How to play GTA IV on Linux with SteamPlay Proton

Note - Please read:

TLDR: The guide is probably outdated, read comments and the ProtonDB page instead. The tips and enhancements might still be useful, so I will keep the guide up.

This guide is left over from the earlier days of wine / Steam Play Proton. Nowadays, it should be a lot easier to get going. You should be able to just install and launch the game via Proton on Linux, like many other games. If you still have issues, please check the ProtonDB[www.protondb.com] page for tips and tricks on how to get the game working. The PCGamingWiki[www.pcgamingwiki.com] page is also helpful, for example it tells you where save and config files are located.

Apparently with GTAconnected mod[www.protondb.com] (v. 1.0.8, maybe also newer), you can even get multiplayer working. Good luck, feel free to share issues or tips and tricks in the comments here too.

(outdated...) Steps for Installation of the Game

(outdated section, you can probably skip most of this. But it might still help, if you are just using wine without proton for example...)

You must follow each of the steps 1-4 to get the game working. Do them in order, don't skip ahead.

1. Install GTA IV through Steam.
   
   
2. Get additional dlls needed for GTA IV on Linux and put them in the right place.
   
   Download these two packages. These are the versions that worked for me at the time, newer ones might work too. You do not need to install them.:
   wine-staging-i386[dl.winehq.org]
   wine-staging-amd64[dl.winehq.org]
   
   Regardless of your system, you require both the 32bit and 64bit nvapi libs from these packages.
   Open them with your archive manager of choice and extract the nvapi files to their respective directories. These are the paths for extraction in the format [source] -> [destination]:
   
   

   (archive)/opt/wine-staging/lib64/wine/nvapi64.dll.so -> ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ 3.7/dist/lib64/wine/nvapi64.dll.so
   

   (archive)/opt/wine-staging/lib64/wine/fakedlls/nvapi64.dll -> ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ 3.7/dist/lib64/wine/fakedlls/nvapi64.dll

   (archive)/opt/wine-staging/lib/wine/nvapi.dll.so -> ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ 3.7/dist/lib/wine/nvapi.dll.so

   (archive)/opt/wine-staging/lib/wine/fakedlls/nvapi.dll -> ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ 3.7/dist/lib/wine/fakedlls/nvapi.dll

   
   Further Note: The destination path is in the installation directory of Proton and includes the Proton version number (in my example 3.7) which is likely to change with updates. You must adjust the destination path to match the currently installed version of Proton. If the game stops working, it's most likely that the path of Proton's installation has changed and the needed .dlls aren't in the new location. I'd also recommend keeping a copy of these dll files around, as well as a little bash script that places the files, so you can adjust it, as Proton's version number changes.
   
   
   
   
3. Download xlive dll [github.com]
   and put it in GTA's install folder:
   "~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Grand Theft Auto IV/GTAIV/"
   
   
4. Block connection to rockstar:
   

   sudo echo "127.0.0.1 tv.rockstargames.com" >> /etc/hosts

   
   Explanation of the command: You are appending a line to the file /etc/hosts. More on the hosts file here[askubuntu.com]. On starting the game, a connection is made to rockstar's servers, probably for DRM reasons. By redirecting this to localhost instead (the address 127.0.0.1), you effectively block the connection to rockstar which is necessary for the game to work. This can also be used to block ads and other unwanted connections.

Optional Enhancements

This section is about essential enhancements to the game that aren't required for installation, but I'd still recommend them. Some of these things are more up to personal preference, but you should at least add the launch options to improve performance a little.

• In the in-game graphics menu, turn down the resolution and graphics settings. I'd reccommend playing at half of your native resolution and everything on lowest, then slowly turn up textures and everything else. Putting everything on high, will likely lead to unplayably low fps. Some settings apparently add graphical issues.
  
  
• Adding Launch options
  Right click GTA IV in steam library -> add launch options:
  

  -nomemrestrict -norestrictions -percentvidmem 100 -availablevidmem 2048 -noprecache -novblank

  
  Explanation: These values may differ for your PC, so they may be different depending on your specs. -vidmem should be set to the available GPU vram on your PC, although I remember reading that GTA IV doesn't make use of more than 2048 MB vram, it probably doesn't hurt to set it higher anyway. The other options give more memory (up to 4 GB) and disable v-sync. I think the game may have reset my resolution options sometimes, unless I specified them with a launch option, you can also set your resolution by adding (again adjust numbers if your rez is different):
  
  

  -width 1920 -height 1080

  
  
• The bullet spread .asi fix[github.com] puts bullet spread back in the game.
  Download, extract it and put it in your GTA game directory:
  "~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Grand Theft Auto IV/GTAIV/"
  
  I'd reccomend it. The dead accurate aim with mouse+keyboard controls feels unnatural and makes the game too easy.
  
  
• Let the game use 4 GB of RAM, instead of two. Apparently 4 is the max that GTA IV can utilize...
  Change the contents in this file
  

  "~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Grand Theft Auto IV/GTAIV/pc/stream.ini"

  to the following values:
  

  virtual 409600

  physical 409600

  virtual_optimised 409600

  physical_optimised 409600

  
  
• Skip intro video to start the game quicker:
  http://archive.is/NyV3X

Things not to do...

While trying stuff out, I noticed there are some things you shouldn't do. Here they are, so you can avoid them too:

• Do not rename paul.dll, or the game won't start. This was stupidly recommended on PCGamingWiki, among other actually useful tips.
  
• You will also see for example on PC gaming wiki that there is a .asi called colaccel
  that will supposedly improve your loading times.
  For me it lowered performance and made the game crash whenever I died or got arrested by police.
  Avoid this .asi file.

Credit

I found most info from:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/350
https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV
https://www.protondb.com/app/12210

Thanks to everyone who helped figuring this stuff out. Good work!
If you had success with the guide or issues, please comment and consider posting a report on ProtonDB[www.protondb.com].

Performance Report

This worked for me with GTA IV v. 1.0.8 and Steamplay Proton 3.7
OS: Arch Linux 64-bit
GPU: Nvidia Geforce GT 640M

Performance: I got low framerates with high settings, but with low settings (everything lowest, except medium textures, 16x anisotropic filtering, resolution 720p) the game ran smooth enough
and I played through the main story with only one real issue: during the bank heist mission,
the walls in the inside of the bank went completely transparent, making it difficult to complete.

Graphical issues (maybe these are generally an issue with the game though):
- Water reflections are very flickery, even when turned off
- Sometimes the lighting on buildings in the distance flickers

Overall the game is perfectly playable to me, but I don't have high standards...
I'd give it a high silver rating. Mostly because the multiplayer doesn't work.
If it was only about the singleplayer, I'd still give it gold.
Another thing to take into consideration is that this game also seems plagued by issues in windows.

[Rusty]

Good to know. Proton really does make a lot of games much easier to play. I will keep the guide as is, for anyone who wants to try playing the game without proton, but really that's the way to go

[lightwo]

If you're curious, this is entirely sufficient for the latest Proton versions (pre-Complete Edition):
PROTON_ENABLE_NVAPI=1

I recall some Wine or Proton versions to cause SecuROM to crash, and I think vcrun2005 was required for that, but that environment variable was enough.

Thank you so much for pointing out NVAPI.

[griea]

Hey, they came out with a Windows 11 article, too! Nice.

https://itvision.altervista.org/why-windows-11-sucks.html

[griea]

Great literature on some of why Windows sucks. Doesn't hit too hard on why Microsoft is a Top 10 Most Evil Company, but it's good!

https://itvision.altervista.org/why-windows-10-sucks.html

And, so as to be Fair & Balanced, here's some literature on the major problems Linux has today.

https://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.current.html

[Rusty]

It sounds more difficult than it actually is, just takes some getting used to. Follow a couple tutorials and read some wikis and things will start to make more sense.

[MikuHatGaming2023]

God my head hurts... This is one of the reasons why I don't dabble with that stuff... it's just way too complicated and has too many avenues to go down

[Rusty]

To see what kind of new distro's the kids these days use, you can look on distrowatch.com

It looks like a 90s site, and it's been around for a while, but it's still great.

Linux is also one of the few topics where reddit is still and excellent place.

One more thing I forgot to mention is back your stuff up, before wiping / installing anything.

And you can also try out Linux on windows in a virtual machine using virtualbox on windows (most modern CPUs support virtualization). Super beginner tip that won't even change any of your windows stuff (just another program on windows): type into youtube "how to install ubuntu in virtualbox". Probably the best place to start.

[Rusty]

Here's some super beginner stuff to get you started: Linux is just the "kernel" basically what makes the hardware do useful stuff, so that other programs work. On top of Linux you can have a desktop environment (DE), basically that's your main user interface. There are many different DEs you can choose, for example KDE, XFCE, GNOME just to mention a few (these are good to start with). KDE = nicer and more features. XFCE = better on old laptops with less than 4GB RAM.

A "distro" in linux is the kernel + a desktop environment + other useful programs. For KDE I'd recommend KDE Neon and for XFCE, Xubuntu. Now just look up "how to install <your choice of distro>" and you are set.

[Rusty]

If you have an old laptop laying around, installing Linux on it is a nice weekend project that anyone can do. You might be surprised what you might learn along the way and how satisfying it can be to learn more about your computer and take a peek behind the curtain. Just type whatever you don't understand into a search engine, then read until you understand and with time you will get better. You can (no joke) make this your career and make a high salary. Honestly not even that hard, and pretty comfortable, especially now, where everyone works from home.

[Rusty]

One example of a worrisome trend: Maybe you've seen the "Get even more out of windows" pop-up advertisement in windows 10? It shows Office 365 and OneDrive like they are necessary for regular computer usage, but these are both subscription services offered by microsoft that will leech off your wallet, if you let them. The pop-up shoved this in your face without explaining anything or mentioning alternatives, while making it tricky to back out, by only offering an option to "skip for now", rather than "skip, and never show this again". It's a clear case of microsoft abusing their control over the home OS market to push their other services.

How many people do you think were deceived by this pop-up? How many millions did microsoft make from this ruse? Only microsoft could tell us that. Consumer protection can't keep up. It's up to users to kick windows to the curb.

I've never in 15 years had an unexpected, unsolicited advertising pop-up in Linux.