Stamdard emu keys for keyboard?

[Anes]

I just want to know what the majority nes emus uses to implement it in my emu.

Directional keys: up, down, left and right arrows (pretty much self explanatory)
buttons keys:

B = ?
A = ?
Select = shift ?
Start = enter ?

Is there a common mapping?

[tepples]

Usually I've seen emulators map B and A to the bottom left letter keys.
Put B on the left and A on the right. Otherwise, Lode Runner and Thwaite become very confusing to play.
Most languages using QWERTY: B = Z and A = X
(French: B = W and A = X)
(German: B = Y and A = X, and no, this has nothing to do with SNES)

[Fiskbit]

Consider putting movement on WASD, as well, and buttons on the right side of the keyboard somewhere. Movement on the right hand is very unnatural for people used to WASD movement.

[Drag]

Here's generally how I map it:

Code: Select all

   [Up]
[Lf]  [Rt]  [RShf] [Entr]
   [Dn]                    [Z]   [X]

Code: Select all

  [  A  ]    ___________    [  S  ]
   [Up]     |           |
[Lf]  [Rt]  |           |  [Z]   [X]
   [Dn]     |           |
      [Entr]|___________|
      [RShf]

Code: Select all

  [  1  ]                    [  2  ]
  [  Q  ]                    [  W  ]
   [Up]                        [S]
[Lf]  [Rt]  [RShf] [Entr]  [A]     [X]
   [Dn]                        [Z]

Code: Select all

                           [RShf]
   [Up]                 [A] [S] [D]
[Lf]  [Rt]    [Entr] 
   [Dn]                 [Z] [X] [C]

Left, Right, Down, Enter, Right-Shift

[creaothceann]

I always configure emulators like this:

Code: Select all

↑←↓→                  = WASD
Start                 = Enter
Select                = Right Shift
A (SNES, NES, GB)     = End
B (SNES, NES, GB)     = Delete
X (SNES)              = Home
Y (SNES)              = Insert
Left  Shoulder Button = Left Shift
Right Shoulder Button = Page Down

[Anes]

The thing is that we all know: people generally is right handed and "WASD" keys are better for this proupouse, but directional keys are more comfortable i think.

[Pokun]

The most common control in PC games since sometime in the '90s (in the '80s controls varied much more and tended to use SPACE more) is Z and X for A and B (or corresponding fire buttons in a PC game) respective like Tepples mentioned, although Tepples swapped A and B. Personally I think that when using the d-pad to the right of the fire buttons, the buttons should also swap so the A button is always the outer button and B is the inner button. This is because the outer button is usually the Jump button or Decision button in menus, while the inner button is usually the Attack button or Cancel button in menus.

But as Tepples also said, some games relies on B being on the right and for that reason I always switch to an arcade layout (joystick on the left buttons on the right) in emulators. For PC games I may use arrow keys with Z and X as those games are generally made for such a layout.

But still, if you are asking for the most typical default mapping and you really want to use the arrow keys, Z and X for A and B respectively are probably best.


BTW forget all ideas you may have about right-handed or left-handed controls, there is no such thing. Both right-handed and left-handed people tends to prefer the same sort of layouts and neither is known to be better for one or the other.


Here is my own personal preference in most emulators:

Code: Select all

NES (and other 2-button joystick systems):

Controller I:
WASD - d-pad
L - A
K - B
Q - SELECT
E - START

Controller II:
Arrow keys: d-pad
Numpad Decimal - A
Numpad 0 - B
Numpad 7 - SELECT
Numpad 9 - START

For SNES and other 4-button (+2 shoulder buttons) systems I change controller II a bit:

Code: Select all

Controller I (just add the 4 new buttons):
I - X
J - Y
U - L
O - R

Controller II (A and B needs to move to the right):
Numpad Enter - A
Numpad Decimal - B
Numpad + - X
Numpad 0 - Y
Numpad 1 - L
Numpad 2 - R

D-pad, START and SELECT are same as for NES for the respective controller.

This way I can have two controllers easily sharing the same keyboard and all buttons are laid out very similarly to the controllers.
For Sega-style 6-button controllers it's easiest to just use JKL for ABC and UIO for XYZ on controller 1 and on controller two the same buttons are 0, Decimal, Enter, 1, 2 and 3 on the numpad.