WASD vs fat fingers -what do you do?

mttylad

What do some of the older PC gamers do when faced with the issue of the WASD keyboard keys?

Going from an Xbox with a few keys to a keyboard with a zillion keys for every command when you have fat fingers is extremely hard.

What do you folks do to replace the WASD?

I am thinking of a zboard or perhaps just building myself a joystick and buttons board.

Tropez

The majority of games on the PC support controllers and the Xbox controller is supported in Windows so if you're having difficulties I would suggest plugging in an Xbox controller.

For the minority of games that don't natively support controllers, a third-party application like Xpadder will allow you to map buttons to the controls of an Xbox pad.

Steve-o

I always used the arrow keys. The Zboard is pretty good for a right-hander, because the controls are on the left hand side. And you can set up key binds, and combinations.

gboom2000

I don't think it's the size of your fingers, it just takes some getting used to. My fingers are short and fat, I hated using a keyboard when I first switched to PC but you just get used to doing it, and eventually you'll never know what you used a controller for.

dizziblonde

I can't play using WSAD - it's as a consequence of playing one MMORPG for about 8-9 years that used the num pad to navigate - it's just too ingrained in my muscle memory for me to be happy using anything else.

I usually just sit and remap all the key controls straight away to what suits me better.

mttylad

I tried the arrow keys, no good considering I need to also use the other keys to kill zombies, reload, pick up things, pick my nose et all lol.

And yes - with a large hand and big fingers - WASD is hard to keep to.

Blackjack_Davy

Just plug in a controller? A PS3 controller works ok with the the last FPS that I played, but I'm so used to WASD that it just feels wrong.

There is also a trend with keyboards to become smaller with less key travel, I call it the laptop tendency, some of my older keyboards with big, chunky keys and full travel feel much easier to use with WASD than some of the modern ones

Maddox888

The main reason I dont play PC games is the use of keyboard. After using a controller for the last 25yrs of my life I find it really hard to use a keyboard.

Its a pity really as some PC games do look stunning.

Nada666

Do fingers really grow significantly bigger as you age?

pukkamum

Dh really struggles using a keyboard for gaming, it really frustrates him that I can do it and he can't hahaha.
He's ok on slower rpg games but cannot play the fast moving games, luckily as someone else said, most games are microsoft controller compatible.

mttylad

They dont grow bigger, but they do grow less flexible.

Arthur Ritis starts to set in etc.

I used to be double jointed and could fold my fingers back over my hand to be horizontal/parallel with it. Now I struggle to get them to bend back 90 degrees.

I have found that a wired xbox controller is excellent so will be looking for one of them, my son can have his back then