Discussion: Tribes controls and the learning curve.

M

mixolydian

Veteran X
I was talking with exogen the other day about tribes. We both use a keyboard/mouse layout that is quite different from the normal WASD layout. In a nutshell, rclick is forward, w is jump, q and e are strafe left and right, and spacebar is jet pack.

I'm just wondering if you guys think the control layout affects the learning curve for jetting and skiing? I don't know, I felt like exogen's layout allowed me to learn the game a lot quicker than a WASD config. I also think that it's possible, with a constant skill level, to perform better with the WASD config or another config in the long run.

Does the keyboard layout affect the learning curve in tribes? What do you think?
 
It depends on what the user is comfortable with. I am perfectly fine with WASD but there are others who like to use the arrow keys and such. It really comes up to a matter of preference, but WASD is standard nowadays so I think it would atleast default to that.
 
I feel e,s,d,f gives maximizes my comfort while giving me access to many keys. It also makes it easier to taunt... which was the reason I originally switched from arrow keys to esdf back in the day :p
Fling :D
 
DruMAX said:
I think its all in what you are used to...
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It really depends on the user mix, it would be wierd for me to have your setup just as you probably wouldn't like my setup very much.
 
JodoFett said:
It really depends on the user mix, it would be wierd for me to have your setup just as you probably wouldn't like my setup very much.
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What i'm asking is whether or not one config or another can allow a certain player to attain a higher skill level. You might think you are good with WASD right now but if you switched to something different, would you be able to reach a higher skill level in the same amount of time it took you to learn WASD?
 
The only way I think you will get a skill increase is if you originally had some crap config like rshift is forward, F6 is jump, F12 is jet, numpad 9 is attack.
 
Umm I really don't think it's going to make a big difference in the learning curve. Mastering your keybinds is pretty basic stuff and has very little to do with your skill. And by using QWE as your main movement keys, you are really limiting the other available keys to use. I'm much more comfortable moving my fingers up the keyboard rather than down.
 
Ixiterra said:
Umm I really don't think it's going to make a big difference in the learning curve. Mastering your keybinds is pretty basic stuff and has very little to do with your skill. And by using QWE as your main movement keys, you are really limiting the other available keys to use. I'm much more comfortable moving my fingers up the keyboard rather than down.
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Whatever floats your boat. I like QWE (w is jump) because i have long fingers.
 
And you know what they say about long fingers...

I don't think key config disrupts the learning curve of the game. But having to learn the a new key config would further hinder the already total learning curve of Tribes.

WASD to default for all the BF, CS, AA, Q players of the world. Mabye some default configs that you can switch to, like ESDF.

Other than that.. just make it easy for them to atleast MOVE. Conviluting the key/mouse won't help new players get into Tribes. (yes, your setup is conviluted, it goes against every mainstream FPS config ever used.) (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

:)
 
ESDF > * imo :)
it's the natural home row key position for your left hand, and you don't have have to shift your fingers over when you need to type something out.
 
Yes, control setups probably do effect learning curve. But it probably has less to do with finding some abstract "ideal" setup, and more to do with making the controls familiar to people in terms of their current favorite game.

I would imagine that many of the people that will be playing Vengeance may have never played a tribes title or at least played only very little. Many of the gamers falling into this camp would of course be vets to other fps games. Thus, making T:V intuitive for these gamers might mean making the default controls as similar as possible to their favorite fps.

The question is: which game to emulate? Since there are so many popular titles with so many different configs nothing will please everyone. Imho, Vengeance should imitate some of the absolute basics in every fps game, and the rest is less important. Ex. space is jump(if there is a jump in T:V), left mouse is fire, tab is something to do with viewpoint, esc is menu. In other words, the default controls should keep the bindings that are the most common in many other fps games. The rest is less important. Just don't throw a strange default confige that makes "g" fire and "leftmouse" change wep and you'll be fine.
 
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I think the answer to your question is "yes" in that a keyboard bind setup where your hands don't have to roam all over the keyboard for what you do most will allow you to perform better, especially in a game like Tribes where taking your fingers away from your movement keys because you're looking to drop a beacon, or switch weapons, will very likely get you killed.

ESDF is fairly natural for a lot of players, though I still prefer WASD, simply because thats how I learned playing Tribes, and now because of that my left had "naturally" rests that extra keyspace to the left, so using ESDF seems almost like I'm crowding myself. Then again, I touch-type without using the homekeys or whatever they're called..
 
Here is the level of nerdery that I have descended to: I have a programmable foot pedal. I bind , and . and / to the pedals, and that gives me three more keys that i can push without taking my movement fingers off the keys.

Bow low before my dorkdom. :)
 
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