Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
The first official major championship event of the game had just ended and what an amazing competition it was. Behind the stellar performance of it's players, the swedish team fnatic managed to untie the series and steal the grand prize from their fellow countrymen Ninjas in Pyjamas. The crowd was incredible and I really wanted to create something that could relate to that community, something that could represent the intensity and the fun times I had just witnessed. There wasn't any dedicated keycap sets available in the market, so I decided to give it a try and design one myself.
The idea was to submit the design to a pad printing company, as a personal print, but after sharing the project with other members, I was encouraged to develop the design and built quality in depth, so the keycap set could be available to the whole gaming and mechanical keyboard community. The first version of the keycap set was designed with modular kits, so it could be assembled in a pleasing manner for typists that perform on professional enviroments such as offices without leaving the pro/casual gamer public behind. It borrowed design concepts from the game UI itself and also the popular in-game sci-fi weapon finishes, such as the Asiimov and the Vulcan collections.
Mainly in clear white, I decided to incorporate light blue and vibrant orange accents to the design, so the keycap set could truly match the virtual guns, while still being usable in a serious work office, as the novelty icons were offered in a separate optional kit. The geometric chaotic concept was kept and applied to the layout, with the presence of the black and white tones here and there. Sci-Fi was born.
Improving the project The gaming culture is expanding quicker than ever and this phenomenom is not restricted to the CS:GO or MK communities only. New first person shooters games are being released and the focus on the community experience and the competitive scene has become very evident. Due to this fast paced growth, many new comers didn't have the chance to partipate in the initial project and because of that new versions and releases of this keycap set will be released in the future, periodically, in order to contemplate everyone, even not-yet-gamers.
The first sequel - Overcast Black goes with everything. And there are so many incredible black in-game weapons to gather inspiration from! Such as the lime green Torque and the black & red Cyrex and Redline collections. Our community could use a true domino keyset, since a plain black and white combination is not available yet.
The mix and match concept was kept, everything is interchangable and assembly friendly. In the actual group buy people will have the choice to pick whatever kits they want to build whatever layouts and color schemes they want. The combinations are almost endless, me and Zambu couldn't possibly render all of them, although we tried!
The lime green scheme and the previous classic blue and orange will also be available.
Planck, Preonic, Ergodox and non-standard layouts such as Razers, Corsairs, Logitechs and Cooler Masters are also properly covered. Nordic, German and UK layouts are also covered!
Official Overcast Child Deals The kits below are the ones that will be available for purchase in June.
1337, is that a Karambit?! Yes, the novelties were updated after the 3-D renders were made and therefore some of the symbols displayed on the 3-D renders are outdated. There will be a Karambit knife, a radio chatter and more polished icons in the actual group buy, as you can see below! All of the colors available are updated with these icons. They are also compatible with the previous drop (Sci-Fi).
Wait a minute... What is this weird kit over here?
Tell us more about them! Perhaps you'll be able to find some clues in the links below.
Renders As I previously said, there are so many possibilities to be explored with this keyset that I couldn't render and mock up all of them. White alphas with colored or black mods, black alphas with black or colored mods, CS:GO novelties, Overwatch icons, CS:GO and Overwatch symbols mixed together... Your imagination is the ruler here! However you'll be able to see a couple of combinations that I personally found pretty interesting in the link below. In the other link, you'll be able to watch the child deals in detail, in case you need.
Render Album - http://imgur.com/a/JLSlX
Child Deals - http://imgur.com/a/jrv37
Thanks for taking a look! I hope you enjoy the read and the project, feel free to leave feedback or to ask questions! You can always hit me over /r/MK, Geekhack and Instagram as well (@mito.rmk).