I converted to WASD

djoye

djoye

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
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Back in my day, games didn't have WASD as a default configuration so I used the arrow keys to move and CTRL to fire and ALT to strafe. Years later a friend asked why I wasn't using the mouse and I ended up inventing my own control scheme to work with the mouse. I recently got frustrated with games having buttons that couldn't be properly re-mapped and I decided that I'd learn to use WASD.

It took me about two weeks to get completely comfortable with the basic movements and then another 2 weeks to get comfortable with things like flashlight and crouch. I really hated that crouch was at C, but I seem to have finally adjusted to that.

My original layout was:
Forward: Right-mouse
Back: T
Strafe left: E
Strafe right: R
Crouch: F
Reload: D
Fire: Left-mouse
Alt-fire (or zoom): G
Use: W

...and others in the general area depending on the game requirements.

I'm glad I finally switched since the WASD layout seems reasonable and standardized; going in and remapping buttons in every game was often a pain, so switching will make my life that much easier.
 
I remember back when I used arrow keys...had to move the keyboard over to the left. What a pain.

Switched to WASD and never looked back.
 
I moved my keyboard 2 feet to the left and used arrows and the number pad when I first started playing CS 1.4.
 
the only thing I hate is that goddamn windows button way too close

fortunately my ducky has a switch to disable it
 
Back in 1996 when I found out about Quake on LAN, I remember trying to learn WASD. I actually screwed it up and used ASDX (A forward, X backwards) and it took me years to adjust to WASD. I still remember sitting in the school computer lab absolutely blown away with how well keyboard and mouse worked together. It was so easy to pick up.
 
ESDF is so much better than WASD. It really should be an optional choice in games. I just use WASD unless I'm playing a MMO that is competitive like World of Warcraft PVP. Then it's ESDF all the way. ;)

I hate remapping keys like you.
 
Dude, its ESDF, WASD is an obsolete control scheme that was made back in the Quake days when you didn't need more than a few buttons to play the game. People just won't adapt, their loss so I don't give a shit.

ESDF enables TWICE the amount of keys for your pinky finger to reach, plus putting your fingers in the ESDF formation is the natural finger position for typing. Your index finger already feels the notch on the F key.

I have no idea how it took the OP 20 years to adapt to default key bindings?? :confused::confused:

It is very fucking annoying how I have to remap controls for every god damn game I play, one of these days game devs will realize the advantages of ESDF and maybe implement two default control schemes.
 
MooCow said:
Dude, its ESDF, WASD is an obsolete control scheme that was made back in the Quake days when you didn't need more than a few buttons to play the game. People just won't adapt, their loss so I don't give a shit.

ESDF enables TWICE the amount of keys for your pinky finger to reach, plus putting your fingers in the ESDF formation is the natural finger position for typing. Your index finger already feels the notch on the F key.

I have no idea how it took the OP 20 years to adapt to default key bindings?? :confused::confused:

It is very fucking annoying how I have to remap controls for every god damn game I play, one of these days game devs will realize the advantages of ESDF and maybe implement two default control schemes.
Click to expand...

Fuck yeah ESDF brings me back to my Tribes days.
 
I had one game, EverQuest, that I refused to use WASD for. Everything has always been WASD.
 
jojo69 said:
the only thing I hate is that goddamn windows button way too close

fortunately my ducky has a switch to disable it
Click to expand...

pretty much all name brand gaming keyboards have locks for that now.
 
A lot of games also disable the Windows key by software means. I don't have the Windows key locked on my Logitech Keyboard at all and the Windows key has no effect in game.

It would actually be nice to be able to Bind the Windows key to a specific game control function.
 
MooCow said:
Dude, its ESDF, WASD is an obsolete control scheme that was made back in the Quake days when you didn't need more than a few buttons to play the game. People just won't adapt, their loss so I don't give a shit.

ESDF enables TWICE the amount of keys for your pinky finger to reach, plus putting your fingers in the ESDF formation is the natural finger position for typing. Your index finger already feels the notch on the F key.

I have no idea how it took the OP 20 years to adapt to default key bindings?? :confused::confused:

It is very fucking annoying how I have to remap controls for every god damn game I play, one of these days game devs will realize the advantages of ESDF and maybe implement two default control schemes.
Click to expand...
I had a friend who tried to get me in to ESDF but I never liked it. I know you have access to more buttons on the pinky but I rarely actually found that useful and I think because I'll often take my hands off the keyboard (during cutscenes, waiting to respawn, sitting somewhere camping, etc) WASD is easier to find than ESDF when I put my hand back on the keyboard, trying to use ESDF I kept accidentally putting my hand on RDFG or WASD by accident.

WASD all the way for me. I don't even remember when I made the transition from the arrow keys to WASD, the transition was pretty smooth for me.
 
WASD is far superior to arrow keys. You got the be a zombie to still use the arrows keys. But for driving with keyboard the turning can be on arrows and the gas and brake and gearing got to be on something near WASD.
 
MooCow said:
You being more used to WASD doesn't make ESDF inferior... I think you didn't give ESDF enough time to adjust to.
Click to expand...

I never said it was inferior, I said I never liked it ;) I tried it for a while until I noticed the way my friend used his keyboard was quite different to me and it made sense why he preferred ESDF while I preferred WASD so I gave up trying (especially since it was a pain in the arse every time you start a new game having to remap the damned keys). I got used to ESDF enough that when I went to his house to play games I didn't bother remapping back to WASD, but I never liked it enough to swap to it on my own PC.
 
In fact I should even move to ESDF, it's obvious it is superior but may take some times that I'm willing to spend now to get used.
 
Arrow keys plus mouse 4 lyfe

Since I have terrible muscle memory I need space between keys or I'll hit the wrong ones. Wasd is too packed together for me, so the extra dead space is good
 
Fortunately for me, by the time I started gaming on PC WSAD was already the default setup for FPS games.

Did try ESDF, but I felt the control key was a little too far that I had to stretch my last finger to hit it. Even Shift key was more comfortable with WSAD for me. Maybe I just have small hands :eek:
 
MooCow said:
Dude, its ESDF, WASD is an obsolete control scheme that was made back in the Quake days when you didn't need more than a few buttons to play the game. People just won't adapt, their loss so I don't give a shit.

ESDF enables TWICE the amount of keys for your pinky finger to reach, plus putting your fingers in the ESDF formation is the natural finger position for typing. Your index finger already feels the notch on the F key.

I have no idea how it took the OP 20 years to adapt to default key bindings?? :confused::confused:

It is very fucking annoying how I have to remap controls for every god damn game I play, one of these days game devs will realize the advantages of ESDF and maybe implement two default control schemes.
Click to expand...

this
 
Hornet said:
Fortunately for me, by the time I started gaming on PC WSAD was already the default setup for FPS games.
Click to expand...

I remember now that it's because BF1 that had a very poor binding system and a default to WSAD that make me use this instead of the arrows.
 
jaguax said:
Crouch is C? Ewwww. Crouch = CTRL. Always. :)
Click to expand...
Crouch is Z for me. Here's a general overview of how I setup my key bindings:

Constant key bindings - these I do not deviate from:

E - Forward
D - Back
S - strafe left
F - strafe right
Space - jump
Z - duck/crouch
T - reload
Press and hold Shift - Run
Tab - score board

If proning is allowed in the game:

X - lay prone

If leaning is allowed in the game:

W/R - lean left/right

Other common bindings:

G - grenade
Q - enter vehicle/exit vehicle/use button
A - primary weapon
V - Cycle rate of fire/fire select
C - pick up weapon/drop

That's just the gist of it, some of the non-movement keys can be bound to the mouse button (I use a Logitech G700s). Weapon selection by default is mouse wheel up/down, but if the weapon is important enough, it gets its own key binding which is keypad number 3 up above E. I replaced my number 3 key with a key from a different keyboard so that its raised and taller than the rest of the number keys. This makes it easier to locate blindly.

I also replaced other keys to raise them higher to make them easier to hold down. I did this for a lot of my pinky keys, such as TAB, CAPS LOCK, Q, and Z.
 
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ESDF is overrated, tried it, didn't like it. And there is only one extra button I can comfortably reach compared to WSAD. Plus then I can't reach CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, which are larger buttons compared to the letters, much easier to press with the thumb or pinky finger.

With WSAD I have Q,E,R,F, Í, Y, X,C,V, SPACE, LEFT SHIFT, LEFT CTRL, LEFT ALT, plus the numbers from 1-to 4 that I can easily use. I mean C'mon if a game needs more keys than that then fuck it. I rarely use more than 4-5 hotkeys in a game anyway.

I switched from arrow keys to the numpad at first. Then I went to WSAD around 99 ish.
 
djoye said:
Back in my day, games didn't have WASD as a default configuration so I used the arrow keys to move and CTRL to fire and ALT to strafe. Years later a friend asked why I wasn't using the mouse and I ended up inventing my own control scheme to work with the mouse. I recently got frustrated with games having buttons that couldn't be properly re-mapped and I decided that I'd learn to use WASD.

It took me about two weeks to get completely comfortable with the basic movements and then another 2 weeks to get comfortable with things like flashlight and crouch. I really hated that crouch was at C, but I seem to have finally adjusted to that.

My original layout was:
Forward: Right-mouse
Back: T
Strafe left: E
Strafe right: R
Crouch: F
Reload: D
Fire: Left-mouse
Alt-fire (or zoom): G
Use: W

...and others in the general area depending on the game requirements.

I'm glad I finally switched since the WASD layout seems reasonable and standardized; going in and remapping buttons in every game was often a pain, so switching will make my life that much easier.
Click to expand...



eww those key binds... how the hell were you able to play like that, i mean i played with arrow keys back in the day but mine was way simpler..

up: forward
down: back
left: strafe left
right strafe right
delete: crouch
end: prone
rctrl: jump
page down: use key
keypad 0: grenade

mouse did all the other important shit..

but that was probably 15-17 years ago.. switched to WASD when counterstrike used it as the default keys and have used it ever since. whats even more sad is i actually remember that binding, but i can't remember what i ate for lunch today.. i think something is wrong with me.
 
I remember using arrow keys in the original Red Faction and other games around that time, playing it on a laptop with the little nub mouse in the center of the keyboard - I would place my left hand across the base of the laptop to use the arrow keys, then put my right hand over the top of my left forearm to use the mouse, making and X with my arms across the laptop lol

What a pain that used to be lol


So glad when I finally gave in and adapted to WASD, never looked back. I have tried other methods (ESDF, TFGH, etc) but I have such a hard time breaking WASD habits, and go back to it within a few hours. I dont mind.
 
I use a G13 for my FPS games, it's more comfortable for me
bf-hardline-setup.jpg
 
Zepher said:
I use a G13 for my FPS games, it's more comfortable for me[/IMG]
Click to expand...

I use a Razer Nostromo but yeah, same idea. Using a regular keyboard for gaming makes my hand cramp up, and having extra buttons available to my thumb only makes sense to me.
 
as a south paw...

I still use the numpad for almost everything and the arrow keys. they are perfectly located for thumb use.
 
Honestly the best way to do it - and I haven't done it this way due to just not being able to push myself to adapt.. asdf, left, right, forward, back.. ensures that you can move immediately in any direction at any time. Wasd leaves either a front or back key uncovered and thusly you need to cross/change keys in order to actuate.

You'd map jump or crouch to a mouse key if necessary to have those while running/moving.
 
M76 said:
ESDF is overrated, tried it, didn't like it. And there is only one extra button I can comfortably reach compared to WSAD. Plus then I can't reach CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, which are larger buttons compared to the letters, much easier to press with the thumb or pinky finger.

With WSAD I have Q,E,R,F, Í, Y, X,C,V, SPACE, LEFT SHIFT, LEFT CTRL, LEFT ALT, plus the numbers from 1-to 4 that I can easily use. I mean C'mon if a game needs more keys than that then fuck it. I rarely use more than 4-5 hotkeys in a game anyway.

I switched from arrow keys to the numpad at first. Then I went to WSAD around 99 ish.
Click to expand...

I admit your right. Did not think about that control is too far.
 
I don't want to use ESDF because it's not a default option in most games. One of the primary reasons I switched to WASD was because of constantly having to remap keys and remapping being flaky in many games; the damn chat dialog box key in Killing Floor 2 is the Y key, which can't be unmapped for some stupid reason, so it was too close to my T (back) key and I'd sometimes unintentionally open the chat box.

ESDF does sound good for games that have a greater number of binds, but for most games I think WASD is adequate.

I wanna say that it was UE3-based games that seem to often suck at button remapping.
 
I've only been using WASD for about 4-5 years now, so I feel OP's pain. I used to use the numpad (movement=8426, jump/crouch=PgUp/PgDn=9/3, Reload=+,Use=Enter, plenty of keys around and to the left for mapping other functions), everything neat and orderly and logically labeled, but there are so many games that were a huge pain to get mapped to those keys. And now that I game mostly from the couch on wireless KB/M, reaching over to the numpad doesn't work, so I finally made the switch to WASD.

But I have to say OP's old layout with T for back and E and R for left/right is just nuts. Looks completely random and non-intuitive to me. I could see it being a pain to re-learn after getting used to that, but I think you'll be a lot better in the long run.
 
Nice to see someone else using mouse for movement OP. I am somewhere in between WASD and ESDF, but movement forward and back is on the mouse. My current BF4 setup looks like this.

Forward: Left Mouse (yup, you read that right).
Back: Right mouse
Strafe left: S
Strafe right: D
Fire: F (of course)
Reload: G
Alt-fire (or zoom): Q
Crouch: A
Prone: Z
Grenade: R
Sprint: Shift
Jump: Ctrl
Use, in/out: Space
Fire Selector: B (For bullets! I go to single shot a lot of the rifles...SCAR-H in HC single shot is a beast)
Toggle: T (laser, flashlights, etc).
Numbers 1-5 for weapon selection
Y,U,I for ingame chat: All, Team, Squad.
I dont think I actually use E at the present time, or have forgotten what I mapped it too...

When in vehicles it is ESDF for movement and the mouse shoots.

It started with Rainbow Six and I have been using it ever since. I have often though about switching it up to the more traditional, but somehow this feels more natural.

I have to remap every game, but the couple times I have contemplated using the standard WASD that a game may ship with, the loss of the extra row on the left was felt.

Works for me most of the time so I stick with it. BF2 was painful in the beginning when I could not remap until the patch, so ability to remap is paramount in game selection. I was simply cannon fodder on the battlefield field. Quite funny really...
 
topslop1 said:
Honestly the best way to do it - and I haven't done it this way due to just not being able to push myself to adapt.. asdf, left, right, forward, back.. ensures that you can move immediately in any direction at any time. Wasd leaves either a front or back key uncovered and thusly you need to cross/change keys in order to actuate.

You'd map jump or crouch to a mouse key if necessary to have those while running/moving.
Click to expand...

When I use WASD I tend to lay my fingers across the keys, I don't curl my fingers up (as I would when I type). This means I can hit W with the tip of my finger then choose to either lift the finger and hit A or alternatively just rock my finger backward to hit the A key with the slightly lower portion of my finger without any delay/crossing/changing keys.

But I tend to be dynamic when I'm playing FPS games, I don't religiously have my hand in the same position at all times, which is part of what makes WASD better for me than ESDF because WASD is easier to find as I move my hand around.
 
M76 said:
ESDF is overrated, tried it, didn't like it. And there is only one extra button I can comfortably reach compared to WSAD. Plus then I can't reach CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, which are larger buttons compared to the letters, much easier to press with the thumb or pinky finger.

With WSAD I have Q,E,R,F, Í, Y, X,C,V, SPACE, LEFT SHIFT, LEFT CTRL, LEFT ALT, plus the numbers from 1-to 4 that I can easily use. I mean C'mon if a game needs more keys than that then fuck it. I rarely use more than 4-5 hotkeys in a game anyway.
Click to expand...

I 100% agree.

I used to use arrow keys. I believe it was Half-life 1 that made me start using WASD. Ever since my hand automatically goes to WAD ctrl (or maybe shift depending on the game) space.
 
I also used ESDF during the quake days.
I got sick of having to remap my keys all the time so I switched to WASD.
ALthough ESDF is better in theory, WASD works fine for 99% of games, and being the default key bindings makes it a no brainer...
I use shift for crouch though.
 
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