Why We Use “WASD” Instead of Arrow Keys in Games

Players who are new to the gaming world do not know those dark days when we used to move our characters with the arrow keys. games in the past It was played only with the keyboard and the mouse had no function in games. We used the keyboard to move our character, select weapons, shoot, and even change the camera angle.

Although it was difficult to move with the arrow keys, not being able to control the camera angle with the mouse made the players of the period feel like suffocation. full of this A Quake player 26 years ago, He attracted attention as a result of constantly winning the tournaments. Our story begins right here.

Players used the keyboard to both move and change the camera angle; mouse had no function in games

The most popular games of its time, released in the 1990s; Players were making serious efforts to play games such as Doom, Quake and Hexen. When it came to competitive games that supported multiplayer, such as Quake, it was completely out of control.

On the one hand, you need to choose your weapons in the game, on the other hand, You had to reach for remote keyboard keys to move the character. Briefly; Playing video games is more than just entertainment It was a complete ordeal.

The tournament organized by Quake 2 in 1997 became one of the most important events in gaming history.

26 years ago, The Red Annihilation, the first official esports tournament in gaming history, was held live in the USA with the participation of more than 2000 players. The player who won the tournament would own the Ferrari of Jonh Carmack, the programmer of the Quake 2 game.

When it comes to the final stage of the tournament, Thresh actor Dennis Fong and entropy Nicknamed actor Tom Kimzey faced off. The winner of this breathtaking fight was Dennis “Thresh” Fong. So why did this win change the fate of the gaming world?

How Dennis “Thresh” Fong’s tournament victory ushered in a new era in gaming.

Winner of The Red Annihilation tournament, Dennis “Thresh” Fong, the world’s first esports player; It attracted the attention of many players during the tournament. Players of the period played Quake and many other games using the default keys determined by the game.

Even though some of the players competing in the tournament assigned different keys, using mouse for camera angle It had never occurred to any player.

Fong, don’t move replaced the arrow keys with W, A, S and D keys; To adjust the camera angle He used the mouse instead of assigning any key on the keyboard. This key arrangement he made won him both the world’s first esports tournament and John Carmack’s 328 model Ferrari.

With this arrangement, Fong made great contributions not only to himself but also to the gaming world. Now use W, A, S, D keys as arrow keys and mouse for camera angle It became the first choice of players.

The Red Annihilation tournament made a big splash among gamers, and in 1998, the WASD + mouse combination came as default in a game for the first time.

After The Red Annihilation tournament, which made a huge impact around the world with its grand prize and large number of participants, Dennis Fong became a well-known name in the gaming world, and the legendary keyboard and mouse combination he used was adopted by the players.

Released in 1998, it is still known as an unrivaled legend today. Half Life; officially for the first time in history camera angle can be controlled with the mouse, WASD for movement mechanics keypad used It was the first video game.

Valve wanted to use the ESDF key combination instead of WASD in the Half Life game.

Gabe Newell, founder of the game’s production company Valve, has always Defending ESDF keys against WASD keypad He had become one.

He wanted to add the ESDF key combination by default to the Half Life game, but since the players were already used to the WASD keys, they had to use it. WASD keys, of the game default movement keys He defined it as.

Although today the WASD keypad is the standard movement keys. ESDF-WASD debates still continue, especially for the players of the 1990s.

Although the debate has continued for 26 years, the default keys WASD sequence unchanged and we probably won’t see a new key combination to replace these keys for movement mechanics in the coming years.

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