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I don't understand why the default seems to be using arrow keys for movement, instead of WASD. A gamepad has the movement controls on the left hand, either d-pa

I don't understand why the default seems to be using arrow keys for movement, instead of WASD. A gamepad has the movement controls on the left hand, either d-pad or stick, and for PC games, using WASD for movement is standard. Using arrow keys swaps the hands, and thus makes it less intuitive to anyone with gaming experience. It's the equivalent of forcing anyone who comes to your website to switch which hand they use for their mouse. At the very least, just support arrow keys AND WASD.

rlv-dan 5y ago
I grew up playing Nintendo. Later I moved to PC and arrow keys. It was never a problem for me. But using WASD as arrow keys never worked for me. It is not intuitive for me.
- codetrotter 5y ago
  Are you by chance left handed? I can see that WASD would be awkward to use for anyone who keeps the mouse on the left side of their keyboard instead of on the right side of the keyboard. Also, speaking of WASD. Anyone implementing WASD controls in a game, please make sure you make the keys rebindable and not hardcoded to WASD. I use the Dvorak layout so in the position that a QWERTY user has their hands when playing with WASD controls I have different keys, and therefore when I’m in game I make use of keyboard input configurations offered by the game in order to set up keys that work with the layout I use :) And even though there may just be a handful of people that use Dvorak… :p there are still quite a few different keyboard layouts that are quite widespread. Fortunately most games on Steam offer the ability to define your own keys. And even some browser based games do as well.
  - dudifordMann 5y ago
    As a lefty who moves the mouse to the left side of keyboard, WADS is no more awkward than any other keyboard combination for left or right headed people. Just, you know, shift your keyboard a little bit more towards the right for comfortable spacing lol.
  - Dylan16807 5y ago
    It's more important to use the correct API in the first place. For example, inside a browser KeyboardEvent.code is based on the location of the key. No layout-based rebinding should be needed. (Rebinding is still nice in general, of course.)
    - codetrotter 5y ago
      > No layout-based rebinding should be needed. Not always the case ಠ‿ಠ I am using a programmable keyboard that does the layout in the keyboard firmware, and therefore you can’t actually tell the physical position of the keys I am using from the key code.
      - Dylan16807 5y ago
        Is that allowed by the keyboard specifications? If you break the mapping on purpose I have some sympathy but not nearly as much as "oh no this only works on qwerty".
- city41 5y ago
  I'm the same way. I get where the OP is coming from, logically WASD mimicking a d-pad does make sense. But in reality arrow keys are easier to use. Human brains are weird. I'm right handed btw.
keyle 5y ago
Anything retro, pre-mouse era, was with the arrow keys, because it made sense. At least for player 1. (Besides, WASD is pretty bad for AZERTY keyboards which is a lot of players.) Some player 2 layouts had a mix of letters, but were usually pretty thoughtful of AZERTY. Once the mouse came out and gaming started to become 3D "looking around", e.g. Quake, WASD appeared along side the mouse used to look around. So I take it you're a pretty young gamer :-) WASD only makes sense if you're holding a mouse on the other side of the keyboard. Otherwise, the OG is arrow keys, and even numpad keys, some mechanical keyboard still give the homage by having arrows on 8462 keys of the numpad on the right side. Many games in fact even supported diagonal movements on the other digits. Ref. https://cdn.thefpsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ibm-model-m-keyboard-german-layout.jpg https://cdn.thefpsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ibm-...
- TulliusCicero 5y ago
  I don’t really think of 36 as young, no. Yes, some old games used arrow keys for movement, and I hated that, too, since I started on the NES. Same deal for arcades as well; the stick has been on the left for decades now. Good point about AZERTY, though at least with some engines you can just map to the physical locations that corresponds to WASD for QWERTY, so different keyboards should mostly be a non-issue.
- dspillett 5y ago
  > Anything retro, pre-mouse era, was with the arrow keys, because it made sense. At least for player 1. As well as using arrow keys for directional movement, which just makes sense as you were already using them in other applications that way, it left the letter keys for named actions (attack, defend, ..., which I remember some games using) and/or the left hand free for using shift/ctrl/alt for movement modifiers (which I find a less convenient arrangement on the other side of keyboards I've used). Once mouse controls became common for aiming it made sense to move because WASD is close enough to the common modifier keys that the left can do all the work there. > WASD only makes sense if you're holding a mouse on the other side of the keyboard. I know lefties who were perfectly happy to use WASD+modifiers+other with their right hand and keep their mouse/similar on the left. They would often remap jump (frequently assigned to the space bar by default) to something else (maybe \ on a UK keyboard as that is near the thumb, or V to stretch the pinky less if their thumb is going to be occupied using shift or ctrl as a movement modifier (or fire if they didn't use a mouse button for that)). It was less convenient for them if a game didn't allow key remapping.
WA 5y ago
Default German keyboard layout is QWERTZ (Z and Y swapped). Too many web indie games use Z and/or X for some kind of action, which sucks for us Germans, because those aren't next to each other.
- Rexxar 5y ago
  In french it's AZERTY: A/Q and W/Z swapped.

rlv-dan 5y ago

I grew up playing Nintendo. Later I moved to PC and arrow keys. It was never a problem for me. But using WASD as arrow keys never worked for me. It is not intuitive for me.

codetrotter 5y ago
Are you by chance left handed? I can see that WASD would be awkward to use for anyone who keeps the mouse on the left side of their keyboard instead of on the right side of the keyboard. Also, speaking of WASD. Anyone implementing WASD controls in a game, please make sure you make the keys rebindable and not hardcoded to WASD. I use the Dvorak layout so in the position that a QWERTY user has their hands when playing with WASD controls I have different keys, and therefore when I’m in game I make use of keyboard input configurations offered by the game in order to set up keys that work with the layout I use :) And even though there may just be a handful of people that use Dvorak… :p there are still quite a few different keyboard layouts that are quite widespread. Fortunately most games on Steam offer the ability to define your own keys. And even some browser based games do as well.
- dudifordMann 5y ago
  As a lefty who moves the mouse to the left side of keyboard, WADS is no more awkward than any other keyboard combination for left or right headed people. Just, you know, shift your keyboard a little bit more towards the right for comfortable spacing lol.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  It's more important to use the correct API in the first place. For example, inside a browser KeyboardEvent.code is based on the location of the key. No layout-based rebinding should be needed. (Rebinding is still nice in general, of course.)
  - codetrotter 5y ago
    > No layout-based rebinding should be needed. Not always the case ಠ‿ಠ I am using a programmable keyboard that does the layout in the keyboard firmware, and therefore you can’t actually tell the physical position of the keys I am using from the key code.
    - Dylan16807 5y ago
      Is that allowed by the keyboard specifications? If you break the mapping on purpose I have some sympathy but not nearly as much as "oh no this only works on qwerty".
city41 5y ago
I'm the same way. I get where the OP is coming from, logically WASD mimicking a d-pad does make sense. But in reality arrow keys are easier to use. Human brains are weird. I'm right handed btw.

keyle 5y ago

Anything retro, pre-mouse era, was with the arrow keys, because it made sense. At least for player 1. (Besides, WASD is pretty bad for AZERTY keyboards which is a lot of players.) Some player 2 layouts had a mix of letters, but were usually pretty thoughtful of AZERTY. Once the mouse came out and gaming started to become 3D "looking around", e.g. Quake, WASD appeared along side the mouse used to look around. So I take it you're a pretty young gamer :-) WASD only makes sense if you're holding a mouse on the other side of the keyboard. Otherwise, the OG is arrow keys, and even numpad keys, some mechanical keyboard still give the homage by having arrows on 8462 keys of the numpad on the right side. Many games in fact even supported diagonal movements on the other digits. Ref. https://cdn.thefpsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ibm-model-m-keyboard-german-layout.jpg https://cdn.thefpsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ibm-...

TulliusCicero 5y ago
I don’t really think of 36 as young, no. Yes, some old games used arrow keys for movement, and I hated that, too, since I started on the NES. Same deal for arcades as well; the stick has been on the left for decades now. Good point about AZERTY, though at least with some engines you can just map to the physical locations that corresponds to WASD for QWERTY, so different keyboards should mostly be a non-issue.
dspillett 5y ago
> Anything retro, pre-mouse era, was with the arrow keys, because it made sense. At least for player 1. As well as using arrow keys for directional movement, which just makes sense as you were already using them in other applications that way, it left the letter keys for named actions (attack, defend, ..., which I remember some games using) and/or the left hand free for using shift/ctrl/alt for movement modifiers (which I find a less convenient arrangement on the other side of keyboards I've used). Once mouse controls became common for aiming it made sense to move because WASD is close enough to the common modifier keys that the left can do all the work there. > WASD only makes sense if you're holding a mouse on the other side of the keyboard. I know lefties who were perfectly happy to use WASD+modifiers+other with their right hand and keep their mouse/similar on the left. They would often remap jump (frequently assigned to the space bar by default) to something else (maybe \ on a UK keyboard as that is near the thumb, or V to stretch the pinky less if their thumb is going to be occupied using shift or ctrl as a movement modifier (or fire if they didn't use a mouse button for that)). It was less convenient for them if a game didn't allow key remapping.

WA 5y ago

Default German keyboard layout is QWERTZ (Z and Y swapped). Too many web indie games use Z and/or X for some kind of action, which sucks for us Germans, because those aren't next to each other.

Rexxar 5y ago
In french it's AZERTY: A/Q and W/Z swapped.