How is Linux for gaming?

[Tyrion]

I'm considering ditching windows all together, but before I do I was wondering what percentage of games work? On my programming laptop which is a mac only a handful of my games actually will work. The only reason I use windows is the fact that I have a large game library.

[Omega]

With the massive amount of work Valve and it's partners (Codeweavers, Colabora etc..) put it in Linux and WINE it is become an increasingly capable gaming platform.

Some games are Linux native, mainly indie titles. I have noticed a decreased interest by larger AAA studios in Linux. However the Steam for Linux client can use a fork of WINE called Proton to run any Windows games.

Protondb.com, a website where people report Proton game compatibility reports that 76% of the top 1000 games on Steam run either native or flawless (after troubleshooting) using Proton.

The only games which commonly cause issues are non-native games with intrusive DRM and anti-cheat. But this is something which is actively being worked on by Valve and it's partners, this is something which will hopefully improve significantly over the next year.

One thing you do need for Linux gaming is a graphics card with full Vulkan support. Nearly everything is done using Vulkan.

[Sniperboy345]

It's not. Most games are laggy af or don't start at all.

[TheRandomGuy]

Not a regular user of linux myself (have set up other PCs with Linux Mint tho) but Valve has a tool called Steamplay Proton which pretty much allows most games to work on Linux. The only hitch is DRM and Anti-Cheat tools don't work well with it. Most Singleplayer games should though.

If you have any concerns about a specific game, Protondb.com is a database of games from Steam that are cataloged based on how they run with Proton. It's all user-reported, and you can see their rigs to know if it works better with certain hardware or not.

[Ghost_F(ban)cker]

понял

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Not much anymore "needs" Windows OS. Get yourself an extra SSD and give one of these Linux Distros a try; Manjaro, Mint, Pop_OS

Once you get proper drivers installed (such as for NVIDIA GPU) and install Steam, go to steam settings and opt into the extra features so you can use Proton and such.

[iceman1980]

KVM run a windows vm

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Product ∏ eredeti hozzászólása:

KVM run a windows vm

For what purpose? Windows in a VM is much more meaningless; as you won't have 3D acceleration, or it won't be nearly as good for you to waste your time with it.

[iceman1980]

Bad 💀 Motha eredeti hozzászólása:

Product ∏ eredeti hozzászólása:

KVM run a windows vm

For what purpose? Windows in a VM is much more meaningless; as you won't have 3D acceleration, or it won't be nearly as good for you to waste your time with it.

KVM is a Type 1 hypervisor and you can pass your GPU directly to the VM. So 3D acceleration is not an issue.

[Omega]

Bad 💀 Motha eredeti hozzászólása:

Product ∏ eredeti hozzászólása:

KVM run a windows vm

For what purpose? Windows in a VM is much more meaningless; as you won't have 3D acceleration, or it won't be nearly as good for you to waste your time with it.

KVM, not a traditional VM.

A KVM is a type 1 hypervisor, meaning it talks directly to the hardware. You can passthrough devices, such as graphics cards, to a KVM to run Windows games at 99.9% performance.

It's not easy, and you need very specific hardware but it can be done.
https://youtu.be/UYeoPBh2hOI
https://youtu.be/16dbAUrtMX4

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Oh ok. Wondered when they'd come up with such a thing. Thanks for info.

[DawdlingDan]

I recently switched to Linux and have found it to be much better for gaming now than it was five years ago when I last tried to switch. This is mainly due to Steam's Proton/Steamplay.
In my Steam library, three games outright won't work and a few others need specific commands added to their steam launch option (mostly to fix audio), the rest work fine.

However, I don't play many multiplayer games with anticheats or DRM. Those can be more troublesome.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Some Online-MP Games simply won't work in Linux at this present time, due to the Anti-Cheat app that piggy-backs onto the game and is often why some such games are listed officially as "Windows OS only" this doesn't apply to all Online-MP games that may say "Windows only" but for some this happens to still be true. And from my end I'm not sure about games that may need to launch through a 3rd party launcher as well, so that's always a factor to look at.

But there are plenty of lists that get updated only regarding "Windows Games that work under Linux; and How-To" etc. So be sure to look up any games you might not be sure of, especially if they are extremely important to you.

Another thing I like to do is keep a separate OS on a separate drive. Never linked via any boot manager non-sense. So for my main gaming machine, this is how I have it...

> SSD w/ Win7 SP1 64bit (don't ask me why but for business stuff, I prefer this, regardless of community feeling about security, because its not as if the security in Win10 is any good if you consider all the snooping that Win10 does, regardless of what you think you may have disabled within Win10)

> SSD w/ Win10 20H1 64bit

> SSD w/ Linux (Manjaro 64bit)

> SSD for Windows Games (Windows 10 Store, Steam, Origin, Uplay, Rockstar, Bethesda, PlayStation Now)

> SSD for Linux Games

The "games" drives I always keep within the system, as this is fine to do and I have whatever OS I am using at the time configured to only point to a drive where games for that OS are needed.

How do I boot or switch my active OS at any given time? I use SATA SSDs for this purpose and I simply plug in which OS Drive I will be using at that time, the others can just sit off to the side, on my desk or another "safe place" as is fine to treat an SSD like a USB Flash Drive so-to-speak. As it doesn't have exposed PCB like a HDD does.

[CravenCoyote]

DawdlingDan eredeti hozzászólása:

I recently switched to Linux and have found it to be much better for gaming now than it was five years ago when I last tried to switch. This is mainly due to Steam's Proton/Steamplay.
In my Steam library, three games outright won't work and a few others need specific commands added to their steam launch option (mostly to fix audio), the rest work fine.

However, I don't play many multiplayer games with anticheats or DRM. Those can be more troublesome.

You could try GloriousEggroll's Proton builds. I had a few games that wouldn't work, but work perfectly with GE Proton releases

[AbedsBrother]

Tyrion eredeti hozzászólása:

I'm considering ditching windows all together, but before I do I was wondering what percentage of games work? On my programming laptop which is a mac only a handful of my games actually will work. The only reason I use windows is the fact that I have a large game library.

If you like to play multi-player games, Linux still has a ton of problems. A lot of anti-cheat software doesn't work on Linux or only works sporadically.

Single-player games run well for the most part. Have only had a few that don't work or don't work as they should (F1 2014, Just Cause 2, Agents of Mayhem).
One thing that can be a problem with single-player games on Linux are the dual-client configurations (like launching a game through Steam brings up / opens a secondary client like Uplay or Origin to run the game). Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, for example, won't launch via Steam on Linux, but the Uplay-only version launches just fine.

ProtonDB is the best resource for answering the "Will it work on Linux?" question.
https://www.protondb.com/

[Bad 💀 Motha]

AbedsBrother eredeti hozzászólása:

Tyrion eredeti hozzászólása:

I'm considering ditching windows all together, but before I do I was wondering what percentage of games work? On my programming laptop which is a mac only a handful of my games actually will work. The only reason I use windows is the fact that I have a large game library.

If you like to play multi-player games, Linux still has a ton of problems. A lot of anti-cheat software doesn't work on Linux or only works sporadically.

Single-player games run well for the most part. Have only had a few that don't work or don't work as they should (F1 2014, Just Cause 2, Agents of Mayhem).
One thing that can be a problem with single-player games on Linux are the dual-client configurations (like launching a game through Steam brings up / opens a secondary client like Uplay or Origin to run the game). Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, for example, won't launch via Steam on Linux, but the Uplay-only version launches just fine.

ProtonDB is the best resource for answering the "Will it work on Linux?" question.
https://www.protondb.com/

What about Rockstar Games stuff?