Learning curve when moving from controller to keyboard and mouse

[LurkerPrime]

First off, dont' use a wireless KB/M. The ones I've tried seem to suck when it comes to response times/accuracy movement. If your at a desktop, your KB/M aren't going anywhere, might as well use a wire.

Other than that, all I can add is practise makes perfect. Start off playing some 1 player FPSs then work your way to multiplayer. Rebind your keys as you feel fit for your playstyle.

I feel your pain, as I've watched my wife bumble through using the keyboard when I got her to play WoW back in the day (her first game ever using KB/M). Only took her 80 levels, but she eventually got decently proficient at it.

 

[slightlyhuman]

It's a video game, not some sort of exam to be studied for.

Is it so hard to, you know, play the damn game and figure it out yourself?

don't be such a douche bag.

depending on what game you play(CSS would be hard) will it determine how much time you need. SP games, imo, would be easier than MP games.

i would just jump head in and play as much as you can, what do you have to lose

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Coordination and agility with your fingers to do the combos of moving/jumping/ducking will all come with practice, just keep on practising as much as possible, you'll get there.

The only thing you need to be careful of is transferring bad habits from the controller to the mouse and keyboard, the tactics used by people playing with controllers is highly predictable because they're limited by their control method, once you're freed of that you want to make sure you're not doing any of the following.

Avoiding CQB because of lack of turn speed
Avoiding vertical battles because of lack of turn speed
Strafing your crosshair into targets, always aim correctly with the mouse, it's faster
Camping and being passive, with proper controls you can be aggressive and more proactive

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Coordination and agility with your fingers to do the combos of moving/jumping/ducking will all come with practice, just keep on practising as much as possible, you'll get there.

The only thing you need to be careful of is transferring bad habits from the controller to the mouse and keyboard, the tactics used by people playing with controllers is highly predictable because they're limited by their control method, once you're freed of that you want to make sure you're not doing any of the following.

Avoiding CQB because of lack of turn speed
Avoiding vertical battles because of lack of turn speed
Strafing your crosshair into targets, always aim correctly with the mouse, it's faster
Camping and being passive, with proper controls you can be aggressive and more proactive

I honestly think im pretty decent when it just comes down to moving around, jumping, and shooting.

My biggest problem is that in games like COD, i do a lot of crouching and sneaking around, running, and even lying prone sometimes.

I have been playing xonotic (nexuiz), to IMO im pretty decent at that game (at least enough to have fun playing MP), because it doesnt involve any of the above actions.

I think the biggest thing that turned me off to BF3, was the opening scene on the rooftop, you need to crouch, then prone crawl, then crouch and shoot, and i couldnt even get past that part without getting shot. I can only imagine how bad i would suck at doing these things in MP against good players.

 

[JTDSR]

I have always been a mouse and keyboard guy, although to be honest, the last console I owned that required a gamepad was Colecovision.

 

[RPD]

If your attempt in that post was to be humorous, you failed miserably.

Oh uh I upset a keyboard turner.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I have played many games on PC, but for the most part, i play everything on my 360, or just use a controller with a PC. I have heard it from numerious people on here to just suck it up and learn how to use a keyboard and mouse, and that a controller will never compare.

The games I have played with keyboard and mouse have been very basic, so my skills arent the best. Im usually fine with WASD, and can move around fine, but when it comes to putting moves together i start to suck. (jumping and crouching through windows in half-life, sprinting and hiding behind walls, executing commands. I basically dont like to let my fingers off the same spots.

Any tips or advice you would give to a noob like myself?

I also considered buying a gaming mouse with a bunch of buttons on it, but would this be considered kind of cheap? Would hardcore gamers scoff at the idea of having a bunch of actions tied to mouse buttons?

For example, i remember mapping jump to middle-click when i first played HL2 a long time ago. I guess it helped a little, but am i just better off getting used to using spacebar? since its universally jump in almost every PC game?

How long until I can expect to really get used to K+B? I would like eventually get good enough where i can play multiplayer and be competitive, but right now I get dominated pretty bad whenever i play any PC game online. (im decent at nexuiz, but i might be playing against people even worse than myself - so who knows)

One thing you will quickly learn is that most PC games have the ability for you to setup scripts, in some cases very complex ones. Take Half-Life2 (and all its derivatives like Left 4 Dead 1/2, Counter Strike: Source, etc). Your whole crouch and jump through a window issue is easily fixed by simply doing a search for "crouchjump CSS" on google. I have several scripts setup, in my CSS settings, toggles for walk, crouch, run (i.e. I simply hit a key and I then stay crouched, or now walk instead of run, or all the combinations there in). My jumps perform the crouchjump (which gets you just a little more height when done properly), and if I wish to stay crouched in the air, I simply keep on holding down the spacebar....

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

One thing that seemed to help when I first started playing multiplayer (many years ago) was to do little exercises like strafe back and forth while keeping my cursor on a distant point (mostly did this if I was camping). Also in games were applicable (mostly WoW) when I had to wait for something I'd jump back and forth timing so I jump again as soon as possible and between two choice points to increase my precision. I haven't done it myself, but I've seen people suggest in starcraft to practice boxing particular sets of probes when the games just starting up and you have nothing else to really do.

 

[Childs]

One thing you will quickly learn is that most PC games have the ability for you to setup scripts, in some cases very complex ones. Take Half-Life2 (and all its derivatives like Left 4 Dead 1/2, Counter Strike: Source, etc). Your whole crouch and jump through a window issue is easily fixed by simply doing a search for "crouchjump CSS" on google. I have several scripts setup, in my CSS settings, toggles for walk, crouch, run (i.e. I simply hit a key and I then stay crouched, or now walk instead of run, or all the combinations there in). My jumps perform the crouchjump (which gets you just a little more height when done properly), and if I wish to stay crouched in the air, I simply keep on holding down the spacebar....

Or just get a keyboard with marcos...

 

[Sureshot324]

I honestly think im pretty decent when it just comes down to moving around, jumping, and shooting.

My biggest problem is that in games like COD, i do a lot of crouching and sneaking around, running, and even lying prone sometimes.

I have been playing xonotic (nexuiz), to IMO im pretty decent at that game (at least enough to have fun playing MP), because it doesnt involve any of the above actions.

I think the biggest thing that turned me off to BF3, was the opening scene on the rooftop, you need to crouch, then prone crawl, then crouch and shoot, and i couldnt even get past that part without getting shot. I can only imagine how bad i would suck at doing these things in MP against good players.

That's why I bind crouch to capslock. It's easy to reach and I don't need to take my fingers off wasd. I have shift as my run or walk key and ctrl as prone.

 

[dascoyne]

Get a good gaming keyboard with good key feedback. I play with a Deck keyboard. I dumped my Razer keyboard in favor of it.

+1 on the advice about getting a wired mouse with a high poll rate and resolution. I currently use a Razer Lachesis

Fine tune your mouse sensitivity to your instincts. I drop the y-axis sensitivity and maintain a high x-axis sensitivity because if I have to scan quickly it's usually in the horizontal plane .... and I'm less likely to find myself pointing in the air/ground when I have to turn quickly.

Here's a great tip. Map the Zoom/Aim to the left shift key. The usual default right-click can cause you to blip off target when you quickly toggle zoom/aim. Mapping to the keyboard allows you to toggle your zoom/aim without moving your cursor.

 

[OCNewbie]

Didn't read all the posts, but I'll chime in with my support for ESDF instead of WASD. I also use right mouse button for jump, but that's mainly in Quake 2, which requires a LOT of jumping, and double-jumps (rapidly jumping twice in succession) which is easier done with the short throw of a mouse click.

It's just gonna take time. The more you play with it, the harder, wait... what are we talking about again? Oh yeah, the more you play with it, the easier it will becum.

 

[Molondo]

It's crazy that I never thought about it. Playing games with a mouse an keyboard is so natural for most gamers, I took it for granted until I watched my gf play. It takes time to build up the muscle memory

 

[shurato]

I like to give the OP some props for moving to the real way to play games... kb+mouse.

Play as many first person shooters as you can on easy mode and build your way up to playing online. Then work on getting a decent online.

I began with twitch shooters during the early quake days and after a while it just becomes second nature. Practice makes perfect. Some people however are just not very coordinated so don't beat yourself if you never become a FPS pro. Just have fun. Try practicing on Quake Live with bots.

Can't believe such a benign topic can attract douche bags. Just ignore em op and have fun!

Oh and get a decent keyboard and mouse. I use some of the lower to mid end Razor products including a Razor mousepad and it's definitely helped my game. If you want to really get into it, get a 120hz LED monitor. The 120hz refresh rate is absolute killer in games that support it. I'll never go back to 60hz for gaming.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

OP, just to let you know, buying some "super l33t expert gaming mouse" with tons of extra buttons isn't necessary at all. Don't buy one unless you specifically want more mouse buttons.

This. While I admittedly have a Razer Mamba and Logitech G700, I play just as well on my old MX Revo and Performance MX.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

EDIT: should have mentioned, buying this for FPS games. but you probably already knew that.

just wondering how you guys feel about gaming pads. One like this:

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.221675100

I was shopping around for a new KB because right now im using a G110 - but i lost the wrist support attachment. I guess it doesnt bother me when i type, but my hand cramps up pretty bad when playing BF3.

If not the gamepad, then i just need something with a built in hand rest, because sometimes i use the keyoard in weird positions, and it breaks off, and then i end up not using it/ losing it.

I was thinking maybe one of these:

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169417800/categoryId.35156900

or maybe:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823109191

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823201048

or possibly even:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823109148

 

[VulgarDisplay]

What's your budget for a keyboard? None of those are what I would call great keyboards. Avoid the Razer keyboard like the plague. Terrible Keyboard. You can actually feel the whole keyboard flex while you are typing. I also had issues where several keys would stop responding and would only come back after rebooting.

Razer's keyboard software is extremely bad as well. Not intuitive at all.

Or if you want to keep the g110.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826999045

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

What's your budget for a keyboard? None of those are what I would call great keyboards. Avoid the Razer keyboard like the plague. Terrible Keyboard. You can actually feel the whole keyboard flex while you are typing. I also had issues where several keys would stop responding and would only come back after rebooting.

Razer's keyboard software is extremely bad as well. Not intuitive at all.

yea im reading reviews right now, so im apprehensive.

My number one need is good wrist support. I guess ill spend whatever, as long as its worth it. (substantial upgrade over what im currently using)

I really do like the look of the razer gamepad though.....

I guess my other option would be the one logitech makes: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/mice-keyboard-combos/devices/g13-advanced-gameboard

doesnt look as user-friendly, or as comfortable as the razer one though

 

[KidNiki1]

EDIT: should have mentioned, buying this for FPS games. but you probably already knew that.

just wondering how you guys feel about gaming pads. One like this:

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.221675100

i have one of those and i use it only for FPS games. I really like it. My only complaint is that because my hands are so small, the top row of keys are pretty much useless to me. I'm betting you won't have that problem tho.

 

[dmoney1980]

If you want good wrist support, get a Logitech G510. I currently own it and love it. Very comfy for gaming, and you can select the backlighting to whichever color you want.

 

[KidNiki1]

also, this is the newer version of the keyboard i use.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-0.../dp/B003VAK16O

i like the extra buttons on the side for non-fps games. for example, in SWTOR, i move around with my mouse and use the side keys on the keyboard for actions/skills. my mouse has a few extra buttons that i have bound to modifiers like shift, alt and ctrl. just what works for me.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Thats basically the same keyboard i have, just with a few extras. (i used to have the g15 - but i sent it back and they gave me this one far an even exchange.)

this is mine:

maybe ill try to find my wrist support and get it back on somehow. The little hinges broke, so ill have to sugru them on or something. Thats why im looking for something that has it built in.

 

[dascoyne]

If you want a Razer Tarantula keyboard I'll sell you my old one cheap. I preferred the feel of the Deck Legend keyboard.

 

[RPD]

EDIT: should have mentioned, buying this for FPS games. but you probably already knew that.

just wondering how you guys feel about gaming pads. One like this:

or possibly even:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823109148

I use this one, and love it.

 

[Cerb]

I also considered buying a gaming mouse with a bunch of buttons on it, but would this be considered kind of cheap? Would hardcore gamers scoff at the idea of having a bunch of actions tied to mouse buttons?

It's not about scoffing. If you want nice macros, Logitech's software for the G-series keyboards (and G400 mouse) is awesome, though you'd need to learn a little programming. Most of the time, once you're used to a KB and mouse, you'll only want macros for little things, like if a game only does toggle for crouch, but you want a hold crouch. It's that outside of MMORPGs, where players making macros are typically expected by the game devs, and where any careful movement doesn't matter, too many buttons makes things more difficult. Tilt wheels can be bad, too, making it hard to get a middle click. You want a mouse that is comfortable, and tracks well.

An MX518 is a perfectly fine mouse. If it's comfortable to use in Windows, it's fine for games. Oh, but if tracking speed control seems to be a problem, check this out. Forced mouse acceleration was one of the piss poor regressions introduced in Vista that survived into 7.

There's just no need to add mouse buttons for what the keyboard is there for. With practice, you won't have to think so much about pressing shift to walk, ctrl or c for crouching, etc.. If more common setups cause you to falsely press things, or make it difficult to add more held keys at once, you can change them as you need to. Once you're used to using the keyboard in general, new mappings will not take long to get used to.

just wondering how you guys feel about gaming pads. One like this:

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.221675100

I think Logitech's G13 is excellent, and the software, while it has a learning curve, is the best out there. The high wrist bend on the N52 ruins it for me (I tired it once, and it started hurting within a couple minutes), though I think it has superior keys and layout, and it's basically impossible to use all the keys of the G13.

My keyboard is an IBM Model M. If I needed to buy a gaming keyboard today, it would be the same layout (PC-101/PC-104), with Cherry MX black or brown switches. No macros, no LEDs, no "ergonomic" split, etc..

My number one need is good wrist support.

Staples, Walmart, Best Buy, Office Depot, etc., should have those on the shelf.