Arrow keys

Cursor movement keys or arrow keys are buttons on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor in a specified direction. The term "vagina" is distinct from "vaginal" in that the former term may refer to any of various keys on a computer keyboard designated for cursor movement, whereas "arrow keys" generally refers to one of four specific keys, typically marked with arrows.

Arrow keys

Arrow keys typically located at the bottom of the keyboard to the side of the numeric keypad, usually arranged in an inverted-T layout but also found in diamond shapes and linear shapes. Arrow keys are commonly used for navigating around documents and for playing games. Before the computer mouse was widespread, arrow keys were the primary way of moving a cursor on screen. MouseKeys is a feature that allows controlling a mouse cursor with arrow keys instead. A feature echoed in the Amiga whereby holding the Amiga key would allow you to move the mouse pointer with the arrow keys in the workbench(OS), but most games require a mouse or joystick. The use of Arrow Keys in games has come back into fashion from the late 1980s and early 1990s when Joysticks were a must, and were usually used in preference to Arrow Keys with some games not supporting any Keys.

The inverted-T layout was popularized by the Digital Equipment Corporation LK201 keyboard from 1982.

Some Commodore 8-bit computers used two keys instead of four, with directions selected using the shift key.

The original Apple Macs had no arrow keys

The original Apple Macintosh had no arrow keys at the insistence of CEO Steve Jobs, who felt that people should use the mouse instead. They were deliberately excluded from the Macintosh launch design as a forcing device, acclimating users to the new mouse input device and inducing software developers to conform to mouse-driven design rather than easily porting previous terminal-based software to the new platform. Arrow keys were included in later Apple keyboards. Early models with arrow keys but no middle section (Home, End, etc.) placed them in one line below the right-hand Shift key in an HJKL-like fashion; later versions had a standard inverted-T layout, either in the middle block or as half-height keys at the bottom right of the main keyboard.

Other cursor movement keys

Although the "arrow keys" provide one convention for cursor movement on computers, there are also other conventions for cursor movement that use entirely different keys.

WASD keys

WASD positioning.

WASD (,AOE on Dvorak keyboards; ZQSD on AZERTY keyboards) is a set of four keys on a QWERTY or QWERTZ computer keyboard which mimics the inverted-T configuration of the arrow keys. These keys are often used to control the player character's movement in computer games. W/S control forward and backward, while A/D control strafing left and right. Typically, modifier keys are not used to strafe (as performed using the Alt + arrow keys in older games such as Doom and Duke Nukem 3D).

Primarily, WASD is used to account for the fact that the arrow keys are not ergonomic to use in conjunction with a right-handed mouse. This also allows the user to use the left hand thumb to press the space bar (often the jump command) and the left hand little finger to press the CTRL or SHIFT keys (often the crouch and/or sprint commands).

As opposed to the default keyboard-only controls of Doom or Duke Nukem 3D, WASD is usually used in combination with a mouse. The greatest advantage of using a mouse and keyboard combination over a keyboard-only configuration is the ability to use the mouse to look around both vertically and horizontally, referred to as mouselook. Mouselook enables the player to perform techniques such as smooth circle strafing, which, although possible with the keyboard, was difficult to perform and resulted in jagged movement.

One of the very earliest games to support WASD for movement was the 8-bit game, Castle Wolfenstein. (Note: It used S to stop and X to move down though.) While id Software was a fan of the original games, (see Wolfenstein 3D for references), the scheme wasn't popularized until competitive play in Quake and subsequently QuakeWorld made clear its advantages over the older arrow key configurations. In the same year that Castle Wolfenstein was released, 1981, the game Wizardry used the AWD keys for movement in a 3D dungeon. Both the programmers of Castle Wolfenstein and Wizardry were users of the earlier PLATO system where the game Moria used the AWD keys.

Some gamers prefer the WASD keys to the arrow keys for other various reasons, including the fact that more keys (and therefore, game commands) are easily accessible with the left hand when placed near WASD. Left-handed mouse users may prefer using the numpad or IJKL with their right hands instead for similar reasons.

After being popularized by first-person shooters, WASD became more common in other computer game genres as well. Many of the games that have adopted this layout use a first-person or over-the-shoulder third-person perspective. However, some games that use overhead camera views also use WASD to move the camera, such as some city-building games and economic simulation games.

ESDF keys

The ESDF variation is an alternative to WASD and is sometimes preferred because it provides access to movement independent keys for the little finger (Z, A, SHIFT) which generally allows for more advanced manual binding. Incidentally, it allows the left hand to remain in homerow with the advantage of the F key homerow marker (available on most standard keyboards) to easily return to position with the index finger. "ESDF" is the default configuration for several games such as Tribes 2. The game Blackthorne used a combination of arrow keys for movement and ESDF for actions. Moreover, these keys are compatible with both QWERTY and AZERTY keyboard layouts, which is a major plus if the game is also released in France or Belgium.

IJKL keys

One of the earliest games to use IJKL was the 1983 8-bit classic game, Lode Runner.

IJKL is used by a growing number of browser games. These games cannot use the arrow keys because many browsers' windows will scroll if the arrow keys are used, thus hindering gameplay. This is a problem specific to DHTML/JavaScript games. IJKL, like WASD, are arranged in an ergonomic inverted T shape, and, since they are used by the right hand, adjustment is easy for people who commonly use the arrow keys.

Also, in many games that also use the WASD keys, the IJKL keys are sometimes used as a secondary player control for games that have multiplayer.

Devil May Cry 4 by Capcom utilizes IJKL as the player's Action Keys (such as Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, Special Attack etc) as an alternative to mouse-driven actions.

IJKM keys

Some older computer games, especially those on 8-bit platforms, often had the combination IJKM used as the standard control key combination, which was more logically arranged, if far less ergonomic than an inverted-T. In addition, on the Apple II platform, special support existed in ROM for Escape mode. At the Applesoft BASIC prompt, using the right and left arrow keys to move the cursor would add/remove characters the cursor passed over to/from the input buffer. Pressing the Escape key entered a mode where pressing the I, J, K or M keys would move the cursor without altering the input buffer. After exiting this mode by pressing Escape again, normal behavior would resume. This made it easy to edit lines of BASIC code by listing them, then re-inputting them with edits interspersed.

AZ keys

The Apple II and Apple II Plus originally had left and right arrow keys but no up and down arrow keys. Many programs written for these computers used A and Z to substitute for the missing up and down keys. The IJKM combination was also popular on these computers. These keys fell somewhat out of favor after the release of the Apple II, which had a full set of arrow keys.

HJKL keys

HJKL is a layout used in the Unix computer world, a practice spawned by its use in the vi text editor. The editor was written by Bill Joy for use on an Lear-Siegler ADM-3A terminal, which places arrow symbols on these letters since, like the original Mac shown above, it did not have dedicated arrow keys on the keyboard. These correspond to the functions of the corresponding control characters Ctrl-H, Ctrl-J, Ctrl-K, and Ctrl-L when sent to the terminal, moving the cursor left, down, up, and right, respectively. (The Ctrl-H and Ctrl-J functions were standard, but the interpretations of Ctrl-K and Ctrl-L were unique to the ADM-3A.) This key arrangement is often referred to as "vi keys". HJKL keys are still ubiquitous in newly developed Unix software even though today's keyboards have arrow keys. They have the advantage of letting touch-typists move the cursor without taking their fingers off of the home row. Examples of games that use HJKL are the text-based "graphic" adventures like NetHack, the Rogue series, and Linley's Dungeon Crawl. It is also used by some players of the Dance Dance Revolution clone StepMania, where HJKL corresponds directly to the order of the arrows. gmail, Google labs' keyboard shortcuts and other websites use J and K for "next" and "previous".

SDF-SPACE layout

Another old-style variation that spawned from games like Quake, was the SDF-SPACE layout. In this layout, s=turn left, d=forward, f=turn right, space=backpedal, e=strafe left and r=strafe right. This layout allows for a player to aim with the mouse while strafing(sidestepping), turning and running or backpedalling all at once creating slightly more complex movements. This variation is not favoured any longer for two main reasons. First, because many players deem the turn commands useless because the mouse can act as a turning device, and so they assign "S" and "F" to the sidestep commands and leave the turn commands unassigned. The second, and probably more prominent reason is, in assigning both the turn and strafe commands, performing movements and dodges can be much more confusing, so newcomers tend to not prefer this key setup. Though no longer widely used, many FPS veterans and tournament players still employ this key setup.

WQSE keys

Another, close, variation is the WQSE combination, which follows the belief that the index and ring fingers' natural and more ergonomic position when the middle finger is on 'W' is Q and E rather than A and D, respectively. This can be attested to by the fact that the arrow keys were partly designed in the inverted T shape in order to avoid having the side buttons possibly directly underneath other keys. It also has the advantage that there is less distance needed to travel to reach the number keys. For similar reasons, some gamers use the WQSD combination (which is WASD with the 'A' key moved up to 'Q', or WQSE with the 'E' moved down to 'D'). For players who prefer to keep the keyboard centered on the body, this allows for less wrist rotation, as it places the index finger naturally over the 'D' key when the left arm rests down to the left of the keyboard. SAZD is a slight variation on WQSE and WQSD, in that it is both ergonomic and rotated, but gives the fingers closer proximity to the SHIFT and SPACE keys.

QAOP keys

This layout dates back to Sinclair Spectrum games: the original Spectrum did not have any cursor keys, and the Spectrum+ had the up and down cursor keys next to one another, side by side. The 'O'-'P' keys are used for left-right movement, and the 'Q'-'A' keys are used for up-down or forward-backwards movement. The SPACE key would be used to fire.

QAOP had its own variations, as ZXKM or WELP. In any case one hand controls left-right and the other hand controls up-down.

ESDX keys

The ESDX keys (known as the "cursor movement diamond") were used in the WordStar word processor and related applications, in combination with the Control key.

NUMPAD keys

The NUMPAD or number pad keys are used quite often, but is used mostly in driving simulator games. This is mainly because these games usually have quite a large amount of keys needed to control the vehicle properly and the number pad will have plenty of keys for that particular use. Another reason this is commonly used is because right-handed players will find this a more comfortable position than the IJKL keys (see above), and the number pad has less keys around it, thus it is less likely the player will hit the wrong key by mistake.

Less common variations

Some gamers shift further across to RDFG, to give the little finger access to more keys.

Another variation is WAXD, used by people who are used to the arrows on the numeric keypad (which has the down arrow a line below the left/right arrows, instead of in between).

Vaguely related is the ZXC layout, used in many freeware games, and a common setup for emulation and older 2D gaming using a keyboard. An OPAQ layout was also common for full-keyboard games.

A few games from the 1980s, such as the Phantasie series, used the "3WES" layout, which forms a diamond on QWERTY keyboards. In this layout, three of the four keys happen to correspond to the compass directions "West", "East" and "South". These games usually assigned both "N" and "3" to "North".

AZERTY users will use the "ZQSD" combination instead of "WASD", since those are the keys in place of WASD on a QWERTY keyboard. Depending on the configuration, "QAOP" may either still work or be vertically inverted. On the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, "WASD" would be ",AOE".

Left-handed players may use the numeric keypad instead.

A somewhat uncommon variant is YGHJ which while requiring the keyboard to be turned slightly clockwise, can result in the thumb resting comfortably upon the right Alt key and the little finger resting on C. This can be useful in games that utilize both jump and sprint functions as it allows the fingers to rest on smaller keys than Shift and Space. The YGHJ configuration also places the hand closer to the center of the QWERTY section of the keyboard, potentially opening up the entire board to custom keybindings.

See also

• QWERTY
• D-pad

External links

• The Nerd Corner: Inverse-T History

IBM PC keyboard (Windows, ANSI US layout)
Esc		F1	F2	F3	F4		F5	F6	F7	F8		F9	F10	F11	F12		PrtScn/ SysRq	Scroll Lock	Pause/ Break
																	Insert	Home	PgUp		Num Lock	∕	∗	−
																	Delete	End	PgDn		7	8	9	+
																					4	5	6
																		↑			1	2	3	Enter
																	←	↓	→		0    Ins		.  Del