Design Preview Report: Classic Rock Hitbox

Progress on my project has been good, and I am entering further stages of it as we speak.

Currently, the project has remained the same. It is a Fightstick, a type of specialized game controller, made with a Classic Rock aesthetic. These controllers are specialized for a genre of games known as Fighting Games. The specific type of Fightstick I am making is called a Hitbox, which is one with only buttons and no joystick. How I will achieve this has been expanded since last week. My functional goals are simple: I should be able to connect it to my laptop and play games with it. It’ll have 11 working buttons that can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the game. Aesthetically, I desire a classic rock aesthetic, which is a bit harder to accomplish.

Hitboxes can have custom “skins,” outer layers that determine how they look. I intend to make a custom one. Throughout this semester, album covers have been my main inspiration, so I think that basing my Hitbox’s skin off of one would be the best way to accomplish this. Which album cover I use and why will be discussed later on.

To make this, I want to have the skin as a separate piece to the rest of the Hitbox so that I can work on the functions and the aesthetics separately. I think that, to make this, I will have two main methods of manufacturing. The base, with all the electronics and the functional parts, will be 3D printed. I believe that this will be easier than laser cutting, as I want to make a box-like part with slots for wires and adapters. This will be easier if 3D printed due to the 3D geometries required. The top of the box, however, will be laser cut twice, one to connect to the 3D printed box and one to paint with the design that I want. They will be screwed together, most likely, preferably with screws of the same color as the box so that the aesthetic can be maintained without interruption.

For the electronics, I have ordered parts from a dedicated Fightstick producer. The parts I have ordered include buttons, cables, a pre-programmed PCB, and adapters.

The buttons come in two sizes, 24 mm and 30 mm. All but one button I am using are 24 mm buttons. This will dictate how I will be modeling the parts for the Hitbox in Solidworks.

This is one example of the measurements for a Hitbox, however, I will not be using it exactly. Many Fightsticks and Hitboxes are quite bulky, so I want to make one that is smaller and more portable. One company that does this is called Snackbox.

Their “micro” model is incredibly portable and easy to carry, which I want mine to be. Inspired by this, I want my Hitbox to use minimal space. Admittedly, this is mostly because I do not have much space to keep it. I do not have the exact measurements of one, but I think that is fine. Having my Hitbox’s measurements be based on my own fingers and spacing will probably make my final artifact more comfortable for me to use.

The next issue is what kind of design I want for the skin so as to make it fit the Rock aesthetic I want. Having a Rock aesthetic for a controller might not make much sense at first, but Fighting Games and Classic Rock actually have a deep history.

Arguably one of the most influential game developers in the genre is Daisuke Ishiwatari. Throughout all of his work, he has been inspired by classic rock and metal, shaping large parts of his games entirely based on these styles of music. What has resulted is a significant amount of bands, songs, and albums being connected to the genre. I feel like making my Hitbox have a classic rock aesthetic is a perfect representation of this idea.

I mentioned before that I wanted to make my Hitbox’s skin a classic rock album, one of the best ways to make my Hitbox fit this aesthetic. I have had a few ideas for which album to use, and am debating between a few. If possible, I would like to hear opinions on which one to do.

The first option I have is Boston’s self-titled album Boston. A song from this album, Peace of Mind, is largely what made me interested in rock in the first place. This song and album are very special to me and I think that making this project partially a homage to it would be great.

The second option is the album Queen 2. As Daisuke Ishiwatari is the reason for the connection between rock music and fighting games, I think that making what is arguably the band that influenced him the most the base for my project would be a very good option.

The final option is Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Personally, I feel that this is the most iconic album cover in all of classic rock. It is also very simplistic and would fit the simple feeling I am trying to go for with my hitbox.

I will leave which one I end up using up to debate for now.

What comes next is my plan. In the next week, I will be making the CAD models for the box. To do this, I will be measuring what the correct measurements for my hand size will be. After this, I will be developing the models in Solidworks. I do not believe that this will take much time, due to my experience in CAD and Solidworks. If possible, I will get the parts manufactured as soon as possible, or if not, the first week back after Spring Break. Over break, I will be deciding which album cover will be used for my Hitbox.

As for alternate aesthetics, it was brought up at one point that a retro aesthetic could work. This was something that I considered. It would be reminiscent of the aesthetics present in old arcades. I chose against this, however, as that would not result in me making something too visually distinct. Retro Fightsticks and Hitboxes are very sleek and simple, as opposed to what I wanted, which would have a more striking, distinct look.

I am excited to continue this project and am looking forward to what the end product will end up as.

References:

Featured Image: https://www.klp99mall.com/?product_id=513360775_61

Figure 1: https://mightyskins.com/collections/hit-box-ps4/products/hitbox-wolf-silhouette

Figure 3: https://www.reddit.com/r/fightsticks/comments/ybe9co/cad_hitbox_button_layout_pdf_drilling_template_an/

Figure 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoFcgluT29E

Figure 5: https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/711×399/https://blogs-images.forbes.com/olliebarder/files/2016/08/gg_daisuke-1200×675.jpg?width=960

Figure 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_%28album%29

Figure 7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_II

Figure 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon