Good keyboard layout.

[DaLagga]

So I see a fair number of topics asking whether a controller or keyboard is better and a lot of people for some reason are claiming that you really need a controller which is rather odd seeing as how it won't provide any advantage whatsoever in a sidescroller like this. The reason I think most people hate using the keyboard for sidescrollers is simply because the default keys are often horrible (i.e. arrow keys for movement and crap like that). So here's a general keyboard layout that I've been using for over 15 years for all kinds of sidescrollers and NES/SNES style games that I find works great.

WASD - Standard movement directions, just like any other PC game.
Home, Delete, End, and Page Down - Assigned to Triangle, Square, X, and Circle respectively.
Numpad_4 and Numpad_ 7 - R1 and R2 respectively
Right Ctrl and Right Shift - L1 and L2 respectively
Space, Left Shift, F, etc. - Any other functions you may need.

It sounds absurd at first, but it lets you play without having your hands crunched together or where you have to unintuitively use the arrow keys for movement. And if you look at the layout for Home, Delete, End, and Page Down they perfectly match the face buttons on a controller (I used the Playstation controller for reference above). Using Numpad and Right Ctrl/Shift also looks weird at first, until you place your 3 middle fingers on Delete, End, and Page Down and then look at where your pinky than thumb are naturally positioned.

So, for Cuphead specifically, this is what I've been using and it works great (as good as any controller, if not better). With only 1 exception, each button is manipulated with a different finger which allows for slightly faster inputs than you could ever get with a controller. The only problem is that menu navigation (arrow keys) and a few things like inventory usage (Left Shift) are hard coded and can't be rebound but none of this takes place in actual mission stages so it's never really an issue.

WASD - Movement
Home - Ex Shoot
Delete - Shoot
End - Jump
Page Down - Dash
Numpad_4 - Switch Weapon
Space - Lock

[Trixter]

it's all a matter of preferrence really. I don't mind the arrow keys since I grew up with flash games that use the arrow keys as default. When I got Skullgirls my controller broke so I had to stick with default keyboard options. Never went back to controller lol

[DaLagga]

Originally posted by Trixter:

it's all a matter of preferrence really. I don't mind the arrow keys since I grew up with flash games that use the arrow keys as default. When I got Skullgirls my controller broke so I had to stick with default keyboard options. Never went back lol :msfortune:

When I first got into PC gaming I was the same way. I hated using WASD for movement and just tried to rebind everything around the arrow keys for every game I played. But for more complex games I just kept running out of buttons. When Fallout 3 came out, TAB was hardcoded as your pipboy button and couldn't be rebound, so I ended up forcing myself to adapt to WASD rather than reach across the keyboard every time I wanted to open my inventory. Haven't looked back since. But yes, for some games it doesn't really matter and is personal preference. Others, not so much unfortunately.

[Trixter]

Aye tis a shame really but maybe they can find a control scheme that works for them. One guy in a thread had his button layout for cuphead to an FPS/3PS layout and it works for him. I'd totally be confused if I had that kinda layout but at least it works for somebody

[upbeat5.dd]

my problem is there are so many keys and the jump and point up feel weird because i want both of them to be 'W'

[Fractal_Tempest]

I just use the default controls for Cuphead