Is that method different from using the hot keys to swap layouts?

Depends on your desktop environment and if you are using Wayland. If you use the hot keys, probably try those first since using the terminal can mess those up. It’s a bit of a hammer, but I typically manage keyboard layouts only using the terminal.

Like can I tell it to always use that mapping for that game or do I need to remember to run it each time I play the game and then set it back after I’m done (or automate that)?

Hmm, I’ve never had the need, but I would start by changing the game command in your launcher (Steam, Lutis, etc.)

I use gamemode to automate things like changing my RGB light patterns when running a game, maybe there is a per-game thing you could do…

Correct, you will need to pair as a Switch controller (or usb dongle) for the Steam Deck to be able to see the gyro . I find I use the gyro less since it doesn’t have the capacitive thumpsticks for triggering gyro input.

Hey, long-time Dvorak user here, almost as long as a Linux user.

When I start playing a new game, I usally just go with defaults. Some games (like all Valve games) do a good job of using keyscan codes for bindings and mapping them to the layout. If that’s not the case the game is likely to be incorretly using the keyscan codes, or just using the OS’s key events. If that’s the case, I will just force qwerty with setxkbmap us and restart the game. After a few hours, I try to rebind keys for dvorak. Persoally, I like to change keyboardings to use Tribe’s ESDF layout instead of WASD anyway.

If you are using wayland for your display, setxkbmap is great since most games run in Xwayland mode, so native apps will still be in Dvorak.

I don’t really need to type much in games anyway now, so I don’t mind keeping with qwerty bindings. I play Starcraft 2 this way.

The worst experience I can recall is Natural Selection 2, which its game engine refused to bind non-alphanumeric keys like ‘,’ 😵‍💫… But that was playing with Windows, would probably work with Linux if the game was still alive.

Digg Gold you say… 🤔

I hated the story, but the game play and world building was amazing.

Makes me nostalgic for when everyone agreed that killing Nazis was good clean fun. (Or am I too old now since I’m thinking of pre Mondern Warfare?)