Another Linux thread, looking towards buying but does it run?

[sneakyweazel]

So, 2 questions;
Firstly; I have i5-3570K, GTX 980 and I'm running Linux Mint 19.1. Which proton version to use and how would this run?
Secondly; I'm looking what to buy. Thinking between "Space Engineers 4-Pack" and "Space Engineers Ultimate Edition BUNDLE". What are the differences? Can't get info on that 4-pack

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, one of the SE Devs made it possible and shared the how to install in the pinned of the Linux channel on Keen Discord where Linux users are helping.

You could join the SE community on Keen DIscord to have access to the "Linux" channel.

All can join the SE community from the Discord permalink added to this pinned :
https://steamcommunity.com/app/244850/discussions/0/4622335767039372629/

Once on the Keen Discord -> Go to the Role selection channel to choose PC role to unlock the proper community -> go to the "Linux" channel to ask for help on installing.

__

For the DLCs I recommend to take your time reading the description, also DLCs are just Deco blocks so take your time to look at all they add and just buy the blocks you like the most.

ME = I recommend to start with DLC Deco 1 and 2 because they add a lot of furniture and a cool new cockpit.

[Dan2D3D]

+

Space Engineers 4-Pack = it's to buy 4 SE copies so you can Gift to your friends, so it's up to you on that one.

[sneakyweazel]

Thank you for the info
It really cleared up the situation.

Looking towards the "completed" game so "Space Engineers Ultimate Edition BUNDLE" would be my choice. Those DLCs can't all be purely cosmetic, right?
From what I'm reading, DLCs frostbite, sparks of the future, wastelands, warfares 1&2 and heavy industry all bring functional parts/items into the game.
That would make grand total of 47,52€ with the deluxe. The base game is 16,99. How often do the DLCs go to sale?
Sorry for making Dev feel like sales rep =D

And from any user, how does it run?
Installing discord rn

[Dan2D3D]

Yes DLCs are Deco blocks, Block Textures, character Suits, character Emotes and the new blocks don't add any advantages having.
EDIT -> Also Safe zone skins and fastion logos ...

+
All can share their DLC creations in a world save on the Workshop so players not having the DLC can play with your creation.
-> Not working sharing Blueprints = You must have the DLC to paste those in tho a friend having the DLCs can paste it in a world if you don't have.


___

Note

You surely don't know me so I must specify I am not a SE Dev but forum Moderator community helper/game tester and I help the SE community because it's my Fav Sandbox game on Steam.
(they gave me the [Dev] Tag so I can be admin of the Workshop to help more)

[-0[]0-]

Originally posted by sneakyweazel:

So, 2 questions;
Firstly; I have i5-3570K, GTX 980 and I'm running Linux Mint 19.1. Which proton version to use and how would this run?
Secondly; I'm looking what to buy. Thinking between "Space Engineers 4-Pack" and "Space Engineers Ultimate Edition BUNDLE". What are the differences? Can't get info on that 4-pack

I can't tell you if it will run on Proton or not, I would assume so. However Steam a built in Proton which I would recommend trying first. They are called 'Steam play Compatibility tools' and they save trouble when dealing with DRM and barely-ported stuff.

[Samerrie]

Just tested the game on the Steam Deck and looks it runs very well on linux.

[glabifrons]

The CPU should be fairly decent. I've read of people running it successfully on much lower end hardware.
You're actually not to far from mine in single-thread performance, and about 63% of mine overall.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i7-4790K-vs-Intel-i5-3570K/2275vs828
Your GPU is right on par with mine. I'm running a GTX 1660.
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/GeForce-GTX-1660-vs-GeForce-GTX-980/4062vs2953

Overall, my performance is quite decent, but I typically play solo and in space. Keep in mind I run the game at 4K with medium or higher settings on most options (I think I'm using high quality models... shocked me that worked without impact!).

Certain situations can cause simulation speed to slow down, usually it's rough weather in the Frostbite scenario.
The cool bit about this game is, even when sim-speed is impacted, the frame rate and responsiveness is not, so it's like you're playing through an adrenaline rush (not sure if you've ever experienced slow motion during a car accident or similar).

As to Linux, I've over 1k hours in the game 100% in Ubuntu 20.04.
Proton 7 works quite well, as does Proton Experimental.
Check out protondb's entries for the game for command line options. I've not not had to use any other than -skipintro, and that's only needed if you're running Proton 7 or below.
Experimental fixes the video playback issues, so -skipintro is not needed with it.

All that said, there are a couple minor inconveniences.
If you want to switch out of the game to another window, it works best if you shift-tab to switch to Steam's alternate screen mode (not sure what they call it, where you can look things up, chat with friends, etc.), then you can alt-tab to another window. Alt-tab at this point typically takes 2 attempts (it thinks it switched when it didn't). Switching back is simple.
I do have occasional black-screens during game launch. If that happens, give it about 20 seconds to be sure it's locked... then control-alt-F1 to switch to a virtual terminal, log in, run top, check to see that Space Engineers is the top process, then hit "k" then return twice to kill it. Use control-alt-F7 to go back to the X session. If parts of the Steam window are black, you'll need to restart Steam. This is purely random. I've not been able to pinpoint any trigger. Usually it fires right up, but some days it takes a couple tries... once, it took around 7 or 8 tries. No clue what was up that day. :)

Once it's up and running, it's pretty solid. I don't think I've ever had it crash once a game was loaded. In one of the previous Experimental versions of Proton, it would rarely crash (immediately) when attempting to load the game, but I think that problem is gone now.

The DLCs are almost entirely cosmetic. They try and make it so they don't provide any advantages in the game. Differences I can think of:
Frostbite comes with a really cool scenario that really changes the way the game is played. Get a good feel for the game before you play this one though, as you have to understand how to perform repairs, build, fight, etc. I got a crazy number of hours out of that scenario. :)
One of the DLCs gives you round conveyor tubes. While that isn't really an advantage by itself, one of the round alternate conveyors is a "+" connection which doesn't exist in the standard form.
One of the large ion thruster alternates has more mounting surfaces than the others, making it just slightly more versatile.
One of the DLCs gives you grated catwalks. These do not seal like the standard ones do, but that can be an advantage in some designs (where you actually want airflow through an area on which you can walk).
One or two DLCs give different variations on the corridor block. Stock one is straight only, while one has a T, a corner, and a 4 way intersection (and I think a lighted version of the straight one too).
Most of the parts aren't any better or may actually be worse for some circumstances, like the industrial refinery has fewer sealed faces, but it does have stairs and two or more exit paths (this could possibly be an advantage with a creative layout). The industrial assembler is twice the size of the standard version, but has upgrade module positions laid out differently so it can be fully upgraded and one block thinner (even though it takes 2 blocks more space total). The industrial large cargo container has fewer ports, ditto for the industrial reactors.

DLCs do go on sale on occasion. I bought all of them in a bundle on sale a while back.
Look closely at the bundle contents, as one of the DLCs is actually newer than the bundle (I think it's warfare2), so it's not included. I had to buy it separately.

If you don't have the DLC, you can still see and interact with the DLC blocks in the game (like in some "Encounters", some stations, multiplayer, etc.), but you won't get any items if you grind one down, and you won't be able to build them.

Fair warning: The learning curve is steep, but it's one hell of a game! The community is great and the workshop is incredible (numerous mods including player-made scenarios).
If you like to design and build things (I've found more than a few of us are or have been actual engineers), you'll love it. If you want a war game, it'll take a little work, but there are plenty of mods that you can simply subscribe to in the workshop to use (no need to install modder software or any crap like that that some other games require).
Also, the next update (expected somewhere before the end if the year, maybe... I think) is referred to as "grid AI". I seem to recall the devs making a crack about building your own friends and enemies, so it's something that at least some (I think most) of us are really excited to see coming. :)

[glabifrons]

I should add... many posts in protondb recommend turning off grass, and a bunch of command line options.
I turned off grass before I realized that that and a lot of the suggested command line options are AMD video card specific, and do not apply to NVidia cards.
I left grass off simply because it's easier to see ore spots without it and I don't need that taking GPU power since I'm already used to playing the game without it. :)

[sneakyweazel]

Thank you all for the inputs!
Bought the base game and looking towards getting those DLCs once there is a sale on them

Well, once I get the game actually running.
So far the tutorials do not launch in browser at all, game client froze after alt+tabbing and just crashed upon starting a new game

Okay,
Proton 7.0-4 atleast does something. When trying to start a new game I get error
"There was an error while loading the world! Check the log for more information."
Using launch options "PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60, -skipintro"
Grass density is set to 0 and graphical settings are on low.

Notes for self
PROTON_LOG=1 PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60 %command% -skipintro

[sneakyweazel]

Okay, Don't know what I did but after trying out different proton versions I got an rundll32.exe error. The game wanted me to install 4.6.something dotnet but I was directed to 4.8 download page. Downloaded that and tried to run it with proton only to be stopped because newer version of it was/is already installed so that went well.

Then tried to follow
https://github.com/Linux74656/SpaceEngineersLinuxPatches
but there are many things that I did not manage to get working.

Is there some easy step-by-step guide out there?
The game does not launch at all right now

[Dan2D3D]

I just looked at the most recent posts in the Linux channel on Keen Discord and found this that may help !? :

MrBigs — 09/19/2022
Hi. Changed laptop, haven't played in a while, reinstalled Linux Mint again. Remembered that SE doesn't run out the box. Remembered there are about 20 tutorial to install SE on Linux, and never sure which one works.
Is there any page listing an up to date guide on what's the "simplest" fixes?

MrBigs — 09/19/2022
Nevermind, seems like this is enough:
setup to use proton 7.0-4
Install winetricks
Install pipx
Install protontricks
run "protontricks 244850 --unattended --force dotnet48"
use -skipintro as launch parameter
Launch
Took 36 minutes all and all.

G3ckobot — 09/19/2022
Actually, Space Engineers does now work out of the box. Proton versions 6.x and beyond actually broke dotnet installation, so in all likelihood that protontricks command failed and you're still using Wine Mono. Installing dotnet48 for real ** (See the instructions linked earlier in this channel) will increase performance but add some intermittent crashes.

** (See the instructions linked earlier in this channel
NikolasMarch — 04/03/2022
yes, proton 7, then put dotnet48 in the prefix
delete the prefix
set your steam proton to 5.0
start the game once
THEN run protontricks line or winetricks line (env WINEPREFIX="your space engineers pfx directory" sh winetricks --force -q dotnet48)
start the game again
reboot
then set steam proton to 7.0
run game
this is what i was told, and it worked in the end

[sneakyweazel]

Thank you Dan2D3D! You sure know your stuff
Here is what has happened tho

First solution;
setup to use proton 7.0-4 -compatibility set to proton from steam
Install winetricks -already installed 64bit
Install pipx -from website
Install protontricks -from software manager
run "protontricks 244850 --unattended --force dotnet48" -"protontricks: command not found" after reboot.
Pretty devastating defeat. protontricks must not be installed correctly, any advice?

Will try secondary solution but before I have some things on my mind;
>yes, proton 7, then put dotnet48 in the prefix
Okay, the ndp48-web.exe is to be copied there
>delete the prefix
? o-okay? the one from steam_install_folder/steamapps/common/Proton 7.0?
>set your steam proton to 5.0
okay, from steam client
>start the game once
sure
>THEN run protontricks line or winetricks line (env WINEPREFIX="your space engineers pfx directory" sh winetricks --force -q dotnet48)
okay,

env WINEPREFIX="/media/user/ST 3T Storage/Steam_mint20/steamapps/compatdata/244850/pfx" sh winetricks --force -q dotnet48

gives some sort of error "sh: 0: Can't open winetricks" and without that sh I get one about using 32bit with 64bit WINEPREFIX and "Unknown arg dotnet48"-line. So, do I need to remove current 64bit wine and install a 32bit one?

[Dan2D3D]

Well I don't have any experience with Linux, I just know there are Linux users helping on Keen Discord so you will surely have better info asking over there.

[sneakyweazel]

Perhaps that would be best, and
Thank you again for all your troubles!

[glabifrons]

Please see the caveats I listed in my previous post about using alt-tab.
Short version: Don't, not without shift-tab first.

As I previously posted, SE runs with both Proton 7 and Proton Experimental out of the box.
I've read a lot of conflicting information about what needs to be run/installed in the Proton/Wine installation. At one point I saw that scripts don't work unless you install a whole suite of things under Proton 6... I tried something very similar to what you're doing and ended up doing enough damage to completely stop SE from launching under that version of Proton. I tried Experimental and it worked, so I just stayed there. Then Proton 7 came out so I tried it and it worked as well (with the previously posted caveats).

Unfortunately, most of the instructions surrounding use of winetricks and protontricks are written with the assumption that you're already intimately familiar with Wine and the inner workings of Proton. I'm not part of that target audience as I've no use for windows applications under Linux outside of very few games (up until just a couple years ago, 100% of my games ran natively). So I'm sure the damage I did was due to trying to guess what to use for some of the required parameters.

This may or may not be related: I suspect Steam's Proton installer may be flaky. I was trying to debug why my wife had some weird issues that my son did not with another game, while their systems are nearly identical (hardware/software/drivers) and started digging into the Proton installations. I found massive differences in what existed under each of the many versions of Proton (like missing directory hierarchies, not just small differences). I eventually found a way to force Steam to re-install specific Proton versions, but that was a few years ago and I can't remember the steps (it wasn't obvious at the time). It seems like it took more than a right-click and uninstall from the list of games on the left, but I could be wrong.
It turned out several of her Proton installations (about half of them) were incomplete. Forcibly reinstalling those versions fixed a few games she was having trouble with.