Configuring your controllers
What controller should you use for Doom2 Deathmatch, and why is it so important to pick the right kind?
Topic #1: The great effectiveness of Mouse+Keys or correctly-configured Trackball+keys, as Doom2 controllers, and the HUGE drawbacks of Joystick, Keyboard without mouse, and Mouse without keyboard, as Doom2 deathmatch controllers.
You should use your mouse and a non-default keyboard configuration simultaneously for Doom2 Deathmatch, and here is at least one fair reason why: ID Software tells Doom players to use the mouse+keys. Here is a paragraph quoted from page 9 of "The Ultimate Doom's Instruction Manual", published by Id Software Inc.
"TIP: When you're comfortable playing the game, try using the keyboard and the mouse simultaneously. The mouse provides fine control for aiming your weapon (allowing you to smoothly rotate right and left) while the keyboard permits you to activate the many useful funtions of the game."
Mouse plus Keyboard control, and the much less common Trackball+keyboard, offer the best possible control means for Doom2. Mouse and trackball both have the strengths of allowing highly accurate aim, precise, fast turning, and ability to adjust running angle during straferunning and preparation for wallrunning (extremely important topics covered later). Keyboard, when re-configured, allows sidestepping to the left or right quickly, fast and extended running in any direction, and rapid and intricate direction changes.
Keyboard alone, especially the "default" arrow-key and shift-ctrl-alt config, while allowing basic movement, does not allow high-speed or precision aiming. Aiming with keys alone is limited to timing shots while pivoting relatively slowly. Some keyboarders will be able to play competitively against joystick users, beginning skilled mouse+keys players, and some intermediate skilled mouse+keys players on some maps, but any player that wants to gain great skill in deathmatch must not use keyboard alone as his controller.
Joystick use offers no advantages that I can imagine.
Keyboard and Joystick users will need to convert to mouse+keys (or possibly trackball+keys, but this is much less common and I will stop referring to it) if they want to learn to be skilled. Converting to mouse+keys from keys alone is difficult, but well worth the time and effort spent. I know this from having gone through the experience, since I was a keyboarder for a year before I switched.
If you are a keyboarder and are still hesitant to switch to mouse+keys, perhaps this will help. Click here to read what it was like for me to switch from Keyboard-only to Mouse+keys.
Doom2's keyboard configuration is changed through running setup, and choosing that option.
Step 1: Pick a keyboard configuration
Step 2: Verify your keyboard isn't junk
Step 3: Mouse sensitivity and condition
