Although not a QMK-powered keyboard, perhaps an Azeron device could do the trick? I have an Azeron Classic, and it's fantastic, friend of mine is very happy with her Azeron Cyborg too. They are built for gaming, they're comfy, and reasonably customisable too. Comes fully assembled, so you don't have to build it either.
I looked at it before, but dismissed it because of the price and general weirdness. However, the more I look at it, the more it seems like a good fit. I'm not super keen on Omron switches as I've had entirely too many start double clicking over the years (the optical switches in the Tartarus Pro are a selling point for me), but I suppose I can always replace them.
Since you said you have the Classic, how do you feel about the thumb button? I suspect I'll end up using buttons for movement in most games rather than the thumbstick, in which case I'll still want jump to be tied to my thumb. In that sense, the Tartarus having the button under the thumb makes more sense to me, but maybe I could get used to the Cyborg.
In most games, I move with a ~~mouse~~trackball, controlling everything with one hand didn't quite work out for me. I do use the thumbstick to navigate menus or the like, and it works well for that. As for the thumb button: I usually bind that to Jump, or to Esc (or whatever other key gets me to the game menu). It really depends on the game how much I use the thumb button.
If I were building a gamepad, I'd build something very close to the Azeron, but probably replace the thumb stick with a D-Pad, or 4 buttons or something along those lines. I'd put those to better use than the thumbstick. And I'd make the thumb button trigger by pressing downwards, rather than out.
Thanks, I think I'll give the Compact a shot. It's not that much more than a Tartarus and it has way more buttons.
I'm a fan of the keebio Iris keyboard. They have a prebuilt version and you can disconnect the right side.
Hmmm, seems a bit pricier and doesn't include any palm rest or customizable tenting. Not totally ruling it out or anything, just doesn't immediately seem like what I want.
There's an option for a tented middle layer but it's definitely a little jank. https://docs.keeb.io/tenting-bolts-setup
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