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Voice your opinions with gaming on Linux

Use Proton on Steam 

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I've been doing it for over a decade, and the advances with:

  • AMD kernel drivers
  • Wine
  • Vulkan and translation layers*
  • The work done by Valve (re: proton)

have pushed gaming on linux from a few users, able to tweak and script, being able to run some popular games, to an almost blanket coverage where games that don't work are rarer than games that do.

 

There has been a downtick in games that run native, but linux is a dynamic environment, constantly evolving, and thus a moving target for game devs; yeah there are some LTS distro releases that become popular, but 90% of game playing users are going to switch to the latest LTS version only 2 years in to it's predecessors 7 year release cycle. Steam has provided, with it's packaged runtime and proton, a much more stable (and easier to hit) target; whilst I might have philosophical objections to lazy packaging with things like flatpack, when the end result is more games available to linux users at the click of a button, it's hard not to put those objections aside in light of the gained benefits.

 

*Also, massive props to Philip Rebohle who's work is so ubiquitous you probably don't even know his name...

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Paradox interactive games have great Linux support. They do not feel like ports at all and runs very well, performance is better than on windows even. 

 

Steam is pretty much your only Linux gaming option outside of foss games. Gog is a distant 2nd viable option for DRM free games. Their catalog is more limited. 

Sudo make me a sandwich 

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My pro tip for maximising play time and minimising debug time: Stick to games native to your distro, or at least native to Linux.

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Its not all it's made up to be, and not as bad as you'd think at the same time.

 

Protondb wont always have the answer and ultimately you're best bet is for the game developer to actually take your bug report seriously. And yes, you SHOULD file the bug report for a game even if your platform isn't supported. This is direct proof you actually care about gaming on linux rather than just buying the game on steam.

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So I find gaming on linux really depends on what type of gamer you are.

I read a lot of people complaining that the latest AAA won't run, when I rarely play any of them.
Same goes for MOBAs and stuff.

 

I would say Windows has more bugs and faults than most Linux distros in general; difference is people are used to Windows.

Benchmarks show that there are many games that run better on Linux, probably because it puts less idle-demand on your system.

 

Proton is indeed a power weapon. I don't even think about whether games have Linux ports or not anymore. 99% of things just run.

 

I've only encountered two games I wanted to run that don't. WCIII: Reforged won't run properly on my system and Anno 1800 used to work perfectly but doesn't anymore and I don't know why.
Other than that, Steam is always a no-brainer, every single game runs, and for non-steam games, there's a Lutris script that veeeery rarely fail.

Fixed for Linux are also better due to quick pre-configured commands.

So overall, it's pretty damn good! Some advantages, some disadvantages, just different.

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i generally dont have a problem with gaming on linux, as my channel would suggest ...

 

But i have a bit more of a problem with the boot loader right now

 

 That 4TB drive used to be GPT  with EXT4 and my /home partition

 

but now its MBR fat 16 with ext4 content ..... im not sure how that works

current main system: as of 1st Jan 2023

motherboard : Gigabyte B450M DS3H V2

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600

ram : 16Gig Corsair Vengeance 3600mhz

OS :multi-boot

Video Card : RX 550 4 GIG

Monitor: BENQ 21 inch

 

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On 10/30/2022 at 5:30 AM, FCHD said:

I hope this can generate positive discussion on the Gaming on Linux topic

I'll chime in. 

Personally, I just installed Steam and got to playing. I don't really use any other launchers. I utilize Lutris in the off chance I desire my Epic Games. 

When I first started Linux the only game I had issues with was State of Decay 2 which prompted me to look into Glorious Eggroll's Proton at https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom ; I've since kept that updated with Protonup_Qt just in case I run into a game that doesn't work with Native Steam Proton (hasn't happened yet, but better safe than sorry). 

I suppose I'm a unicorn of sorts when it comes to my Linux Experience because I've had absolutely none of the "growing pains" that I see people complain about so frequently about Linux. When I say my transition to Linux was "Plug and Play" I say that in it's truest definition. That said, I use AMD CPU, and it would seem those who complain about Linux tend to utilize Intel CPU's, seemingly. 

I've been exclusively using Linux for the past 3 years, with various configurations and all my machines game. Host machine utilizes x3 screens and doesn't throw me any fits. After I'd been using Linux for about a year and a half, I got curious about DIY distro's and eventually started reading up on the Arch Wiki. One thing lead to another and about a month later I'd built my own Arch system and have been using it ever since. I do not recommend Arch Linux as a distro of choice for those who are only seeking a plug and play experience; as Arch will require 100% manual config on the users part. 

That said. Based on my experiences. I recommend either Pop! OS for those who fancy GNOME desktop environments, on Ubuntu or Manjaro for those who prefer either GNOME/KDE based on Arch (the plug and play version). Just follow the GUI prompts during installation just like you would on Windows and you're good to go. (If you're using Intel, apparently, not so easy?)

I've got 3 systems in the household at the moment. One utilizes an GTX 1050ti, Another utilizes an RTX 2060S and mine utilizes an RTX 3080 OC, no issues. I'm going to swap out the GTX 1050ti with an AMD Vega somethin ruther (cant remember off hand) soon as I get a better PSU for the rig. The system using the 2060s was originally using the AMD Vega card until I got my new card and upgraded the mid machine. All of these cards legit just work out the box for me. 

Aside of that. There's really not much to say about gaming on Linux. For me it just works. I wish others could share my smooth sailing experience =(. I found Linux to be such a pleasure that I never even looked back at Windows. Heck I don't even turn on my Windows VM anymore lol.

_\---|--------------------------|----------------------------|---/_

_\---|------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------Arch Linux------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---/_

_\|Host Specs|/_
|MB: ASUS PRIME-X570 Pro | CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950x | RAM: Corsair Vengeance 128GB 3600MHz C18 COOLING: Corsair H150i PRO 
GPU: ASUS ROG Strix Nvidia GeForce RTX3080 12GB OC Edition | PSU: Corsair RM850 850W Gold | CASE: Phanteks Eclipse P600 |
PERIPHERALS | KB: Razer Ornata Chroma MOUSE: Redragon M908 | SOUND: Logitech Z-5300e|
|
CONTROLLER: SONY PS5 DualSense |
/--| <>< |--\
|'You can't have no idea how little I care" - Monte Walsh|
(_\|"It just works"|/_)

_\-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------0----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------/_

_\---|------------|------------|---/_
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