Peripherals The assumption we all use 'WASD' on gaming keyboards

Really annoying.
The differently coloured keys.
I have been gaming since the Pong days.
Cut my teeth on the Spectrum and mainly used QAOP and spacebar.
When mouse came along, my right hand left O and P and my left hand stayed on Q and A for up and down.
I use Left Alt and Spacebar with my thumb for strafe left and right and usually TAB for sprint and W and S for jump and duck. (Side buttons for use and reload)
This way, I never have to move the ball of my hand from the desk like you have to with that ******* awkward WASD.
DEATH TO WASD!!

 

I agree the different coloured or texture WASD is totally unnecessary. For games, you can usually re-bind to your liking, so hopefully wouldn't be too much problem? It would be nice to have an alternative convention that is easily selectable like controller button options in some games.

I've been really found of ESDF when I played Tribes 2, which was the default for that game IIRC. Adds more accessible keys on the left and easy to find thanks to the F nipple.

 

My main keybind I have to change is to set 'E' as 'Use' in most games. Comes from MOHAA using E for interact and that being my first main FPS. Many games now use it for lean or other nonsense (mouse buttons are much better for lean)

 

I'm an insane person and used the numpad when I gamed on PC - 8546

 

#ARE YOU WASD IN DISGUISE? ARE YOU WASD IN DISGUISE?#

 

Lefty here. I get to use the arrow keys.

 

I held out using the arrow keys for a while, but once I switched to WASD in my Quake/Quake 2 days I never went back. I seem to recall there was a lot of buzz about Dennis Fong, aka Thresh, using that setup in Quake back in the day. The first game I remember playing where WASD was default was, I think, Half-Life, but I also seem to recall that Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight had this binding... Apparently, according to Some Random Dude's Forum Post Wot I Just Found On Google, Descent 2 also used WASD+MouseLook by default back in 1996.

I was also one of those psychopaths who played with an inverted Y-axis on the mouse - imagine you're grabbing the top of the character's head instead of their chin and it makes perfect sense... I had a couple of years gap from PC gaming and when I got back into it the inverted Y-axis just felt totally wrong. I can't go back to using an inverted Y-axis now, even just thinking about it breaks my brain.

But that's the beauty of PC gaming. Don't like the key binds? Change 'em - some swear by ESDF, and some will tell you that DZXC is clearly superior. Don't like differently-coloured WASD keys? Change your keycaps, or buy a different keyboard.

 

Best way to explain is with a pic. (Excuse the slightly manky fingernails; been working on the old E46 engine)
So Q and A for up and down, easy reach to W and S for jump and duck and TAB for sprint and finally thumb covering alt and space for strafe left and right. No 5 thumbs required!!

 

My post was nothing to do with keybinds.
As you can see, my keyboard does not have different coloured WASD keys.
Jeese, lighten up, was just a bit of fun, isn't that what these posts are about.

 

I've always have been and always will be inverted Y - on keyboard, mouse and controller.

Anyone that doesn't invert their Y axis has something deeply wrong with them. Fact.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with this.

As for keyboard, I'm now looking at ESDF and wondering why I never considered it before. Other than laziness.

More keys in reach, easier to relocate if you have moved your hand, and I can easily hit ctrl with the base of my pinky rather than a stretch.

 

I was always inverted-y including on Xbox controllers. Like religiously. Then one day my brain must have inverted itself because I couldn't do it anymore. And still can't to this day. I still don't know how/why.

 

I wasn't having a dig, so lighten up yourself. I said that's one of the really great things about PC gaming: you don't (always) have to stick with what you're given, you can customise things to whatever the hell you want.

Absolutely deranged, the pair of you!

 

Righto pal.

 

If you're gonna have a chat with Stephen Hawking, make sure you bring a shovel.

 

#
Works for me for the game types I usually play which is FPS, immersive Sims and the odd 3rd person whatever.
Thumb for strafe left and right is a gamechanger!

 

This is proven science fact. I don't understand how impossible it is for up to be up then you get in a plane and up is down. Up should always be down. It irks me to have to change the settings whenever the little 'un needs a hand getting across an obstacle or borrows my system. However, I don't think (being a controller user) that I invert the mouse - I'll have to check next time I play something without a pad.

All of which means that I also rarely use the keyboard to move around, so I'm not sure I have any value here at all. I'll shut up now.

 

My daughter is using inverted Y on PS5

I’m so proud.