[EASY TUTORIAL] Converting Windows Games To Linux

[thank you nanocat]

This is quite simple, and the tutorial is mostly for windows users switching over to or testing linux for gaming, so let's get started.
All you'll need is a USB that can hold your Windows games.

So you want to get the game you want and go to steamapps, you want to copy 2 things, the acf file (it'll be called appmanifest_gameid.acf), and the game folder, the acf will be directly in steamapps, the game folder will be in steamapps/common.

So copy those to your USB, Plug into your linux computer and/or restart your computer in linux.

Find your linux steamapps folder, mine is located in ~/.steam/steam/steamapps

so drag the acf into your steamapps and the game folder in steamapps/common.

Restart Steam, it should appear in there, right-click it, Properties, Local Files, now click "Verify Integrity of Game Files".

Run the game and walah, you've successfully converted it into a linux game.

(THIS WILL NOT WORK ON GAMES NOT AVAILABLE ON LINUX VIA STEAM)

If you're confused on the appmanifest_gameid, to find your games ID, just find the game's store page, it'll be the ID in the store page URL (e.g store . steampowered . com/app/208650/Batman_Arkham_Knight/, it'd be named "appmanifest_208650.acf")

Sorry if it's messy/hard to understand, writing on my laptop which I'm not used to it's keyboard.

[Dusk of Oolacile]

Results in unneeded windows-only files. The clean solution is making a backup using the built-in backup tool, then restoring it on the other platform. It'll only restore files you need, and download platform-specific ones = clean install, no garbage.

[toidi]

Nice easy to follow tutorial Waxxy and Dusk you are correct that is the correct way to do it. But if you are just wanting to give a game a quick test drive Waxxy's method is a lot faster to do. Also the garbage you speak of usually isn't a major issue for the vast majority of games as it usually consists of a windows .exe file and a few .dlls.

If you can access your windows drive/partitions from within linux itself then it is only a case of copying the folder over without even using the USB.

Last wee bit is if you can't be bothered to locate the correct .acf file, copying the folder over will suffice. Linux steam will report the game as not being installed, but soon as you click 'install' it will detect the game folder, check the files and create the .acf file for you. Lazy mans dream :D

[thank you nanocat]

Originally posted by Dusk of Oolacile:

Results in unneeded windows-only files. The clean solution is making a backup using the built-in backup tool, then restoring it on the other platform. It'll only restore files you need, and download platform-specific ones = clean install, no garbage.

I normally keep the Windows stuff incase I need to run it via Wine

[torra]

Originally posted by waxxy:

Originally posted by Dusk of Oolacile:

Results in unneeded windows-only files. The clean solution is making a backup using the built-in backup tool, then restoring it on the other platform. It'll only restore files you need, and download platform-specific ones = clean install, no garbage.

I normally keep the Windows stuff incase I need to run it via Wine

How often do you actually run a game both native and through wine? Just curious, seems not so practical and very "dirty", but I don't dual boot so I can't relate. Personally keep things separate and only duplicate game in wine for me is cs:go, just because sdk tools don't work on Linux.