I have discovered WASD!

[bru888]

I am right-handed. That is my mouse hand. For years with this game, I have gone back and forth between enabling and disabling mouse scrolling. Sure, mouse scrolling is easy but the thing is, unless you set the "Map Scroll Speed" very low, the map moves every time your mouse inadvertently touches the edge of the screen as well as purposely. That is quite often when zipping around the screen and down to the control panel, and it got annoying.

So I finally decided to "Disable mouse scrolling" permanently and get used to clicking in the mini-map (which is imprecise and clumsy); right-click, hold, and dragging the map (which is confusing given my preference for "Two-button controls" that use right-click for movement); or using the keyboard arrow keys. The arrow keys are alright but remember, I am right-handed. That means either taking my hand off the mouse or awkwardly reaching across the keyboard with my left hand. It doesn't sound like much but picture how many times this needs to happen in the course of a game.

I was resigned to using the arrow keys, however. But then I was clicking "Z" to snooze a unit but I missed the key and pressed "S" instead. The map moved a tiny bit south! What? "S," south. Oh wow! With my left hand, type "S," "S," "S," "S," "S," "S," - south, south, south, south, south, south. Press and hold "S" - SOOOOUUUUTH! Eureka!

No, I'm not that much of a noob. I instantly remembered WASD from other games, so I also immediately discovered WEST, NORTH, and EAST.

The funny thing is, WASD is not listed in the Options/Controls tab but "Z" is for "Sleep." I had reset "Next/Previous Active Unit" to be "X" and "C" to be near "Z" and I was doing those things with my left hand! I just never thought of WASD in this game. ("+" and "-" also works for zoom in/out but the mouse wheel is more convenient for this.)

Well, from now on I am a two-handed OOB player! Let's see how long it takes until I wear the "W," "A," "S," and "D" off those keys.

Long live WASD!

WASD.jpg (45.71 KiB) Viewed 2115 times

[Erik2]

I'm left-handed and use the two-button option in OOB, I have turned off mouse map-scroll and use the arrow keys with my right hand to move around the map.
At work I use my right-hand for the mouse to even out any mouse-inflicted pain.
It doesn't take long to train your 'wrong' hand.

I play the piano and this of course forces you to use both hands extensively.
I started playing left-handed guitar when I was 13 and changed to right-handed after a year. Been playing right-handed rock'n roll for 50 years now without any problems.

Whatever floats your boat, Bruce

[bru888]

Whatever floats your boat, Bruce

What A Satisfying Discovery!

[bru888]

By the way, just when do you have the time to play the piano and guitar? If you must, fine, but I hope you play those instruments with your right hand while designing for OOB with your left! As far as I am concerned, there's no reason for you to play music with both hands. Of course, I can say that because I cannot hear how you play, all the way over here.

[Erik2]

I have had one electric band for years which I write songs for. We play every Monday afternoon in an old basement studio (complete with a beer fridge) at the broadcaster which I work for.
I also play some accoustic stuff with a few co-workers.
Occasionally I try to get some sleep.

[Shards]

I had to go and check on my preferences...

I'm right-handed and use the two button mouse setting.

I think I mix equally between arrow keys and right-mouse drag scrolling to move around the game map. I also tend to play in a window, which means that I usually have edge scrolling disabled.

I use the arrow keys over WASD as they're closer to Page Up and Page Down which are my goto keyboard shortcuts.

[bru888]

You know, I joke, but it's a measure of how useful something is by how fast it becomes a habit with no thought involved. I'm no longer automatically reaching for the mouse or the arrow keys when I want to scroll the map. Now my first unthinking choice is to lay fingertips on the old W-A-S-D keys.

It has become a comfortable routine: left hand to scroll, right hand to click and zoom. Not for everyone, of course, but that wasn't my message. Expressing joy was my message! That, and giving advice to poke around in the games that you play, find new things, and try them out.