How did the combination of WASD

For me, WASD - understandable on an intuitive level, a combination of keys for games. But the story could go the other way, and we would have EDSF or ASXC. Let's find out why we play that way.





Today WASD seems inevitable and indispensable key combination for games. As soon as it became difficult to control the mouse in the 3D-shooters, in any case, the right-hander, keep your fingers on the arrows. The keys on the left side of the keyboard is more comfortable and it is easier to get to the Shift and Space. But it now seems WASD best and the only right choice, and twenty years ago, few players have used this combination.

At the dawn of shooters there was no single standard keyboard controls, gamers will attempt to choose the best option. Game developers default set for various combinations of movements, including arrows. The shooter System Shock in 1994 offered ASDX. The Descent to move forward and backward using AZ, and look out of the corner could be using QE. Gamers have tried other combinations, such as ZXCV and ESDF.

It is generally accepted today the standard WASD took several years to firmly enter into the everyday life of players worldwide. It is not known exactly who was the first to use this combination, but a very significant contribution to the popularization of it has made one person -. Dennis «Thresh» Fong, the greatest player in Quake

Father osnovatelDennis Fong in 1997 won the first national tournament Quake tournament personal Ferrari 328 John Carmack, founder of ID Software. And in that moment, when he killed Thomas Kimsey (Tom «Entropy» Kimzey), right hand Fong lying on the mouse and the left - on the WASD combination



. Dennis Fong, a few years before the championship played Doom with his brother, using only the keyboard. But Doom in the mouse did not make sense, because to look up and down was not a necessity. You sent a weapon to the enemy, not being guided by his position on the vertical axis.

And Dennis Fong, and his brother Lyle were excellent players. But Dennis lost his brother, who used a trackball, so one summer Fong decided to learn to play with the mouse. And it became invincible. "As soon as I made the transition, my skills have increased exponentially," - said Fong, adding that after this no longer play.

This was followed by experiments, for example, WADX. But in the end Fong found WASD and became only use this combination. He came up with this scheme there? Probably no. Other people have also tried to use the left side of the keyboard of Doom at the same time. But without the influence of a combination of Fong could not become the standard. There were also EDSF, or even strange ZXC. I wonder what we would include the key sights if walking on ZXC, and to move back to click on the right mouse button?

"I'm definitely not going to reap the laurels creator WASD combination. I stumbled upon it by accident. I am sure that other people at the same time started to use it, simply because it seemed to them easy. But I definitely think that I helped to popularize it for a specific group of gamers, in particular for the players in the shooters, "- says Dennis Fong. This key combination was registered in his Thresh's Quake Bible as the "inverted T", and the "Guide to Quake" from one of the first competitive players mattered. Opinion Fong was weighty and to his career as a player in Quake - before that he was a champion of Doom

first person shooters with WASD for umolchaniyuIstoriya modern first-person shooter begins in the 1970s.. One of the first games in the genre was Maze War - "The war in the labyrinth." Playing with a first-person assumed movement in the maze, the player can move forward, backward and turn to the side, at the same time every time - up to 90 degrees. There was no need to hit the target in a specific point, shoot at the enemy could simply directing opinion in the right direction. The grandfather of the shooters could play on Mac, Palm OS, NeXT Computer, Xerox Star.



In 1991 he published Hovertank 3D, one of the first 3D-shooters. Just playing it is not for man, but for the tank, which rescues the hostages and kill monsters in the maze. It was developed by id Software.



Two years later, id Software released Doom, one of the most important games among the first-person shooter. You, too, the music began to play in my head? I am sure most of you know this game is not by hearsay.



As already mentioned above, in the Doom in the mouse was not necessary. It was enough for the arrow keys, and shooting and change weapons. Mouse came later. This Quake - not the first game in which it began to be used, until it was Marathon. But that was the least influential as compared to the legendary Quake.

In 1997, among the options are, for example, A Shift Z X, where A - forward, and Z - ago. In 1999 he released System Shock 2, where the movement was carried out by the square WADX, and on S could sit down.



But people are asking questions about how to play Thresh as he set up management: "After winning the game demo Phong I was stunned, because this guy is moving so fast in Quake! He quickly turns around 180 degrees, I do not think it can be done with the mouse. I believe he has set up the keyboard under rocket-Jampa and this reversal. »

John Carmack, one of the creators of Quake, the second part of the game added a configuration named Phong. But it is unlikely that is what made the layout of the most popular in the world of shooters. In Quake 2 WASD was still as a separate layout. But in the published in 1998, Half-Life for the first time a combination of WASD shooter left the bench and become the default control.



In 1998 he published the shooter Starsiege Tribes, where WASD again becomes of default. Quake 3 in 1999 finally WASD added to the default settings. Then came the other shooters, but it was Half-Life, Starsiege Tribes and Quake 3 have made a major contribution to the popularity of the layout. In 2004 he published the World of Warcraft with the same settings as the default, and if WASD has not yet been the basis for all, the combination after WoW came to exactly into use of millions of gamers.

The same version was used for the movement more in Castle Wolfenstein 1981, but it was a 2D game-with views of the left. Today, the combination is not only used in shooters - it is a way to control the camera in the strategies.



If you're playing a shooter and you use this configuration, you need to understand its benefits. When you keep your fingers on the WAD, ready at any moment to shift the average on the S to move backward, your little finger easily gets to the Shift, and the thumb - up space. And while you can easily change weapons keys 1-4, if during the game it is necessary.

What if not WASD? The combination of WASD placed on the left side of the keyboard, and it is used when the mouse is in the right hand. But if you are left handed, the control of conventional offset with arrows to the right, on the left side of the keyboard becomes meaningless. Therefore, it is likely that you are using the arrow keys and their surrounding keys to control your character in the game.

Fallout 4 by default uses WASD. But there are people who switch layout on ESDF. Players in this case, faced with a problem: the key E is designed to collect loot. And they have everything that they see, collect - because that go to this key, and change this setting in the game is impossible. Members Reddit thread in the link above note that ESDF play 10% of all gamers.

Interestingly, Gabe Newell, founder and CEO of Valve, does not use the WASD. His logic is that the games do not have to withdraw your hands from their position for normal printing. Therefore, it also uses shifted to the right inverted T - ESDF. Another developer of Half-Life, a game designer Dario Casali (Dario Casali) prefers ASXC.

There are other options. Some people prefer RDFG. There are fans TFGH. Even 5RTY EDAF and some seem to be more comfortable. And in whose camp you?

Source: geektimes.ru/post/278626/