Arrow keys or WASD for movement?

[idbeholdME]

Arrow keys, because I play Doom (and any old FPS) on keyboard only.

 

But I use the standard WASD in any game I play with a mouse.

[JezChrist]

I'm right handed. Arrow keys are inconvienient.

[HavoX]

Well, blow me down! It hasn't even been a day, and the majority of you so far chose WASD, all with good points. :-)

 

5 hours ago, Jello said:

I used the arrow keys up until 1999 I believe, when I started playing TFC. I was complaining to a kid that I played with in eight grade that throwing grenades was annoying because I had to reach all the way across the keyboard. Hell, I didn't even use strafe, just used the mouse to turn, and I was still consistently in the top of the roster in any multiplayer game I played.

 

That reminds me of the time I played a casual deathmatch game on Skulltag many years ago. And I'm not afraid to admit it; I was terrible, and my skill was not enough. I wonder if my opponents were using WASD? Hell if I know.

[DoomGater]

On 8/22/2021 at 4:31 PM, HavoX said:

the old-fashioned way (arrow keys), or the more modern approach (WASD).

 

WASD with mouse look enabled IS old fashioned. This layout was made by John Romero himself back in the days.
In case you'r e not aware of it: DOOM under MS-DOS supports mouselook.

[JezChrist]

The original Doom demos that were playing in the menu were recorded using a mouse.

 

That's why you loosed all the time in Dwango.

Edited August 23, 2021 by JezChrist
Spelling... is a thing

[Noiser]

49 minutes ago, DoomGater said:

WASD with mouse look enabled IS old fashioned.

Romero used the mouse, but I doubt it was paired with WASD settings. The majority of people didn't played with a mouse back then, probably because it felt very awkward to use with arrow keys (even if you could theoretically set the game to WASD, I think almost no one did that at the time).

Edited August 23, 2021 by Noiser

[JezChrist]

Isn't he left handed ?

So he would use mouse + arrow keys then....

 

The thread is not about keyboard only anyway....

But as a right handed... I don't see how I would play with mouse and arrow keys without hurting my shoulder after 2 hours...

And I need to press shift to run !

(Considering I'm not Autorunnin')

Edited August 23, 2021 by JezChrist
Spelling... is a thing

[Smoothandz]

On 8/22/2021 at 2:23 PM, PSXDoomer said:

Recently, however, I've been testing out TGFH and I actually like that setup a lot.

 

I can see the advantages in this setup. I'm use to the more powerful weapons being assigned to 4,5 and 6. I'll have to give this a go in the near future. Also because my panic button is "oh shit I'm getting my ass kicked. Ah! Time for Plasma!" I can see the 6 button being closer as a benefit. 

[Jello]

1 hour ago, JezChrist said:

Isn't he left handed ?

So he would use mouse + arrow keys then....

 

The thread is not about keyboard only anyway....

But as a right handed... I don't see how I would play with mouse and arrow keys without hurting my shoulder after 2 hours...

And I need to press shift to run !

(Considering I'm not Autorunnin')

You might be thinking of John Carmack, he's left handed. That's why he chose to use the arrow keys, because his mouse was on the left side of his keyboard, not the right side, so it was more comfortable for him. 

 

Edit: Damnit, I was sure it was Carmack, but you're right, it was Romero. That's why he used the arrow keys. I can't believe I got that mixed up. Too many Johns and too many Carmacks around id at that point.

 

Which is why WASD makes more sense for right handed people, you aren't cramping your arms together. And yet I still used arrow keys and the mouse on my right for almost a decade.

 

And yes, I used a mouse in Wolfenstein and Doom even in the early 90s, it was faster than using the arrow keys to turn.

Edited August 23, 2021 by Jello

[Blackroat]

I use arrow keys as a Keyboard Only Doom player.

 

I finished 3 episodes of Doom 1 and Doom 2 on Nightmare by playing with Keyboard Only.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Blackroat

[Capellan]

On 8/23/2021 at 4:58 AM, Steve D said:

I do, however, want to play more Doom 2016.

 

You should definitely follow up on that, because I found Doom 2016 really encourages and rewards a 'get in their face' Rambo-esque approach to play, and I know that's your preferred style!

 

[Clippy]

Wasd left hand mouse right on table on recliner TV mount laptop hookup cats

[P41R47]

too used to WASD by now.
tried going back to arrow keys and completelly keyboard playing when playing on chocolate and i get totally gunned down on The Focus :(
And it was just on HMP, oh how a shame of me :P

I wonder why its easier to go from keyboardonly to mouse+keyboard and its kinda akward to go back to keyboard only :/

[HLRaven]

WASD, only for mouse look, when using keyboard look I use arrow keys to move, which gives me plenty of space for my left hand

[HavoX]

13 hours ago, P41R47 said:

I wonder why its easier to go from keyboardonly to mouse+keyboard and its kinda akward to go back to keyboard only :/

Because once you become so used to one type of configuration, it becomes difficult to adapt to the other.

Perhaps it may be something your brain isn't used to?

 

16 hours ago, DoomGater said:

 

WASD with mouse look enabled IS old fashioned.

Another good point, but the Read Me! screen doesn't agree. :-P

Edited August 24, 2021 by HavoX

[ax34]

I played Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Blood with arrows. I played Quake with arrows. I tried to play Half-life with arrows with no success and so i migrated to WASD. But I still play 2d games with arrows.

[Toad]

WASD, +strafe on right mouse button and turn left and right on mouse4 and mouse5

[Salt-Man Z]

Never could adjust to using a mouse, so I still use the original keyboard bindings: right hand on arrows, thumb on CTRL (fire) and left hand for space (use), shift (run), alt (strafe) and (when applicable) slash/? (jump).

[sittinkittin]

QCapsLockAS. Haha, no. But imagine if. WASD here!

[jghfugg29833]

On 8/22/2021 at 11:33 AM, omalefico32x said:

WASD because i am not a keyboard cave man

unga bunga, me use arrow keys, me like it.(not really)

[Teo Slayer]

WASD. Doom without a mouse is a pain in the fingers. I used to play with the arrow keys but I switched later

[ENEMY!!!]

Unusually for me (I quite often do my own thing and feel "up against it" due to straying from an established social convention) I ended up following the convention here, adopting WASD + mouse sometime around 2000 as a result of playing Half-Life and Quake deathmatch and finding that the arrow keys weren't serving me well.  This is despite also being left-handed - I just got used to using the mouse with the opposite hand.  I used the arrow keys when playing Doom and its spin-offs in the 1990s though.  I never went back to using the arrow keys after that, for these days when I play Doom, Heretic, Hexen etc. it tends to be with enhanced source ports with mouse look.

Edited August 25, 2021 by ENEMY!!!