Using thumb to press V, B, N...

Curunen · 31 May 2013 at 20:38

How do people manage to press these keys with their left thumb (assuming right handed) without hitting the spacebar? :confused:

Just curious when I see players of different games posting keybindings which involve one of the above button presses. I can't for the life of me do it, unless I raise all the keys by half a centimetre; have to hit them with the left index finger instead.

Is it easier with some keyboards?

Bit of a strange thread - how many people here regularly use their thumb on keys above the spacebar, in any game?

anuraj · 31 May 2013 at 20:41

Move my thumb up from the space bar and hit the key that I need.

Pighardia · 31 May 2013 at 20:45

I find Z and X harder.

I have C,V and B mapped to functions in FO:NV atm and find it fine.

Curunen · 31 May 2013 at 20:51

See I can hit Z, X and C easily; regular keybinds in any game - but with the left thumb turned sideways I can't avoid the spacebar without twisting my hand a little, which after a while becomes pretty uncomfortable.

I'm considering blu-tacking a small chunk of cardboard/plastic to stick on V/B so I can make use of them.

Cutshaw · 31 May 2013 at 21:11

ESDF is clearly the way forward.

More keys around your base keys and the pinky can still reach ctrl and shift etc. Using backslash feels a lot more natural and I can get to C, V, B, N easily and quickly with my index finger.

Kosmiche · 31 May 2013 at 21:30

I can never hit Z, I always have to rebind it to X in games like battlefield.

Feels like it should be X in the first place.

Westie · 31 May 2013 at 21:36

I use z x c v b for thumb even f r t g plus shift and keys mentioned when pvping in wow... I never use 1 2 3 4 5 etc tho

jakspyder · 31 May 2013 at 22:34

Put the feet up on the keyboard so its slightly more angled?

I use z x c v regularly. B and beyond are for uncommon keys rarely used or not used in direct combat (B for binos for example) so its fine to take my hand of my WASD if required.

In something like COD/BF/CSS etc i wouldnt bind anything past V

Rroff · 31 May 2013 at 22:36

jakspyder said:
Put the feet up on the keyboard so its slightly more angled?

This makes it a ton easier... tho I'm an old school arrow keys player and will never use WASD or similiar.

G18241 · 31 May 2013 at 22:38

dont think ive ever used VBN in any game :/

Nadrian · 31 May 2013 at 22:41

I always bind things on the bottom keyboard row to my mouse, like prone in most games, z or x just don't feel natural at all

Curunen · 31 May 2013 at 23:26

Hmm, ESDF might just be an option.

And I hadn't considered the angle of the keyboard - I used to use it with feet up, but have since preferred for it to be flat so the hand can lay in a more relaxed position - if that makes sense.

Still great options, thanks for the replies. Will play around with keyboard angle and try out ESDF again.

Five.Stars · 1 Jun 2013 at 00:03

Rroff said:
This makes it a ton easier... tho I'm an old school arrow keys player and will never use WASD or similiar.

Yip, i use the arrows as well. Never really felt comfortable using w,a,s,d

Only thing with using arrows is it takes space bar out of equation without taking hand of arrows. Also need to move keyboard and mouse pad a bit further apart to make it ergonomic.

Always bind return as reloaded and shift as jump etc. just a config I have always used and other than a few tweaks game to game found it to work.

I also have a logitech mx1100 mouse which has something like 11 buttons, so that is good as can split a lot of the bindings between keyboard and mouse.

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle · 1 Jun 2013 at 00:25

Z I can do, but it feels uncomfortable
X I can easily do, but i would rather rebind

Razor-BladE · 1 Jun 2013 at 01:28

I use my thumb for Z X C V B N M G H.

G-MAN2004 · 1 Jun 2013 at 01:50

anuraj said:
Move my thumb up from the space bar and hit the key that I need.

This. Not too difficult. :/

Mathius · 1 Jun 2013 at 10:29

If you are having issues reaching certain keys, it be best to try and remap them to suit your needs.....

w,s,a,d, q,e,x,c

I use these keys very often when playing, and can reach them all easily.

f, is my use/interact key, simple to reach.
r, is a goggles button, nightvision etc.. (reload key is mapped to mouse)
z, IIRC is not used atm.
Ctrl is team voice chat
L.shift is mapped to mouse - run/sprint
\ can be reached with pinky finger (teamspeak button) as well as TAB.

Mapping buttons to the mouse is the easiest way.

I have a kinda rested claw grip on the left side of my keyboard, and if i need v, b, n I just roll my wrist forwards (claw grip) and then the thumb can reach the N key relatively easily.