This Kerbal Space Program Controller Makes the Most of the Game

I hesitate to even call Kerbal Space Program a video game, because it is more like a space flight simulator. While it is ostensibly a quirky game about creating a successful space program for cute little aliens, the physics and detail involved are very realistic. For that reason, it can feel a little bit underwhelming to play with a boring old keyboard and mouse — or, heaven forbid, an Xbox controller. That's why Matt Lowne built this dedicated Kerbal Space Program controller to enhance the experience.

Lowne's build looks like it really could have come out of a space shuttle or launch control center. He set it up as two different units that cover everything from pre-flight checks to orbital adjustments. All of those things could be done with the keyboard and mouse controls, but that would be much more cumbersome. More importantly, the experience wouldn't be nearly as satisfying.

There are far too many individual controls to cover in detail here, but suffice it to say that Lowne included everything a KSP fan could ask for. Everything looks professional, from the camera rig-style joysticks to the buttons labeled with gorgeous legends. But Lowne didn't accomplish this on his own. He built this custom controller using panels and modules commissioned from Codapop, who specializesin high-quality controls for KSP.

The cool part is that anyone with the coin can get in on the action. Codapop developed a website where you can design your own controller using a visual builder. There are all kinds of modules to choose from, including navigation, analog controls, throttle, camera, EVA, and more. You can arrange those however you like and see the results on the site before you buy. This doesn't come cheap (Lowne says his cost almost $1,000), but it could be worth the cost for die hard Kerbal fans.

The website provides some limited information about the modules, but we don't know much about the technical details going on inside of them. We have to assume that each module has its own microcontroller and that a master module handles communication over USB with the connected PC. If it works like other similar projects, the computer will recognize the connected controller as a keyboard and the player can map the various buttons to whatever functions they want inside of the game.