Won't actually launch on Steamdeck!

[Aeonitis]

It doesn't work neither with Gaming mode or Desktop Mode.

I almost gave a bad review just so others don't get it for steamdeck but since you're not a AAA developer I am sure you're already quite busy. I recommend you state that Steamdeck is a Work-In-Progress so you reduce disappointed customers :)

Sorry to say it doesn't work on Steamdeck. I added a report on Protondb https://www.protondb.com/app/3272360 but it might not be published yet?

Essentially I tried all Proton 6-Experimental, and no luck.

I am guessing it's either Steamworks Integration (Did you follow steps as this tutorial here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2qC_RhEy5s) or a GameMaker Studio 2 (I am assuming your game was made with it) export issue? Maybe ask https://forum.gamemaker.io if you have any questions.

I am unsure if my advice is useful, but I am sure you will find a way to fix it, I believe in you, and will try avoid a refund in the meantime anyway!

[Last Piscean]

Yes I'm sorry about this. I didn't have a steamdeck to test before launch and I presumed it would since it is a fairly simple game made in gamemaker. I spent yesterday trying to compile a native linux version but there are a lot of issues with it due to a fairly dated extenstion I'm using. I'm going to see about the steamworks integration and what I can do with proton/wine settings.
It's not looking good so far so please refund and if I do eventually get this working I'll send you a free key for telling me this.

[Aeonitis]

Don't worry about how I feel, and I don't need free keys. As a dev, I understand your pains. I also see you on the bugs thread making sure Windows folks have things running smoothly. I bet it's time consuming!

I actually think the shortest path for you would be to ignore Linux build for now, and just make sure the Windows build is working as you want, and then just make sure the windows build is highly compatible, because there seems to be evidence that GameMaker Windows builds work well with Proton on Steamdeck.

I made a small gist [gist.github.com] (based on what i looked at yesterday) for you to come back to in case you have free time to deal with this, I might even share it on GameMaker forum...

If you want, I'll test run your executables for you for free, but I totally understand if you decline too. No need to respond to that or explain.

Anyway, wish you the best! Take care

[Last Piscean]

Originally posted by Aeonitis:

Don't worry about how I feel, and I don't need free keys. As a dev, I understand your pains. I also see you on the bugs thread making sure Windows folks have things running smoothly. I bet it's time consuming!

I actually think the shortest path for you would be to ignore Linux build for now, and just make sure the Windows build is working as you want, and then just make sure the windows build is highly compatible, because there seems to be evidence that GameMaker Windows builds work well with Proton on Steamdeck.

I made a small gist [gist.github.com] (based on what i looked at yesterday) for you to come back to in case you have free time to deal with this, I might even share it on GameMaker forum...

If you want, I'll test run your executables for you for free, but I totally understand if you decline too. No need to respond to that or explain.

Anyway, wish you the best! Take care

Wow! Thank you very much for all of this. I've already taken your earlier advice and integrated steamworks into the next build (though I don't actively use it for anything like cloud saves).
The recommendations list you gave is very useful. I'm not a programmer at all so I'm learning everything for the first time (even how to use virtualboxes for builds and such). My game definitely falls foul of a lot of things mentioned there, so I'm going to start with the simple things and hopefully make some progress.
Again, thanks a lot, and I may take you up on your offer to test some things.

Edit: Also you should definitely share the list on gamemaker forum. I think a lot of people would find similar value in it.

[Aeonitis]

I've added you as a friend, you can dm me a link anytime. I'm also 'Aeonitis` on Discord if you don't want me as a Steam friend. Either way works for me.

[Last Piscean]

Originally posted by Aeonitis:

I've added you as a friend, you can dm me a link anytime. I'm also 'Aeonitis` on Discord if you don't want me as a Steam friend. Either way works for me.

Added you here and on Discord (I'm Juoni on there)

[Benjula]

Love to see the support ❤️, I know nothing about game Dev but I'm excited to be able to play it eventually, game looks rad.

[andysha]

Made it get to the title screen on PC Linux, Bazzite

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3490175121

On Proton 8 I've noticed that the game stops almost immediately, and the game's log mentioned "mono_coop_cond_broadcast" before bailing, so that inspired me to experiment with dotnet libraries

And so if dotnet40 is installed via protontricks, even though the installation fails, the game will launch. Not sure yet how far that may get into the gameplay, as I can't experiment any more tonight. Will try actually playing it tomorrow. Maybe you can make Steam prefer Proton 8 and autoinstall dotnet40 in Steamworks? I'm no Steam publisher

I can also be added on Discord: `andysha`

[Last Piscean]

Originally posted by andysha:

Made it get to the title screen on PC Linux, Bazzite

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3490175121

On Proton 8 I've noticed that the game stops almost immediately, and the game's log mentioned "mono_coop_cond_broadcast" before bailing, so that inspired me to experiment with dotnet libraries

And so if dotnet40 is installed via protontricks, even though the installation fails, the game will launch. Not sure yet how far that may get into the gameplay, as I can't experiment any more tonight. Will try actually playing it tomorrow. Maybe you can make Steam prefer Proton 8 and autoinstall dotnet40 in Steamworks? I'm no Steam publisher

I can also be added on Discord: `andysha`

Much appreciated! I'm very unfamiliar with proton and linux so even though I've tried many things I've not made much progress myself. This is definitely a big help.
I won't be able to work on this today, but I'll add you to discord and make this thread sticky so other people can also chip in if they discover anything.

[andysha]

Hmm, I've played for a bit on Linux and Windows to compare, and a crucial gameplay feature doesn't work on Linux with those workarounds: talking with the children. Another thing is - videos are not playing, just a blackness instead of them

I'll discuss more with the dev to not clutter this space with technical back and forth and spoiler images (at least while I don't see anyone else experimenting), but I'll recommend against playing on Linux just yet, unless you find more workarounds that will fix it

[Benjula]

Just to say I tried that workaround with Steam Deck in both gaming and desktop modes and it's still not working there at all unfortunately

[Aeonitis]

Ok, it works. So I just realized "It's just an old game engine" and old games workon deck with proton, DUH!

I just went further down in proton versions. It works and I have been enjoying the game (even as a tester lol)

Solution
Use Proton 5.0-10. Hope others can test and confirm in this chat too

Actions for Developer
Configure Default Proton Version in Steamworks
- Log into Steamworks Partner Site.
- Look for compatibility settings related to Proton.
- Set to Proton 5.0-10.
- If available, configure the default Proton version for your game’s App ID.

Probably not necessary, but Steamworks uses compatibilitytool.vdf to declare compatibility tools.

Explanation of issue
Also seems that 4.2-9 works too, Only those two proton versions 4.2-9 and 5.0-10, it seems that the reasons are windows and wine versions.

Windows
Proton 4.2-9 and 5.0-10 default to Windows 7 SP1, while Proton 4.11-13 and 5.13-6 move to Windows 10. Some .NET 4.X applications were originally designed with Windows 7 compatibility in mind, and they might rely on specific behaviors/dependencies present in older Windows versions that newer Proton builds don't perfectly replicate.

Wine
Pre-Wine 4.11 architecture, which provided better support for legacy .NET Framework 4.x implementations, more permissive Wine Mono system and Linux library-based Wine modules.


Also, I posted to protondb on best config for Steamdeck, Click on Slider to compare for text improvement https://www.textcompare.org/image/?id=683ab5d86d45d9617a3621c0

Will share here in a few hours, so we focus on proton fix and testing first

[Aeonitis]

I'm sorry everyone, videos still don't work yet :(

[andysha]

Can confirm that 5.0-10 makes it work better and without workarounds. But not sure if it will play as accurately - intro video is supposed to have blue border, which is present on newer proton, but not on 5.0

Also upon GMink load "Could not find function "ScriptReturnDouble"" message occurs in the log. Hopefully that function is not used anywhere (:

[Last Piscean]

Originally posted by andysha:

Can confirm that 5.0-10 makes it work better and without workarounds. But not sure if it will play as accurately - intro video is supposed to have blue border, which is present on newer proton, but not on 5.0

Also upon GMink load "Could not find function "ScriptReturnDouble"" message occurs in the log. Hopefully that function is not used anywhere (:

I presume the video didn't play either? The blue border is supposed to only appear if the video is playing too.
I'm working on getting the videos to work, which is most likely an issue with gamemaker. The dialogue not working is the other problem, which is likely a gmink.dll issue I'm still not sure about.