Pre WSAD & Mouse gaming

Playing any RTS seems like a huge headache on a controller.

Mouse for noobs/relaxed play.
Constant hotkey use and shortcuts via a big keyboard for competitive play or online!
Turn based can be acceptable on a controller I can image, although I never tried.
 
It was Quake that changed everything for me. I remember chatting to a mate about it at school in the early days and he laughed at me for using the keyboard to aim. I was like.... you use the mouse to look around?! Does that not get tiring and constantly mean you aren't level with the enemy heads....etc. Laughed back at him. Worked out how to do multiplayer and soon realised there was a lot of looking up and down.... and that I was getting owned. Swapped to wasd and mouse and it was like a whole new world once it clicked. :)
 
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Freddie1980 said:
Looking back it's remarkable how much we put up with crappy controls, try playing FPS's games on PS1/Saturn/N64 era controllers. Back in the 90's before I got a PC I really enjoyed playing Exhumed on the Sega Saturn, to look up and down you had to press and hold the buttons to the far right of the controllers and it wasn't quick to adjust either. Playing it now is a jarring experience but at the time I had no problem with it.
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Indeed. The absolute worship that Goldeneye gets from everyone else - I thought it was unplayable!
 
I went from QAOP-Space on the Spectrum 48k, 128k+2, BBC Micro etc to struggling to use cursors/mouse with Quake/Quake 2 ('96-'97) on my first PC and then struggling again with the move to WASD/QEZXC/Shift etc (just too many keys) with Half Life and eventually CS.

Now anything other than WASD "feel" wrong :D
 
enkoda said:
I remember using QAOP & the spacebar before rising to the heady heights of Quickshot II joystick gaming.
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lol ditto....... dont forget ZX PL and space


and iirc there were a few really odd games which used a row of numbers on the keyboard.

ohh the rubber keyed speccy days.

i think it was checkered flag that i "made" a steering wheel for.

it was basically a rocker i put on my keyboard to turn left and right.
 
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I still dont use WSAD. When i first started on PC games, which was probably Half life, i found id need to scratch my face or something and go back to ESDF or something, and id have to break concentration to find the right keys again. So i shoved the keyboard to the left and used the arrow keys instead. 0 keypad to jump, right Ctrl for duck, shift for reload, enter for use. Now games are (needlessly) complicated and need more keys, so i use the 6 buttons above the arrow keys, 7,4,1 on the keypad etc. It makes logical sense to me at least. i also invert the mouse. i'm 44, so i'll be in trouble if they stop catering for my weird needs... i'm too old to learn new keys!

This does mean i need a full size keyboard, which is fine by me, the boggo logitech wired keyboards are fine for my level of gaming.
 
I'm left-handed so WASD doesn't work because the layout of the other keys like Walk, Crouch, Prone etc is based on a right hand. Instead of using my thumb to jump, I'd have to use my pinky which feels weird. So instead I've always used curser keys. Ambidextrous gaming mice are limited as well.
 
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I've always played pc games with the wasd and the mouse.

I don't remember a time when pc games were keyboard only. Though I was coming from the Amiga so might have missed that part.
 
CuriousTomCat said:
I'm left-handed so WASD doesn't work because the layout of the other keys like Walk, Crouch, Prone etc is based on a right hand. Instead of using my thumb to jump, I'd have to use my pinky which feels weird. So instead I've always used curser keys. Ambidextrous gaming mice are limit as well.
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Right on WASD is for wimps. I`m right handed but play always play FPS left handed. Cursor keys, 0 jump 1 crouch INS/HOME/DEL/PGUP etc for my game/utility keys. I started on a ZX80 thats back in the day when you needed a hammer and chisel to operate the keys. Although I did build my own joystick for my ZX81. Vic 20 was keyboard, CBM 64 and Amiga was joystick. Then back to keyboard and mouse for PC.
 
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BowdonUK said:
I've always played pc games with the wasd and the mouse.

I don't remember a time when pc games were keyboard only. Though I was coming from the Amiga so might have missed that part.
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What FPS games did you first play on PC?

I came from Amiga too and many games used the mouse, only a couple in FPS games though.
The main reason for me using keyboard only on PC was default controls were cursor keys and ctl for shoot, alt for strafe. I just left them as they were and didnt bother thinking about using the mouse. Setting up advanced mouse controls to play Duke 3d shareware in early 1996 when I was 12, no thanks. Just let me play it!

Now it feels more nostalgic using game default controls, especially Duke 3d with alt for strafe. Harder and more rewarding. When I use a mouse it's so easy... but doesnt feel right
 
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I remember playing MechWarrior 4 with a joystick in left hand (forwards/backwards, strafe and rotate) and a mouse right hand (aim + fire). Felt light years ahead of other control methods in games.
 
Guest2 said:
What FPS games did you first play on PC?
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I think it was the first Doom.

I remember back in the day it was initiated by DOS command lines, and we had to select the sound card type, and I think keyboard and mouse type on some of them.

The PC wasn't the best machine for games back then, in my opinion. But when the Amiga crashed PC makers saw an opportunity.
 
jaybee said:
It was Quake that changed everything for me. I remember chatting to a mate about it at school in the early days and he laughed at me for using the keyboard to aim. I was like.... you use the mouse to look around?! Does that not get tiring and constantly mean you aren't level with the enemy heads....etc. Laughed back at him. Worked out how to do multiplayer and soon realised there was a lot of looking up and down.... and that I was getting owned. Swapped to wasd and mouse and it was like a whole new world once it clicked. :)
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I was similarly dubious when a friend advised that I should use the mouse and keyboard to play Quake. Told me to move over and just did a very brief 'circle strafe' demo and I was like 'Oh!' :)
 
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