On June 23 2011 02:03 Kenitek wrote: I hit 1 with my ring finger and 2 with my middle finger and 3-6 with my index finger and the pinky for ctrl and shift stuff. I have units for 3-6 and i use 1 for CC/Nexus/Hatch and 2 for production facilitys or queens. I use my pinky for hitting A and Z, Middle finger reaches S and my index finger will reach anything to the right of S. My apm average is around 200-220ish, if its a good game ill have 250 apm which rarely happens.
Everygame i see you in your APM is drastically lower then that...
I have my thumb on numEnter for Orbitals, ring/middle/index on num7/8/9 workin a modified grid setup along with the index pulling double duty for numPlus/NumMinus being Rax/Fax/Ports and Tab respectively.
On that home row my ring accesses PgDown and my pinky is for [Up]
Slide my hand 2key rows directly to the left(index/num7) for full access to the PgUp/PgDwn and Directional pad keybanks with the index still working the grid. slide back when done.
This MSG brought to you by -
The right side of the keyboard, where the spacing is done for you and every damn key isn't slightly at an angle and slightly out of reach
My hot keys are 1,2,3 are hatchery: 4 is my queens: 5,6,7 is my units: and 8,9,0 is overlords. I use my pinky for 1, ring finger for 2, middle finger for 3, and for the rest of the numbers I use my pointer finger. I always thought it was much easier/ efficient to use my pointer finger for my units because it always an easy way for my pinky to do actions quickly after hitting 5,6, and 7 (the actions I talk about are 5a6a7a or 5a6a7h, etc..). I am a top 8 master league level player, and my APM is typically around 180.
I'm pretty sure I use my ring finger on (1, 2) my middle finger for (3, 4) and my index finger for (5, 6, 7) and realistically anything past that though they're in minimal use...
I for sure use my pinky on (ctrl, shift) and if I ever have need of alt I think I use my thumb...
I'm also a guitar and piano player and my apm is somewhere around 140-150 most days though I don't actually think that my instrument playing affects my keyboard movements, I have my hand in some pretty awkward positions playing guitar alot of the time which I would never get into with a keyboard...
I would suggest not using 7-0 and resetting your hotkeys. Like I use caps lock, ~, and other keys instead of 7-0. I went from ~100-120 sc2 apm to 160-180 apm.
On June 23 2011 01:43 kNyTTyM wrote: how exactly do you hit 1a2a3a with middle finger on 1?
well i personally use my ring finger to hit 1 then i use my ring finger to hit a then middle finger 2 ring finger a, middle finger 3, ring finger a. sometimes ill use my index to hit 3. but i usually use that for 4
I always aim for my unit compisition at the end of the game to be marine / tank, so I have my tanks on 2 and my marines on 1. I have all of my barracks on 3, my factorys on 4, my command centre on 5 and my starport on 6, and I mainly sit with my ring finger on 3, my middle finger on 4 and my index finger for 5 and 6.
The 6 hotkey is a bit awkward for me but I used to have all of my units on 1 hotkey and it is much easier to micro when I can just press one button and have access to all of my tanks.
comming from a guitar background i find SC correlates very well to the strengths my hands have developed through guitar as opposed to lets say a piano. With your right picking hand (mouse) your wrist becomes stronger (unless you play using your arm which is horrid technique) which i figure would help your wrist from being tired while playing sc. your fret hand is the one that is used to make obscure patterns and stretching and what have you which is why i dont mind having my hotkeys to up to 0 for evo chambers and can easily press 0 and ctrl at the same time.
i feel piano would not help in the same way as guitar considering your right hand is your primary melody hand while your left is the power hand for chords unless you play SC left handed but piano traditionally (or vice versa). However all in all stretching your hand across the keyboard should not be hard and you should be able to press 7-8 at least while holding control. you could have like small hands or something and then maybe its worth it to rebind your keys, but honestly do what you want.
i use pinky for shift and ctrl (ring if i need both at the same time). ring finger for tab, and 1. middle for 2 and 3. index for 4-0. thumb for anything to the right of (and including) v, and space.
On June 23 2011 02:39 Intricate1 wrote: you guys are weird,
I have my thumb on numEnter for Orbitals, ring/middle/index on num7/8/9 workin a modified grid setup along with the index pulling double duty for numPlus/NumMinus being Rax/Fax/Ports and Tab respectively.
On that home row my ring accesses PgDown and my pinky is for [Up]
Slide my hand 2key rows directly to the left(index/num7) for full access to the PgUp/PgDwn and Directional pad keybanks with the index still working the grid. slide back when done.
This MSG brought to you by -
The right side of the keyboard, where the spacing is done for you and every damn key isn't slightly at an angle and slightly out of reach
I like your thinking. I did the same thing, just with a different part of the keyboard. Either is much better than the default setups. Not sure why more haven't caught on. I use Base J, btw.
On June 23 2011 01:43 kNyTTyM wrote: how exactly do you hit 1a2a3a with middle finger on 1?
I can't believe people actually still use the "a" key for the attack command... I switched that to the space bar as soon as I got the game... o.O so much more efficient.
The default keyboard layout and hotkeys are nowhere near optimal. It amazes me how many professional players don't customize their hotkey setup to their personal needs. Makes you wonder how much better they would be if they spent just a day figuring out a good hotkey setup that isn't as "all-over-the-place" as the default.
On June 23 2011 01:43 kNyTTyM wrote: how exactly do you hit 1a2a3a with middle finger on 1?
I can't believe people actually still use the "a" key for the attack command... I switched that to the space bar as soon as I got the game... o.O so much more efficient.
The default keyboard layout and hotkeys are nowhere near optimal. It amazes me how many professional players don't customize their hotkey setup to their personal needs. Makes you wonder how much better they would be if they spent just a day figuring out a good hotkey setup that isn't as "all-over-the-place" as the default.
What about the default space functionality? (go to last place where something significant happened)
On June 23 2011 01:43 kNyTTyM wrote: how exactly do you hit 1a2a3a with middle finger on 1?
I can't believe people actually still use the "a" key for the attack command... I switched that to the space bar as soon as I got the game... o.O so much more efficient.
The default keyboard layout and hotkeys are nowhere near optimal. It amazes me how many professional players don't customize their hotkey setup to their personal needs. Makes you wonder how much better they would be if they spent just a day figuring out a good hotkey setup that isn't as "all-over-the-place" as the default.
I've been playing RTS since long before BW, however until SC2 came out I was always primarily an FPS gamer. For that reason, my hands have long forgotten the ASDF homerow of truly effecient typing, and my left hand always falls on ctrl-A-W-D. My pinky is pretty handicapped when it comes to reaching anything other than ctrl or shift, but I have no trouble punching 1/2/F1 with ring, 3/4 with middle, and 4/5+ with index. I play around 210 (realtime) apm, however I tend to spam like a mofo :|
I play guitar so my whole 5 left hand fingers are all active. I dont have much preferences like you guys, like 1a2a3a with middle finger. Sometimes I do it with pinky and ring, sometimes middle + ring or middle + pinky. They're all equally active, so as long as I remember the position of keys, I do it quite ok.
I play Protoss, 5 Nexus, 4 Gateways, 3 Robo and/or Stargate, 2 special units like HT or scout or DT etc, 1 for main army, 6 for upgrades, 7,8,9,0 spams with observer or something i need in urgent.
EPT
