How the hell do people play games on a keyboard?

Seriously, maybe it's that I haven't really played PC games in years, but I was just playing Bastion which I got for cheap in the Steam holiday sale, and it was a royal pain to play with a mouse and keyboard. There's just no way to rest your fingers on the right keys, unlike with a controller.
How do people do it? And more importantly, why would anyone voluntarily play these games with a keyboard?

 

Meh, the problem is devs dont give a shit about WASD anymore so its not done right

Now games are done first for consoles then for the PC, so they just translate the WASD when the game was adjusted for a controller

And thats why GTAIV plays like shit on a PC

 

This. I have the indie bundle 4, which had indie bundle 3 as a gift, and I couldn't even imagine having to play VVVVV or Super Meat Boy on a keyboard. These games keep raping me in the arse, even with a good USB pad. I had to adapt VVVVV with "Joy2Key" in order to be able to fucking play it (It's worth the hassle) - but I wouldn't be able to imagine Meat Boy or anything else on a keyboard.

I do have a friend that did finish Super Meat Boy on his laptop without a gamepad, though.

Still - Bastion is also best enjoyed with a joypad. Great sound on that one, too.

 

I originally played with the arrows and numkeys but in the past few years I've started to WASD as my custom controls take a while to set up, it is not always possible to customise them and I figured I had better learn how to WASD at some point. I sort of got the hang of WASD now but it took some doing and I still slip up a lot by hitting other keys such as the console or chat keys (uncool as it blocks all movements) and I struggle to hit other keys such as Z to go prone etc but luckily many games support the Xbox 360 controller and I use it whenever possible. Well... except for playing FPS online as the mouse just gives so much more speed and accuracy it is unreal.

 

Depends on the game really.. FPS I find way better with a keyboard and mouse. Any other game needs a controller for me.

 

Unless it's analog controls I need, I almost always prefer the keyboard (WASD or arrow keys, doesn't matter after a crapload of DOS jump-n-runs (arrows) and, later, Half-Life-era FPSs etc). IMHO modern controllers' digipads tend to suck, placement-wise, probably since few games use them - and using an analog stick for digital input is just way too unresponsive, no thank you.

A pet peeve of mine: People using the z/x keys for controls and allowing to remap them - Many, many of those Flash timewasters do this, and a lot of japanese titles. Even worse if 'c' and/or a/s/d are also used. Not everyone uses the same keyboard layout! In my case 'z' is halfway across the keyboard instead of next to the 'x'... But I guess French people have it worse, what with their AZERTY (iirc) layout totally messing up anything defaulting to WASD.

 

I use to play and finish everything FPS on the keyboard (except RTS) from Doom to Quake 1,2 Half Life 1 etc, arrow keys mapped to moving and PgUp, and PgDn for looking,never used the mouse , and I was pretty good at it...

Only started using the mouse due to Counter strike, and lost the ability to play purely on the keyboard afterwords.

 

Thank god I wasn't the only one, I though Super Meat Boy had really "slippery" controls on keyboard.

 

I've beaten countless shmups using just a keyboard and a ton of Mega Drive/SNES games too.

instinct I guess.

 

Fuck,I want to say something ,but I can't its either due to the fact that this seems to be a retarded thread or I'm just numb and board. I might take a hiatus from ASSEmbler games.

 

^^
"GodofHardcore
This message is hidden because GodofHardcore is on your ignore list."

i saw that and i knew what had happened.


on topic: i personaly have no prefrences between keyboard/mouse and controller
depends what mood in in really if i wanna just chill i tend to play with controller but if im into a game and playing seriously il play with keyboard and mouse becuse i find that i am more precise and it is easier to get the job done

 

I used to be absolutely unable to play FPS with a controller - but everything else, the keyboard was completely out of the question. I did play Doom on the SNES back in the day... and I never, EVER understood how to play it correctly.

Nowadays, after a few years of owning an Xbox 360, I can play first and third person 3D games with a dual stick controller without getting very disoriented. But at first, it was hellish. Hell, I'd play the original half life with a laptop touchpad, but I couldn't, for the life of me, know how to point and shoot anywhere on Halo with a controller.

The benchmark for me, in this issue, is the Unreal Tournament series. I played UT2003 and UT2004 with good old Keyboard and Mouse, and couldn't ever imagine myself playing them with a controller. I also loved Jedi Outcast - and never, EVER, could I get a clue how to play it on a Gamecube controller. Fuck, to this day, I have yet to learn how to properly play Metroid Prime, and I always wanted that one.

I wound up getting UT3 for the X360, and I had to learn how to play properly with the 360 controller. I, eventually, got the hang of it.

Still, I was never, NEVER, able to play anything on a keyboard that is remotely console-like. I probably never will be. But now that some PC style games have gone to consoles, I have been able to learn how to use controllers with them.

This being said, I don't see myself playing any 2D games with a keyboard if I can avoid it. I'm not much of a PC Gamer, but PC Type games should be played with WASD and a good mouse; and Console type games work better with a joypad.

It's like a law of nature or something.

 

Yeah, I can play FPS just fine on a controller nowadays (not that I really play them), but any kind of strategy game is hell on a pad.

 

How the hell do people play games on a keyboard?

With their hands?

 

I prefer to use my fingers.

 

I used to play with my fingers, then I took an arrow in the knee...

Forced meme is forced.

 

I'm actually pretty ace playing FPS shooters with a trackpad. It's amazing what you get used to over time.

WASD was the way to go back in the day. That said I had a few friends who'd use the arrow keys AND they were right handed. Looked pretty ridiculous with both arms cramped up like that, but meh, whatever you fancy.

My biggest gripe with the rise of controllers is in the OnLive set up. Titles such as Arkham Asylum support mouse and keyboard but have no option for customisation. Therefore some actions which require a right click are a real pain in the ass. Two fingers on the trackpad or a separate click on the Apple Magic Mouse as you can't do two buttons at once.

Keyboard controls seem to have been an after thought as the system prefers Xbox 360 controllers or their own proprietary one.

 

I play pc games with a keyboard/mouse over a controller any day especially fps's i don't understand how people can play them with a controller! I Also have all the keys on my keyboard blacked out (you can't see the letters/numbers on it) the first month was hell now i do everything without taking a glance at it!

 

I bought my first computer in 2000 and before that I never really used a keyboard much. It took some adjusting from a snes controller to a keyboard. Originally I used the arrow keys and DEL END for Y and B buttons, Page Up and Down for L + R triggers. Basically my right hand palm would brush against the fingers of my left hand regularly, worked fine for me.

The only time I would prefer a keyboard over a controller is FPS and strategy games.