Why do we use WASD?

When you want to push the boundaries of play, Play Advanced with Logitech G.


#WASD #PCgaming #KeepPlaying

[andrenowaczek]

I can't believe how well made, and entertaining, this video is for being on an official corporate channel.

[onecrispyfrie]

I truly hate it when there aren't adjustable controls in a game. I live in belgium so I@'ve been usin an azerty my entire life and use zqsd wich makes me have to bend my fingers wierdly to play Wasd

[reddead]

Excellent video @Logitech G. I love these historical gaming docos.

[ETHPrivate]

I remember the first time I played GTA San Andreas when I was a ki- younger person, and I was so used to arrow keys I wouldn't use anything else... Then fast forward and I'm a hardcore console dude getting into pc, the first game where I actually used WASD was Payday 2...

[RonJomero]

I remember this era well. In the mid 90s I was transitioning from a veteran of DooM to Quake and its online deathmatch/CTF scene. I had mastered DooM with the keyboard. But, when I got pwned (as we called it) chasing a player up an incline, I decided to rethink my setup. I couldn't aim upwards and move at the same time. I had no idea what other players were doing with their control scheme and didn't AltaVista it (Google didn't exist yet). So I landed on ESDF. My logic was the same as everyone else who came up with WASD, except I chose those because F is a homerow key and has an indentation to mark it on every keyboard, thus making it very easy to find in the dark. It also opened up more bind-able keys to the left with Q, A, and Z. The lack of those extra bind-able keys still bugs me about the standard WASD that has become universally accepted.

I will say that I was pretty active in the Quake community back then and I don't think it's quite fair to say that WASD became standardized because of Thresh. Most online players and anyone remotely involved in the scene had been using +MLOOK and WASD for at least a year before Thresh became a sensation (I guarantee everyone he fought in that tournament was using WASD). I suppose it's possible he may have shed a brighter light on the control scheme to anyone outside of the scene. The internet and online gaming was still new to most people in 1997 and news of a guy winning a Ferrari was pretty big news to the average public.

[ruslanmaslennikov]

When quake came out, in our community many, icluding me, switched to playing with AZ, and mouse.
To strafe you had to hold ALT and move the mouse.
I remember when I started playing quake after doom in a computer club.
One of the admins noticed that I didn't use mouse for vertical looking.
He typed +mouselook in concole, despite my protestation, and said "You'll be gratefull when you get used to it".
Next several matches were a constant frustration - I couldn't do a thing without staring at floor or ceiling.
But after some time it started to feel in.
So yes, I'm totally gratefull to that guy

[fleshonbone]

I just finished F.E.A.R. 2 & Doom 3 on a 40mm trackball and Armored Core VI on a 55mm trackball. It isn't bad at all, as long as you have your windows and in game sensitivities set sensibly. High enough to minimize throws but low enough to be able to comfortably move the cursor into place after you catch it. Pitch isn't really a thing with mice, so it is stylistically different.

One thing I do that makes it all work for me is I don't actually use any mouse buttons for attacking. I use SPACE to fire and jump with E, while I use the left mouse click for interaction. I do keep aim/zoom on right click, but usually set it to toggle. I found it is ideal to involve the whole arm in controlling the ball as much as possible, since having any fingers locked down on a mouse key shrinks the control resolution and distracts the nerves from aiming.

[CaptainNamikaze]

Thanks, that was very informative! I never questioned why we use WASD before, it just made sense to me because it's more comfortable than using the arrow keys. My first WASD game was Return to Castle Wolfenstein in 2001 and thinking about how old that game is, terrifies me. :D

[Oxazepam]

I remember how I first learned about playing with the right hand on the mouse and left hand on the keyboard. A friend of my brother showed that to us on Quake and we were instantly convinced. It was incredible how natural the control felt compared to the game's default settings. I felt like a caveman that was hunting with club before that just learned how to use a bow.

[markios]

I had a spectrum 128k +2
And we used ASPL enter +space bar
We never used arrow keys because you couldn't hit enter which was the action button.

[davetechme]

Started playing CS some 20 years ago using a joystick, not a controller. Got shamed into using WASD rather quickly. In recent years, I started experimenting with other layouts, with brief stints using home-del-end-pgdn and 1 finger strafing (WESD, ERDF, UIJK, etc) which truly broke my brain. I've since settled on IJKL for the extra mouse space and improved ergos. There are some interesting setups out there!

[jndominica]

A characteristic of the PC is ability to customize everything. Keys are the first thing I set in a game. Duke3D had a setup program where you could do just that, set single key strafing and also enable the mouse. A reasonably clean ball mouse is still superior to slow turning with the keyboard and placing undue stress on it. I'm an arrow key user with inverted mouse, and could never get used to using the letter keys for anything. They are all the same. And the now default mouse makes me face the floor.

One game had a great idea of placing a kick weapon on the Delete key. That got me thinking how I could expand on that and use End, PgDn for pistol and machine gun, Num 0 for a rocket launcher, and so on. In driving games you could place lights or wipers there. Reloading with Backspace is easy. I can immediately return my hand on the directions after that. Compare this to locating [R] in the middle of the main region. Or selecting weapon [5].

[xMike]

So I have never understood why WASD. I'm older, so growing up, we had to learn how to type. You were trained to put your hands on the "Home Row". This is where A-S-D-F -J-K-L-; was referred to as the "Home Row". When you put your hands on that row, your left pinky finger is resting on the A, not the CapsLock key. I work on a computer all day, my hands naturally gravitate towards this Home Row as I need to type a LOT. When I game, it's FAR more natural for me to use ESDF, and that lines up with the Home Row. Plus, I get the benefit of an additional key to use for a bind (the W and Q, as opposed to just the Q) which buys me some flexibility. Who knows, maybe I'm too old, or maybe I'm too forward thinking :)

[RSavageGGEz]

*In the future* we will move aim and shoot with our mind

[Jhiaxus]

I bloody don't. I use the cursor keys because I'm left handed so I use that hand for the mouse. I also use right shift for jump, right ctrl for crouch, enter for use and the numpad to select weapons. Ironically, the keyboard layout designed for right handers (before mice were a thing) worked out real good for lefties.

[NeedMoarRage]

Well I actually use arrow keys since I use my left hand on my mouse, then right Ctrl for crouch, right Shift for jump or sometimes sprint and then I will use the space key to jump, middle mouse button to walk, 0 on Numpad to reload and 1 above as a use key.

As there aren't really any left handed mice, I go for ambidextrous mice that have buttons on the right side usually used for quick switching in CS or special attacks in other games. I am currently using wired but since Logitech now make wireless mice as good and responsive as wired my next mouse would probably be the the G Pro wireless which is as light as wired mice.

Been playing like this since as far as I can remember, therefore I am comfortable this way but also never felt I was at a disadvantage.

Does anyone play with arrow keys or also use such unique bindings? People are always super surprised when they find out I do.

[BlackWipeout]

I use the joystick on the Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard with my thumb for moving for a longtime now. Please upgrade this device.
Thx ;)

[chantalkristal]

for more than 20 years I used FGDC settings. its more center keyboard i let you use more keys around.
only in the recent year or or two i moved to WASD just because I don't have the patiance to change the layout every new game I got

[robonzo]

I remember when doom first came out and we used to make a multiplayer out of it by having one person control movement and the other do shooting!!

[BueStrykr]

I don't understand how it wasn't ESDF.