I was just gifted SSF4AE on Steam by a kindly redditor, and it was suggested that I start off by using a keyboard to see if I like the fighting game genre enough to pursue picking up a fight stick.
After flailing about in training mode (is there a tutorial?!) struggling with the default keyboard controls and stumbled upon this highly-rated guide.
Have any of you ever used a keyboard to play SSF4AE on a PC? How did it go?
Thank you!
If you do the hitbox layout for keyboard it’s sorta like a less comfortable Hitbox controller A, S, D = left, down, right + Spacebar = up but perfectly viable.
Though if your keyboard has ghosting issues then yeah, it might limit you.
some general things you can do with the layout.
I’d add the disadvantage of not being able to hit three buttons at the same time. Seriously, what about kara throwing?
I started playing fighting games on keyboard, and I stuck with it for about a year. Then I got a PS3, AE and an arcade stick. Everything was difficult at the beginning, but I never gave up (I did pay a lot of money on everything, I wasn’t just gonna quit. lol)
Now I compare the stick and keyboard, and I find the stick to be MUCH more viable than a keyboard. I don’t have access to my stick right now so I’m playing with a keyboard, so this is the opinion of someone who has switched from KB to stick and vice versa.
Why would you not be able to hit three buttons at the same time on a keyboard
http://www.microsoft.com/appliedsciences/antighostingexplained.mspx
An example would be that if I were to be holding A/S/D as a movement key and then hit J + U, say that’s the keybind for LK+LP, it wouldn’t work for me; the input for U won’t come out unless I let go of A. However something like J+I would work for me. This may differ from keyboard to keyboard.
I know what ghosting is, but that’s not a problem of keyboards
That’s a problem of your keyboard maybe
May as well state that stick has the problem of not being able to hit dirs accurately
Because that 15$ shitpiece you ordered from amazon can’t do it
As a keyboard user, I’d recommend experimenting with your layout a bit to see how ghosting affects your keyboard. For example, you might be able to get away with WASD for directions and NumPad 456,123 for punches and kicks. Alternatively, if your keyboard has the home/end/pageUp/pageDn/Del/Ins keys in a suitable block, some of those keys can also a way of avoiding ghosting on some models.
You could also assign PPP and KKK to a single button, which might make your life easier for ultras.
EDIT: To actually respond to the OP, Keyboards aren’t that bad, but the vast majority of players that started on keyboard and move on to using a stick don’t do back for a reason. Just keep in mind that if you’re using a rubber-dome keyboard (if you don’t know what that is, then you probably *are *using one) that the inputs are somewhat less precise unless you really hammer the keys, but if you find a config that you are comfortable with then you should be fine. I just tested moving from my hybrid to my Logitech G15, and it only took a few minutes to adjust and start hitting my combos just as regularly as I was on my controller.
Well then phrase your previous post better. Not my fault lol.
I kinda agree with Aris for once when he reviewed the hitbox, where its a little too easy to do certain moves with the buttons for directions instead of a stick. Dont blame you for not having an arcade stick. But you can get old ps2 sticks for cheap and use a converter made by hyperkin to plug into your pc.
Isn’t the whole point of getting a stick tighter control over your character?
If that is so, it’s a pretty nice compliment for the hitbox when you say that it’s even easier to use than a stick and makes you wonder why it’s not the dominant controller for fighting games.
I dunno if he’s talking about the same review I saw, since I don’t know who did it, but the guy said that it gave you an unfair advantage because you could do certain things far more easily than on a stick. He was calling for the banning of anything that wasn’t an arcade stick or a basic controller, because you can’t tell console players they can’t use the controller that comes with their system. Unless you’re EVO, apparently, you know, with them banning the PS3 pad.
As for the topic at hand, as long as you stick your movement and attack keys on opposite ends of the keyboard, you should be pretty safe. Most keyboards have 3 or 4 chunks that are separate enough to not ghost. As for ease of use, well, I can’t really play fighters with a keyboard. I was never much good with a desktop keyboard, always preferred short scissor switches they use in cheaper laptops, so my right hand is rubbish on the keyboard when I’m playing anything. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to learn, though. I mean, I used to emulate the SNES and had to teach myself to control directions with my right hand and do actions with the left, instead of the other way around.
Because most people (like me) don’t want to have to bother going back to scrub-tier while learning a whole new controller.
All legit tournaments do that. The reason for that is because the home button (which is used to turn on the controller and sync it to the console) could be pressed accidentally and randomly pause a person’s game. It’s cheap enough to get a PS2 controller and an adapter (cheaper than a stick), especially if you’re serious enough about your fighting games to TRAVEL. Don’t get butthurt over common sense.
I’m not butthurt, I don’t use a controller. I was just pointing out that the guy was wrong in saying that the hitbox should be banned but not pads. I’m perfectly aware of why it’s a bad idea.
The point of using a stick still is for the arcade players from the old days to feel comfortable when playing at home and at the arcade and then at tournaments. Thats it, I think using a pad is just as good as using a stick for a lot of games with somethings being easier or harder for both types to do compared to each other.
We should probably compare this to F1 or Nascar with the types of controlers we use and theres rules about things not being allowed.
I never used a pad to play AE/SFxT until my stick broke. It was a used Tekken 6 one from Hori (only after 6 months of use), meaning I got it for a low price (half a new MadCatz’s price). I stayed a about two months without a stick so I played a pad. From the beginning to the end of those two months, I never felt comfortable with a pad. I never felt it had the fluid motion of a stick. I could’ve stuck with my pad and trained harder with it, but I didn’t. I could’ve stuck with my keyboard and got AE for PC, but I didn’t.
Instead, I bought me the then-new SFxT stick from MCZ and spent 160 dollars on it, like I said before, it’s double what I paid for the previous one, because I felt it was better. And don’t even think I’m the kind of guy that’s got money to burn; I was saving for it.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I don’t have the stick with me right now, and because of that, I feel like a part of me is missing. I even pretend to do combos just to try to relieve myself of this sense of incompleteness.
Whatever people say about sticks, good or bad, I don’t really care it; they’re sure as hell the best for me, a non-arcade player.
Keyboard is just as viable, if not more viable, than most other alternatives. Just as with adjusting to any new input device, it may take you awhile to get comfortable, especially doing stuff like 360’s. But for me anyway, it’s easier to execute on a keyboard than a pad. There’s just a slight speed disadvantage since it feels like I have to think harder to remember where my fingers go.
I suggest using the hitbox layout so you get used to it on the keyboard. 360’s and instant airs become a lot easier. Though it can be a problem if some of your fingers move faster than others, for example, my left ring finger botches up shoryuken inputs because it pushes slower than the middle and index fingers, and my right hand will input attack commands faster than my left hand can make the motion to do specials. It could just be me and coordination issues though.
Just started playing on steam while I’m working away, slight variation on the above setup. got:
QWD (Left,Down,Right) Up (Space)
456 Numpad as Punches
123 Numpad as Kicks
working quite nicely. feels intuitive.
I hit my arcade stick HARD though, so need to sort out a travel-stick for the next run before I wreck my laptop 
More important than layout is what KIND of keyboard you’re using.
Don’t use standard membrane keyboards. Many only allow a certain number of keys to pressed at once, and are not very responsive due to their rubber membrane construction.
If you’re serious about keyboards, invest in a keyboard with Cherry MX microswitches. These have true microswitches under every key and are closer to arcade sticks in feel and function. Many high end boards also allow many keys to be pushed at once (N-key rollover/ghosting).
Check out high end keyboards from Filco, Ducky, Razer, Steelseries, Corsair, WASDKeyboards, etc. for a much better experience. I personally use a Ducky keyboard with Cherry MX Blues inside.
if you played with both like me ( stick & keyboard ) you’ll understand that for some type of characters , keyboard is godlike compared to the stick, ther’s no way the stick can top that, but am a stick player since i started playing fighting games when was very young at the locale arcade with a stick, so it was just natural to come back to the stick
i can understand the difficulty for someone who never used a stick before, its not natural at all compared to a pad or a keyboard or on whatever you started playing games on, i dont see the problem about playing on a keyboard beside when you have to do 360° motions and that kind of stuff … i dont think that the hitbox is a good thing since you’ll have to RE learn the jump button placement, also there are some keyboards wich allows you to press more than 3buttons and they have mechanical keys press, wich feel 10x times better than a normal keyboard key press
and since i played on pad too, i would say its the worst of the 3 option , as at some point it will require alot more hard work for execution compared to the stick or the keybard