|OT| The Linux Gaming Thread - Thread of the Millenium

[Jared]

I have seen the lack of any threads pertaining to other OSes, particularly Linux despite the platform gaining more popularity as time progresses. With the advent of DXVK, Proton, improvements towards WINE and increase of native titles being ported over and inclusion of GOG.com, Gamejolt, Itch.io and especially Steam's comitment to Linux. The latter has created an easy way for gamers to play non-native titles on their platform without any tweaking, in most cases. Or with Itch.io fully open sourcing their client. The future hasn't looked any brighter.

In this thread, we hope to highlight all things Linux related in the gaming space.

Remember everyone we are the elite, WE ARE THE 3%!

[PS. Improvements would be made to the overall aesthetics of the thread as it progresses]

 

[Pommes]

Nice thread
I switched to Linux last year on my personal computer and I do enjoy it quite a bit
For now I am still dual booting, but I only started Windows a handfull times since installing Linux.

 

[Jared]

Nice thread
I switched to Linux last year on my personal computer and I do enjoy it quite a bit
For now I am still dual booting, but I only started Windows a handfull times since installing Linux.

Awesome! How did your journey towards Linux began? What distribution are you using?

 

[Durante]

I voted for Ubuntu, but I only run it on servers and in WSL at the moment.

We just got a new colleague, and he's the first full-on Arch user I've encountered in real life. Wild stuff. Tiling window manager too and all that jazz.

 

[Pommes]

Awesome! How did your journey towards Linux began? What distribution are you using?

I am using Manjaro. Over the years I tried Linux in virtual machines from time to time and I set up the old pc of my father with Lubuntu. But I never personally made the switch. The main reason why I did switch last summer was probably Proton.
But I also just wanted to try something different. E.g. I at the moment I am trying to get a better at Vim. I could have also done this on Windows, but the 'native' environment is nice.

 

[NarohDethan]

Sup, I wanna give Ubuntu a try but I’m not sure what should I expect gaming wise. I know that Proton is a thing but I dont know how it works. Do the geforce experience and that stuff works with Linux?

 

[Pommes]

Sup, I wanna give Ubuntu a try but I’m not sure what should I expect gaming wise. I know that Proton is a thing but I dont know how it works. Do the geforce experience and that stuff works with Linux?

Hardware (drivers) should not be a problem nowadays. Exceptions could be some special Laptop stuff and perhaps some printer drivers.
If you have a Nvidia graphics card you should install the closed source drivers:

BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia - Community Help Wiki

Sadly there is no Geforce Experience on Linux.

For gameplay capture you could probably use OBS (i have no experience with it): Open Broadcaster Software®️ | OBS
MangoHud is great for displaying performance numbers during gameplay: https://github.com/flightlessmango/MangoHud
MangoHud is not Click&Play but it is also not very hard to use.

Proton is automatically used for every Windows game after you have enabled it in the settings when you are using Steam. Proton settings can be found in the Steam settings in the "Steam Play" section. You can find out about the compatibility of Proton with games on the great site https://www.protondb.com/
My experience with Proton is the following:

• Popular games are running well
  • Exception: Some Multiplayer games (probably because of their anti-cheat)
• It may take a little time until new games get running
• Games that use popular engines (Unreal Engine, Unity) run without problems
• Sometimes it is necessary to tinker a bit (e.g. video playback may be problematic without some additional commands)

If you want to use Proton with games outside of Proton there are nice tools outside of Steam that help with that (e.g. Lutris).

If you have any further questions: Just ask

 

[NarohDethan]

Hardware (drivers) should not be a problem nowadays. Exceptions could be some special Laptop stuff and perhaps some printer drivers.
If you have a Nvidia graphics card you should install the closed source drivers:

BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia - Community Help Wiki

Sadly there is no Geforce Experience on Linux.

For gameplay capture you could probably use OBS (i have no experience with it): Open Broadcaster Software®️ | OBS
MangoHud is great for displaying performance numbers during gameplay: https://github.com/flightlessmango/MangoHud
MangoHud is not Click&Play but it is also not very hard to use.

Proton is automatically used for every Windows game after you have enabled it in the settings when you are using Steam. Proton settings can be found in the Steam settings in the "Steam Play" section. You can find out about the compatibility of Proton with games on the great site https://www.protondb.com/
My experience with Proton is the following:

• Popular games are running well
  • Exception: Some Multiplayer games (probably because of their anti-cheat)
• It may take a little time until new games get running
• Games that use popular engines (Unreal Engine, Unity) run without problems
• Sometimes it is necessary to tinker a bit (e.g. video playback may be problematic without some additional commands)

If you want to use Proton with games outside of Proton there are nice tools outside of Steam that help with that (e.g. Lutris).

If you have any further questions: Just ask

Thank you so much for your help

 

[IBJamon]

I used to attempt to play games on Linux something like 10 years ago and it was incredibly frustrating. Things are so much better now it's amazing. While you sometimes have to use extra tools (protontricks, Lutris), how much works is incredible.

 

[undu]

There's a proof-of-concept available to make Easy Anti Cheat work using Wine, it's still low performance, it will take time to merge the changes to proton and wine proper, but it's good progress nonetheless.

 

[Pommes]

There's a proof-of-concept available to make Easy Anti Cheat work using Wine, it's still low performance, it will take time to merge the changes to proton and wine proper, but it's good progress nonetheless.

Let's just hope that the cheaters don't jump to Linux...

 

[Li Kao]

Due to recent exchanges about linux and, let's be honest, being extremely bored and in a tinkering mood, I was just toying with the idea of putting linux on a VERY old laptop. Is it a good idea ? Are some versions (distros ?) of linux more appropriate than others for that ?

FYI, here are the specs of the thing (NSFL)
Acer Aspire 3613WLMi
Intel Celeron M processor 370 (1.5ghz, 400mhz FSB, 1MB L2 cache)
512MB DDR2

I mean, it hasn't been used in ages, it could as well be in the bin right now, maybe I could find a use for it ?

 

[LEANIJA]

Due to recent exchanges about linux and, let's be honest, being extremely bored and in a tinkering mood, I was just toying with the idea of putting linux on a VERY old laptop. Is it a good idea ? Are some versions (distros ?) of linux more appropriate than others for that ?

FYI, here are the specs of the thing (NSFL)
Acer Aspire 3613WLMi
Intel Celeron M processor 370 (1.5ghz, 400mhz FSB, 1MB L2 cache)
512MB DDR2

I mean, it hasn't been used in ages, it could as well be in the bin right now, maybe I could find a use for it ?

I'd go with a lightweight desktop environment like xfce or LXDE, but generally Linux is pretty scalable and runs on older hardware as well. I've had MInt on my 2007 laptop for a while now, but I hardly use it.

As for me and Linux: I used Ubuntu 15-10 years ago, but I've gotten used to Windows 10 so much that my recent attempt to switch back to Linux (Mint) was short-lived, unfortunately. I love Linux otherwise.

 

[gabbo]

Due to recent exchanges about linux and, let's be honest, being extremely bored and in a tinkering mood, I was just toying with the idea of putting linux on a VERY old laptop. Is it a good idea ? Are some versions (distros ?) of linux more appropriate than others for that ?

FYI, here are the specs of the thing (NSFL)
Acer Aspire 3613WLMi
Intel Celeron M processor 370 (1.5ghz, 400mhz FSB, 1MB L2 cache)
512MB DDR2

I mean, it hasn't been used in ages, it could as well be in the bin right now, maybe I could find a use for it ?

There are distros of lInux that are meant to be used with old hardware - Puppy comes to mind. So long as you're willing to play around,
Have a gander here

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

flibitPlan

Much like Switch, Stadia is really nice in that pretty much all the juicy stuff uses a standard like OpenGL/Vulkan (I did sorta have to bring my own OpenGL, but you get the idea), however Stadia is truly remarkable in that it is literally just a Linux system without a desktop or display server; if you have Linux binaries that don't link to libstdc++ (i.e. use Clang and libc++ instead) and don't use X11/Wayland there is a 99.99% chance that your existing binaries (yes, not just the code, the binaries) will work just fine on Stadia.

 

[Pommes]

It surely helps the performance when you don't have the open source and the proprietary driver for NVIDIA graphics card installed in parallel
That was probably the reason why I kept having dips into single digits fps when I was playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided on a 1080 TI

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

ExistentialThought A quick look found this which may be worth looking through. It's pretty up-to-date too.

How to Make Clip Studio Paint EX Work in Linux by GrungeWerXshop on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

 

[ExistentialThought]

ExistentialThought A quick look found this which may be worth looking through. It's pretty up-to-date too.

How to Make Clip Studio Paint EX Work in Linux by GrungeWerXshop on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

Perfect. thank you!!!

Like I mentioned in the thread, I have been compiling a list of programs and making evaluations of my next OS/build being on Linux. It has been expediated by Microsoft trying to force things like Edge and whatnot.

With Valve making a stronger push on the Proton and Anti-cheat side of things, I am hoping the gaming side will not be unworkable, else I will still need a dual boot for some things.

 

[Crayon]

Due to recent exchanges about linux and, let's be honest, being extremely bored and in a tinkering mood, I was just toying with the idea of putting linux on a VERY old laptop. Is it a good idea ? Are some versions (distros ?) of linux more appropriate than others for that ?

FYI, here are the specs of the thing (NSFL)
Acer Aspire 3613WLMi
Intel Celeron M processor 370 (1.5ghz, 400mhz FSB, 1MB L2 cache)
512MB DDR2

I mean, it hasn't been used in ages, it could as well be in the bin right now, maybe I could find a use for it ?

Did you ever give this a shot?

 

[Li Kao]

Did you ever give this a shot?

Unfortunately no, I think I have thrown the thing away. Pretty certain it wasn’t cooperating at all and it was more trouble than it was worth.
Still very much interested in trying linux though, probably with the Deck or with a dual boot, let’s say in Q1..

 

[Crayon]

Unfortunately no, I think I have thrown the thing away. Pretty certain it wasn’t cooperating at all and it was more trouble than it was worth.
Still very much interested in trying linux though, probably with the Deck or with a dual boot, let’s say in Q1..

I have a feeling deck is going to be as good an introduction to linux as there ever was.

 

[Li Kao]

Seeing as the Deck is coming soon, I kinda wanted to install linux on my desktop, dual booting with windows 11. SteamOS is Arch based, so it would make sense to install Arch I suppose ?
Any guide to install linux on a dual boot with win11 without fucking my current install ?

As this will surely require some attention that I don't have today I thought it best to ask that here, no rush, just a definite interest from me.

 

[undu]

Seeing as the Deck is coming soon, I kinda wanted to install linux on my desktop, dual booting with windows 11. SteamOS is Arch based, so it would make sense to install Arch I suppose ?
Any guide to install linux on a dual boot with win11 without fucking my current install ?

As this will surely require some attention that I don't have today I thought it best to ask that here, no rush, just a definite interest from me.

I recommend to have a guided installation to arch. You need quite a lot of reading and understanding to install arch. There's an installer, but it's command-line based.

I recommend against manjaro. Their packagers do weird things and I've found they broke my setup in ways that were barely impossible to fix as a user, something that never happened in Arch. The process they set up for updating packages makes the user-made packages for arch to be fragile as well.

I recommend endevourOS as it is arch with GUI installer sprinkled on top, which should be more than enough for starting: EndeavourOS

I don't recommend a dual boot: windows will happily write over your bootloader and will force you to reinstall the linux bootloader, which is not trivial. Youhave a better chance of trying linux using a "live installation" or a virtual machine.

The live installation will boot from the USB stick and not modify your hard disk, while allowing you to try the OS and install steam and games.
The VM is nice for trying the OS, but not good for trying out games as it will affect your performance

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

If you're just checking things out then look for a Live version which will install and run from a usb stick without impacting your windows install.
Performance may not be amazing but it will give you a chance to see how m,uch you hate it.

 

[Li Kao]

Those are very bad news. I guess I could install another flavor of linux, just went with Arch for the kinda relation with the Deck.
But bootloader pain is a huge no no. And I don't really see the point of a live version, as I want to, if everything works for me, slowly go from win to linux.
Windows fucking the whole thing up is, not that surprising, but really throwing a wrench in the whole thing. Not that I was really excited to have a boot menu each time I turn the PC on, but...

I could also simply toy with the Deck plugged to the monitor, but then again, that imply purchasing shit like keyboard and mouse.

I am disappoint.

 

[LEANIJA]

Hmmm I see things a bit differently

I havent had problems with Manjaro so far*. I still recommend Manjaro but would advise against starting with Arch, thats very much an advanced user distro. There IS a guided installer and the wiki, but I reckon it would be frustrating to start with Arch.

Regarding dual boot: Windows overwriting the bootloader usually is only a problem when MS is doing big updates, usually Linux will handle it if its installed after Winodows, and most distros have a guided, graphical installer that will give you clear options how to install alongside and not fuck things up.

Here's an article listing a few distros that are user-friendly and you can test with USB-boot-live system (which you can then use to install):

Best Linux Distributions That are Most Suitable for Beginners

New to Linux? There are so many Linux operating systems out there. Here are our recommendations for the best Linux distributions for beginners.

itsfoss.com

The problem and blessing with Linux is having a wide range of choice. Not only do you have several distros that can be quite different, but theres also the Desktop Environment to choose. I myself use KDE because you can customize it to hell and back, but several distros will have Gnome as standard, but those arent the only ones.
Here's an article on those: 10 Best Linux Desktop Environments of 2021


* most problems I have on Linux are hardware-based, where manufactorers wont support some piece of hardware (like my wifi card) on Linux and it can be a pain to get it running. But thats the thing about the USB live system: youll see what works and what gives you problems.
(also, AMD is supposedly way better at Linux drivers than Nvidia is)
** what kind of packages gave you grief, undu ?

 

[Pommes]

I personally have had some problems with Manjaro. But that may be my combination of Nvidia graphics card and Gnome...
Generally I would advise to always test the Linux version you choose via the live version before you install if possible. In this way you can check if your hardware works with the selected Linux distribution.

 

[LEANIJA]

I personally have had some problems with Manjaro. But that may be my combination of Nvidia graphics card and Gnome...
Generally I would advise to always test the Linux version you choose via the live version before you install if possible. In this way you can check if your hardware works with the selected Linux distribution.

Yes, precisely, testing is key
Like anything in the PC space, your particular hardware/software combo might work great while for another person with slightly different combo it'll be a bust. Manjaro's worked great for me so far, but I'm not gonna say it will work for everyone equally perfect.

 

[undu]

* what kind of packages gave you grief, undu ?

Autotools. This means I was unable to compile many aur packages because "./configure" always detected that the C compiler was broken (it generated a truncated .c test file which was not valid C code)

Some dear friend of mine tried collaborating code to their distribution and had to stop because of some of the members' attitude and coding practices.

There's also the issues with security (failing to renew certificates). I think they've changed some really worrying practices but it has taken several incidents until the security posture seems to have change, because of the point above I still don't trust them.

Then there's the issue of opacity and shadyness regarding the finance management of the Manjaro foundation. Manjaro Linux treasurer resigns amid unjustified use of donation funds | Hacker News

In the end it's not just one thing that makes me recommend against it, even if for many users it works most of the time, for me it's a matter or risk management: it's very probable there are going to be problems and I want none of it.

 

[LEANIJA]

NVIDIA releases open source Linux GPU kernel modules, Beta Driver 515.43.04 out

In a nice big win for open source, NVIDIA has today officially revealed that they've released open source Linux GPU kernel modules. Additionally, driver version 515.43.04 is out.

www.gamingonlinux.com

NVIDIA Releases Open-Source GPU Kernel Modules | NVIDIA Technical Blog

The first open-source release of GPU kernel modules for the Linux community helps improve NVIDIA GPU driver quality and security.

developer.nvidia.com

nice