Hey guys,

Even though I played competitive NS for years I was never able to make the switch from wasd to esdf or some other layout. I tried esdf for like three days and got frustrated with how stupidly slow my reaction time was (not that it's not already stupidly slow).

So I'm just wondering, has anyone managed to make the switch from wasd to esdf successfully? Did you do anything in particular to help yourself get used to it or did you just grind through it? I ask because I've been playing NS and a little DoD:S lately and since I'm not playing matches anymore I figure it's a good time to switch things around.

Cheers...

Not really. I tried it once and rebound some other keys, but couldn't really get used to it. I can reach most of my keys easily enough with wasd anyways, so I didn't really try hard to get used to it.

Well the ideas behind esdf are that you don't console-kill yourself (if you're like me and haven't rebound your console to something other than tilde `) and that you have more keys accessible to the fingers that don't operate the movement keys. I used to play with Gunner (in obs) and I think the only smart thing he ever said was that your key binds should be done in a way that you never have to take your fingers off the movement keys. Obviously this is impossible with a wasd config since your pinky will only have access to ctrl, shift, capslock, and maybe tab if you're flexible, and your thumb gets the spacebar and a couple buttons out of the bottom row, noting that the thumb is really cumbersome and is pretty unreliable for anything other than space.

Anyway, I don't intend for this thread to be about whether esdf is a better choice than wasd, I'm interested in actually using it. I'm still working on converting my config to the new binds (which is annoying). And anyway that advice came from the player who I am positive still holds the world record for the fastest lerk death in a competitive match (and separately in a pcw!), so maybe I shouldn't bother?

What's hard to get used to? Put your fingers on wasd, move your hand one key to the right, close your eyes and pretend you're back where you started. Yes/No?

noes! it's the pinky that feels awkward with esdf. you'll have to even more right. rdfg is the way to go

i managed to get used to having all my movement functions on my mouse, and my +attack on "e" (although ive since switched back), so i think i could get used to moving over to esdf.

just give it a week and dont play any officials in the mean time :>

i switched to tfgh a while back because I only own a laptop and my left ctrl and shift keys started bugging out (they work again now, but too late!). It was really hard to pick up, mainly because i also changed my slot1-4 keys to r,y,u and e, but since i didnt have much of a choice i had it down in like 10 days. If you play more often than I did (2 hrs/day on avg?) it should take less time.

I think as long as your going to the trouble of moving from wasd>esdf you might as well move over a bit more and give yourself even more room.

There's no real advantage in switching from asdf to esdf, so why bother?

More topic related: Adjustment times can change a lot from person to person. I tried switching to esdf for a week, but it left me fustrated and confuddled and I eventually gave up since I simply couldn't help automatically placing my fingers on the wasd keys. Other people seem to be able to switch almost instantly without any problems. :\

heh, i'm one that switched instantly from wasd to esdf.

I've always had my crouch on shift and +speed on capslock so there wasn't any weird feelings as my pinky laid on the same key. Also when i did switch I rebound all my slots: w r and f for slots 1-3 instead of 1-3 for slots 1-3. Other than the anti-console-kill thing the only good thing about switching to esdf is that i like the little nubbin on my f key under my index finger, never lose finger spots and it just feels normal to have it there now :>

I personally use arrows/mx518. It is better then what you think, I use a Sony Vaio keyboard that was unique to a desktop machine I bought a long time ago, They are integrated under shift/enter but like the typical notebook style ones. Then with a mx518 it is basically like a one handed controller.

to be honest- i could do with switching to ESDF.

for some reason, my keyboard/motherboard limits simultaneous key presses to just 2 with certain combinations.

e.g. i can do ctrl+w+d (crouch forwards+right), but the keyboard locks out if i try ctrl+w+a (crouch forwards+left).

CS:S pro zallvan gave me his source config- he uses ESDF and i had no problems doing those movements when crouch was x. people say i shold check my motherboard settings but i cant find anything related to key presses. weird.

The advantage to esdf is that you don't have to reposition your left hand to chat.

Thanks to many years of Rainbow 6 I can never ever leave my arrow keys.

I live, breathe, and think with the arrow keys. All of the slower types of actions, like building things, are left to the letters. Everything else is on my mouse, arrow keys, Del/End/PgDn and numpad.

I've only met a single person outside of my family that is right handed and uses the mouse left handed. This is most of the reason I use the arrow keys.

zghj is what i use. Took me some time getting used to it though...

i think you meant y and not z?
i'd be scared if you used z.

German Keyboard

Ah... aighty 0o'
Scared me a moment... I may have to try esdf once

I'm using ASDF

A = Strafe Left S = Backwards D = Forward F = Strafe Right

Takes a few hrs to get used to, but once you figure it out its a lot faster as you have a finger above each key at all times, rather using one finger to do back/forward for WASD type layouts

Heh, I know Mustang used that... Does it actually help at all?

I'm default all the way, but I may give ASDF a shot tonight.

asdf would make it much easier to bunnyhop sideways (and by extension, in diagonal directions), but at the loss of a free finger.

Bunnyhopping sideways is just a little akward using ESDF.

When I first moved from arrow keys, I tried using WASD for a little while but just couldn't get used to it. I decided to move to ESDF since I would have some more keys available. Works just fine as I use A for crouch and Mouse2 for jump. Only thing I don't like about my key set-up is the fact that I use LALT as my ventrilo talk key. My thumb aches after a while.

YES.

I use fghj (leftsstrafe forw backw rightstrafe)
also I got U for use, space for jump, M for duck, C for voice, y and t for chats, k for walking, d for flashlight, r for reload.

It does help, the only reason I never hit uberspeed on hop is cause I suck. the layout is great. I learned it when I first played HL1 (now thats long ago huh) and always used it. Its far from stressfull for the fingers, easy to find due to the f and j keys having marks, it heas easy access on all keys surrounding it. If I want to jump, crawl, use or w/e I can 'sacrifice' the strafe fingers. Movement always stays on top.

For blind typing you keep your fingers in 1 line aswell, so it was a logical next step.

Always thoughed I was alone in a config like this

This is what I typically use for FPS games (although I use WASD once in a while)

bind "UPARROW" "+forward"
bind "DOWNARROW" "+back"
bind "LEFTARROW" "+moveleft"
bind "RIGHTARROW" "+moveright"
bind "ENTER" "+use"
bind "CTRL" "+duck"
bind "SHIFT" "+jump"
bind "INS" "+map"
bind "DEL" "+speed"
bind "PGDN" "impulse 100"
bind "PGUP" "impulse 80"
bind "END" "impulse 3"
bind "KP_HOME" "impulse 11"
bind "KP_UPARROW" "togglepist"
bind "KP_PGUP" "toggle"
bind "KP_LEFTARROW" "slot3"
bind "KP_END" "slot1"
bind "KP_INS" "+voicerecord"
bind "KP_DEL" "impulse 201"
bind "MWHEELDOWN" "slot4"
bind "MWHEELUP" "slot2"
bind "MOUSE1" "+attack"
bind "MOUSE2" "+popupmenu"
bind "MOUSE3" "+reload"
bind "MOUSE4" "slot4"
bind "MOUSE5" "slot5"

Same here. I even tried a n52 Speedpad, but because I couldn't get its D-Pad to handle strafing while moving forward/backward (ie: moving forward while moving to the right) and it would only do one or the other, I abandoned it.

I like my Razer Copperhead though.

I set that up for myself when I first got into FPS gaming (in original UT). I realized, though, that there's never a time when you're going forwards and backwards simultaneously, so you're completely wasting a finger by keeping 2 of them dedicated to forward and backward movement. One is fine, and it frees up your pinky for all those other keys.

You too?

Rainbow Six has forced me in to the arrow key corner as well. I can't break from it. Really tough with games requiring many keys, but for NS and halflife, I have the perfect setup.

This conversation seems to be going the way of the mouse accel.

No major benefit of going either way, alot of good players here, some mentioned, all different types of key layouts.


Anyone else use different keys for diferent classes/roles?
commander
lerk
marine
...

Yes. One for lerk, One for marine, One for skulk/gorge/onos, One for fade/leap skulk.

Your keyboard layout (I mean the physical layout of the keys) disturbs me greatly.

Works ok for me

ive used the arrow keys as my movement keys from every single computer game ive ever played, from DOOM and wolfenstein all the way up til present times. i have tried wasd layout, but when you have played one specific scheme your whole life, it is almost impossible to adjust. EVERY single game i play i make the keys generically the same.

I switched to an ESDF layout for WoW (or .OEU if you're Dvorak) and rather enjoyed it. For tips on how to do it, I don't have any special recommendations, just practice. WoW is a different game though, with different key uses. I tried also transfering that back to hl games, but ran afoul of Dvorak support there. Interestingly enough, Steam supports Dvorak key layouts, but the as far as I can tell the original half-life does not. Fortunately, NS does support Dvorak, so I can play.

What little bit I did try of playing FPS games with ESDF instead of WASD was quite frustrating. At the time I was using number keys for weapon binds, and having weapon slot 1 bound to number 2, slot 2 to number 3, etc. was immensly distracting.

I guess try to make use of the new keys you've opened up immediately. Having an ability in better to position to be used may help you keep from getting despondent while you learn your new system.

I'm an ESDF-man myself; a few more buttons available on the left side. My mother has fybromyalgia and found AWER closest to rest position for her hands.

gad I can't even use WASD, those are confusing to me, and using the number keys just kills me.

I use the Arrow Keys and my mouse basically for switching weapons.

TFGH for movement, RYHJDE for slots

Oh - how to do it? Play against whichbots (with cheats to keep their damage to zero, but you HAVE to challenge yourself) for 24 hours - either straight or in 2 hour sessions. Then switch to skulk bhop around maps for a little while, switching to use leap helps to get used to it faster.

Heres mine, i never used wasd keys, i use:

up/down arrows: forward/back
left/right arrows: turn (or strafe depending the game and how many keys are use)
KP_4 strafe left, KP_5 strafe right
KP_2 Jump, KP_3 crouch
KP_1 is usually some kind of secondary attack
KP_0 is reload
KP_9 (page up) is flashlight because if you hold it in, it pulses really fast
kp_8 is menu
kp_7 is misc stuff, usually some script i'm using
mouse 1 shoot, mouse 2 change weapon, mousewheel weapon fwd/reverse
mouse 4 drop weapon, mouse 5 chat

You control your forward/back with your pinky, strafe with your middle and index finger, reload with thumb

We should have 12 fingers. On each hand.

All I can say is "ugh..."

I was all about the arrow keys, I owned with them in UT, but ever since NS I was on WASD

I started playing FPS games big time with Tribes 2. Tribes 2 has ESDF as the default movement layout. I never in my entire life used arrow keys or wasd voluntarily. It really does just depend on which keys you got used to using originally.

I have to start by saying I'm a very casual player. (Couple times a month)

Some key combinations just never really need to be pressed in my opinion so I'm not going for uber performance. So I decided I wanted to be able to play with one hand so I can say eat a slice of pizza or drink a Bawls while I play. Or even better, be able to get to start exploring while distracting the person sitting next to me at a Lan. So I settled on a layout that I've never even heard of anyone else using.

so I am right click-ASD where right click is forward.
X - jump
C - crouch
space - use
ctrl - map (because map should be one of the most pressed buttons in the game IMO)
shift - walk

The all the rest of the ns commands can be done with the mouse middle click / scroll wheel so I don't change the defaults.

WASD, with Alt for Duck, Space for Jump and Ctrl for Use.

It just makes sense people!

default, except

z = med/heal
x = ammo/chuckle
c = orders/stopsound
v = weld

§ (console) = stopsound
tab = showscore
capslock = map
mouse2 = "we've got hostiles"
mousewheel = jump

and some other stuff that isnt relevant, like upgrades and those

on aliens, v toggles between jump and +movement bound to space

alias "medpack" "impulse 10;say_team: [MeD / HeaL]"
alias "req" "impulse 80;say_team: [Orders, sir!]"
alias "ammo" "impulse 11;say_team: [AmmO Please!]"
alias "weld" "impulse 14;say_team: [Weld Me Homie!]"
bind "BACKSPACE" "impulse 3"
bind "UPARROW" "+forward"
bind "DOWNARROW" "+back"
bind "LEFTARROW" "+moveleft"
bind "RIGHTARROW" "+moveright"
bind "CTRL" "+duck"
bind "SHIFT" "+speed"
bind "F1" "jointeamone"
bind "F2" "jointeamtwo"
bind "F3" "autoassign"
bind "F4" "readyroom"
bind "DEL" "+reload"
bind "PGDN" "+showmap"
bind "PGUP" "+showscores"
bind "END" "+use"
bind "KP_HOME" "req"
bind "KP_LEFTARROW" "+voicerecord"
bind "KP_END" "lastinv"
bind "KP_DOWNARROW" "weld"
bind "KP_INS" "medpack"
bind "KP_DEL" "ammo"
bind "MWHEELDOWN" "impulse 1"
bind "MWHEELUP" "invprev"
bind "MOUSE1" "+attack"
bind "MOUSE2" "+jump" (or +movement for fade)
bind "MOUSE3" "+popupmenu"