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Underground > Games & Gameplay >

Controls in games

  
 
bjrn
15:27 / 31.03.06
I'll start off with a little rant about WASD controls. When I started playing games, there would sometimes be two-player games, one using wasd, and the other using ijkl or similar. In such a setting wasd would make sense, because usually there wouldn't be many other buttons you'd use anyway, probably fire and perhaps something else.

Now, on the other hand, every time I install a FPS (or similar) game I find myself changing the controls because the defaults are based around the wasd buttons. I think Tribes 2 (?) took a step in the right direction with esdf. But is there really any reason why you'd want to use wasd?

To me it seems you are much better off moving everything a bit to the right, so your ring finger and pinky actually can be used a bit, rather than leaving everything to Mr Index and Mr Unfriendly.


Secondly, I keep wondering how come there aren't (more) keyboards with a little analog stick somewhere. There are a few games like GTA, where you'd really need another analog input device for controlling everything.


So, I find myself changing controls in most games I play, because there's usually something I prefer different. But I'm actually curious if people often change the controls, or even think about them much. Or am I just whining about nothing?
 
 
Andria
20:29 / 31.03.06
Maybe I'm just so used to WASD, but I can't play a PC FPS with any other control setup. Re-visiting Quake II, for example, mildly shocked me until I managed to change the controls. It was very, very bizarre. You moved with the mouse, turned with A and D, and other strange combinations.

WSAD works very well for me: you have the middle finger alternating between W and S, the index finger to strafe with D, and the ring finger to strafe with A. The little finger is free to press Shift or Ctrl or Tab, while the thumb is for pressing the Space bar. If you need to use the number row or any other key close to WSAD, either your index or ring finger should always be free (seeing as how you can only strafe in one direction at a time). Combined with the mouse to look around, turn around, aim, shoot, secondary function and cycle through weapons, you have all you need.

What would be the point of EDSF? It's just further from Shift/Tab/Ctrl (which are preferable to normal keys because it's easier to recognise them purely by touch).

Anyway, I always found the controls in the third generation GTA games to be a bit uncomfortable, if useable. On the Dualshock, it's a pain to do drive-bys (and, more so, to use a machine gun mounted on a boat, for example) - pressing both X and O at the same time with one finger is hard, and trying to steer while changing the camera angle makes it even harder.

Definitely agree with you about the PC controls. Horrible! I've finished all three PS2 GTA games, but when I tried to play SA with a keyboard I found myself totally unable to drive. You lose so much precision and smoothness, not using analog sticks. It was a bit easier to shoot people, though. Still, I suppose the GTA games try to be so many things at once, some areas have to suffer a bit. For the PS2, a control setup like in Mercenaries might have helped a little, as that game is essentially a third-person-FPS (a contradiction, yes), so you use both analog sticks as you would in an FPS - one to move, one to aim, allowing for strafing and more accurate aiming. Considering the right analog stick in GTA is only used for rotating the camera when on foot, I can't see why they didn't implent it, really.

Oh, and for your PC, you could buy a USB controller, or an adapter so you can connect a console controller to your USB post.

So, normally I don't change the controls unless I find them really strange, but it's often nice with the option to change them, even if it is used between two or three pre-determined setups. The one thing I almost do is to invert the aim in console FPS games, for some reason, it just feels better. Otherwise I tend to stick with the controls the designers of the game wants me to use, as these might sometimes (being generous) be a part of the way they want you to play the game, at least at first, to get the best experience.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
21:24 / 31.03.06
Not sure how functional it is, but WASD to me now is like breathing. No thought required- my hands know what to do. Whenever I play a game with different controls I find my left hand itching to hit those four keys- RTSs, in general, seem to use the arrow keys a lot more, and for the first level or so this always feels a bit weird. Even playing Xbox games for the first time (and what could be more intuitive than analogue sticks) just felt... wrong.
 
 
Axolotl
08:00 / 01.04.06
I find WASD so intuitive that I have real difficulty playing FPSs on consoles - "this would be so much easier with a mouse and keyboard" is always at the back of my head and interferes with my enjoyment of the game.
I was playing "Goldeneye" the other day, now that was a great control system: really intuitive, and with a bit of practice allowed you to pull off some smart maneuvers.
 
 
bjrn
08:49 / 01.04.06
I think I prefer to move the setup to the right of wasd because then I can set more buttons, and have more fingers to go to the numbers row with. With a wasd layout I am contrantly jumping around with my index finger, and a bit with my middle finger, while my ring finger does hardly anything at all.

Of course, you use the index and middle finger more than the others, so I guess you can use them faster or more precisely, but I still don't like having two fingers hardly able to do anything at all. With a esdf layout you have a bit more room to use your ring and little fingers. Perhaps I have freak hands, but with esdf, I can still comfortably reach tab/caps/shift.


About plugging in a gamepad for things like GTA, there's a problem with it, because I thought the keyboard worked well for the parts where you're not driving/flying. And switching between keyboard+mouse and gamepad every time you enter or leave a vehicle sounds a bit clunky.


And on the topic of controls in general. I wonder what the Nintendo Revolution controls will be like to use. It's nice to see someone trying out something a bit different.
 
 
netbanshee
15:40 / 01.04.06
I don't play a lot of fps, but I do find that wasd generally worked the best for me. I think it helps to be over to the left side since you can also use the keys to the left of the space bar for secondary and tertiary fire/action.

When I went through a period playing mostly emulated and puzzle games and found myself using the number pad for character control while using my leftie to hit the bottom left keys (namely shift, command, option, space and z and x sometimes) for actions. I found it odd that I wanted to move the character with the opposite hand I control characters on consoles with. *shrug*

Other controls? I do like the dualshock and wavebird controllers quite a bit and the 360's seemed nice considering the amount of play I've had on it. Earlier than current gen, I like the Saturn's Nights controller that was packaged with the title and the sturdy and responsive NES Advantage. Both seemed to have good balance for their day.

An overall problem I have with controllers is the lack of hand positioning ergonomics. They might be formed to the hand so your digits land in the right spots on average, but I find the way hands sit so squarely out in front a bit uncomfortable over long periods of time. I thing a more triangular position with elbows a tad out and hands a tad in fits with the human form better.
 
  
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