WASD: Why???

Cali3350 said:
Its far easier to hit the "peripheral" keys (like crouch, walk, etc) with your pinky then your index finger.
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Hmm. When I play fps games, and I am idle, my left index finger rests on the right arrow, the middle finger rests on either the up or down arrow, and my right finger rests on the left arrow.

When I duck, my pinky presses the right ctrl key. When I sprint, my pinky presses the right shift key.

When I reload, my ring finger tests to go for the delete key.

Dropping a weapon, my middle finger tends to go for the end key, and scoping or weapon special function, I think my index finger will go for the page down key.

Index finger also presses 1 on the num keypad to quick switch to primary weapon, 4 on the num keypad to quick switch to knife, 2 on the num keypad to quick switch to secondary weapon and insert on the num keypad to switch to grenades.

Well, at least in Counter-Strike/Source games.

In RO2 it's a little different, and I can't remember the specifics for other game, as I haven't played them in a while.
 
Use to swear by the arrows, then bought a Zboard when they came out.. Ever since then its been WASD. Its just more comfortable for me..
 
I do it because I honestly dont want to remap keys. I'll use whatever a game uses for default most of the time - if, for example, I play Hidden and Dangerous 2, I leave the keys bound to the arrow keys/keys around there because it just feels right for the game. Whatever a game usually has, as long as it makes sense and is smooth for control, I'll use.
 
Because of the arm spacing and comfort, but more in general, I think it's most common because Half-Life had them on default, and a lot of people played that + CS.
 
i use wasd because it was default, i never thought arrow keys were a good idea.

I do see what you are saying, but there is no reason to move it to arrow keys, they are not superior in any way to wasd, and wasd has a bunch of keys near it, plus you don't have to move your keyboard, plus its near all the other keyboard shortcuts for windows (like alt tab)

The only time i've ever had people complain about wasd was because they couldn't get it through their heads that w was forward, s was backwards, and a/d were left/right (though they are the kind of person who do the index finger on w with their palm raised so they can see the keys, so this probably doesn't apply to what OP is talking about)
 
Zarathustra[H];1038413347 said:
I have used the following keyboard layout for all my FPS gaming since the original DOOM/Quake days (and to a lesser extend, Wolfenstein 3D)

Code: 
Move forward:  Up arrow
Move backwards: Down arrow
Strafe left: Left arrow
Strafe Right: Right Arrow.
Fire: Mouse 1
Jump: Mouse 2 (same as original Doom/Quake controls)
Mouse:  Invert Y axis

Then over the years I have bit by bit worked in other standard keys.

Code: 
Crouch: right ctrl
Run modifier: Right shift
Use: Enter
reload: Delete (over arrow keys)
drop weapon: End (over arrow keys)
Scope/weapon special function: Page Down (over arrow keys)
Weapon quick switch: Dedicated buttons on numerical keypad)

Do you use WASD? If so why?

Do you use another non-standard gaming keyboard layout? If so why? What do you use?
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I put my hand on that setup and tried to hit those other keys; waaay too far to reach comfortably! Delete? That's far away! That pretty much explains WASD right there.

and no; I don't have tiny girl hands..
 
One thing about WASD that I don't like is that if I ever do pick my hand up, you have to actively hunt those keys down in a sea of other keys. Random other commands get lost in there, too.
With the arrows, there's no mistaking where things are in a pinch.
 
Domingo said:
One thing about WASD that I don't like is that if I ever do pick my hand up, you have to actively hunt those keys down in a sea of other keys. Random other commands get lost in there, too.
With the arrows, there's no mistaking where things are in a pinch.
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After you've used it for a while you don't have to look or think about it, you know where to put your hand based off where the side of the tab, ctrl, caps, tilde, etc all sit. It screwed me up when I bought a keyboard with macro keys down the side. Aside from the fact I never use the macro keys, they initially kept making me put my hand down in the wrong spot because the extra column of keys was screwing up my WASD reference.
 
If your wondering about WASD, be clad the Marathon players didn't win out and we have numpad instead. Biggest thing about WASD are all the keys around it, I have every key near assigned to something and tend to assign the same keys for all games I play.
 
The arrow keys don't allow you to bind over 30 usable keys (with modifiers) without moving your left hand.

If you have to move your left hand to press anything while playing, you are doing it wrong.
 
hell, I couldn't play any FPS without a Joystick almost 20 years ago. :eek: Was dragged kicking and screaming to WASD.. everything other variant (ESDF, Arrow Keys, Belkin controller) now feels unnatural.
 
kcthebrewer said:
The arrow keys don't allow you to bind over 30 usable keys (with modifiers) without moving your left hand.

If you have to move your left hand to press anything while playing, you are doing it wrong.
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It makes me feel cramped. I feel like If I were to play using WASD keys for any extended period of time, my had would cramp up with everything so close together.

There is a little motion in my hand when I play with arrow keys, but not enough that I still can't reach all the keys at the same time.

My fingers not being used for the other keys still remain on the arrow keys through out this motion.

It probably does reduce my response time by a fraction of a second when I have to move my hand a little, but this response time usually doesn't matter. The response time that typiucally matters is the fire key and mouse movement.
 
Probably doesn't matter as much as it used to. In Quake 2, I had my rocket launcher bound to A and my railgun to Z, so I could quickly rocket jump, pull out my railgun, then shoot your face off. Battlefield 3...don't really need to be doing all that stuff so quickly.
 
kcthebrewer said:
The arrow keys don't allow you to bind over 30 usable keys (with modifiers) without moving your left hand.

If you have to move your left hand to press anything while playing, you are doing it wrong.
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I don't have any FPS that require binding 30 keys. Does CS use that many keys or something?
 
Zarathustra[H];1038414479 said:
It probably does reduce my response time by a fraction of a second when I have to move my hand a little, but this response time usually doesn't matter. The response time that typiucally matters is the fire key and mouse movement.
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In most modern games it probably isn't going to make a difference; Use whatever is most comfortable, and that's what will be most successful for you. Back in the days of Quake and Unreal Tournament being the "go to" shooters you needed 9 keys just for weapon swaps, and in light of that WASD made a heck of a lot more sense. Playing something like BF3 I'd have no trouble finding enough buttons next to the arrow keys(there may even be enough just on my mouse that I would only need arrow keys on the keyboard) but it's uncomfortable for me to have my hands that way so I use WASD.
 
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i started off with arrow keys when i was a kid, but wsad is so more natural to use plus you can have more keybinds within finger range then using the arrow keys.
 
I've been playing before WASD became standard, and i still adopted the left hand side of the keyboard as well. It's just more convenient. I use QWES and my layout is different from standard WASD.

Keypad:
7/9 = Straffe Left /Straffe Right
4/6 = Turn Left / Turn Right (You didn't use the mouse for aiming in the early FPSes)
8/2 = Move Forward / Move Backward

When mechwarrior became popular, that's when i started using the mouse for aiming, but i still needed the arrow keys to turn the mech. Forgot the exact configuration, but the ins key was my alpha strike, various groups and weapon cycling got mapped to the other keys on the keypad. Eventually, the keypad ran out of keys and i migrated to the left.

I simply mapped them to the left hand side
Q/E = Straffe Left /Straffe Right
A/D = Turn Left / Turn Right (You didn't use the mouse for aiming in the early FPSes)
W/S = Move Forward / Move Backward

Eventually, i really got into FPSes and the mouse got fully adopted for FPS controls, so the turn keys became absolete. And i changed the bindings for A/D to Use/Reload respectivel.
 
its funny i loaded up a bunch of older games that used the arrow keys and it feels so un-natural now. I used to be an arrow key player back in the beginning..

wasd is just much more natural.. for one the arrow keys put you so far on the right of the keyboard, where as the wsdf puts you very square in the center.. left hand on wasd right hand on the mouse.

if i had to play with the arrow keys today i'd most likely have to move my keyboard and mouse really far apart.
 
fallguy said:
This guy knows what hes talking about. WASD is just silly compared to ESDF.
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I tried switching to ESDF several times and just couldn't do it. I have big hands but I feel like my left pinky is just not up to the task. I'm sure if I kept it on ESDF for quite awhile, the muscles would develop but I've had it there for up to a week and it still felt really awkward.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038413421 said:
Fair enough.

I seem to have gotten by with my setup, but I have big hands, so its trivial to reach to other keys.

To e it feels awfully cramped to have all those tiny function keys cramped in right up against the directional keys. I really like having the dead space in between, but I see where you are coming from.
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QFT^

kcthebrewer said:
The arrow keys don't allow you to bind over 30 usable keys (with modifiers) without moving your left hand.

If you have to move your left hand to press anything while playing, you are doing it wrong.
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Holy crap, there's only 26 letters in the entire english language, what videogame needs 30? I think my head just exploded.

Zarathustra[H];1038414871 said:
Why not YGHJ? :p
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This is why:

http://xahlee.org/emacs/ms_keyboard/i/ms_wnm_keyboard.jpg

I've had this keyboard for ages (but that probably goes without saying...). It's just so dang comfortable.

Arrow keys FTW!!

I can't stand the lob-sidedness of WASD... I usually hit W, but sometimes I mash W+E and throw a grenade on accident or something - teammates usually don't like that. If I had to use letters, I'd be all about ESDF. Like the previous comments, your pinky gets to play too, you don't need to move your hand from the home row position (so you don't get confused half way through your round), and it's slightly more symmetrical.

As you can see on my keyboard, the buttons surrounding the arrows are actually pretty close. I rest my pinky on right-CTRL while using ring, middle, and index fingers on arrow keys. I use CTRL, Shift, Enter, /, ', \ all with my pinky... I only really need to move my hand for the backslash, but even that's just a quick rotation. Middle finger gets DEL, PGDN, PGUP, Home, End. Index finger gets the whole number pad. Works great, especially with big hands like mine. It's very comfortable, and I've never run out of keys.

I'll admit the only downside is you're losing productivity with your thumb... it's the only thing I like about WASD/ESDF.
 
IMAG0101.jpg


Problem?
/trollface
 
jamsomito said:
Holy crap, there's only 26 letters in the entire english language, what videogame needs 30? I think my head just exploded.
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Simulators. I know i used a good chunk of my keyboards in Mechwarrior. One look at the A-10 Warthog simulator and i gave up on it. Hate to see the one in FSX.
 
Because people are right handed and if you are using the arrow keys with your left hand and mousing with the right you are either going to be extremely cramped or you're going to have a big desk with the keyboard way off to the side.

I started with arrows in my Counter-Strike days but soon realized the folly of my ways - both with not having enough access to key binds and also with desk space and moving my keyboard around all the time.
 
Spare-Flair said:
Because people are right handed and if you are using the arrow keys with your left hand and mousing with the right you are either going to be extremely cramped or you're going to have a big desk with the keyboard way off to the side.

I started with arrows in my Counter-Strike days but soon realized the folly of my ways - both with not having enough access to key binds and also with desk space and moving my keyboard around all the time.
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I place my left elbow on the left side of the keyboard wrist rest & put my hand to the side of the arrow keys. My middle finger sits on the up key, ring or pinky jumps to left & index takes care of left & back. Probably non-standard as far as placement of one's hand is concerned but since I use my left hand so much I'm fairly certain that I'm mostly ambidextrous.
 
I use the arrow keys. I'm right handed. Just lay my arm across the desk sometimes with a cushion. My keyboard is not way to the left either.

MS Natural Elite keyboard. Plenty of keys to use all around my arrows.
 
Spare-Flair said:
Because people are right handed and if you are using the arrow keys with your left hand and mousing with the right you are either going to be extremely cramped or you're going to have a big desk with the keyboard way off to the side.

I started with arrows in my Counter-Strike days but soon realized the folly of my ways - both with not having enough access to key binds and also with desk space and moving my keyboard around all the time.
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yeah CS was what started my change to WSAD.. but it happened by accident before that.. found some flash game i use to play a lot before CS came out, forced you to use the WSAD keys to move around.. felt weird as hell but then CS came out and it was by default WSAD.. so i said screw it and tried it. honestly i could never go back to using the arrow keys again.

but i will admit car/racing games i still use the arrow keys to drive with.


jamsomito said:
Arrow keys FTW!!

I can't stand the lob-sidedness of WASD... I usually hit W, but sometimes I mash W+E and throw a grenade on accident or something - teammates usually don't like that. If I had to use letters, I'd be all about ESDF. Like the previous comments, your pinky gets to play too, you don't need to move your hand from the home row position (so you don't get confused half way through your round), and it's slightly more symmetrical.

As you can see on my keyboard, the buttons surrounding the arrows are actually pretty close. I rest my pinky on right-CTRL while using ring, middle, and index fingers on arrow keys. I use CTRL, Shift, Enter, /, ', \ all with my pinky... I only really need to move my hand for the backslash, but even that's just a quick rotation. Middle finger gets DEL, PGDN, PGUP, Home, End. Index finger gets the whole number pad. Works great, especially with big hands like mine. It's very comfortable, and I've never run out of keys.

I'll admit the only downside is you're losing productivity with your thumb... it's the only thing I like about WASD/ESDF.
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who the heck binds E to gernades? lol

as far as the home row goes, it only works if thats how you learned how to type. unlucky for me i didn't learn how to type using the home row keys. since i had to teach myself how to type over the years my fingers pretty much automatically sit on the WSAD keys.

as far as the keys you use. i'd kill myself if i ever had to play a game using those keys. there is absolutely nothing comfortable about that. oh btw the link doesn't work.


Sly said:
Simulators. I know i used a good chunk of my keyboards in Mechwarrior. One look at the A-10 Warthog simulator and i gave up on it. Hate to see the one in FSX.
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FSX isn't as bad as A-10, there are a lot of double use keys and key series instead.. but i had a 23 button joystick when i used FSX so it was a bit different for me.
 
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You would trip balls if you tried to play World of Warcraft with my keyboard bindings. Ctrl+Shift+H done with one hand for counterspell, for example (pinky laid flat against the Ctrl+Shift keys, the thumb for the H, while keeping my other fingers on WASD to maintain movement).
 
is EDSF easy for a WASD person to jump into? Extra pinky keys does sound useful. Can't see why it would be a problem
 
Parmenides said:
is EDSF easy for a WASD person to jump into? Extra pinky keys does sound useful. Can't see why it would be a problem
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its pretty easy, i just tried it before i made my last post but honestly found no advantage, my pinky just ends up staying on the shift key the whole time. the only extra key you get is the A key, anything else just doesn't work using your pinky.
 
Personally I use the arrow keys when I'm playing an FPS/TPS/RPG because that I'm left handed. As in I use the mouse in the left and arrow keys in the right. I can reach everything just fine.

RShift - Jump
RCrtl - Crouch
Num1 - Use
Num0 - Reload
Num2 - Grenade
Num4 - Flashlight/extras
Num5 - Change fire select
Num7 - Prone
 
I am an arrow key guy as well. For any fps there are plenty of keys surrounding the arrows for all your binds. The only game(s) I had to use wasd for was mmo's.
 
Too much wasted space around the arrow keys in a standard layout, no easy access to ALT as a modifier, and it's on the wrong side of my body as a right-handed mouse user. (Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever known a lefty who actually used a left-handed mouse.)

ESDF is probably the most efficient binding. It's on the correct side of the body, it has the highest number of adjacent keys for binding while still having easy access to the left cluster of modifier keys. For anyone using a right-handed mouse I really can't see any other set of keys that offers all of that.
 
Dan_D said:
Because the arrow keys don't have enough adjacent keys to them for key bindings. Simple as that.
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Not to mention that if you feel the W is awkwardly placed in relation to A, S and D, then how do you get along with reaching across at an angle for arrow keys? Unless you're left-handed that's an even more bizarro orientation/angle to be using your hand at, or moving your keyboard miles to the left.
 
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