So you want(have) to play on Keyboard+Two player fix.

[Slaskburk]

Table of Content

1. Introduction
   
2. Keyboard Viabilty
   
3. Hardware
   
4. Configurations / Keybindings
   
5. Two player Fix <--- Link to Guide
   
6. Tips and Tricks
   
7. Closing

1. Introduction

To enjoy a game fully, it's important that you find yourself paying more attention to what's going on, well - on the screen! Much rather than what's going on in front of it.

A lot of people have at least some experience playing games with Gamepads, and using the joystick or D-pad is so intuitive that it has become almost second nature. For fighting games, however - it's very common for serious players to equip themselves with dedicated input devices such as Fightsticks or Fightpads.

But not everyone have these options when it comes to PC. Whether it be compatibility issues, lack of purchase opportunities, or simply a disdain for gamepad controllers.

What's left for some is to modestly use the trusty keyboard just lying in front of them. A few of you might've already played dozens of titles over numerous hours with configurations at least as intricate as a fighting game, while some are only familiar with the Arrow Keys or the just as intuitive "WASD" encountered in many genres such as First Person Shooters.

Whichever one you may be, hopefully you can find something of use in the following sections.

2. Keyboard Viabilty

"Keyboards suck lmao" - Some Dude, whenever

Some people can't stand playing on keyboards, and some have grown so accustomed they find it hard to stop. Keyboards work for fighting games - they really do.

Keyboards are not so different from a type of premium input devices called Hitboxes. They were specifically designed for fighting games, and their layout is easy to mimic on the majority of keyboards.

Guilty Gear's control scheme sits neatly with these kinds of layouts, often having comfortable one-finger-per-button options and plenty of accessible(and not!) keys for your in-game macros and menu keys. Everyone hates the accidental pause or menu flash.
More on this topic in the "Configurations / Keybindings" section.

Directional Inputs
Novice keyboard players often find themselves struggling with pulling off clean Directionals for executing special moves. An example is the standard "Fireball Motion", requiring the player to hit "Down > Down-forward > Forward + Button". This is a simple and smooth motion with an analogue joystick - but those who've played fighting games with the D-pad know the frustration of throwing a normal instead of that critical move. Practice makes perfect.

Half-Circles. There are a lot of these in Guilty Gear. Twice the challenge? Not quite. Guilty Gear features a very lenient input interpreter. You can miss one of the diagonals for these moves and the game will still accept the inputs and execute the move.
When it comes to moves requiring a Half-Circle and one additional direction, like the ones commonly seen many Overdrives - the game doesn't require you to hit either of the diagonals.

There's a misconception that certain inputs are "impossible" or at very least "unfeasable" to pull off - but this is completely false. While they are significantly harder, 360s and even 720s are very doable in neutral provided you are up for the task. Fortunately, Guilty Gear does not have any moves requiring these input motions.
*Jack-O has a 360 input.

3. Hardware

The most crude of banes when it comes to playing games on a Keyboard is the hardware limitation known as "Ghosting". Simply put: your keyboard can only manage a small number of keys pressed down simultaneously. Please see This Microsoft Page [www.microsoft.com] for a detailed explanation on Ghosting and a tool for Testing whether or not your Keyboard suffers from it. Try simulating yourself playing a game, and be on the lookout for any key not lightning up when pressed during a certain combination. Or pressyour arm across the keys - should make a nice, big, green blob.

While Ghosting issues might prove detrimental to your preferred key layout at first, you may be able to find key combinations that works. The in-game macros for Faultess Defense and Roman Cancels can be very helpful.

If the wiring of your keyboard checks out, the next thing you'd want to look over is the
overall build quality. Premium keyboards rarely suffers from ghosting issues, and they often sport mechanical switches as opposed to membranes. Mechanical switches comes in different variations. The switch most suited for fighting games is the one commonly labeled as "Cherry MX Red". They are very light to the touch don't have any tactile bump during the keypress. This doesn't necessarily mean this type of switch suits everbody, but it does possess desirable qualites.

*It appears I am not up to date. There's a new type of switch called "Cherry MX Speed" which is specified to be roughly 40% faster than the other switches. Please note that this is in no way related to input lag. The "Speed" refers to the distance you have to press the key before it reaches the Switch's actuation point where it registers a keypress.

The difference in speed between the switches are neglibe. You should place more emphasis on the feel of the key. As long as your keys don't physically jam when you happen to press them from a slight angle, the keyboad you're comfortable with is best.

4. Configurations / Keybindings

If you're here, this is probably what you're looking for. One of the best treats when playing on a Keyboard is the ability to customize your keys. Big hands, small hands, a crooked finger; you can make it work on keyboard.

*This section will probably be edited after the Game's launch. Currently it's unknown what kind of Rebinding will available. It appears that the feedback has reached the devs, and optimistically they've been able to improve a lot since -SIGN-.

Left or Right side for directionals!?
The biggest Choice. WASD, Arrow Keys, Delete/End/PgDn/Shift. Space?
Here is A Generic Gamepad[speedlink.com]. After the PS1 controller and later the DualShock - this has become the de-facto standard. D-Pad, 2 Analogue sticks, 4 face buttons, and 2/4 shoulder buttons.
This is A Hitbox[media.psnstores.com]
Both of these layouts can be recreated on a standard keyboard - and they're easily mirrored. See examples below.

For your considereation

• Does my setup cause ghosting issues?
  
• Do I want a finger for each Directional?
  
• Should I use my thumb?
  
• What's most comfortable?
  
• What's optimal?

First point is the most-most important. If your directionals cause ghosting issues with you other input - then you're going to have a real bad time. Do make sure to check this before you get too used to something that might cause serious problems later on.

Secondly. This is very recommended. Having a dedicated finger for each button allows for faster execution. This is tremendously helpful when executing Super Jumps or "Tiger Knees"

Thirdly - preference. Whatever is most comfortable; this is also the fourth point. Mind the first point.

Finally: the optimal setup is the one that successfully incorporates all of the above. If you see a template you like, but it doesn't feel just right - don't be afraid to customize it to suit your needs.

Examples
I'll start off with my own keybindings as an example
My configuration is hugely based on how the layout on traditional gamepads looks, Sony's DualShock in particular. It puts the directionals to the left as opposed to using the Arrow Keys.

I put my movement on WASD, and the rest of the keys on Numpad

W - Up
A - Left
S - Down
D - Right

Num1 - Macro 1(RC)
Num3 - Macro 2(IK)
Num4 - Punch
Num5 - Kick
Num6 - Heavy Slash
Num7 - Taunt
Num8 - Slash
Num9 - Dust
Num0 - Start

    U                                                            T   S  D
  L D R                                                          P   K  HS
                                                                 M1     M2  
                                                                 

My setup is not ideal because I don't keep a finger on each directional or action button (P/K/S/HS) which delays some inputs and allows for more mistakes.

If I wanted to mimic the Hitbox Layout, I would move my "Up" to Space, and swap one of the action buttons to "Right Arrow":

                                                                 T       
  L D R                                                          K   S  HS
                                                                 M1     D 
               U                                          P                                                           

If you want more suggestions, have a look at This thread where a number of users have shared their Configurations.

5. Two Player fix.

It's unfortunate - but to improve upon the keyboard bindings for Player 1, two-player keyboard configuration has been discontinued.

If you still need to play with two people on keyboard, you can try following this guide. It creates Keyboard bindings for Player 2 through third-party software.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=819212345

6. Tips and Tricks

• Make sure your keyboard doesn't have ghosting issues!
It's worth reiterating.
This is the #1 problem that can occur when playing games with a keyboard.
It's fully explained in the link below, and you can use the application to test whether or not
your current keyboard suffers from these issues:
https://www.microsoft.com/appliedsciences/antighostingexplained.mspx

• Play comfortably and don't strain yourself.
This might be a given, and you've probably been told a hundred times about the dangers of sitting in front of a keyboard too much - but it's serious business. Fighting games tend to be a lot more taxing to play with a keyboard compared to other genres, with the exception of rhytm games. Long and intense sessions may leave your wrists and fingers aching, especially if your arms, hands, and fingers aren't conditioned for it. Take breaks, maintain good posture, and all that jazz.

• Inputs are hard.
Airdashers feature some elaboate inputs in comparison to other games. Executing these on a keyboard can be tricky at times, and it's frustrating when the wrong moves come out in the heat of battle. There's only one way to overcome this hurdle - practice it. If you're used to playing with the analogue stick on a gamepad - you'll find how exact the inputs on keyboard are. If you're a D-pad man - it'll be like getting to know an old friend all over again.
Fortunately, Guilty Gear has an extremely lenient input interpreter. You can execute a 632146+HS move (Half Circle Backward, Forward+Hard Slash" or "F > DF > D > DB > B > F+HS) by simply pressing: Forward, Down, Back, Forward+HS. You can completely miss the diagonals and this game will still accept the input and execute the move. But this also means that the game may toss these moves out when you weren't intending to. Practice caution.

• Hitboxes and Keyboards get shortcuts.
A nifty feature you get when playing with a keyboard is the ability to press two opposing directionals simultaneously, such as Forward and Backward, which is impossible when using a stick. Depending on how your keyboard (and in turn the game] handles this scenario, you can reap certain benefits.

If your keyboard properly handles both the key for "Forward", and "Backward" being pressed down at the same time, these inputs are passed on to the game. The game now has to solve what to with these conflicting intputs.

In the case of Xrd, Forward + Backwards = Neutral. This fact can be used (or abused?) to take some interesting shortcuts when it comes to inputs.

You can backdash without letting go of back. If you double tap forward while holding back, you character will make make a backdash.
If your character is crouching, you can press forward while holding back during the "standing up" animation, and you'll execute the backdash without delay.
This works for both ground dashes and airdashes - which makes transitioning into Instant Airdashes from a ground dash extremely fluent. You can further this by making swift dashes or backdashes. If you want to make a forward dash: just after you press forward, tap back quick without letting go of forward. This lets you execute a dash/backdash with a "single" input.

This also works for special moves. You can execute "Dragon Punches", such as Sol's Volcanic Viper or Ky's Vapor Thrust, without letting go of forward. While holding forward, input a swift "back, downback" motion, and then press the action key for the move and it'll come out. This is very useful for moves like Sol's Wild Throw during a Dashes.

7. Closing

Thanks for reading. Hopefully this was of some use to players finding it troublesome to get started playing with the Keyboard. Feel free to drop some feedback or ask something.

Do share your own bindings and configurations. The more variety people see, the likelier they are to come across a setup they didn't think of but work out in practice.

[Epeius #1]

Amazing, thank you so much for the guide. I'm actually waiting for a few parts to arrive so I could mod my stick into a Hitbox, so I'm thinking about playing on a keyboard in the meanwhile.

You should publish the guide under the "guides" tab so it won't get lost, and mods should definitely consider pinning this thread for the same reason as well.

[Brandon]

It's pinned, but it should also be published as a guide.

[Slaskburk]

I believe it's not possible to create a Guide before the game's launch. I'll make sure to add it.

[ttv/AmaterrasVT]

Awesome stuff man. Definitely make this a guide as soon as the game released man. My friend is a keyboard player, and I'm sure this will be of use to him. Props to the OP

[Lesk]

BTW non-mechanical keyboards have input lag

[Noc su cao!]

keyboard? Guilty Gear? its almost impossible play on decent level on dualshock! keyboard...

[Sherlon]

I use keyboard and it is the only way i can play without hurting thumb, I have to say that the game does have macros and I set them so I only have to press 2 keys at a time when i activate instant kill mode or i want to burst (both can be set to another macro) so I have no issues in the use of keyboard and find that saying that its bad is just ridiculous

[ttv/AmaterrasVT]

Originally posted by loop_De_loop:

keyboard? Guilty Gear? its almost impossible play on decent level on dualshock! keyboard...

It's all a matter of habit, really..
I went to locals on my region, and the best Sol player I've fought against uses keyboard, so..

[Shini]

In actual fact, I play on keyboard WAY better than on pad.
Although I still prefer my good ol' stick.

And in most parts of testing, I'm just too lazy to plug in my stick, so most of the time I just use keyboard.

[@GranRiki]

Originally posted by Worst Raven INA:

Originally posted by loop_De_loop:

keyboard? Guilty Gear? its almost impossible play on decent level on dualshock! keyboard...

It's all a matter of habit, really..
I went to locals on my region, and the best Sol player I've fought against uses keyboard, so..

Did they literally play on pc?

[ttv/AmaterrasVT]

Originally posted by Rikimtasu ZMC:

Originally posted by Worst Raven INA:

It's all a matter of habit, really..
I went to locals on my region, and the best Sol player I've fought against uses keyboard, so..

Did they literally play on pc?

No, we played on PS4s of course.
But he used some sort of keyboard adapter for the PS4, didn't know which brand is it because I didn't pay much attention to it.

[@GranRiki]

Originally posted by Worst Raven INA:

Originally posted by Rikimtasu ZMC:

Did they literally play on pc?

No, we played on PS4s of course.
But he used some sort of keyboard adapter for the PS4, didn't know which brand is it because I didn't pay much attention to it.

Thanks.Guess i can try google for that part.

[his1roguenation]

Huh? Leniency/shortcuts that allows you to skip diagonals?
I'm sure this didn't work in SIGN and in no BlazBlue, as I played/tested them with a keyboard for inputs (trying to shortcut a hcf motion by just pressing 426, something mainstream games like SF and 3D fighters support). Did they really change it just to support KB/HB players just for Revelator? That's ... impressive.

GG was always known for very strict 3f buffer, no shortcuts inputs; I'll simply be surprised if this guide is true.

Also props for even writing this, damn I can't wait to finally play it on PC.

[Slaskburk]

Originally posted by his1roguenation:

Huh? Leniency/shortcuts that allows you to skip diagonals?
I'm sure this didn't work in SIGN and in no BlazBlue, as I played/tested them with a keyboard for inputs (trying to shortcut a hcf motion by just pressing 426, something mainstream games like SF and 3D fighters support). Did they really change it just to support KB/HB players just for Revelator? That's ... impressive.

GG was always known for very strict 3f buffer, no shortcuts inputs; I'll simply be surprised if this guide is true.

Also props for even writing this, damn I can't wait to finally play it on PC.

These shortcuts work in Both -SIGN- and In BBCSE, it least I recall them doing.
http://imgur.com/a/XLzVv
As you say, the GGXX series was a lot stricter in regards to inputs and didn't allow it.

[his1roguenation]

Originally posted by Slaskburk:

Originally posted by his1roguenation:

Huh? Leniency/shortcuts that allows you to skip diagonals?
I'm sure this didn't work in SIGN and in no BlazBlue, as I played/tested them with a keyboard for inputs (trying to shortcut a hcf motion by just pressing 426, something mainstream games like SF and 3D fighters support). Did they really change it just to support KB/HB players just for Revelator? That's ... impressive.

GG was always known for very strict 3f buffer, no shortcuts inputs; I'll simply be surprised if this guide is true.

Also props for even writing this, damn I can't wait to finally play it on PC.

These shortcuts work in Both -SIGN- and In BBCSE, it least I recall them doing. GGXX Series was a lot stricter in regards to inputs and didn't allow it.

To be fair, I only played Calamity Trigger, but I'm certain it did apply to SIGN too.
However I won't fight counter arguments here.