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Mystery Man in 3D

What controller do you use to play DOOM on PC?

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Select one of the following:
A) Keyboard Only
B) Keyboard & Mouse
C) Gamepad
D) Other
and explain why you like that controller the best.
If you select D, don't forget to say what controller it is.
Consoles are out of the debate since you use a gamepad for pretty much every console version of DOOM.

I go back and forth between A and B. I love using A because of the nostalgic feel and because of how portable it is, but when playing seriously on a high difficulty or online deathmatch (not co-op), I'll often use B instead.

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Usually B, sometimes C.

There can be no debate over whether keyboard & mouse is a better control system than a gamepad, for many games besides Doom. But sometimes it's nice to be able to slob around and not sit up straight in front of your computer (even if you're not actually sitting next to your computer, you can't use a keyboard and mouse in mid-air, unless you have four upper extremities).

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DoomUK said:

Usually B, sometimes C.

There can be no debate over whether keyboard & mouse is a better control system than a gamepad, for many games besides Doom. But sometimes it's nice to be able to slob around and not sit up straight in front of your computer (even if you're not actually sitting next to your computer, you can't use a keyboard and mouse in mid-air, unless you have four upper extremities).


I concur, especially for emulated NES/SNES/ETC games, a lot simply don't work with a keyboard setup.

I play Doom with Mouse + Keyboard though.

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If I'm not using keyboard and mouse I will use either my xbox controller for windows or my gamecube controller via my tiger usb adaptor.

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eargosedown said:

I play Doom with Mouse + Keyboard though.

You should give "Gamepad Doom" a chance. Particularly if you don't need to use free look. But then, using a gamepad which has thumbsticks makes free-looking quite possible, even if it's not as elegant as with a mouse.

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B, used to be A (back before ZDoom; still is when I'm not using (G)ZDoom), have tried C (XBox360 controller) just to see what it's like - prefer B still.

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Keypad + mouse.

A small USB numeric keypad that I can place comfortably, independently from the screen. I don't like playing on a laptop keyboard.

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I used to be a keyboard-only user. At some point I switched to using keyboard and mouse combination because of Doom 3, and I kept using that "scheme" for a while when playing original Doom with (G)ZDoom. Now, I've gone back to using keyboard-only.

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I regularly use an IBM Model M keyboard and an optical mouse.

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B. Always B. Anything else is simply unacceptable. Played a bit of Doom NRFL on an XBox360 at my cousin's last summer. Horrible controls. Gamepads work fine for some games like platformers and car games. But for any kind of FPS it's absurd to even contemplate using them.

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B for many years, and it would still be my first choice (especially for deathmatch, or more challenging maps) but for the past year or so I've spent a lot of time travelling, away from my desktop PC, and with only my laptop, and so I've switched to A for day-to-day play. It took a while to find a configuration that I was comfortable with, and I had to adjust my somewhat gung-ho playing style to something more cautious, but now it's more or less second nature. And it’s been a lot of fun learning how to beat maps – that I could beat handily using mouse + keyboard – using just the keyboard. There are still plenty that I haven’t cracked yet though :/

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kristus said:

B. Always B. Anything else is simply unacceptable. Played a bit of Doom NRFL on an XBox360 at my cousin's last summer. Horrible controls. Gamepads work fine for some games like platformers and car games. But for any kind of FPS it's absurd to even contemplate using them.


This one. I remember some friends of mine claimed that they could play Quake just as well with a gamepad, as I could with mouse/keyboard. I`m still laughing today.

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I'm a real jedi master and don't need controller...

Real answer: A, because my only pointer device is a touchpad, and that's useless for this game. I tried gamepad a few times, but it didn't feel any better than just keyboard.

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I am capable of playing Enjay's version of B as well, but given I'm naturally right-handed, I obviously don't tend to :P My left-handed mouse use is mostly at work, so I don't get RSI from the combination of my gaming pass-time and desk job.

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B. WASD, lmb, rmb, scroll wheel, shift, ctrl, space, zxcv, 1-9, kp sometimes if the game has retarded extra binds.

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Keyboard all the way. I'm horrific at using the mouse and I generally avoid wads that force you to use the mouse. When I play Doom it sounds like a swarm of beetles. :D

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Mouse and Keyboard for Doom. Keyboard only if I'm playing Chocolate Doom (because, while I know Doom came out supporting mouse, I played it keyboard only in my formative years). FPS with mouse and keyboard is undeniably superior, but FPSes designed specifically for console make excellent use of a gamepad and I cannot imagine using Mouse and Keyboard for them (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark).

Gamepad is strictly superior for sidescrollers while we're on the subject of being nitpicky about control schemes.

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Keyboard and mouse, that's what I'm accustomed to using.

Gez said:

I don't like playing on a laptop keyboard.

Neither do I. My current laptop has various multimedia functions mapped to the function keys, so things can get a little interesting if I forget to press and hold the "fn" key.

Mystery Man in 3D said:

I'm left-handed and I always use the mouse with my right hand. I actually do a very good job that way!

Same here, tried left-handed mousing when I bought my first Amiga back in 1987 but with no easy way to transpose the buttons (apart from a soldering iron) it wasn't long before I switched hands.

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Guest DILDOMASTER666

B. WSAD, left-mouse fires, right-mouse jumps, space uses, anything else is for uncultured idiot plebes

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GreyGhost said:

Same here, tried left-handed mousing when I bought my first Amiga back in 1987 but with no easy way to transpose the buttons (apart from a soldering iron) it wasn't long before I switched hands.


You missed a great opportunity to write your own mouse driver. :-)

As for laptop keyboards, try a Thinkpad someday. You won't want to type on other laptops ever again...

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Keyboard and mouse. WSAD for moving, Shift for speed, E for use, Space for jump, 1 to 6 for some weapons, two mouse side buttons for plasma gun and minigun. Tried to make it as close as possible to my Quake Live config. Think I need to change it for all ports I use, otherwise I keep changing to wrong weapons...

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Given the choice I'd choose B, but recently I've been using a laptop almost exclusively so it usually ends up being A.

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B. Always B. Even when I am on a laptop; because I cannot stand that touchpad, the first thing I bought with my laptop was a wireless mouse.

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