WASD
- Thread starter Anduril
- Start date
Yeah, Wolfenstein 3-D defaulted to arrow keys, Ctrl, Alt, and space (for doors/switches.)
If I remember correctly you could map keys in Spear of Destiny, the follow up to Wolfenstein.
Yeah, I believe it was Unreal that introduced WASD, though I could be wrong. It was such a brilliant yet simple change that made sense and PC gaming had never been the same since 
Yeah, I believe it was Unreal that introduced WASD, though I could be wrong. It was such a brilliant yet simple change that made sense and PC gaming had never been the same since
For me, it was probably either Unreal 1, Quake 1 or Duke 3d that got me using WASD.
For Doom 1 & 2, I managed to scrape through using Q & A for backwards and forwards, O & P for left and right, Shift for space, M for fire. That (like Reverend) is probably a legacy from the spectrum days. It was only with those when I found I really needed to use the mouse.
I don't know how anyone can prefer a control stick to a mouse for aiming. It's so imprecise.
Yeah, I believe it was Unreal that introduced WASD, though I could be wrong. It was such a brilliant yet simple change that made sense and PC gaming had never been the same since
For me, it was probably either Unreal 1, Quake 1 or Duke 3d that got me using WASD.
For Doom 1 & 2, I managed to scrape through using Q & A for backwards and forwards, O & P for left and right, Shift for space, M for fire. That (like Reverend) is probably a legacy from the spectrum days. It was only with those when I found I really needed to use the mouse.
Oh, I never played much Quake, so it might have had that setup too, though I thought I remembered it still used the arrow keys and shift setup.
I still remember Unreal and thought that was one of the things it did really well.
I'm not sure if the arrows were the default for Quake either which leads me to think either Unreal or DN3d and I just carried on from there as I played them all roughly at the same time.
DN3d has a good case for me having gone to WASD as more keys were within reach over the arrows and I seem to remember needing a lot more buttons with that one.
I definitely wouldn't credit Unreal with coming up with WASD. They were one of the earlier games to have it as the default control scheme. WASD was common in the Quakeworld days but it wasn't the default. If you recall for Quake you even had to manually enable 'mouselook'.
And yeah 'plugging in a controller' is a pretty sad way to play an FPS on PC
And yeah 'plugging in a controller' is a pretty sad way to play an FPS on PC
First one I was familiar with to have it then I think it's due to the transition phase games went through to being true 3D, that I considered FPS games having it as grown up and matured, if that makes any sense. Quake in a way, was a wakeup call to the possibilities for the genre's future. When you think back on these games, it's amazing things we take for granted were originally innovations, like mouselook in Quake Oh man, how did we do without it?
Haha, I played lots of DN3D back in the day. Those were fun times. There's a group remaking it that officially got the go-ahead from Gearbox after being impressed with what they could do, though I haven't heard anything much. It might have been delayed. If interested, look up DN3D Reloaded. The same team is rebooting Rise of the Triads.
I think it's due to the transition phase games went through to being true 3D, that I considered FPS games having it as grown up and matured, if that makes any sense. Quake in a way, was a wakeup call to the possibilities for the genre's future. When you think back on these games, it's amazing things we take for granted were originally innovations, like mouselook in Quake Oh man, how did we do without it?Haha, I played lots of DN3D back in the day. Those were fun times. There's a group remaking it that officially got the go-ahead from Gearbox after being impressed with what they could do, though I haven't heard anything much. It might have been delayed. If interested, look up DN3D Reloaded. The same team is rebooting Rise of the Triads.
I used to use the arrow keys, but moved to WASD when I realised I was stretching my left arm all the way over for no reason! Been using WASD for longer than I've been using any gamepad, just feels wrong to move around with sticks...
Yeah, I remember being at a friend's when he set it up for Quake II and it was like a light suddenly shone down on me. It was just so *right* it was like playing for the first time. I remember getting hit by some grunt who I could not locate to save my life when it occurred to me to look toward the ceiling. I felt like Khan learning about the third dimension.
takes a little practice but when you get it, the dual sticks are just as accurate as a mouse.
Joystick movements are rate-limited and relative by nature. With a mouse, on the other hand, you can move your cursor with great precision to any point on the screen in a fraction of a second--and practice makes you more proficient.
It's not even a knock against joysticks, it's just a task they weren't designed to do well--but mice were.
You can't type a research paper with a mouse, either, or at least I wouldn't want to try. Use the right tool for the job. I'm curious to know what FPS games out there work with joysticks at a level that's on par with mice, and don't use any kind of auto-aiming or other soft cheats to make up for joysticks' inadequacies.
Yeah, I remember being at a friend's when he set it up for Quake II and it was like a light suddenly shone down on me. It was just so *right* it was like playing for the first time. I remember getting hit by some grunt who I could not locate to save my life when it occurred to me to look toward the ceiling. I felt like Khan learning about the third dimension.
I guess that makes sense, as I was never really much into Quake beyond a curiosity, so I never played the sequel. I was more of a DN3D fan. So for me I first saw it in Unreal, and the experience may differ for others
What really irritates me is games that have WASD, but A and D are for turning instead of strafing. I believe that was the default setup on Deus Ex and it threw me off for the longest time before I just gave up and changed the settings.
Haha, yeah, I know what you mean. Definitely annoying and it does seem like an odd setup. Strafing can effectively be more efficient than turning directly, if your movement direction is tied to your mouselook, which is how most games behave these days.
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