Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
Foebane72

Trying to play with WASD is AGONY! (DEBUNKED)

Recommended Posts

Hiya!

I can sympathize with the OP. I also think WASD is not very comfortable. Long ago I said "Screw it! I'm making my own and getting use to it!" for whatever game can handle it. So I came up with...

E = Forward
D = Backward
LCtrl = Strafe Left
RAlt = Strafe Right
Tab = Target Next
Space = Jump
Q, A, W, R and S will generally get hotkeyed to whatever is best for whatever game I happen to be playing.

I think I came up with this scheme to be able to play "City of Heroes" for hours upon hours without getting cramps.

I think it really is a matter of "whatever works for you". Obviously WASD is comfortable enough for most folks that it's default.

PS: Yeah, obviously I'm Right Handed. My left hand sits comfortably with my fingers arrayed in a more or less 'arc' (pinky on Tab, ring finger on 1, middle finger on 2, index finger on E, and my thumb sits right at the edge of the space bar; my 'bottom left' of my palm sits on LCtrl). I can easily reach numbers 4 and 5, and QWRA...as well as F, C and X if I 'curl' my fingers a bit. Lots of keys to hotkey! :)

PPS: I also can't recommend highly enough for one to grab a 'multi button' mouse. Not one of those ********** "gaming mice". Maybe one day I'll try one, but then again... I have a 7 (?) button Logitech MX Lazer Mouse and I have two or three of the extra buttons hot keyed as well. Useful for repetitive tasks in a game (like looting a corpse, 'activating' something, etc).

Share this post


Link to post

I was just wondering:

Is there some kind of rule in LAN parties and cybersports tournaments where videogames are played, that force all participants to stick with exactly the same configuration?

I remember taking part in such a tournament back in 1996-97 and I wanted to configure my keys to my optimum playing ability, and they wouldn't let me! I thought that was very unfair.

Share this post


Link to post

Nowadays I can only play with WASD + Mouse, I've become accustomed to that setup. But I have the right mouse click to select the BFG 9000 and scroll up middle button for the Plasma Gun for those panic moments.

Share this post


Link to post
Foebane72 said:

I was just wondering:

Is there some kind of rule in LAN parties and cybersports tournaments where videogames are played, that force all participants to stick with exactly the same configuration?

No.

Share this post


Link to post
Maes said:

Speaking of left-handed mouse users...do they really have to swap the keys too, so that a "left click" becomes a "right click"?


No. I just keep the mouse on the left but use the buttons as they are.

Share this post


Link to post
Foebane72 said:

I was just wondering:

Is there some kind of rule in LAN parties and cybersports tournaments where videogames are played, that force all participants to stick with exactly the same configuration?


In general no, esp. if it's the kind where you bring your own computer. After all, the purpose is to see how good you are using the setup (and even computer) that's the most comfortable to you, against other players who do the same. The games chosen for competing in must also be reasonably robust and rule out any advantages that could come from the player's client-side configuration alone. I don't know how they screen participants' machines for hacks, exploits, cheat etc. in those cases, though.

However, there are exceptions, e.g. a tournament where the jury selects and preconfigures the machines themselves. That's more likely to be the case in console games' tournaments or in older computer tournaments, or with games where the client-side configuration CAN have a detectable effect on other players too. In such cases, any alteration to the client-side configuration that cannot be enforced/controlled network-wide in real-time by the jury, is -rightfully so, in most cases- banned.

Foebane72 said:

I remember taking part in such a tournament back in 1996-97 and I wanted to configure my keys to my optimum playing ability, and they wouldn't let me! I thought that was very unfair.


There might have been a specific rule about that in the tournament you took part in. Whether that'd have worked to anyone's specific advantage, I don't know. But see my comment above: unless you could bring your own computer, the jury probably didn't want players to do ANY changes to the machines they set up. Kinda like e.g. in a chess tournament, you can't really bring your own custom chessboard or pieces or activate your clock in your own, fancy style.

The above being said...it would be interesting to see a "gamepad league", "keyboard league" etc. tournament for Doom, organized under controlled conditions, and then compare stats between various broad controller categories.

Share this post


Link to post

I still use arrow keys lol...but the big ol' 0 Numpad key for use ;P
Rarely if ever use the number keys at the top for switching weapons- just scroll quacking with mouse wheel.

Share this post


Link to post
Maes said:

However, there are exceptions, e.g. a tournament where the jury selects and preconfigures the machines themselves. That's more likely to be the case in console games' tournaments or in older computer tournaments, or with games where the client-side configuration CAN have a detectable effect on other players too. In such cases, any alteration to the client-side configuration that cannot be enforced/controlled network-wide in real-time by the jury, is -rightfully so, in most cases- banned.

I actually can't think of a single console game tournament that would try to enforce such a thing, in part of the growing implementation of cloud-synced configurations. What they do enforce is approved controller standards, for obvious reasons. I believe some PC macro-based mice/keyboards are banned too in some respects, however very rarely will a PC/Console game tournament not allow you to rebind keys, especially when most top players won't actually have a 100% default control layout anyway (imagine a Doom tournament where you were forced to use the old DOS v1.9 controls).

I'm not sure about MOBAs though, I've never paid much attention to their tournament scene. I'd imagine there you could have a fairly standard one-size-fits-all scheme that would need to be under scrutiny against macros.

Share this post


Link to post

I was thinking more of a classic console tournament e.g. those organized by Nintendo in the 80s using standard NES hardware -imagine if players could use e.g. a NES Advantage joystick instead of the standard controller -if some players did and some didn't, that might create grounds for contestation later on. Simple solution: everyone uses the standard controller, period. Makes the referees' job easier.

And of course people couldn't bring their own cartridges or consoles for obvious reasons. And yet, with modern "bring you own" tournaments, you never know what your opponents are actually running on their rigs.

Share this post


Link to post

I have spindly Nosferatu hands so I usually just amp the mouse sensitivity up and lazily slide the mouse with my fingers in every game, but even then I still use WASD. Your configuration doesn't work for me, I either have to arch my fingers in an uncomfortable way to reach alt/ctrl with my thumb and pinky, or hook my index and ring over themselves to reach W/S with my middle finger.

Share this post


Link to post
Jaxxoon R said:

I have spindly Nosferatu hands so I usually just amp the mouse sensitivity up and lazily slide the mouse with my fingers in every game, but even then I still use WASD. Your configuration doesn't work for me, I either have to arch my fingers in an uncomfortable way to reach alt/ctrl with my thumb and pinky, or hook my index and ring over themselves to reach W/S with my middle finger.


Fair enough, it seems every person has different requirements.

Share this post


Link to post
dew said:

ESDF is objectively the master race option.


I wouldn't use that word so lightly if I were you. I think there are some factors that determine which control scheme feels the most comfortable for the player. I've been a child of WASD since my early days of FPS gaming and I couldn't get used to any other control scheme for the life of me. The issue for me with ESDF, for instance, is that the Shift key is a tiny bit too far to my liking if I should need to use it. It just doesn't feel comfortable to me.

Share this post


Link to post
Phml said:

Hm. Funny. Here I thought I was a leftie and used my computer mouse with my right hand, but I must have been wrong about one of these two facts all these years, seeing as the great Arctangent tells me us dirty left-hand people types are "born a certain way".

Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying.

Unless you're implying that you intentionally had yourself lobotomized or neurally rewired or whatever to alter your handedness to be that way, but I dunno why you'd do that, considering you seem pretty disgusted at people for daring to have to use one certain hand over the other.

Share this post


Link to post

I think you've gotten mixed up somewhere because him and the "my dumb annoying left-handed coworker did X!" guy are two different people.

Share this post


Link to post
Grazza said:

You are strange and different. All your friends have disabled their Windows key.

Windows key is extremely useful when working with multiple windows, especially in multi-monitor environment. You can't beat Win+Shift+Left/Right when it comes to moving windows between displays. I also use Win+Left/Right to put windows side by side and Win+Up to maximize windows all the time.

Also, my preferred way of launching programs on Windows (and GUI apps on Linux, for that matter) is pressing the Win key and typing a part of the program's name, followed by hitting Enter. That is way faster than navigating through menus with a mouse and doesn't clutter my desktop with shortcuts.

So, even though I have a hardware switch to disable the Win key on my keyboard, I never actually do it. Win key is much too useful for me to disable.

And no, none my friends have their Win key disabled :P

Share this post


Link to post
Jaxxoon R said:

I think you've gotten mixed up somewhere because him and the "my dumb annoying left-handed coworker did X!" guy are two different people.

No, I think it was quite clear that he thinks left-handed people are unwashed at best, and something far worse at worst. Not to mention, there's definitely some implications there, with the whole "born a certain way" in airquotes.

Share this post


Link to post

What's all this about disabling the Windows key? In my configuration, the Windows key is right inbetween two keys I use, and yet I've never accidentally hit it. Never.

However, one thing I've had to disable in the past has been those "Ease of Access" gizmos, because repeatedly tapping Ctrl or Alt has brought up crap like StickyKeys in the past.

Share this post


Link to post

You can always find a pre-Windows 95 PS/2 keyboard, without the Windows key. Nothing beats those nice, fat CTRL and ALT keys and satisfactorily wide SpaceBAR ;-)

Share this post


Link to post
Foebane72 said:

What's all this about disabling the Windows key? In my configuration, the Windows key is right inbetween two keys I use, and yet I've never accidentally hit it. Never.

Have you considered that other people may have different experiences to you?

Share this post


Link to post
fraggle said:

Have you considered that other people may have different experiences to you?


nope. if you have different experiences and/or opinions then foebane, then you're a freak.

Share this post


Link to post

Been using WASD for nearly two decades.

If you're getting carpal tunnel using a keyboard with any configuration then you aren't using the keyboard properly. I've seen so many people type with their wrists bent or with the wrong height set for their chair or desk and rest their wrists on the desk or keyboard (bending their wrists as they move around the keyboard or as they move the mouse) then go on to complain about how using computers is painful and causes carpal tunnel.

Share this post


Link to post

I remember playing the Super Mario XP game and because it was made for left-handed people so I had to cross my wrists/arms over eachother just to play the damn game, that was painful.

Share this post


Link to post

OK, which smart-alec changed the name of my topic title? IT HAS NOT BEEN DEBUNKED! Change it back, NOW!

EDIT: I wasn't lying when I said it hurt to use that method!

roadworx said:

nope. if you have different experiences and/or opinions then foebane, then you're a freak.


Can I ignore this Roadworx troll, somehow?

Share this post


Link to post
Foebane72 said:

OK, which smart-alec changed the name of my topic title? IT HAS NOT BEEN DEBUNKED! Change it back, NOW!

An admin, or powerful enough moderator, obviously. I'd say your demands won't have much pulling power on them.

Share this post


Link to post

It hurts you. Your experience is not universal, as has been nicely demonstrated by the other participants in this thread.

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
×