Hello r/linux_gaming. This is a brief guide submitted by a beginner for beginners.
INTRO: If you are a beginner at Linux gaming or a person considering switching to Linux but are reluctant to because of game support, check this out. I came across a bunch of programs and confusing info while on my way to a free-from-windows life, and I hope to make your journey clearer.
TO VETERANS: You may think, okay dude all this is obvious. But I just spent 3 hours troubleshooting my setup because my destination hard drive was formatted NTFS, because I have a dual-boot system with Windows. So go ahead and laugh if you want but 1) I had to figure this out for myself and 2) let’s not gatekeep Linux gaming, let’s try to get as many people through as we can.
SCENARIO 1: I play GOG games or other non-Steam games and I want to play on Linux.
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1: Install Heroic. Heroic is a Linux game launcher. Here’s their website: https://heroicgameslauncher.com/
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2: Ensure your destination drive is formatted “ext4.” You can do this via GParted or Disk Usage Analyzer.
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3: Sync your GOG account to Heroic, if desired, and use Heroic to install your games.
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4: Sometimes, stuff is screwy. If your game does not launch at all, or if it has bugs, graphical glitches, crashes, etc, open the game settings box and under “Wine Version” you will see three options: Wine Default, Wine Lutris, and Proton. Try all three of them with your game and see if one works.
SCENARIO 2: I want to play my Steam games on Linux.
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1: Install Linux Steam.
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2: Ensure your destination drive is formatted “ext4.” You can do this via GParted or Disk Usage Analyzer.
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3: Go to Steam > Settings > Compatibility > Enable Steam Play for all other titles -> YES.
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4: On the same screen, Run Other Titles With: Proton Experimental
This will allow you to install all your steam games into your Linux ecosystem. However, some games will not launch at all. Some games will work with Proton Experimental. Some games will only work with a specific version of Proton. You just need to try and see, and experiment.
Good luck!
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Also, look into things like
GE Proton Luxtorpeda Gamescope
And other tools to familiarize yourself with your available options
Didn’t this sub have a guide? I distinctly remember a pinned thread at some stage… then I remember it moved to a website and now I can’t find it -_- Dafuq?? That thread was helpful to me when I started Linux gaming a couple of years ago.
I would add there https://www.protondb.com/ as some games might need some config changes, which can be done based on the feedback of other users. That helped me a lot.
which can be done based on the feedback of other users
Yes, but especially when this is advice for beginners, one should never copy-paste commands of any kind (which includes launch options) without first understanding what they do. I’ve seen it many times that some people on protondb include these wild long strings of arguments, some of which do nothing or can be even detrimental (for example adding DXVK specific arguments to a game that only runs on VKD3D etc.).
I’m just saying for all the new people who might be tempted by just copy pasting something and it might work. It’s really worth the five minutes to learn what you’re actually doing.
I think if someone wants to use a linux desktop, they had at least did some minimum amount of research. But in general I agree with you. Doing anything blindly is wrong and can lead to unforeseen problems.
I think if someone wants to use a linux desktop, they had at least did some minimum amount of research.
You’d be surprised
Would also add mention about Lutris for people that want to play games from Battlenet or other sources. Diablo IV works for me flawless mostly.
I would just add this : if a game seems to not launch, find " dxsetup.exe" and kill it (first time launch, then It’s ok). Enjoy your game. It can be obvious, but I had to figure it out when the game was stuck on " launched" on steam and nothing happened…😅
I just installed Linux on my PC and left the windows disks as-is, so all with NTFS. All works perfectly fine. I can even install new games to my NTFS drives on windows and then run them on Linux through proton, no issues there at all.
Guide as hell, everything is clear now, no issues whatsoever. You even went extra mile and let people pull up their hair on their own instead of providing list of beginner friendly distributions, drivers and ProtonDB. Yeah let the newbs figure it out on their own. 10/10 this is definite guide for beginners /s
While I agree that it’s not a guide, can we at least agree that they figured out this information was important and wanted to share it to help other who might look for it?
I‘d like to add that this subreddit’s FAQ has a link to the linux gaming wiki which provides a lot more information e.g. beginner friendly distros, Gamemode setup, Gamescope, etc.
@OP if you need help I‘d recommend looking there and if you need more details about a certain program the Arch Linux Wiki is amazing (imo even if you’re not using Arch, more often than not if you replace the initial pacman command with apt or whatever your distro uses the rest of the article still applies).
Also if you’re using Lutris and it complains about not finding version info for DXVK or anything like that, try deleting .cache/lutris/updates.json in your home and restarting Lutris. Took me almost a day to find a random reddit post mentioning that solution.
Before you can do all this, first thing is that you have a Linux OS already installed. Second thing is is that you have all necessary drivers properly installed (especially for NVIDIA and exotic hardware). These are evident and self explanatory to begin with gaming.
It’s the same as in windows. You cannot do much without proper drivers and installed software.
You can also use the Epic Games Store with Lutris. On the latest versions you can also add launch options for each separate game, so for example launch a 2D card game with integrated graphics and launch Hitman 3 with your dedicated GPU.
For the first option, I think you should allow people to be aware of different tools for using other games. You mentioned heroic launcher, but there is also Lutris and Bottles for non steam games. Lots of ppl will have different use cases or comfort for ease of use, usability, etc. For the second option, you should mention Glorious Eggrolls option too, whether by downloading directly from his GitHub or using glorious Eggrolls proton-up script to get the latest and greatest releases.
Eh, I’d just tell people to add games as Non-Steam and use Protontricks if needed, way better