczyyy/lpp-performance-cfw https://github.com/mat1jaczyyy/lpp-performance-cfw I haven't tried this yet, but there's also an open source grid-controller project. https://github.com/203-Systems/MatrixOS https://github.com/203-Systems/MatrixOS
cben 7mo ago
Aliexpress has a lot of cheap "smart gomoku board" now, they are cheap rgb-lighted membrane button grids O(13x13) with firmware playing games like Go, Reversi etc. (https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005010089221164.html https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005010089221164.html, https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005011840606955.html https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005011840606955.html ...). These proved to be surprisingly fun with children, the tactile interface is neat, and they're a good middle ground that helps learn the rules of games (has 1-on-1 modes + solo against several levels of "AI") but not as brain-rot distracting like a tablet. I haven't tried reverse-engineering one yet, I hope at least some of these are hackable? Conway's life would certainly be one fun use, but custom games are totally something I'd want to make too! Are these actually membrane or are there some switches there? I assume membrane, if only based on the dirt-cheap price. Anyway in combination with lighting up + sound the feedback feels immersive enough, it's definitely more fun than poking a tablet.

I've always wanted something like this board, buttons which can light up (preferably a few colours), to use to make games. Anyone ever found such a board which is hackable / programmable?

rmnclmnt 7mo ago

Novation Launchpad used to be exactly that: you send MIDI CC messages with proper values and you can light up the grid (with different colors). Did that a few years back, i guess this might still be possible

1313ed01 7mo ago
> used to be Looks like they are still around? https://novationmusic.com/launchpad https://novationmusic.com/launchpad Also seems to be in stock locally. The device that I think popularized that design (citation needed) was the Monome (https://monome.org/ https://monome.org/) that looks like it is also still around and it has (always had?) some kind of open source license (https://github.com/monome https://github.com/monome).
- rmnclmnt 7mo ago
  Thanks for the heads up! I have been out of this loop for quite a while, glad to see it's still there! Yes Monome was this initial inspiration then followed by many, but it was way more expensive and niche IIRC

Cthulhu_ 7mo ago

https://www.adafruit.com/category/280 https://www.adafruit.com/category/280, they're ready made from 4x4 to 16x8 but in theory you can just put more modules into an enclosure.

sodaplayer 7mo ago

There's custom firmware project for the Novation Launchpad. I had a fork of this at one point where I made GoL for it and had mapped the lit cells to a MIDI output. https://github.com/mat1jaczyyy/lpp-performance-cfw https://github.com/mat1jaczyyy/lpp-performance-cfw I haven't tried this yet, but there's also an open source grid-controller project. https://github.com/203-Systems/MatrixOS https://github.com/203-Systems/MatrixOS

cben 7mo ago

Aliexpress has a lot of cheap "smart gomoku board" now, they are cheap rgb-lighted membrane button grids O(13x13) with firmware playing games like Go, Reversi etc. (https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005010089221164.html https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005010089221164.html, https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005011840606955.html https://he.aliexpress.com/item/1005011840606955.html ...). These proved to be surprisingly fun with children, the tactile interface is neat, and they're a good middle ground that helps learn the rules of games (has 1-on-1 modes + solo against several levels of "AI") but not as brain-rot distracting like a tablet. I haven't tried reverse-engineering one yet, I hope at least some of these are hackable? Conway's life would certainly be one fun use, but custom games are totally something I'd want to make too! Are these actually membrane or are there some switches there? I assume membrane, if only based on the dirt-cheap price. Anyway in combination with lighting up + sound the feedback feels immersive enough, it's definitely more fun than poking a tablet.