Make ASDW the default controller scheme.

[maseter]

Why not have the movement keys bound to ASDW by default? Or have two default profiles, one classic one modern.

Does anyone really still play Doom with the keyboard only? That would make for a nice poll...

[Accensus]

Because the original game is keyboard only and some people would want to enjoy it that way. Not everyone would remember the original control scheme.

The time the devs will spend changing the controls scheme is probably a lot more than the time you'll spend changing the controls yourself. For example, it takes me around twenty to thirty seconds to bind all the controls I need. That's not much of a loss.

[hitmanx]

And here I was thinking WASD was the norm for referencing that control scheme

[Hellser]

WSAD I've always called it. Each their own, I suppose. But Lud is right, the arrow keys are set to default as Doom's default config was setup for the arrow keys. You can run setup.exe in the DOS version of Doom and set up your own controls there. Which is not all that much. Forward, Back, Strafe Left, Strafe Right, Strafe Key/Modifier, Turn Left, Turn Right, Fire and Use.

[Graf Zahl]

To be blunt, I hate it when some software comes preconfigured with WASD and forces me to reset it - of course normally without being able to use the cursor keys to begin with!

[Dark-Assassin]

Well, having both the arrow keys and WASD bound by default could be a compromise.

[Hellser]

I say leave it as it is. We right handed people might use WSAD, others actually use EDSF. I think left handed people use IKJL or similar.

[Graf Zahl]

. I think left handed people use IKJL or similar.

Actually, left handed people use - the cursor keys!

[NeuralStunner]

I'm right-handed and I use the arrow keys. Why? I don't want a bunch of extra keys crowding around my movement controls.

My personal annoyance is when some FPS engine makes no distinction between keypad keys and regular ones. Bogus points when they behave as nav keys (E.G. KP2 = down arrow) even with NumLock on! It's an important bank of function keys for those of us whom use the normal arrows.

Well, having both the arrow keys and WASD bound by default could be a compromise.

I suppose so, but ESDF is also popular. Ultimately, you can't do "out of the box setup" for everyone. If someone doesn't have the patience to configure their keys, they should go back to Flappy Bird. (Or whatever the popular idle game is these days. *Shakes cane* )

[Chris]

Why not a set of presets? So for instance at the top of the key configuration menu, you could have a preset where you can switch between "Doom" (i.e. the default keys the original games have), "Standard WASD", "Standard ESDF", etc, and "Custom". Modifying any of the preset values would automatically copy it to Custom with your change, and you can even switch back and forth between your custom setup and a standard one without having to redo them all. This means only the custom setup needs to be saved, as the non-custom ones can be specified in external data lumps (so mods or other players can create their own presets to share).

[Gez]

I always thought ESDF would be a much better standard default scheme for the simple fact that it works with both QWERTY and AZERTY keyboards. F is also a rest key, it has a little bump to let you know by touch when your finger is on it.

[The Zombie Killer]

. I think left handed people use IKJL or similar.

Actually, left handed people use - the cursor keys!

I'm left handed and I use WASD well technically I'm ambidextrous but I'm primarily a lefty

[Kinsie]

I got this computer three-ish years ago and I still have to redefine all my keybinds to something that roughly 90% of the human race[1] uses whenever I have to test something on the more obscure IWADs. It's stupid.

Not as stupid as defaulting the video settings to 640x480 in fullscreen mode in The Year Of Our Lord 2016 (boy, I hope you weren't planning on having your various open windows NOT scattered to the four winds on first launch...), but it's still pretty high up there.

[Chris]

I always thought ESDF would be a much better standard default scheme for the simple fact that it works with both QWERTY and AZERTY keyboards. F is also a rest key, it has a little bump to let you know by touch when your finger is on it.

ESDF has the advantage that it puts more keys in the immediate vicinity of your left hand by bringing it in closer toward the center. Though for WASD, I find having the (comparatively) fat shift and tab keys for certain functions is nice too (tab for automap or inventory depending on the game, and shift for run), because by being so large, are easier to accurately press. With ESDF, Z and Q would be the closest to the same relative positioning, but I'd have a hard time hitting them accurately without focusing on my hand and finger positions. Maybe I could get used to it after using it a while, but such is the difficulty of changing from a control scheme you've used for over a decade.

[GFD]

Not as stupid as defaulting the video settings to 640x480 in fullscreen mode in The Year Of Our Lord 2016 (boy, I hope you weren't planning on having your various open windows NOT scattered to the four winds on first launch...), but it's still pretty high up there.

I concur that this default setting should absolutely be changed. One time I saw a fresh launch of ZDoom force the monitor to use a video mode that it doesn't actually support, resulting in a blank screen. Is there any reason this shouldn't be changed...?