Left handed gamers: is your layout different?

Adeptus Aspartem

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Jul 25, 2011
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Right handed person here! I'm playing as a lefty though.
I grew up with HL1 and CS and i always felt WASD + Peripheral buttons works very well for me. I generally always use default settings for all genres.
 

Karen Parker

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Apr 12, 2013
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my gf is left-handed and uses the mouse with her left hand instead of her right, which makes things rather uncomfortable for most games, but then again, we both almost always use some form of USB control pad. the only game i've seen that is actively hard for not having left-handed mode is pokemon x/y. when we were playing the super training, neither of us could do it, so eventually we just said fuck it, i took the D-pad controls while she controlled the stylus, and this rediculous method was the only way we could do it at all!
 

Angelowl

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Hero of Lime said:
Angelowl said:
Hm... There have been three cases were being left-handed really matters and impedes my gaming. The first is in Skyward Sword, the controller glitches out if you use it in the left hand. Annoys the hell out of me as Link is one of the few characters that are traditionally left-handed yet the developers did not bother with testing the game for lefties.
Somewhat similar situation. I always play Skyward Sword with the Wii mote in my left hand, but I've rarely run into problems outside of fighting a few types of enemies. That being said, I think it was a bit ridiculous there wasn't a left handed model for Link. I don't know much about programming, but it can't be that hard to make a mirrored model of a character.

I have to ask, which part of Oracle of Seasons do you have trouble with? I can't really think of a scenario where you have to button mash a lot.
Mosh, the blue, winged, banana eating bear. You mash A to stay afloat in the air and move with the D-pad, it is just not possible for me to do that effectively. My right thumb has worthless reaction time. Love how The World Ends With You have an alternate set-up where you use the A,B,X,Y buttons instead of the D-pad. Sometimes the developers do it right.

Magix said:
Angelowl said:
The third is more general. On the computer I use a right-handed mouse. The result being that I simply do not have the twitch accuracy in shooters as my right handed friends. I am usually more reliant on the keyboard, works fine in strategy games that are not micro dependent (I am looking at you Stracraft).
That's an interesting statement, but can you really be sure that that's down to your choice of hand and not just inherently being a less skilled player than your friends? There's no way to really test that since there are too many factors. I can just as well tell you that I am better than some of my friends at Counter Strike and yet I'm left handed using a right handed mouse
Could very well be. The thing I noticed is that I generally have poor APM in RTSes and often do average at best in twitch-shooters. In more tactical shooters I tend to a lot better. In games such as Killzone 2 or World of Tanks I usually do pretty good for myself as the game is designed so that you as a rule get the time to aim properly. In CoD or CS I fall far behind my friends quite quickly.
I guess that it could also be a preference of playstyle or my sensitive nerves causing me to not aim with pin-point accuracy in certain shooters. I am not much for the whole run and gun approach in any game.
 

Smooth Operator

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Well no but I always used my left for direction and right for mouse so it's not a problem in that sense, however if a game stupidly decides to only have arrow key movement we get into some crazy cross handed play...
But any dev that doesn't put rebindable controls in their games deserves a smack in the face, from every single customer, bet you they wouldn't be pulling that shit for much longer if this was enforced.
 

trollnystan

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Dec 27, 2010
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I'm glad I'm not alone in being a lefty but using the mouse right-handed. I'd get so annoyed at my lefty brother-in-law for putting the mouse on the left every time he used the computer and then leaving it there, lol. I have a faint memory of starting out using my left hand but at some point I obviously switched. Nowadays using my left hand on the mouse is possible but not at all as comfortable or fast as using my right hand.

In everything else I'm still "sinister" though =P
 

James Crook

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Jul 15, 2011
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I'm a lefty.

To me, no person, even a left-handed mutant, should ever use "left-handed" controllers, lest they be a heretic.
I had a lefty pad for the GameCube, and I hated it. It felt very clumsy and even impaired anyone else that tried to use it.

I'm quite alright with left-handers using mice left-handed and rebinding the keys on their keyboards or even using "flipped" keyboards, as for some it is a requirement, but controllers is where I draw the line: they just plain don't work.
I just do everything right-handed, except writing.
 

Hero of Lime

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Jun 3, 2013
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Angelowl said:
Hero of Lime said:
Angelowl said:
Hm... There have been three cases were being left-handed really matters and impedes my gaming. The first is in Skyward Sword, the controller glitches out if you use it in the left hand. Annoys the hell out of me as Link is one of the few characters that are traditionally left-handed yet the developers did not bother with testing the game for lefties.
Somewhat similar situation. I always play Skyward Sword with the Wii mote in my left hand, but I've rarely run into problems outside of fighting a few types of enemies. That being said, I think it was a bit ridiculous there wasn't a left handed model for Link. I don't know much about programming, but it can't be that hard to make a mirrored model of a character.

I have to ask, which part of Oracle of Seasons do you have trouble with? I can't really think of a scenario where you have to button mash a lot.
Mosh, the blue, winged, banana eating bear. You mash A to stay afloat in the air and move with the D-pad, it is just not possible for me to do that effectively. My right thumb has worthless reaction time. Love how The World Ends With You have an alternate set-up where you use the A,B,X,Y buttons instead of the D-pad. Sometimes the developers do it right.
Oh that's right, I've never had too much trouble with using him, but I can see where it would be difficult. Particularly when you have to fly over the pits in the graveyard, that still gives me a little trouble.
 

HardkorSB

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Mar 18, 2010
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Back in the Atari/Commodore days, I was using the joystick with the left hand.
All pads use the left hand for movement as default (same with WASD) and I was used to that so all I really had to learn was to use my right hand for other things.
Now, I've been playing like that for over 20 years so it would be hard for me to switch.

Also, you need to use both hands at the same time in most games so I don't think it matters that much which hand is responsible for what.
I guess that it would only be a problem on the PC if you would start using the mouse with your left hand when learning how to use a computer but I didn't do that.

On the pads for modern consoles, you have 2 sticks and 2 sets of keys with the same layout (arrows on the left, buttons on the right) plus a set of symmetrical buttons on top so it's pretty easy to switch, even if you do have a problem with the default setting.
 

Magix

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Oct 19, 2013
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trollnystan said:
I'm glad I'm not alone in being a lefty but using the mouse right-handed. I'd get so annoyed at my lefty brother-in-law for putting the mouse on the left every time he used the computer and then leaving it there, lol. I have a faint memory of starting out using my left hand but at some point I obviously switched. Nowadays using my left hand on the mouse is possible but not at all as comfortable or fast as using my right hand.

In everything else I'm still "sinister" though =P
Out of curiosity, when you used to start out using your left hand, was it because you actually wanted to do that or is it because people around you were like "oh hey you're left handed so let me help you by putting the mouse on the other side"?


But yeah in regards to games not having rebindable controls, obviously that's silly. As a beginner programmer I can tell you it's REALLY easy to code in rebindable controls. Like a monkey could do it, in 15 minutes. When games don't have it, it's basically just down to laziness. All you have to do is save some numbers into a file, read them in, and then check if the corresponding key is down.
 
Jun 23, 2008
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I'm left handed. I play games left handed.

My mouse (trackball, actually) is under my left hand. I use the numberpad for controlling my game. 2-4-6-8 to move. Plus / Enter for jump and crouch, respectively. 5 to aim.

Most games allow me to reconfigure the keybinds as I need to. Some require modifications of the *.cfg. Those that remain I usually flake on playing, or will rebind the number pad via Autohotkey.

I'll use the islands for weapon / power selection, or create chording macros so that the arrow keys + numpad keys select important effects. In Left 4 Dead (2) I do most of my communication via keybinds.

Recently, I tried creating an ergonomic layout for the left side of the keyboard around the WASD only to find the keys there are poorly layed out for gaming. W is too far to the left. Space is the only thumb-accessible key (though that makes a great key for chording...unless you use it to jump) and I can see how the Windows key becomes a problem and needs to be disabled (or utilized). No wonder they make programmable keypads for righties. I find it lame because like the QWERTY keyboard (in contrast to the Dvorak), right-handed players are impared by convention, using an ill-fitting keyboard layout due to a lame common layout.

Anyway, being a lefty has made me something of an input device fetishist, and an extreme input-system customizer. For instance, I have separate keys for grab-all-the-loot (spams the USE key) and pick-the-lock (holds the USE key until I press a different key) in Payday 2.

And one-key sprint. Why is it that so many games make sprinting a chord when the sprint key doesn't augment anything else?

238U
 

trollnystan

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Dec 27, 2010
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Magix said:
Out of curiosity, when you used to start out using your left hand, was it because you actually wanted to do that or is it because people around you were like "oh hey you're left handed so let me help you by putting the mouse on the other side"?


SNIP REST
I don't remember very well, but I'm pretty sure it was my idea and not anyone else's. I learned to use a computer at home, not at school, so I think I eventually just got tired of moving the mouse over and started to use it with my right instead.
 

Cerebrawl

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Feb 19, 2014
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I'm a lefty and I learned to use the mouse in my right hand from the start and it always felt wrong in my left hand. Joysticks go in my left hand though, though I haven't used one since back in amiga days.

Then again I'm a bit ambidextrous, or at least double handed, in P&P RPG terms. I'm also a right shoulder rifle shot, but about equally good with a pistol in either hand(right hand is more stable and has better trigger control, left aims faster and more intuitively). Similar results with an air mouse as well(I've got a Neo Reflection, for use with laptop when traveling).

Magix said:
Angelowl said:
The third is more general. On the computer I use a right-handed mouse. The result being that I simply do not have the twitch accuracy in shooters as my right handed friends. I am usually more reliant on the keyboard, works fine in strategy games that are not micro dependent (I am looking at you Stracraft).
That's an interesting statement, but can you really be sure that that's down to your choice of hand and not just inherently being a less skilled player than your friends? There's no way to really test that since there are too many factors. I can just as well tell you that I am better than some of my friends at Counter Strike and yet I'm left handed using a right handed mouse
As a lefty with right-hand mouse: I was my team's sharpshooter back in CS days(lots of AK/colt headshots, often from long range)... and took over the sniper role when our old sniper left(lost some of my AK/colt touch when I retrained). We went up to 2nd division of league play on R60.org.
 

simple64

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Sep 14, 2011
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Very much so, yes. I used to use the mouse like a right hander, and to this day, I can still do so comfortably. However, I just suddenly decided "lemme try this with my left hand". Took a day or two to adjust, but hot damn, the difference is staggering. If I'm playing a game, I'll most likely use the number pad for controls with the mouse in my left.

It was right around the time I tried swapping the controls on my 360 for "southpaw". Saw an immediate change to my gameplay experience.

Uriel-238 said:
I'm left handed. I play games left handed.

My mouse (trackball, actually) is under my left hand. I use the numberpad for controlling my game. 2-4-6-8 to move. Plus / Enter for jump and crouch, respectively. 5 to aim.

Most games allow me to reconfigure the keybinds as I need to. Some require modifications of the *.cfg. Those that remain I usually flake on playing, or will rebind the number pad via Autohotkey.

I'll use the islands for weapon / power selection, or create chording macros so that the arrow keys + numpad keys select important effects. In Left 4 Dead (2) I do most of my communication via keybinds.

Recently, I tried creating an ergonomic layout for the left side of the keyboard around the WASD only to find the keys there are poorly layed out for gaming. W is too far to the left. Space is the only thumb-accessible key (though that makes a great key for chording...unless you use it to jump) and I can see how the Windows key becomes a problem and needs to be disabled (or utilized). No wonder they make programmable keypads for righties. I find it lame because like the QWERTY keyboard (in contrast to the Dvorak), right-handed players are impared by convention, using an ill-fitting keyboard layout due to a lame common layout.

Anyway, being a lefty has made me something of an input device fetishist, and an extreme input-system customizer. For instance, I have separate keys for grab-all-the-loot (spams the USE key) and pick-the-lock (holds the USE key until I press a different key) in Payday 2.

And one-key sprint. Why is it that so many games make sprinting a chord when the sprint key doesn't augment anything else?

238U
Hell yeah. My button scheme is 8-4-5-6.
 
Apr 5, 2008
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Pffh, lefties. They *choose* to be left-handed and expect the rest of the world to conform and accept them. They should use WASD like normal folk and leave their strange left-handed lifestyle behind closed doors. I especially don't want any left-handed types stirring my coffee clockwise, as though it's perfectly acceptable.
 

Neonsilver

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Aug 11, 2009
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When I started using a PC I didn't know you could configure a mouse for left handed users and it was weird to click with the middle finger instead of the index finger.
So I used my right hand and gotten used to it.
 

suitepee7

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Dec 6, 2010
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i'm right handed, my dad was left handed and i grew up using the computer with his setup, so i game left-handed. my keybinds are usually pretty similar, IJKL movement, P reload, N sprint, SPACE jump, ;'/[] as little finger keys so stuff like crouch, select item etc.

the only difference is with WoW, where i'll move the entire keyboard to the right so i can use WASD for movement and everything else for abilities, but that's only because Ctrl and Shift are easy key modifiers for my thumb.

if a game doesn't have rebindable keys i'll use external software to do it, or just not play. that shit should be standard by now

edit: as for mouse setup, i use a lefthanded deathadder, but my clicking remains normal, so left click with middle finger and right with my index... i'll admit, that part is weird, but it means i can easily adapt to regular setups by just moving the mouse
 

Phantom Kat

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Sep 26, 2012
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I'm left handed and play with a left-handed mouse but I still use WASD and just have my keyboard moved somewhat to the right.

I can play both left and right handed but I prefer left just because it feels more natural. I could probably switch if I really felt the desire.
 

Stryc9

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Nov 12, 2008
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I'm left handed and use WASD for movement and my mouse right handed. It's just how I learned how to do it at a young age and never really thought twice about it. I've never really run into any handedness problems with gaming.
 

Erana

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Feb 28, 2008
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KingsGambit said:
Pffh, lefties. They *choose* to be left-handed and expect the rest of the world to conform and accept them. They should use WASD like normal folk and leave their strange left-handed lifestyle behind closed doors. I especially don't want any left-handed types stirring my coffee clockwise, as though it's perfectly acceptable.
Got quite a laugh from me. :p

That being said, I'm a lefty, but that doesn't affect my gaming layout as much as the fact that I'm far more finger dexterous than wrist dexterous. What does this mean? I'm waaaay better at a trackpad than a mouse. In fact, I feel like people sorely underestimate track pads because most of the ones people use are absolutely terrible. I have this old but great external trackpad that I've used when not on a laptop, if I'm not just jerry-rigging a controller to work with a game. My personal keyboard layout is to Mouse with my left hand, and have my right thumb on the directional arrows, have my right index finger over shift and enter, then have the rest of my buttons keymapped to the numpad. Sometimes, I'll have my left thumb on the trackpad with most of the movement buttons mapped over the bottom left of the keyboard and leave my right hand just for movement, if the game has more complex movement setups.

But yeah, I basically really like being able to do keymapping...