I do not have the best simpit around, but I am comfortable with it. I have more or less stopped using GameGlass mostly because it’s very slow and uses a lot of “toggle state” controls yet receives no feedback from Star Citizen to manage those controls. This forces them to use an “honor system” which can get out of sync should I activate a toggle function elsewhere, leaving the GameGlass button in an incorrect state. First universe problems, I know, but I have been relying more heavily on my StreamDeck in place of GameGlass.

Despite the name, StreamDeck isn’t just for streaming. It’s the realization of the “Optimus Keyboard” which made rounds back in the early 2000’s for how completely fucking awesome it was…had it been a real product.

Each key on the StreamDeck is programmable, so any keystroke or combo of keystrokes can be assigned. It can do other fancy stuff like opening apps and submitting commands to your streaming software of choice, but I’ve been using it in Star Citizen to do things like power up my ship, start the quantum engine, handle mining operations, and control the lights.

With my two flight sticks and an uncomfortable realization that I wouldn’t be able to reach everything were it sitting on my desk, I have been cobbling together various platforms and mounts to make things work. I have the sticks mounted to a third-rate mounting bracket system (i.e. not MonsterTech or other well-known brand) which uses a channel system to connect the various parts. I had been using zip ties to attach the StreamDeck stand to the mounting bracket, but that made it difficult to reach my keyboard since it was hanging off the side. I’d show you a picture, but…I don’t have one.

I did find a cool encasement for the StreamDeck on Printables.com, but it was designed for a MonsterTech mounting system…and a vertical one at that. I don’t have a vertical riser on my setup, but I do have a free horizontal channel into which I can slot another something. So I was now on a mission…

First and foremost, my friend Caked Crusader set his filament printer to work printing everything included in the StreamDeck housing from Printables.com. This includes the housing, a faceplate, and two mounting brackets. He offered to do this because the printer I have wasn’t large enough to print the housing.

Next, I had to design a bracket that would work with my horizontal mount and connect to the above system. Bringing the main mounting bracket from the original project file into Blender as a reference, I was able to create a plate which could use the flight stick mounting bracket channel and allow the StreamDeck enclosure system to connect.

This was the first slice I did in which I manually placed supports. Some previous prints had lifted edges and Caked mentioned that it was because they were not properly supported. Although this is a utilitarian piece and not something I want to display, I wanted it to be as good as I could get it just to say that I could.

After about 6 hours, I had my bracket. I cobbled together a bunch of screws from the garage workbench (we all have several buckets of random screws and bolts, right?) because I couldn’t wait to go to Lowes or Home Despot to find “properly sized” bolts and nuts. The results are pretty nice, or at least work well enough for my purposes.