Fightboard

Have you ever been frustrated with fightsticks? Do you want something to use on your desk that isn’t a massive box you have to put away somewhere when you’re not using it? Do you prefer the natural spacing of a keyboard over the finger-stretching traditional arcade buttons? Maybe you want something that you can easily use on-the-go. The Fightboard aims to solve all of those problems.

Features

Ergonomic layout

The Fightboard uses a combination of an arrow/wasd cluster at a 15% angle and action buttons following the traditional arcade stick layout but with the spacing of keyboard keys.

Kailh Choc switches

Why low-profile switches? One of my main design goals for this controller was to make it as slim as possible to improve ergonomics and portability. These low-profile switches have 3mm of travel compared to the 4mm of Cherry MX switches, with an actuation point 1mm higher as well. They also help the Fightboard come in at only 22mm thick, as the lower half of the switch is also much shorter.

Hot-swap sockets

Unhappy with your switch coice? Want different zones with different types of switches? All you have to do is pull them out and swap them with whatever you prefer, no soldering required.

RGB LEDs

The RGB LEDs indicate the function of each button. The default profile uses Xbox colors for the 4 face buttons, but these can be changed to suit your preferences or the colors used in-game. The LED for each key turns off when the key is pressed and fades back on when released.

Idle mode

The LEDs will turn off after a minute of inactivity. Pressing any button will turn them back on.

Easy remapping

Settings are all built into the keypad and allow you to remap keys on-the-fly.

Console compatibility with adapters

By default, the Fightboard is only compatible with PC. However, its compatibility can be expanded with the purchase with an adapter that converts Xbox 360 controllers to your console of choice. Below is the full compatibility list based on my testing.

System	Compatible	Link
PC	Yes	No adapter needed
Switch	Yes	Amazon
Xbox One	Yes	Amazon
PS4	Yes	Amazon
Xbox 360	No	Not compatible

Updating Firmware

To update the firmware of your Fightboard, use the latest download link below and follow the instructions in the readme.

Version	Link	Changes
1.0	Link	Inital Release
1.1	Link	Changed menu buttons from L3+R3 to L+R+Home
1.2	Link	Added left stick/dpad selection by pressing L3 or R3 while in the main menu
1.3	Link	Fixed color changes not saving; Fixed colors while changing colors or swapping keys

Menu

All settings are accessible from the controller itself by pressing back and start simultaneously.

Warning

Entering the menu has changed to left+right+home to avoid conflicting with in-game actions. If you are using firmware version 1.1+ or your order shipped after 4/9/20, use these buttons instead.

Direction mode

As of firmware version 1.2, you can change the directional keys to function as either a dpad or the left analog stick, since some games require one or the other. After entering the menu, you can press L3 to enable dpad mode (the keys will turn red) and R3 to enable left stick mode (the keys will turn yellow.)

Profiles

From the main menu, you can press one of the 8 keys on the right to switch between 8 different profiles. These all have independent settings so you can set up each profile for a different game, each with different colors and mappings.

Button swapping

You can press the start button after entering the menu to enter the button swapper. In this mode, pressing one of the 8 buttons on the right will make it pulse quickly. Press another button and the two buttons will swap places, along with their colors.

Color changing

You can also press back on the main menu to enter color changing mode. Pressing one of the keys will cycle through RGB for that key.

Warning

Remapping and color changing are only available for the 8 keys on the right. The d-pad keys are not reconfigurable.

Resetting

Pressing L3 and R3 simultaneously in the main menu will clear the current profile back to its default settings.

Exiting menus

Pressing the home button will always take you one step back out of a menu, meaning it will take you to the main menu on the color changer or remapper and exit from the main menu.