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I received the latest revision of the XBOX360 Ragnarok modchip PCB's last weekend on Saturday. I hand-assembled a few for testing. Testing went well, so no more PCB revisions are needed. I ordered a stencil, which allows for machine-assisted hand-assembling, and started a short production of modchips for our first orders to get us through the holidays. Also while this work on the modchip PCB's has been going on, I have been finishing up on writing the firmware driver for the modchip, as well as finishing up the USB customization software for Windows (screenshot above). All-in-all, we're awfully close to launching this puppy.
I just need to get the test wiring harnesses disconnected from this frankenstein test controller that I have, so I can take it for a test drive on-line. I'll also have to work on the marketing and support materials - demonstration video for youtube, as well as instruction sheets. However, there are lots of instruction pages included within the customization software for Windows. Each feature has a "?" mark next to it which brings up its own instructions page describing that the mod is, how it works, what game it's designed for, etc. We've noticed that our instructions are not the greatest, meaning there has always been a bit of a learning curve of what the mod can and can't do in each game. These instructions should help put all the best answers into one place - the customization software.
The RGB thumbstick LED's work about as well as the programmable LED's on the macro controller. Meaning that the LED's will dim as your AA's run out of juice. The LED's work find with rechargeable play-and-charge packs, rechargeable AA's and alkaline AA's. We don't modify the play-and-charge port on this controller AT ALL, so the PnC port will function 100% stock with no problems. We didn't touch the PnC port for this mod. Instead, we drill a separate 1/4" hole on the back and install a 3.5mm jack for programming the modchip, and leave the PnC port untouched. (The macro controller required modification to the PnC port and we've seen complaints in the forums from people about charging their macro controllers).
The modchip has 14 different color modes for the LED's. Mode 0 is "Rainbow" mode, where the thumbsticks will roll through all the range of colors. Modes 1 through 13 are red, green, blue, yellow, purple, aqua, cyan, etc... Mode 14 is the custom thumbstick mode. Mode 14 is set from the windows customization software and allows you to set the left and right sticks as two different colors. You have direct access to the brightness levels for the red, green and blue LED's in each thumbstick. It takes some tinkering, but you can get quite a few different shades of colors out of the thumbsticks by dialing in a different mix of red-green-blue.
This modchip is actually plug-and-play in terms of hooking it up to your Windows PC. Meaning no more having to manually put the controller into bootloader/programming mode. Just put in some batteries, plug in the USB cable, and the modchip automatically goes right into programming mode. Pull the cable out, and the modchip immediately reboots itself and is ready for gameplay. This functionality makes it much easier to connect/disconnect from your computer when you want to edit settings.
Ok, like I said, just need to take this for a test drive and work on the marketing and support materials and we should be ready for launch. I'd like to start selling this thing on Monday 12/12/2011. I originally said 12/5/2011 but the PCB's arrived one week late from China, which means I'm one week late performing all the needed testing and last minute software changes. (Well, Originally I think I said I'd have this thing by October... then I said in time for the launch of MW3... "I really mean it this time" lol)
