FPS Keyboard Layout
 

Every game that I buy now has the default movement/action keys bound to W,S,A,D and the surrounding ones.
Am I the only person who still uses the cursor keys when playing First-Person Shooters?
I've tried using the default layout, but I just can't get it, I'm always pressing the wrong key!
Is there anybody else left out there still using the cursor keys?

i do, but i don't geenrally play that genre too often

I always use the cursor keys, I lost half of the middle finger on my left hand in a table saw accident. So not only is wasd less intuitive for me, it is physically more difficult.

Nope, I only use the default. Been using those keys for as long as I've been using keyboards and I've never felt the need to change.

I still always manage to hit the wrong buttons, but it's not a big deal. I have tried to use the cursor keys, but the cursor keys are kind of an island, and it's way too hard to hit the buttons surrounding the cursor keys.

I've been usind WASD ever since I really started playing FPS
It feels more natural to me....

Never used the cursor keys. I've recently switched to W,A,S,D. Before that it was RMB,S,D,Space.

esdf is where its at, that lets you have another row on the left that your pinky can tap. but if wasd is giving you trouble, rotate the keyboard a little clockwise, that will straiten it up for you and stop you from hitting the wrong keys.

The whole idea of using wasd rather than the cursor arrows is an abundance of extra keys you can use near to the directional keys. its a stretch to get anywhere from the arrows, where as wasd (and my esdf) you have plenty of options close by for reloading, chatting, and other helpful commands like leaning. If you can switch to wasd you’ll be a better player eventually, it reduces your response times.

Most people I know use WSAD because they don't have to move the keyboard to play. I use the arrow keys in all of the Battlefield games and have just as many key mappings surrounding them. I've never been slowed down by reaching for the keys because I'm so used to them. I do use WSAD for WoW, simply because there's not many required keys to map besides jump. I would switch to WSAD for Battlefield 2, but I've been using the same key layout for every BF game in the past 4 years and it would take me months (literally) to get used to a new layout. I don't wanna go through the annoyance of dying due to the keys being remapped so I've just left it the same. :)

The only game i use the arrow keys to move around in is Rune. With 0 on the number pad set to throw axes at people's heads.

I change WASD to ESDF. It seems only natural since that's home position for typing and you have access to more keys without moving your hand anyway. Why did someone mess with it in the first place?

I use WASD. But to be honest, I haven't played any new FPS is a long time. So maybe the new ones will have more functions that will force me to use ESDF if i ever take up the genre again.

Do you ESDF users not use Tab, Caps & Shift? I use WASD & those keys with no problem. Since I don't usually use keys more than 1 step away from WASD I wouldn't gain much benefit by switching to ESDF. Besides, my thumb doesn't rest as naturally between Space & Alt when using ESDF.

But then agin, with my old config, I had a really fucked up hand position, so I can understand sticking with a system that works for you, even if people who watch you use it think you're nuts.

My movement binds are EADF (with an ergonomic keyboard) and I use Tab and Shift. I rarely use Alt because my thumb is more towards the center of the space bar (which I prefer). You lose a lot of symmetry with an ergonomic board, but I've grown to prefer it over a relatively cramped WASD/ESDF configuration on a standard one.

I usually bind tab to the scoreboard, shift to voice comm, caps I don't like to use at all because OF GETTING CAPS WHEN TRYING TO TYPE HALF THE TIME. I don't really use Ctrl and Alt though I guess they might be useful for those games with a ridiculous amount of binds, not that I play much of anything anymore.

I don't have any trouble using the cursor keys because I'm so used to them now.
I usually bind all the other keys to the surrounding keys, and I wouldn't say I press any keys slower than an WASD/ESDF user.

I used to (4~ish years ago) remap to arrow keys, binding important stuff to delete, pagedown, end, 0 on the keypad, rctrl and rshift. But as I played more and more games, I got tired of constantly remapping my controls everytime I was on an unfamiliar box, or I changed character profiles, or any number of reasons that the controls reset to default. Furthermore, I discovered that 99% of keyboards cannot take simultaneous input from the arrow keys. Try running diagonally using uparrow and leftarrow sometime -- you'll see what I mean. The arrow keys are function keys, and therefore only parse one at a time. If you do run diagonally, its because the game is noticing that both are pressed and selecting one from each. On most modern keyboards, however, five letter keys can be pressed simultaneously and read as such. It's a small difference, I suppose, but I like being able to run straight and strafe truly simultaneously, not in the "time-sharing" model of arrow-keys.

i use the keypad actaully. 7 and 9 to strafe and 8 to move forward. and "plus" to jump.

i'm a freak. typical layout:

Z and X for strafe left and right (used by middle finger and index finger)
Left control for jump (left pinky)
spacebar for move back (thumb)
left shift for something like duck or sneak (left ringfinger)
right mouse button for moving forward
i can then map A, S, D, C, and left alt to random stuff.
freakiest thing of all: inverted mouse!

it's weird, i know.. but it's the system i've been using ever since quake 1 came out. (which Wikipedia tells me was 10 fucking years go. shit.)

Hum i use the left half the keyboard basicly for Redorcistra. wasd to move around qe to lean each way r to reload t to switch to the last weapon z as a use key x to change fire mode c to crouch v to prone b to change barral on a machine gun G to drop ammo caps lock for run toggle shift to sprint and alt and control for second prone and crouch buttons and numbers to select weapons Then h to give ammo and number pad for voice commands and to switch voice channels.

The arrow keys just dont have enough buttons near by for me to use and i use all the buttons on my mouse as well.

WASD for me, I use it so much the letters are gone.

I still use the arrow and surrounding keys, but only because I'm a lefty. It's much more comfortable to use the arrow keys than WASD or similar layouts for me because I don't feel as "scrunched up".

im a leftie, so ive always been using arrow keys and surrounding keys
only game ive had to use wasd was morrowind

I used to use WASD alot, but switched to ESDF because you can make better use of the keyboard for complex FPS games.

I use wsda.

Speaking of keys, am I the only one that physically removed the left windows key? If you havnt tried it, try it, you'll never go back. :D And why do we need 2 anyways?

I remember always having to switch the arrows to WASD... ESDF felt uncomfortable to me, but so did WASD at first. I started using WASD whenever I went to a friends place. They had WASD, and it would be rude to remap on someone elses computer, right?

About a year ago I figured it's stupid that I'm using a keyboard, a tool created for work, to control a game. I got a USB adapter for a PS2 controller, and mapped the left side of the controller (L1-3, the control pad) to any functions I might need, with the rest going to my 2 extra mouse buttons (4 button w/ wheel/button), and used the analog stick to move forward and backward and strafe. I run or walk as I please with analog movement in most games. It's a hassle to set up at first. but totally worth it.

I've removed mine. Nothing much worse in gaming than drawing a bead on some sucker and suddenly you're staring at your desktop. Fortunately many recent games handle the switch decently enough, but for many older games it was the kiss of death & required a reboot.

When I first started FPS's I simply didn't comprehend the need for WASD, so I switched to what I was used to in car racing games..the arrow keys..
But then I started going with my friends in Cybercafes, and got sick of switching every single thing, and learned. I'll never go back. One gets used to it quickly.

I pull it off occasionally, but I use it frequently when not gaming, so I put it back on. On our other computer, my brother took the windows and menu keys off and they're lost, which pisses me off since I use them so much.

I think I may be the only non-Turok-player to use c buttons to move in Goldeneye/Perfect Dark on N64.

Damn, why didn't I think of that? Brilliant idea, I think I'll give it a shot :)

The C buttons instead of the D Pad? Or the C buttons at the same time as the D Pad, to move faster? (Walking sideways):)

Back in the late 90's I used WASD for movement and the num pad for mouse look. I had gotten so good at it people couldn't believe I was holding my own with it. Eventually I switched to WASD + mouse because of the increasingly fast-paced games coming out.

Now I use a nostromo gamepad with my mouse and it kicks ass.