Keyboard Replacement for FPS

[FuriousJorge]

Everybody knows keyboards were not designed for gaming. I've been waiting to see what comes out to replace them, specifically for FPS, for years.

I'm still waiting.

OK, there's this thing. This seems to be the de facto standard for FPS keyboard replacement.

Am I wrong?

Seems to me something like this would be much better.

I'm basically talking about a joystick you can 'palm' and still reach buttons for your fingers.

Just like these '3D Controllers" used for CAD and other engineering / modeling purposes, but they are not designed for gaming. At least, I can't find any record of anyone using them successfully for such.

The joystick would replace WASD, you have YAW as well for lean, and also another axis of motion up and down (zoom?).

Am I missing something here? The only thing I can think of is that it may be harder to hit buttons with your left hand if your whole hand is moving to control your character, but that is solved if the movement required is minimal, or if some/most buttons are on the joystick.

Just to be clear, I am still talking about using a mouse with my right hand, I'm ONLY trying to replace the keyboard.

UPDATE: Check out this review of a 3D Controller:

From my experience with the SpacePilot, I feel that the controller cap would make an excellent gaming accessory as a left-hand replacement for the standard ?WASD? controls of a first-person shooter. The smoothness and programmability of the SpacePilot is top-notch, and would allow one to handle their character with unprecedented dexterity.

At least one other person feels this way.

 

[JSt0rm]

lol. not in a million years.

 

[FuriousJorge]

thanks for your contribution :roll:

PS Fix your sig. 486s don't support 256MB of RAM

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Originally posted by: FuriousJorge
thanks for your contribution :roll:

PS Fix your sig. 486s don't support 256MB of RAM

Owned.

As far as your OP. I doubt it. One thing with all those devices you linked they are all expensive. The great thing about the keyboard is the fact that it is comes with every computer and has lots of buttons. Very few but the most hardcore computer gamers would buy a 200+ dollar palm joystick thing.

 

[FuriousJorge]

Price is not an option for some people (myself excluded). I don't think these 3D Controllers would work anyway for gaming, which is a shame because it's a good concept, IMHO.

The n52 from Belkin seems to be the best alternative to a keyboard for FPSs, but even still I don't know if it's better than a cheap keyboard (thumb for d-pad?).

You're 100% correct that keyboards are cheap and ubiquitous. I just think something almost as cheap, and far superior for FPS gameplay is just asking to be invented.

Originally posted by: OVerLoRDI

Originally posted by: FuriousJorge
thanks for your contribution :roll:

PS Fix your sig. 486s don't support 256MB of RAM

Owned.

He's even farther off on the cache

 

[Born2bwire]

Get the Belkin. I've been using one for years and they have a pretty good warranty. The D-pad is cumbersome, I use it for jump, crouch and leans but nothing that is time-critical. The thumb button underneath is worthless on my controller. It's stiff and does not return well, something that could be fixed on the later models but other than that I have no complaints. It's ergonomic, programmable, and you can have multiple layers of keys (red mode, green mode, blue mode that all have different mappings) but I usually end up just sticking to one mode mappings. That and my mouse has 6 buttons effectively are usually enough for all the necessary keys. Sometimes a few still lie on the keyboard which is annoying but I rarely use those keys.

 

[FuriousJorge]

Thanks for the info.

That sounds like a good endorsement.

Most reviews (80% or so) for this thing are pretty good.

I'm assuming you are talking about fps, and not some other genre of game.

I guess I'll pull the trigger and get one tomorrow.

Nothing like what I have been envisioning seems to exist anyway.

 

[eggrolls]

I don't see what that Belkin pad adds besides more things to do with your thumb. Why would that be desired for FPS games?

 

[FuriousJorge]

Originally posted by: eggrolls
I don't see what that Belkin pad adds besides more things to do with your thumb. Why would that be desired for FPS games?

One problem I have is that I prefer arrows over WASD.

First of all, WASD will invariably turn out to be QEFCXZ[SHIFT][CAPS] from time to time. There is just no way around it.

Second of all, the arrows have a natural semi-circle of keys which more intuitively map to character body control, IMO.

One big problem I have is that EA games, for instance, don't really allow for the d-pad set up. It will work, but there will be problems. In World at War for instance, a few buttons in my semi-circle can be set, but just don't work right.

8 Years ago, this wasn't so bad. All you had to do was reload and crouch every now and then. These days you use 12 buttons with each hand just to get from point a to point b. The end result is that I just don't play World at War because it's too annoying.

And no matter if you disagree with all of my points, no rational person can disagree with this:

In the 1870s the QWERTY keyboard wasn't even the best setup for typing. It was just the best setup for typewriters. There is no way I can be convinced that after ~140 years the QWERTY keyboard is still the paramount of FPS character control technology... that it cannot POSSIBLY be improved upon...

I still want to use the mouse with my right hand, tho... implying otherwise would be heresy

 

[eggrolls]

Guess I haven't tried any new FPS games. CS 1.6 and all those source engine games don't really require that many keys.

Still, I don't think I'll ever try one of those pads unless I got one for free. Habits are hard to break.

 

[ZzZGuy]

There is also the G13. Very similar to the "BELKIN F8GFPC200 N52TE " but some more buttons, LCD display and macros. The big downside is is the back key (G11) is placed too high and is awkward to use BUT the thumb joystick seems to be meant to replace this with the 4 directions activating a button (same as if you where pressing arrow keys) rather then what you would have on say a console controller. The thumb stick is placed so your thumb will naturally rest on it (unless you are a tiny person).

 

[brblx]

blech. learn to play FPS's. i count at least fifteen easily accessible keys for my WASD hand.

i had an obsession with the arrow keys when i first started gaming. then i got over it and used WASD. there's really nothing better out there. i've owned one of those belkin abortions, it's just a section of poorly-made keyboard with a bad d-pad, a worthless space bar, and an unusable thumb button.

 

[CP5670]

I use the numpad in just about every game. There are plenty of keys there, unlike the arrows, and they are correctly aligned, unlike WASD. I just push the keyboard to the side when playing games, so that the numpad is in line with my left hand.

 

[Ika]

How about one of those Wolfking keyboards? They seem to be a pretty good competitor to the Belkin products.

 

[ronach]

I wrote this some time ago;
I use the nostromo N52..it sits on a tray beneath my keyboard..along with a MX518 mouse. The N52 position took the strain off of my wrist and gaming is much more enjoyable now. I like the combo so much that I have a spare of each on hand..hey..if it works for you..then go for it. There is a slight learning curve in getting away from the K/B, but once you get the N52 programed to your liking, you can use the same setup for most of your games.

I am still useing the same combo for my fps and other type of games that suit me. The MX518 and N52 have had some hard use in the last few years..and still going strong. My spare of each are still packed up in my gameing cabinent, just waiting for a failure so I can keep on gameing without any delay. I still use the same gameing profile for most of my games useing the N52 software. I am dual booting XP 32 bit and Win 7 64 bit and my gameing gear runs great on both. On my Win 7 N52 install, I am useing the 64 bit Nostromo _3.2.4_081607 install file originally written for Vista 64 bit..it functions just fine.

I use the K/B now to change fan speeds on my 2 Nvidia graphics brds.

Have fun gameing guys/gals..that's what it is all about...ayyyy. heh..use to live in New Brunswick, hard to break old habits.

 

[FuriousJorge]

Thanks to all for the replies.

I'm still leaning toward the n52, but I'll consider the Logitech flavor carefully before I pull the trigger next business day.

 

[FuriousJorge]

Still, mark my words, one day 3D-style controllers will replace at least the keyboard and maybe even the mouse in FPS.

I think the main problem today is that these controllers interface as a mouse, not as a gamepad, so it isn't really possible to use them with a mouse. I could be wrong.

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: Aflac
How about one of those Wolfking keyboards? They seem to be a pretty good competitor to the Belkin products.

Link for reference. And my friend got one of these, says it is good. I'd check that out.

Using arrow keys is the dumbest concept, I can't believe you actually prefer them. They are completely impractical, WASD is superior in any imaginable way.

 

[FuriousJorge]

Originally posted by: Malak

Originally posted by: Aflac
How about one of those Wolfking keyboards? They seem to be a pretty good competitor to the Belkin products.

Link for reference. And my friend got one of these, says it is good. I'd check that out.

Using arrow keys is the dumbest concept, I can't believe you actually prefer them. They are completely impractical, WASD is superior in any imaginable way.

Thanks for the input.

I've outlined why I preferred arrows over WASD, and I don't believe you actually addressed any of my points.

I've seen that thing before, but the n52 and similar seem to be better to me.

 

[I Saw OJ]

I still find WASD + mouse for movement/shooting/whatever is still superior to anything on the market. Binding a lot of actions to your mouse also helps reduce the work your WASD hand has to do.

 

[TheVrolok]

Keyboards were not designed for gaming, but gaming (PC) has been designed around keyboards.

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: FuriousJorge

I've outlined why I preferred arrows over WASD, and I don't believe you actually addressed any of my points.

Where? I don't see any mention of any single advantage to using arrow keys. I've never seen any mention of this everytime I see someone say they prefer arrow keys. There is no advantage, only disadvantage. That's why every FPS defaults to WASD, it is the best approach to how the keyboard is designed.

 

[Red Storm]

The mouse is what you really use for control in an FPS, and I have yet to see anything that does a better job of it. All other functions are bound to specific keys for use, and a keyboard does its job exceptionally well by allowing quick and easy access to a vast number of keys. I can't think of any device that would do the keyboard's job any better. That controller you linked to in the OP has no where near the amount of keys I would need/use, and what purpose does the controller serve when you already have a mouse?

 

[brencat]

Another person here who prefers the arrows -- even though I'm right handed, I never got used to manipulating the keyboard in shooters with my left hand -- prefer the mouse in my left, so no WASD for me. Been playing shooters online for a long time now and usually do pretty well.

Arrows for movement, right CTRL to jump, right shift to melee, and Enter to crouch/prone. The 1 and 0 on the num pad are within easy reach, plus I've got 5 buttons on the mouse and that covers just about 95% of what I need.

Of course this means I need to always have a 2-handed mouse and can't use one of those fancy right-handed ones with 10 buttons. But if a good LEFT-handed one comes out someday...

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Red Storm
The mouse is what you really use for control in an FPS, and I have yet to see anything that does a better job of it. All other functions are bound to specific keys for use, and a keyboard does its job exceptionally well by allowing quick and easy access to a vast number of keys. I can't think of any device that would do the keyboard's job any better. That controller you linked to in the OP has no where near the amount of keys I would need/use, and what purpose does the controller serve when you already have a mouse?

this is far better than a mouse IMHO. The only downside is most FPS's don't have support for it. I played thru HL2 with it and it killed my $80 mouse. I was sad when I had to give it back to the dude and go back to my Razer mouse. He had the pistol grip handle for it with trigger. I believe all Source engine games work with it by default. It's really a shame more developers don't add support. This is definitely the mouse killer FPS controller - if it only had better support