Up, Down, Left, Right vs. W,A,S,D..

2006-03-11 21:26:18

#1

DTAC: Member; +9|6759

Which you prefer?

I can't get into using W,A,S,D. Probably because I started playing games on the PC with Doom. Interested to know if older gamers like me stick with the old cursor keys and younger gamers use W,A,S,D.

2006-03-11 21:43:14

#2

tF-voodoochild: Pew Pew!; +216|6866|San Francisco

I don't think that older gamers in general stick with cursor keys, quite the contrary actually... I started out on Wolfenstein 3d, Doom, and Duke Nukem and quickly came to despise the standard configuration so I came up with my own, one that best suits my hand.

Wrap your brain around this one... TZGB. Index finger on T and G for move forward and move backward. Pinky on Z for strafe left and Thumb on B for strafe right.

In fact, most of the gamers I knew from my q2ctf days all used very customized keysets, one used the keyboard exclusively, another used two joysticks and nothing else!

I think most gamers these days were brought up on consoles and are used to being handed a specific keyset that they are forced to get used to instead of being able to play around with what works better for them personally. When these people switch onto a PC title they see the keyboard as the controller and just use whatever is given to them (WASD.) Frankly I don't know why anyone would want to use WASD, it is a rather poor layout in my opinion. I don't mind the placing of the keys as much as the location on the keyboard, it makes much more sense to me to place the main movement keys in the center of plenty of other keys for various other binds, for instance, ESDF.

2006-03-11 21:59:33

#3

[CANADA]_Zenmaster: Pope Picard II; +473|6763

I use the arrow keys, with all the keys around it in an arc for extra shit. I also use a 5 button mouse. Some games you regret not quite having all the keys around wasd but I like having a standard layout for every game, so when I go back to a game I haven't played in a long time I don't have to get the feel for it, I can just start playing with what I'm used to. Handiest buttons on the mouse gotta be the thumb and pinky buttons though, great for prone and secondary fire or zoom in.

The reason I stayed away from wasd is I'm not comfortable with the keyboard shifting my right mouse hand so far over with the keyboard directly in front of my screen; rather, I like pushing the keyboard off to the left of my desk so the numpad and arrow keys are inline with the left half of my monitor and my mouse has lots of space in line with the right half of my monitor, then my body is comfortable in front of the screen, else with wasd, your mouse hand is shifted off too far to the right.

2006-03-11 22:07:32

#4

TrollmeaT: Aspiring Objectivist; +492|6690|Colorado

My fingers are thick & knoby using wsad would be a disaster for me as I'd be hitting a bunch of other keys & getting pissed, with the arrows I dont even look at the keyboard its like I know where everything is without seeing it.

2006-03-11 22:07:42

#5

noobmurderer: Banned; +1|6643

arrow is better cuz there arent other keys right next to ur movement keys

2006-03-11 22:08:51

#6

FromTheAshes: Member; +53|6722

wasd, more comftorable so I dont get carpol tunel syndrome

2006-03-11 22:09:11

#7

Jakethe8lf: Member; +13|6658|Victoria, Australia

I use the numpad, 5 for forward, 2 for back, 1 and 3 for left and right. It's probably the best left handed config there is.

2006-03-11 22:12:04

#8

Dilbert2468: Member; +6|6758|Australia

arrows for the old game with out mouse. i couldn't use arrows now. to hard. plus with wsda ur hand is close to the weapon select keys, run, reload,. prone and crouch.

2006-03-11 22:14:05

#9

Username II: Member; +3|6651

I use the arrow keys. I've only come across one game that practically had my preferred key setup as the default. Then they patched it and suddenly WASD is the default...right...

Let's just say my keyboard is not able to use all of the commands I give it (PS/2 row limit), I guess that is efficency.

While I'm on the subject, BF2 has the worst command interface ever. Not just the defaults I mean, but the whole thing in general from menus to settings.

Last edited by Username II (2006-03-11 22:15:56)

2006-03-11 22:19:20

#10

deject: Got His War On; +37|6792|Golden, CO

I use WASD because the separation from the mouse is more natural for me.

2006-03-11 22:37:29

#11

Defiance: Member; +438|6689

I use WASD. I've tried arrow keys. I've found that the sorrounding keys were nearly inaccesible and as with deject, it just felt better.

the keyboard I use it the Logitech Media Pro keyboard and it has plenty of space inbetween keys. If that's a problem for you, you either have a cancerous growth in your fingers, have a tiny KB or dont have fine motor control.

Last edited by Defiance (2006-03-11 22:38:52)

2006-03-11 22:40:22

#12

MooseRyder: Member; +37|6673|Montréal, Canada

arrow keys are usually use by new poeple that start playin first person shooter games.

But when u get good at it, u realize fast enough that W A S D do the job a lot better.

2006-03-12 01:02:32

#13

BF2Craglyeye: Member; +72|6691|Australia

When i first started playing BF2 i tried with the arrows, but all the butttons i need were on the other side, and there werent enough keys around the arrows to assign them too.

So I use wasd.

I have a piece of "Blu-tack"(the stuff that holds your posters to walls) on the "R" key so my hand doesnt drift over and I end up exiting a vehicle instead of going forward. Plus it makes "Reload" more pronounced.

2006-03-12 01:27:31

#14

NuclearBlasted: Member; +8|6711

I'm kinda stuck with the arrow keys, since I used them in the good ol' days of Worms 2 and Worms Armageddon. You couldn't chance the configuration of the keys, so I guess it just stuck with me.

2006-03-12 01:47:29

#15

khmer: Member; +86|6695|Central California

I used the arrow keys during the Doom days but my hand and wrist started to hurt. I thought I should try out the WASD keys. It was weird at first, it took time to adjust but I got a hang of it. Now it's second nature.

2006-03-12 01:54:29

#16

Rosse_modest: Member; +76|6794|Antwerp, Flanders

Arrow keys all the way! My sprint, jump and reload keys are nearby on the KB. For switching weapons i stick with the mousewheel and enter vehicle and prone are also on my mouse...

2006-03-12 02:43:53

#17

junkpi1e: Captain Input; +4|6647|Sunshine Coast, Queensland

I use WADS, have for every game though I have tried cursor keys for certain games to test effectiveness. After playing World of Warcraft competitively as a mage, you learn to use every single key anywhere near wads, and the ctrl-variants of it.

1-6, Q, E, R, T, F, G, Z, X, C.

As for Battlefield II, all default, don't even touch the additional mouse buttons. Beautiful interface.

2006-03-12 02:53:15

#18

YoBabysDaddy: Member; +31|6842|St. Louis, MO

WASD for me.

Up, Down, Left, Right	17%	17% - 9
W, A, S, D	82%	82% - 42
Total: 51

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