Dedicated gaming layer(s)

[rdlu]

Goal

Add one or more locked gaming layers that bypass the home-row-mod / hold-tap machinery entirely, so WASD / SPACE / SHIFT behave as pure keys during game sessions. Toggled explicitly — not momentary — so the layer stays on without holding a key.

Context: #7 noted that the daily layout does not need to preserve held-SPACE / held-WASD semantics because gaming will live on its own layer. This issue is the follow-up to actually build that layer.

Requirements

• Layer entered via explicit toggle (&to GAME or similar) from the SYS layer
• Exit via an easy, unambiguous gesture from inside the layer (e.g. long-press ESC → &to BASE, or a dedicated "exit game" key)
• WASD are plain &kp — no mod-taps, no layer-taps
• SPACE, SHIFT, CTRL, ALT are plain &kp so holds work for movement / run / crouch
• Mouse keys (mmv / mkp) available if useful for games — or left off to avoid accidental triggers
• RGB / BT controls accessible (some way to reach the SYS layer or a minimal subset)

Open design questions

• One layer or per-game variants? A single generic "GAME" layer covers most FPS / RPG needs. Per-game layers (e.g. "GAME_FPS", "GAME_MMO") let keys like Q / E / number-row get remapped for specific games but multiplies maintenance
• Entry / exit UX — where does the toggle live?
  • SYS layer corner key (needs two steps to enter)
  • A combo (hard to hit accidentally)
  • Double-tap of an existing key (nice but requires tap-dance)
• Visual indication that game mode is active — the board has RGB and an OLED on the left half; either could surface the state:
  • RGB: set a distinct underglow color while GAME is active
  • OLED: already shows the active layer name via display-name — should work out of the box if the layer is named clearly
• Does the game layer keep NAV access? Useful for alt-tabbing out to Discord, but re-introduces layer-tap complexity. Probably safer to keep the layer pure and rely on Windows/Linux alt-tab via a plain modifier
• Bluetooth profile switching — needed while in-game, or can it be deferred to "exit game mode first"?
• Encoder behavior — volume is nice during gaming; consider keeping &inc_dec_kp C_VOLUME_UP C_VOLUME_DN on the encoder
• CAPS_WORD — probably off in game mode (games don't need sentence-case auto-shift)

Open questions (non-design)

• Is the right half needed at all during gaming? If not, one-handed WASD-only layer on the left half could be tighter
• Any games with unusual modifier requirements (e.g. CTRL needed on a non-standard position)?

References

• Explore moving modifiers to the thumb cluster #7 (mod placement exploration — noted games as a non-constraint)
• ZMK &to behavior: https://zmk.dev/docs/keymaps/behaviors/layers#to-layer

[rdlu]

Flash headroom for gaming layers — post-v1.2.0 baseline

After merging #13 (CODE layer expansion, 24 macros + combo + caps_word override), the fresh baseline on main is:

Target	FLASH usage	Headroom
Left (nice_view + ZMK Studio)	48.37% (392 KB / 792 KB)	~400 KB free
Right (nice_view)	33.90% (275 KB / 792 KB)	~517 KB free

Implication for gaming layers: adding 2–3 dedicated gaming layers is effectively free on the flash budget. Each layer costs roughly 0.5–1 KB (64 positions × binding size + metadata). Even 5 gaming layers would add less than 1% to flash usage.

The real constraints for gaming layers will be:

• Ergonomic design (finger mapping for WASD, action keys, combos) — not a flash issue
• Layer activation — whether to use a dedicated mo / tog key, or fall-through from an existing modifier cluster
• Conflict with home-row mods — gaming likely wants hold-tap disabled on the movement cluster (or a simpler kp-only layer on top)

Recommendation

Proceed with gaming layer design without worrying about memory budget. Source: build run 24284714106, post-merge build on main 24284764924. Full baseline context in issue #12.

[rdlu]

Design decisions from session 2026-04-11

Drafted the gaming-layer architecture in detail. No code yet — locking the design first.

Architecture

• 5 new layers: GAME_PICK (transient launcher) + GAME_MC / GAME_LOL / GAME_DOOM / GAME_CS2
• Entry: from SYS layer, joystick center key (pos 58, currently &mkp LCLK) becomes &to GAME_PICK. Gesture: hold left thumb (SYS) → tap joystick center → release → joystick directions pick the game. Reuses the joystick cluster as a coherent "launcher" metaphor.
• GAME_PICK bindings:
  • joystick UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT → &to GAME_MC / GAME_LOL / GAME_DOOM / GAME_CS2
  • joystick center (ENTER pos) → &to BASE (cancel)
  • OLED display-name = \"GAME?\"
• Exit from any game layer: combo on positions 0 + 12 (top corners) → &to BASE. Scoped to game layers only. Modeled on the existing softoff combo pattern.
• Re-pick (optional): combo 0 + 5 → &to GAME_PICK for switching games without bouncing through BASE.
• No HRM, no caps_word, no soft_off on game layers.

Cross-game conventions

• Right half rows 1–3: plain QWERTY letters in BASE positions, no HRM, no layer-tap. Chat/console works normally.
• Number row: plain 1–5 left, 6–0 - right.
• Joystick directionals (6/19/32/45): audio/mic instead of arrows
  • pos 6 = C_VOL_UP
  • pos 19 = C_VOL_DN
  • pos 32 = C_MUTE (system)
  • pos 45 = F13 (bind in Discord/OBS/game as mic mute or PTT)
• Joystick center (58): stays as ENTER (chat send, menus)
• Encoder: &inc_dec_kp C_VOL_UP C_VOL_DN, click = C_MUTE
• MEDIA layer still reachable from every game layer via right-thumb hold (pos 63)

Unified thumb cluster (all 4 game layers)

pos:  52    53   54   55    56    57  ||  58    59    60    61    62   63
key: MUTE   F2  F11  LGUI  SPACE LSHIFT|| ENTER SPACE BSPC  LALT  F12 MEDIA

• LSHIFT @ 57 (left of ENTER, where BASE BSPC lives) — sneak/walk on the strongest left thumb position
• SPACE on both sides (56 + 59) per user request
• BSPC @ 60 (replaces BASE lt 2 DEL) — for chat correction
• LALT @ 61 (replaces BASE caps_word) — alt-tab + Doom strafe-alt
• MEDIA hold @ 63 — kept in BASE position for muscle memory

Unified left-pinky modifier

• LCTRL @ pos 39 (bottom-left, replaces BASE BSLH) — pinky crouch/sprint
• Consistent across MC / Doom / CS2 because movement semantics are nearly identical
• LoL inherits the same position (used for level-up-ability Ctrl+QWER)

GAME_MC layout (reference for the chassis)

Row 0:  F3    1   2   3   4   5     [VOL+]   6   7   8   9   0   -
Row 1:  TAB   Q   W   E   R   T     [VOL-]   Y   U   I   O   P   =
Row 2:  ESC   A   S   D   F   G     [MUTE]   H   J   K   L   ;   '
Row 3:  LCTRL Z   X   C   V   B     [F13]    N   M   ,   .   /   RET
Row 4:  MUTE F2 F11 LGUI SPACE LSHIFT || ENTER SPACE BSPC LALT F12 MEDIA

WASD/QWER/ASDF/ZXCV stay in BASE positions — zero relearning, only the underlying HRM is gone. F3 (debug) replaces GRAVE in top-left. F5 (perspective) — TBD whether to find a slot or skip.

Per-game variants (left half tweaks only)

• GAME_LOL: QWER abilities + DF summoners + B recall + 1–6 items, all on default letter positions. SPACE on left thumb mashes "center camera."
• GAME_DOOM (modern/GZDoom): WASD + mouse. E (use) + F (alt-use/flashlight) duplicated on right thumb so they're reachable without lifting fingers off WASD.
• GAME_CS2: WASD + B at pos 39 alternative (or LCTRL stays at 39 for crouch — prioritising consistency). E (use) + G (drop) duplicated on right thumb for bomb plant/drop without leaving WASD.

RGB feedback

Per-game distinct underglow color (red=Doom, green=MC, blue=CS2, gold=LoL) so the active mode is obvious at a glance. OLED already shows display-name.

Open questions before implementation

1. Position 0 top-left — F3 (MC debug) vs ` (grave/console for LoL/Doom/CS2). Force consistency or per-game?
2. F13 semantics — toggle mute vs push-to-talk? PTT means putting it on the thumb cluster instead of the joystick so you can hold it while moving.
3. F-key access during games beyond F11/F12/F13 — needed (e.g. F5 perspective in MC) or skip?

Next steps

Once the open questions above are settled, implement on a feature branch (feat/game-layers), draw with mise run draw, push, and open PR with assignee rdlu + labels keymap, enhancement.

[rdlu]

Final design — locked, awaiting review before implementation

Resolved the three open questions from the previous comment.

Resolved

1. Position 0 (top-left): per-game — F3 on GAME_MC (debug screen), ` (grave/console) on GAME_LOL / GAME_DOOM / GAME_CS2.
2. F13: push-to-talk, not toggle. Moved off the joystick onto the right thumb cluster so it can be held while WASD-ing. Replaces F12 at pos 62. F12 dropped from game layers.
3. Extra F-keys (F5 perspective in MC, etc.): skipped. Only F3, F11, F13 remain on game layers.

Updated right thumb cluster (all game layers)

pos:  58    59    60    61    62       63
key: ENTER SPACE BSPC  LALT  F13/PTT  MEDIA

Updated joystick — 4-way audio cluster + center

pos 6  (UP)    = C_VOL_UP
pos 19 (DOWN)  = C_VOL_DN
pos 32 (LEFT)  = C_MUTE
pos 45 (RIGHT) = C_PP        (play/pause)
pos 58 (CTR)   = ENTER

Final unified thumb row (all game layers)

pos:  52    53   54   55    56    57    || 58    59    60    61    62       63
key: MUTE   F2  F11  LGUI  SPACE LSHIFT || ENTER SPACE BSPC  LALT  F13/PTT  MEDIA

Plus LCTRL @ pos 39 (bottom-left pinky, replaces BASE BSLH) — unified across MC / Doom / CS2 / LoL.

Final GAME_MC reference

Row 0:  F3    1   2   3   4   5     [VOL+]   6   7   8   9   0   -
Row 1:  TAB   Q   W   E   R   T     [VOL-]   Y   U   I   O   P   =
Row 2:  ESC   A   S   D   F   G     [MUTE]   H   J   K   L   ;   '
Row 3:  LCTRL Z   X   C   V   B     [C_PP]   N   M   ,   .   /   RET
Row 4:  MUTE F2 F11 LGUI SPACE LSHIFT || ENTER SPACE BSPC LALT F13 MEDIA

(GAME_LOL / GAME_DOOM / GAME_CS2 will share this chassis with ` at pos 0 and per-game left-half tweaks for ability/use/drop keys.)

Status

Design fully locked pending owner review of this comment. Implementation will start on branch feat/game-layers once approved. Implementation checklist:

• Add GAME_PICK + 4 game layers to config/eyelash_sofle.keymap
• Wire SYS pos 58 → &to GAME_PICK
• Add exit combo 0 + 12 and re-pick combo 0 + 5, scoped to game layers
• Per-game RGB underglow color (red Doom / green MC / blue CS2 / gold LoL)
• display-name for each game layer + \"GAME?\" for picker
• mise run draw to regenerate SVG
• Open PR with --assignee rdlu --label keymap --label enhancement

[rdlu]

Correction — row 4 visualization

Previous comments grouped row 4 as 6 thumb keys per side. That's wrong: the Eyelash Sofle has 5 thumb keys per side. Per config/eyelash_sofle.json, two of the row-4 matrix entries are not thumb keys at all:

• Position 52 (row 4 col 0, x=8 y=3.5) is the encoder click — sits center-left between the halves
• Position 58 (row 4 col 7, x=9.25 y=1.25) is the joystick center button — physically in the joystick cluster, not the thumb cluster

Corrected layout (bindings unchanged, only the grouping):

Encoder click (52):    C_MUTE

Left thumb (53–57):    F2  | F11 | LGUI | SPACE | LSHIFT

Joystick cluster:      [VOL+]  pos 6
                       [VOL-]  pos 19
                  [MUTE][ENTER][C_PP]   pos 32, 58, 45
                       [VOL-]  (already shown)
                  (5-key cross: 6 / 19 / 32 / 45 / 58)

Right thumb (59–63):   SPACE | BSPC | LALT | F13/PTT | MEDIA

Corrected GAME_MC reference

Row 0:  F3    1   2   3   4   5     [VOL+]   6   7   8   9   0   -
Row 1:  TAB   Q   W   E   R   T     [VOL-]   Y   U   I   O   P   =
Row 2:  ESC   A   S   D   F   G     [MUTE]   H   J   K   L   ;   '
Row 3:  LCTRL Z   X   C   V   B     [C_PP]   N   M   ,   .   /   RET
Row 4:  MUTE | F2  F11  LGUI  SPACE  LSHIFT || ENTER || SPACE  BSPC  LALT  F13  MEDIA
         ^enc   ^—— 5 left thumb ————^      ^joy^   ^———— 5 right thumb ————^

No design change — C_MUTE on encoder click is consistent with the encoder rotating for volume, and ENTER on the joystick center matches the original "middle button = ENTER" decision. The previous comments stand for everything else; this just fixes the diagram.