Question for PC gamers.

[jollybarracuda]

Yah when i first moved to mostly playing on PC I had the same issue where my hand kept moving off the WASD setup and i'd end up tossing grenades with the E key or something. It's a perfect spot to use though, once you get used to it. Shift, Tab, Ctrl, Alt, and the Q and E keys right next to it for quick actions and the whole thing is placed right at the beginning of the numeric keys that run across the top of the keyboard. So once you get used to it, it makes a lot of sense for it to be there.

 

[Substitute Troll]

You will propably notice that you will have difficulty playing games if you switch around the controls too much. As for knowing when your fingers are in the right place, that's just something you'll get used to. I recently got a new keyboard that has an additional row of keys to the left, which made me press those instead of ctrl and shift sometimes. It took me a while, but now I'm used to it.

 

[Smeatza]

Welcome to PC gaming!

Allow me to introduce a gamers friend

the G15 gaming keyboard from Logitech

I have that exact keyboard.

It's awesome. buy it OP.

Also, play the tutorial of a game and then refine the control scheme to your needs, before the buttons become second nature. It works for me.

 

[R3dF41c0n]

I use WASD with a standard keyboard. I've been gaming so long that I can just "feel" where the keys are. It's not too hard, just find CAPS with your ring finger, slide it over to the right and you're on A. Once your ring finger is on A your middle finger should be on W and index finger on D.

It takes practice. As for ESDF, that was the default control scheme in the first Tribes games. I understand why people use it but I just use the default control scheme (but a lot of Devs like to make C the crouch button, I always move it to Ctrl).

Use whatever works for you. Welcome to the wonderful world of PC gaming, the platform with the largest games library.

 

[Easton Dark]

WASD is the only way for me.

Very few games have more keys needed for use buttons than Tab, Shift, Space, Ctrl, and Alt.

My thumb's there for the space bar, and my pinkie for the others, leaving my other three fingers to handle direction, and in some instances my index for the number keys.

Z, X, and C are sometimes used, easily enough with the index or pinkie finger. And if the game you're playing requires use keys farther than TGB except for the use of a chat function, you may want to get a more specialized keyboard.

As to why WASD is standard... it has been for awhile and, like I said, not that many games are going to have so many use keys that you'd be overwhelmed by just using WASD. I imagine it started because the number keys begin right above Q.

 

[RubyT]

I use the NumPad 'cause I'm a Leftie. That stupid game Dead Space had several NumPad issues and made me use PL;' instead. I totally understand your pain, brother. In the dark, trying to find the right key in that mess of keys is a *****. My solution was to just quit playing Dead Space.

 

[nexus]

I think the reason for WASD instead of ESDF is because WASD allows for more "utility" with the pinky. At WASD, you can easily hit Tab, Tilde, the first number, Shift.. etc. With ESDF, you can still tap these keys but it's not as comfortable, and replacing Tab, Tilde, etc. with Q,W,A or what have you, isn't as precise.

Into why we use the left side of the keyboard in general, I think thats because it's easier to sit with your hands at shoulder width, with your mouse on the right side of the desk. That is of course, if you are Right-handed. If you try to use Arrow keys with the mouse on the right, then you either have to cross your chest with your left-arm which is really poor posture for any length of time. Or, you have to move the keyboard to the left which makes it harder to type when you need to.

 

[Zipa]

Use a back lit keyboard, they are great for this sort of thing.

Plus eventually if you use a keyboard enough you learn where all the buttons are without having to look,I have used a PC day and night for the last 8+ years (work and gaming) and now I can type whole sentences without having to even look at what my hands are doing. I typed all this for example without looking at my hands.

 

[Zipa]

Use a back lit keyboard, they are great for this sort of thing.

Plus eventually if you use a keyboard enough you learn where all the buttons are without having to look,I have used a PC day and night for the last 8+ years (work and gaming) and now I can type whole sentences without having to even look at what my hands are doing. I typed all this for example without looking at my hands.

Of course you can rebind most games to whatever you are comfortable with, its one of the cool things about PC gaming there are enough buttons to suit everyone's personal preference. Failing that a lot of games now are compatible with Xbox and PS3 controllers.

 

[nexus]

Welcome to PC gaming!

Allow me to introduce a gamers friend

Spoiler: Pic Snip

the G15 gaming keyboard from Logitech

I have that exact keyboard.

It's awesome. buy it OP.

Also, play the tutorial of a game and then refine the control scheme to your needs, before the buttons become second nature. It works for me.

Get the Corsair Vengeance K90 instead. I've been using it for about a year now and it is the best keyboard I've owned, hands down.

[http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/img1282t.jpg/]

It uses Cherry Red mechanical keys (seriously, go mechanical), and an aluminum chassis. The wrist/palm rest is held in place by thumb screws instead of plastic clips. The construction is very solid, and nothing ever "smudges". The G1-18 keys are easier to use because they're recessed from the rest of the keyboard by about the length of one key.

I can't use a cheap plastic Logi-keyboard anymore, the difference is night and day. I'd been looking for a solid mechanical gaming keyboard for a while and found it. I wanted mechanical because it's a joy to type on, it really is.

It is a bit on the pricey side, but it's not much expensive than it's Logitech G11-G19 counterparts. You are truly paying for quality here.

 

[TrevHead]

After a while you should be able to use WASD in the dark, otherwise get a small desk lamp or LED keyboard.

 

[Fayathon]

For typing, I just got used to where the keys are and I also still have the nubs for centering in on the home row.

For gaming I have a second keyboard, if it can be called that. My WASD is replaced with [03][07][08][09] respectively, my [Ctrl] is [11], spacebar is below my thumbstick, E is [04], Q is [02], Tab is [01] and Shift is [06].

Spoiler: My keyboard

And the whole damn thing lights up, it's pretty sweet and it couples really well with my mouse.

Controllers don't have enough buttons to satisfy me, nor can they be programmed with macros.

 

[Blade_125]

I'm not sure if it has been suggested yet, but you could get a controller for your PC. Most games can be used with this.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Hey, I've been a console gamer most of my life and I have only recently moved into PC waters.

My problem is that I have trouble playing in the dark, and since my computer is in the bedroom if the boy is asleep the lights are off. I'm still so new too keyboard controls that while I understand some fundamentals I never understood why wsda moves.

How do you know your fingers are in the correct place to type? On most keyboards there is a nub you feel naturally on your index finger when your hands are in the correct position.

So why not have: edfs for movement instead? your hands find them vary naturally, the same amount of the keyboard is accessible and it may even open up more options with your pinkey now that if falls naturally on "A"

I know that in most PC games you can remap the buttons but I'm afraid I wont recognize something and end up opening up the map every time I want to move. So I guess my question is: Is there a good reason for the current control scheme? and If I'm not the first one too think of this is there some preset control scheme in most games I can goto?

Thank you!

I was in the same boat as you a year ago friend. Let me tell you this, you can take the advice of getting a light up keyboard. But to be honest, after sometime, you'll get used to it quicker than you think. With low light you'll memorize the keys within time. I light up keyboard is a very nice option though.

 

[Signa]

I used to be an arrow key user, but then I got this:

Now I'm able to use WASD just fine. The thing that bothered me about WASD is how cluttered it was around the movement keys. The only thing that bothered me about the arrows was having to reach for 1-9 for weapons swaps, and the mouse wheel took care of most of that anyway. The num-pad wasn't an option, because 0, 1, and 4 almost always got used for some function like reloading and jumping (game dependent). I know Jedi Knight was a bit of a breeze being able to configure all 15 surrounding keys with force powers.

So I have one question for anyone who reads this: who else uses the RMB as a jump key? I don't use it in every game, but I love what it does for me.

 

[Jfswift]

I use a wolfking gaming keyboard and have memorized it's layout. I only look at it when keybinding things in a new game.

It's a shame they stopped making them.

That looks badass and I am tempted to find something similar. Do you reckon it'd be possible to set up dual keyboards so you could have that and a regular keyboard?

You can still find them used. There's two up in eBay right now and another on amazon.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=261134751688&index=1&nav=SEARCH&nid=47021078436

 

[EvilMaggot]

from many many years of pc gaming my fingers and hands have gotten used to a keyboard layout so i dont need at all to look, you learn it on the go while playing games and at somepoit it just sits.

also..im using a G15 second generation

Spoiler

as someone else wrote above somewhere, i dont like all those.. special control thingy's.. i like a normal keyboard layout because i know where every letter and number is by heart, and i like all the buttons back in the WoW days i had sooo many macro's a controller or those special WASD controllers would never satisfy me with ^^ and no i wont touch Razer.. thats just a personal thing.. i dont like thier products and lets leave it at that ^^

 

[FEichinger]

Well, I'm a programmer, so I naturally use a keyboard day in day out ... Which also means I have a ridiculous typing speed. As a result, I have never actually felt this need to remap the base keys, or use a vastly different keyboard layout.
ESDF also feels very unnatural for me. Probably because my pinky is already deformed due to me using it only for Shift, LT and Ctrl ... I'd probably hurt myself if I were to use the pinky for QAY. But, as I started: It's a matter of growing into it.
Stick with what feels most comfortable to you, don't force yourself to change. Remap keys when needed. Or get a gamepad.