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Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

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Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#161

I'm never going back. If something changes and the only option is Windows or consoles I'll just stop buying new games or take up another hobby. Being able to use sane scripting to solve problems, ZFS snapshots to undo bad mod installs, using the same system for development, and so on is no longer something I'm willing to give up. I've also started amassing a small collection of Cloud Init configs that set up game ser…

Tried to play dota 2 on Linux, it has a bad memory leak that made the whole system hang after an hour or two. Plus it seems to get worse fps on Vulcan, but I read that it might just be a bad implementation in my card (6650 xt)

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#162
post #100
post #53

I've gone over to Linux after using Windows for 25 years. As someone who enjoys older games, I am pleasantly surprised that Wine (with dxvk and cnc-ddraw) lets me run more games in a better way than I was able to on Windows. I can run some 16-bit games on a 64-bit OS! Games that rudely switch to fullscreen, I can run in Wine Virtual Desktop. Previously on Windows, I had to configure hacks like DxWnd and it didn't alw…

> Games that rudely switch to fullscreen, I can run in Wine Virtual Desktop. Previously on Windows, I had to configure hacks like DxWnd and it didn't always work. Maybe Wine could be ported to Windows :-)

It already is in some form! This is what I used to play Sid Meier's Civnet with my brothers: https://github.com/otya128/winevdm

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#163
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anti-cheat will be basically impossible to overcome until studios specifically cater to linux. I'm not sure to what extent this is even possible given how hackable linux is, and how many variants there are, but it's plausible a blessed distro with a signed kernel (somehow? Not sure if this is a thing) might support it.

Some anticheats like EAC, GameGuard, XingCode do have Linux support that the game has to opt-in. I believe it is not kernel-based and is not Linux-native. Many non-competitive games do allow them. At least I know that Helldivers 2 (GameGuard), DJMax Respect V (XingCode), Fantasy Life I (EAC) do works on Linux. I wish that if they're happy with non kernel mode anti cheat on Linux, just do the same in Windows... Or jus…

Kernel-based on Linux is pointless unless SacureBoot is used with fixed vendor certs (you can still SB custom kernels on most consumer mobos). I believe that only Microsoft exists in the default certs, so impossible for all intents and purposes. Otherwise you can modify the kernel (or Wine/Proton) and do what you want.

Windows has the same issue, but isn't open source and easy to modify. Still, EA are so paranoid that they require it there.

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#164
post #2

As someone who only has a windows machine to play games, specifically driving sims, I really wish my hardware worked on Linux.

Have you actually tried it? Dual sticks (which is not quite as niche as a racing cockpit but still somewhat) via Wine just worked for me with zero effort - actually less than Windows which had joystick ID horrors.

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#165

I've been happily playing Overwatch 2 on Linux for a couple months now. I need gamescope to get it to play nicely with my multiple monitors, and it crashes maybe once a month, but performance is great and I have no major complaints. I'm never going back to Windows, except for work where it isn't optional :(

how are you running OW2? I am using steam and proton and it is so rough to play Windows I get 300fps and on linux ~100 and frequent dips

Ok, maybe I oversold this a little bit. It's running smooth now, getting it to run smooth was not easy. I'm on Ubuntu. I spent a few days in a debug loop. Run steam from the terminal to get a log stream, keep an eye on CPU and GPU utilization and temperature, and futz around in the training range or vs AI bots (more "realistic" than training range). Identify which components of the system aren't performing up to spec. CPU running hot? GPU not being utilized? Steam emitting warning messages? If hardware all looks good, it's probably a software problem somewhere. Identify, then fix. Rinse and repeat until linux performance is in the same league as Windows performance.

Things I'd try:

1. Check in game graphics settings

2. Update graphics drivers to the recommended version (may be non-trivial, I had to update my kernel version)

3. Experiment with different proton versions, including proton GE

4. Experiment with different Direct X versions (in game option)

5. Make sure CPU cooler is running

6. Make sure GPU is being used

7. Use gamescope to configure a virtual monitor that exactly matches the capabilities of your physical monitor

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#166
post #2

As someone who only has a windows machine to play games, specifically driving sims, I really wish my hardware worked on Linux.

There are apparently are some semi-experimental FFB drivers out there for a few wheels... but yeah, most hardware has a zero percent chance of working, because it's a niche of a niche. And then if you're doing online racing, they all(?) have anti-cheat stuff that won't work for you anyway.

If games transition to SteamOS/Linux in general, I think this niche is going to be one of the slower ones to move, but never say never.

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#167
post #134
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Games that rudely switch to fullscreen, I can run in Wine Virtual Desktop. Previously on Windows, I had to configure hacks like DxWnd and it didn't always work. Maybe Wine could be ported to Windows :-)

You can already run it in WSL2, apparently.

Running windows to run linux to run windows is delicious

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#168
I feel like the minority. The few times I’ve tried games on linux with decent hardware (eg radeon vii, rx580, rtx3060?) it was just trash. like straight up stuttering and nonsense.

Maybe the only games I ever tried were in that 10% that aren’t supported or will never be supported (hitman, deus ex, etc).

this led me down the rabbit hole for a while of gpu passthrough w/ vfio / sriov and virtual machines. those worked really well but also had their own problems.

in the end i just bought a damned ps5 pro that rarely gets used. but at least it “just works” when I want it to. which is more than i can say for anything remotely related to using linux for games or even as a decent desktop.

and yes, i tried your distro. the only one perhaps that wasn’t a headache was void.

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#169
post #161

I'm never going back. If something changes and the only option is Windows or consoles I'll just stop buying new games or take up another hobby. Being able to use sane scripting to solve problems, ZFS snapshots to undo bad mod installs, using the same system for development, and so on is no longer something I'm willing to give up. I've also started amassing a small collection of Cloud Init configs that set up game ser…

Tried to play dota 2 on Linux, it has a bad memory leak that made the whole system hang after an hour or two. Plus it seems to get worse fps on Vulcan, but I read that it might just be a bad implementation in my card (6650 xt)

I often find that Linux native games (Dota is one such) run worse than Windows games running under Proton. For many of them, you can just force it to play via Proton and go along with your day, but the Valve competitive ones don’t work that way since VAC will cry about it.

Re: Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux

#170
I was seriously irritated with Windows 11 for the past few months. If my PC went to sleep, it would wake up and freeze at the logon screen. The constant updates that would reset some preferences - and worse, reinstall CoPilot and OneDrive - pushed me over. I went and installed Bazzite on the PC I built early this year with a Nvidia RTX 5080, somewhat skeptical that it would work well despite my extremely positive experience with the Steam Deck. The result is outstanding.
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