Using both feet accurately and reliably,and
coordinating them with keyboard and mouse
movements, took some learning, and we
certainly didn’t master it in the week orso
we tested the pedals. However, we saw the
potential. With the right hardware properly
set up, a foot pedal setup seems like a
natural progression in gaming controls.
Can I make my own?
As we’ve mentioned, none of the big-name
brands has become involved in this potentially
big market yet, which is perplexing. When we’ve
seen such specialised, expensive gaming mice,
keyboards, headsets, steering wheels and
joysticks, it’s hard to imagine there isn’t enough
of a niche market for foot pedals too. Either
way, though, that’s the situation right now. If the
above couple of examples don’t take your fancy,
or you want a more sophisticated pedal setup,
the only other option is to make your own.
We’re still working on our own DIY pedal
board, so we don’t have a full build guide yet,
but the theory is quite simple. Grab a handful
of momentary switches, or premade pedals,
mount them on a board, wire them to an Arduino
and write a short bit ofcodethatmapseach
button press to a keyboardfunction.
If it’s done correctly,you
shouldn’t need any
extra power, and you
could just run
the board from
the Arduino’s
USB power
source. We
managed to grab
four momentary
switches, an Arduino
and a slab of plywood
all for under £40– youcanlookforour
complete buildguideina laterissue.
In the meantime,if you’veeverexperimented
with foot pedalsforgaming– orif you’vemade
your own footpedals– getintouch(letters@
custompcmag.org.uk)andletus
knowhowyougoton.Asforthe
restofus,maybeit’stimewe
allstartedspreadingthe
wordandbadgeringour
favouritePCperipheral
companiesto
startinvesting
incontrollers
thatallowusto
makethemost
ofallourlimbs.
An Arduino can make for an
easy starting point for making
your own pedal boardLeaning in FPS
games is tricky
to master with
just a keyboard
and mousen
r
justa couple
of quid each