Steam Deck RTS Controller Layout Ideas?

[Creepio]

I've been thinking about a controller layout for RTS games. So far, the only game I've really tried is Command and Conquer Generals. You can find my Controller layout if you search for "Creepio's Command & Conquer Generals".

In short, this layout is less than ideal. It doesn't give you the ability to utilize build hotkeys. For instance, if you want to select a building and then produce the corresponding unit, the hotkeys for those are not configured. I guess a virtual menu could be created, but I think the most obvious location for the "Build" touch menu would be the right trackpad, which I'm currently using for controlling unit groups.

This layout is barely sufficient for CNC Generals. It can be a bit cumbersome to make split second decisions because you have to concentrate pretty hard when selecting unit groups, attack moving, stopping units, retreating, etc.

The one nice thing about this controller layout is the ability to quickly move your camera to y our HQ using the right trackpad touch menu, and the ability to jump your camera to the last radar event by pressing the A button. Aside from that, I feel like the ABXY buttons could be better utilized.

One major improvement that could be made to this controller layout is the ability to quickly deselect all units. Currently, the only way to do that is to aim the mouse cursor at empty ground and then quickly press Left Trigger to perform a rapid left click. I find that deselecting all units is a bit cumbersome.

Does anybody have any suggestions for ways that I can improve this controller layout, or make drastic changes to this to make it better for RTS in general? Perhaps, make it useful for Starcraft 2?

So far, this is the layout:

Buttons

Treating the ABXY face buttons as quick ways to select on screen units

A: Space Bar (Jump to Last Radar Event)
B: W Key (Select Combat Units)
X: Q Key (Select Air Units)
Y: E Key (Select Units of Same Type)

Bumpers

Left Bumper: CTRL+Up (Select Next Dozer / Worker Vehicle)
Right Bumper: N/A

Back Grips

I'm treating most of the rear grip buttons as "Modifier Butttons", except for R4 which is an attack move button because I find it easier to press than Right Bumper

L4: SHIFT Key
R4: A Key + Left Mouse Click (Command Units to Attack Move to location)
L5: CTRL Key
R5: ALT Key

Menu Buttons

Select Button: Tab Key (Show Mission Objectives)
Menu Button: Esc Key (Options)

DPad

Keypad 8/Keypad2 (Zoom Camera Out/in)
Keypad4/Keypad6 (Rotate Camera Left/Right)

Triggers

Right Trigger: Left Mouse Click
Left Trigger: Right Mouse Click

Joysticks

Right Joystick: Joystick Mouse. This is useful for recentering the mouse cursor if your cursor gets stuck off-center due to the gyro. I sincerely do NOT recommend using right joystick for moving the mouse. I recommend using Gyro for 99% of mouse related tasks as it's flat out superior.

Right Joystick Click: Left Mouse Click for some reason. Can't remember why I have this set to that.

Left Joystick: Arrow Keys as Directional Pad for panning the camera. Downside is, the camera cannot be panned slowly. One speed only.

Trackpads

Right Trackpad Behavior: Unit Groups Touch Menu. Quickly select unit groups 1 through 4, and your HQ easily with H key. You can also bind units to these groups by holding the CTRL Key which is bound to L5, or add new units to these groups by holding the SHIFT key which is bound to L4. I also have the "Stop Units" and "Scatter Units" bound to this touch menu.

Left Trackpad Behavior: Extra Touch Menu. Really the only useful button here is the "Reset Camera" Button, which is very rarely used, if ever.

Gyro

Gyro behavior is Gyro to Mouse [Beta] for easily controlling the on screen mouse cursor to select units.