Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
Coraline

WASD or Arrow Keys?

Recommended Posts

When I first started playing doom, I used it's default controls. Nowadays I use WASD to walk forward, back, and sidestepping, and left and right arrow keys to turn. I used to use up and down arrow keys to look up and down but now I just let autoaim shoot things that are at different heights than me.

Share this post


Link to post
Graf Zahl said:

I'm left handed so WASD is of no use to me. I use the number pad plus mouse with the left hand.


I'm left handed yet WASD is what I use, and I use the mouse in my right hand.


Ok,that's a lie, I"m ambidextrous, but I find using my left hand for mouse movement so so awkward. >_<



Randy of Zdoom fame uses QWE + Mouse2.

Share this post


Link to post
Gez said:

Neither arrow keys nor WASD:


How about trackballs and light pens or a combination of pedals/steering wheel/light gun?

Share this post


Link to post

well, q3a has pretty much set ESDF as a standard over WASD and i've seen some weird key assignments for doom, too.

Share this post


Link to post
Csonicgo said:

Randy of Zdoom fame uses QWE + Mouse2.

Really? I almost do that too (QWES). The first game I played where I was forced to use the mouse was System Shock, and those were the controls (A/S were for turning, not strafing). When I gave up trying to play Unreal and Quake DM using only the keyboard I kept the same config out of habit.

Share this post


Link to post

I use only keyboard with the configuration: arrows + CTRL to shoot + A and D to strafe (left and right, respectively). I tried and I still try sometimes to change my keyboard configuration into WASD, but I simply can't... I am too accustomed to the "classic" configuration... =P ...but I know that it limits my abilities in DM! =(

Share this post


Link to post

I use the arrow keys (which is what I prefer) when I have sufficient distance from them to my mouse, if that makes sense. Basically, I try to keep from straining my hands too much and it works most of the time. However, I'll also use the WASD keys as well if I don't have enough space on my desk to keep from cramping my hands.

Share this post


Link to post
dew said:

well, q3a has pretty much set ESDF as a standard over WASD and i've seen some weird key assignments for doom, too.


because you get some more keys around your movement keys this way, which you can use for selecting weapons or whatever. i haven't bothered with getting used to another setup as i don't have that much time for gaming nowadays, but ESDF looks more practical since being able to assign my weapons to keys near the movement keys is crucial to me. so i'll try it. for example, i can draw the BFG (bound to ctrl) in an instant using the pinky, while reaching for [7] as in vanilla with a cyber in your face results often in swearing.

using the arrow keys might be more intuitive, but they're uncomfortably far from the upper 6 key block imo.

Steeveeo said:

Used to use Arrows, but then my hands started cramping on a regular basis, so I went WASD.

That choice further hardened when I got a gamer keyboard from my friend (with those separate WASD keys with all the buttons "strategically positioned" around them).


something like this?



video of a guy using it

strictly for gaming i like the wolf claw with the many keys around my left hand better than the competing merc stealth, which again is more usable in a plain keyboard role.


ok, some more bits on controllers:

- sometimes the lower mobility of a keyboard only setup can be an advantage. especially with autoaim, on cramped maps where mobility is restricted anyway, and on slaughtermaps which require very disciplined play. many mousers have a deathmatch style run&gun approach which looks cool but fails when hordes of monsters are awaken and trap you. getting a shaky aim with a keyboard is much harder than with a mouse (rather jam the board with too many key presses).

- for mousers, a somewhat lowered sens leads to a less flashy, more consistent gameplay. i think that today's demos show generally a more streamlined movement and lower sens than demos from 10-12 years ago. that might stem from pixel shooting in modern games and new mice, but apparently helps in doom's close ranged fights too.

- anyone here who still uses a ball mouse? for whatever reason.

- those who have quake2 can check out diary of a gamepadder... it's a classic ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Csonicgo said:

Randy of Zdoom fame uses QWE + Mouse2.

david_a said:

Really? I almost do that too (QWES).


QAOP, speccy games ftw. Still use part of that nowadays, the mouse replaces OP for turning plus WE is for strafing. So you could say I'm the same as Randy but with A for moving backwards. Fire, jump and crouch/scoreboard on the mouse with weapon/item scroll/use item on the wheel depending what game/map/mode it is.

Share this post


Link to post
Torr Samaho said:

something like this?


TOO MANY BUTTONS.

Seriously, I have pretty fudgey fingers, so I'll end up hitting a lot the wrong keys by accident if my movement keys aren't isolated from the others. That's mainly why I hate WASD so much. With the arrow keys, I can tell exactly where my fingers are without looking down at the keyboard. And yeah, I can type without looking, but when I relate keys on a keyboard to playing a game, my fingers are as good as clueless.

Share this post


Link to post

I'm actually left handed, so I use the number keypad. I use the 0 key for jump so I can easily strike it with my thumb.

I will actually use WASD for some modern games like half-life because I had trouble setting it up with keypad. ( I just push my keyboard over to the right.)

For playing Doom95 (doom with no mouse), I use the number keypad and the Ctrl Alf Space keys for my left hand.

Share this post


Link to post
Maes said:

OK WTF, I gotta try this: Doom with a flight sim joystick. If the throttle acted as a collective/height control, you would have a decent helicopter sim right there.


Well you gotta remember this was in the 90s; I'm not even sure if it had a throttle, I know we didn't use it if it did. We just used the stick for movement and a few of the buttons for fire, open and strafe enable.

Share this post


Link to post
r_rr said:

I'm actually left handed, so I use the number keypad. I use the 0 key for jump so I can easily strike it with my thumb.


I always wondered: does a left-handed guy really have to use mirrored implements/controls for everything? (see my previous post about it)

I have a friend who is left-handed, and while he uses the mouse with his left hand he doesn't reverse the buttons, while he plays keyboard games with the same controls I always did.

Share this post


Link to post
Maes said:

I always wondered: does a left-handed guy really have to use mirrored implements/controls for everything? (see my previous post about it)


Not everybody reacts the same, and there are varying degrees of left-handedness. Clicking with the middle finger instead of the forefinger isn't difficult. There are some applications where you right-click more often than you left-click. On the other hand, if you have a mouse with thumb-buttons, like mine:

Then you have to either use it in your right hand or find a mirrored version for your left hand.

Sometimes, the most surprising things need to be mirrored: would you have guessed that scissors do?

(I'm right-handed by the way, I just know a few left-handed people and have seen how they react differently to things designed for right-handed people.)

Share this post


Link to post

I envy left-handed people. The world is designed around righties, so they learn since they're pretty young to get pretty good at stuff with their right hands. I'm a rightie... I can't do a DAMN thing with my left hand lol cause 99.9% of my life I don't have to.

Share this post


Link to post
Airman266 said:

I can't do a DAMN thing with my left hand lol cause 99.9% of my life I don't have to.


Just try to do things, your left hand will get used to do things.

Share this post


Link to post
ducon said:

Just try to do things, your left hand will get used to do things.


I had read over at some obscure programmers' forum that learning to use the mouse with the left hand left the right one free for coding, but it sounds like a lot of trouble.

About left-handed instruments and tools again, OK, I know what goes on with the scissors, but things like completely mirrored keyboards or pianos just sound like a joke to me.

Share this post


Link to post

WADS.

I'm a rebel, I use a left-handed coffee mug, but I'm right handed!
I also have a left-handed water-bottle and a left handed TV remote.

Share this post


Link to post

This will boil your mind. I bowl with my left hand, but I find it comfortable to play golf and baseball right handed. I also play right handed guitar. I guess I'm kind of ambidexterous. When it comes to throwing something, I'm lefty.

Share this post


Link to post

I always use the arrow key's when I play Doom.

Though I use the arrows and mouse in modern fps.

Share this post


Link to post

I use a PS2 controller.

D-pad moves me forward and back, and turns me left and right. Triangle is to shoot, circle is to use, square is to sprint and X is to jump. Start is to open the menu (so it functions like pausing the game), Select is to open the automap. L1 and R1 strafe left and right, and L2 and R2 cycle through my weapons.

This set-up means I rarely need to touch my keyboard when playing Doom. The only times I ever need to use it are to open the console, or to shift my view up or down, or centre it (I don't use mouselook, so I have these buttons enabled just in case mouselook is needed for certain sections, or to see architecture I normally wouldn't with it turned off).

Share this post


Link to post

The first computer FPS I played with a keyboard instead of a joystick was the demo for Unreal Tournament, so I've always used WASD. I still remember not knowing how to move and then hitting the W key, thinking it stood for "Walk"

Share this post


Link to post

When I first started out I used arrow keys, ctrl, and space. Nowadays I use WASD and mouse.. It's more comfortable for me since it allows me to jump, crouch, open doors, and move with one hand while I aim and shoot with the other..

But... It would be fun to go back to the old controls for more challenging "oldschool" doom play..

Share this post


Link to post
r_rr said:

This will boil your mind. I bowl with my left hand, but I find it comfortable to play golf and baseball right handed. I also play right handed guitar. I guess I'm kind of ambidexterous. When it comes to throwing something, I'm lefty.


Called a 'switch-hitter' in baseball usually. Someone who uses one hand dominantly but stands the other. It is sometimes the result of the way your eyes are, and which is dominant.

For controls, I use Arrow Keys + mouse. Left/Right arrows are strafe, mouse for turn/look. The two thumb buttons for jump/switch to shotgun (Favorite weapon ;)), and the wheel for weapon switch.

Share this post


Link to post

When I first began Dooming, at the tender age of 5, I used the default keyboard setup of course, the thought of using the mouse had never crossed my mind. I used the keyboard for quite a while until I read some websites for deathmatching, to switch to mouse and WASD. I used to think the WASD configuration was strange and gave awkward controls when I first used it in modern games.

After trying it in Doom along with the mouse, there was no going back. I seldom use keyboard now unless in Doom 95 when playing demos or nostalgia. The WASD and mouse allows for much more fluid control that the keyboard never allowed me to have. The alliance with WASD had allowed me to beat Ultimate Doom/Doom II on Ultra-violence, when with keyboard, it was suicide for me practically.

Share this post


Link to post
Aldaraia said:

When I first began Dooming, at the tender age of 5, I used the default keyboard setup of course, the thought of using the mouse had never crossed my mind.


Same here. I remember when me and my brother were first introduced to moving with the keyboard and shooting with the mouse at the same time. My brother was playing SkyNET, he got to this part where he had to aim a rocket launcher and drive a jeep at the same time. Not having any experience with mouse+keyboard gameplay, he called me up to his room to aim the rocket launcher while he drove with the keyboard.

Share this post


Link to post

I started with the DOS default keys.

I am also left handed. For me, moving to WASD would be counter productive. So, I still use the arrow keys and I hold my mouse with my left hand. In some games, I use the number pad. This is usually for games that have some kind of leaning option ans so 7 and 9 will be lean left and right. I can certainly see why WASD would be good for a right-handed person though.

Maes said:

I never quite got why a left handed person must/should be purely left handed for everything: I have a few left-handed friends, and none of them needs to use completely mirrored keyboards, specially mirrored tools etc. Not everything in a left-handed guy's life must be specular: e.g. said friend uses the exact same controls I use for games, and a normal right-handed mouse with left clicking on the...left button.


Try and do everything with a left handed set up for a while and see how you get on, then think about all us lefties who exist in a world that assumes right handedness. You should hear my right-handed friends moaning like bitches shortly after they ask "can I borrow your computer for a minute", yet I can jump between left and right handed setups without a moment's thought because us lefties have to get used to adapting.

Actually, like more lefties than most people think, I'm pretty ambidextrous and can even write reasonably well with either hand. In fact, I think it's something like approximately 70% of the population are fully right handed, 10% are fully left handed and the remaining 20% are often classed as left-handed but are not strongly left handed and may do certain things right-handed and other things left-handed, or are properly ambidextrous. So, yeah, when I'm at work I don't bother switching to a left-handed setup.

However, I am better with a left handed setup and, for applications where it matters (primarily games and graphics applications for me) the difference is quite significant. When I first got a computer, I just accepted the default right-handed setup. In fact, I didn't even consider using it the other way around because every computer that I had seen had a right-handed setup. Then one day I realised that it might make a difference to use it the other way around. I tried it and instantly my skills improved. I mean it was a real "Doh! - of course" moment when I suddenly began to push that pointer around the screen with far more accuracy. Then eventually I realised that reversing the buttons might also make a difference. This was in the days when such options were rare so I took the mouse apart and rewired it. :P Fortunately, it was a mouse that was easy to do that with. Again, there was an instant improvement in my skill with the mouse. I was surprised just how much difference that made, but it really did. Primary clicking with the index finger rather than the middle finger makes quite a difference to me.

So, yes, it's not just that lefties "must" be purely left-handed for everything, and with so many lefties actually either not being as fully left handed as most people are fully right handed, and with so many lefties being used to just coping with right handed equipment, it certainly isn't the case that they must be left-handed for everything. However, in my case it made a very noticeable difference to use a left handed setup with my computer.

Oh, and certain bits of equipment are actually made to work better in the right hand than the left. eg scissors. The way the blades cross mean that, when used naturally in the right hand, the blades are pushed together to meet in a more efficient cutting way. However, although I tend to use scissors right handed, like many lefties, I have perfected using right handed scissors in the left hand by pulling back with the thumb and pushing forward with the fingers (ie the opposite to what you do naturally when using scissors). So now I can use right handed scissors easily in my left or right hand. What does that mean? It means the nails on my right hand are as nicely cut as the ones on my left. :P See, that's why so many lefties end up being adaptable and able to use right-handed setups without much difficulty: we are used to it.

Now for a bug-bear of mine. Ever bought an left handed gaming mouse? No? Didn't think so. They just don't exist as far as I can tell (and I have looked). In fact, there are only one or two left handed mice on the market, period. Last time I looked (which wasn't long ago) they were not particularly suitable for gaming for a number of reasons. If you do use a mouse with the left hand, then those "ergonomic" mice that are "styled to fit perfectly in your hand" are, in fact, styled perfectly to be pretty damned uncomfortable and make sure that any additional buttons are almost impossible to reach. For gaming purposes, the best you can usually expect to get is a symmetrical mouse. However, I would love to use one of the top quality Logitech gaming mice. They feel superb and really do fit my right hand perfectly. Unfortunately, I don't use my mouse in my right hand and Logitech don't provide a left handed option.

[edit] Heh, I just realised that Gez mentioned the mouse and scissors thing already. [/edit]

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×