How to make fallout 4 run better on Linux! (First guide made by me) 19/08/21

This guide is going to help make fallout 4 become more playable, fallout 4 suffers from issues like delayed mouse input and unoptimized textures and areas in the game.

The things we are going to be doing in this guide include:

1: Sort out proton

we are going to select a custom proton version because as of 19/08/21 valves current proton version 6.3 has issues with bethesda games, we are going to be installing Proton Glorious Eggroll , this will have a lot of fixes that aren't included in the main proton version.


2: Install MangoHud and configure it

We will need MangoHud because its got a fps limiting feature, This feature is very important because to fix the delayed mouse input we are going to disable vsync and use MangoHud to set a fps limit of 60, this is because fallout 4s engine physics is tied to the fps.

3: Editing ini files

This section is very important as this is the main area we are going to fix the issue with the input, and should also produce a more smoother experience when playing the game, we are going to be turning off Vsync in the ini settings and that should be it!

4: Optional fps improvements + mods

There is little neat options we can do to improve fps and make the game feel and look better, we first are going to change/add some quality of life changes like skipping the intro for the fallout 4 game, and also change the render distance to get a little fps boost when in area that are surrounded by buildings.

Sorting out Proton Glorious Eggroll

Glorious Eggroll is an amazing guy who has created a custom proton version that includes a lot of fixes, his proton version is seen as bleeding edge which means his proton version is always up-to-date with newer packages like dxvk and wine.

1: Go to this link and grab the latest release of Proton Glorious Eggrolls custom proton version.

(https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases)
Install the version with .tar.gz at the end of the file and now you are set.

2: Enabling Proton

I assume you have proton enabled in steam but in case you haven´t, go into steam settings and go to steam play and tick both boxes for enabling proton and for all your games, steam will restart and reopen.

3: Installing Proton Glorious Eggroll.

Before we install install proton ge we first need to create a new folder, firstly go into your home/"YOURNAME" folder, then go to your path bar and type ".steam" and press enter on your keyboard, now go to this path "/.steam/root/" now that we are here we are going to create a new folder and name it "compatibilitytools.d", make sure its exactly that!

now enter into said folder and go to where you downloaded Proton Glorious Eggrolls and extract it as a folder and not its contents, now you should have a folder inside compatibilitytools.d that you have put named "Proton GE version_name" restart steam and proton ge should be ready.

4: Enabling Proton GE for fallout 4.

go to your fallout 4 game and right click it and go on to your properties and go to compatibility and tick the check box to enable it and click on the drop box and select proton GE version, if its not there you have made a mistake if so try and follow these instructions (https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom#overview)

installing and configuring MangoHud or enabling DXVK fps limit

DXVK Alternative.

You can use DXVK as a quick and easy alternative that I have become aware of recently.
to enable DXVKś fps limit go to fallout 4 properties and in the launch commands add DXVK_FRAME_RATE=60 , its as simple as that.

Mango Hud is a system monitoring tool, its very useful as you can see your fps,temps,loads and frame time, Mango Hud has a very useful feature that can limit fps.

1: Installing Mango Hud.

I am on Manjaro KDE arch so i am going to be following my way of installing Mango Hud, you can find instructions on installing MangoHud on github (https://github.com/flightlessmango/MangoHud)
Firstly go to your package manager and make sure the AUR is enabled, we need the aur since Mango hud isn't available in the manjaro repos default, now search for mango hud and install it!

2: Enabling Mango Hud.

Go back into your fallout 4 properties and write in the launch options box this "mangohud %command%" this enables mango hud

3: Adding a config file for Mango Hud.

go and find this folder in your system "/usr/share/doc/mangohud" this should be the same path for all systems, now inside that folder there should be an example conf file, we want to copy it and paste it somewhere easy to remember I recommend on putting it into your documents folder, and now rename it to something like fallout4MangoHud.conf this is important.

Now open the file and look for the option fps_limit, we want to firstly remove the # as that disables the option, and now set fps to "fps_limit= 60" save the text file and exit, now back to your fallout 4 launch options and add this "MANGOHUD_CONFIGFILE=/home/"YOURNAME/Documents/fallout4MangoHud.conf"
this path should be the same as where you put the fallout4MangoHud.conf file make sure its the exact same as yours, your launch options should look like this now.

"MANGOHUD_CONFIGFILE=/home/"YOURNAME"/Documents/fallout4MangoHud.conf mangohud %command%"

when you start your game you should see the mango hud overlay on your top left of your screen which means its enabled, but maybe you want to disable the overlay while keeping the settings we applied, back into the config file should have an option to disable the overlay.

Editing ini files

We now will be editing ini files to disable Vsync for fallout 4, doing so will fix the mouse input delay we are experiencing and have a smoother experience, this issue is also on windows so its not a linux issue but it does seem to be more noticeable on linux.

1: Finding the ini files location

Find your steam library, this depends on if you have it default or you have decided to have your steam library on an external drive, I have my library on my 1tb SSD, when you find your steam library we want to go to this path. "SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/377160/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/My Games/Fallout4/"

2: Turning off Vsync

Open up fallout4.ini and find this option "iPresentInterval=1" and change 1 to 0, this disables Vsync save and exit and now also open up fallout4pref.ini find the option "iPresentInterval=1" and again set it to 0, not sure why there is two configs but if both arent set to 0 it sometimes turns it back on, not sure why, also I should mention starting fallout 4 and changing the graphic setting WILL RESTART YOUR CONFIG, so make a backup or change the graphics to what you want and then set the config file.

Optional Improvements

Improvement 1: Gamemode

Gamemode is a neat program that increases performance for most games, gamemode does specific optimizations for the gpu and cpu, you can learn more at : https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode

1: installing Gamemode

to install gamemode go to your package manager and search gamemode and install it, simple as that

2: Enabling Gamemode

go to your fallout 4 launch options and add gamemode like so "gamemoderun MANGOHUD_CONFIGFILE=/home/USERNAME/Documents/MangoHud.conf mangohud %command%"
run the game and it should notice a increase in fps and stability!

Improvement 2: Setting game threads

I actually noticed a decent amount of stability improvements with this setting, its cpu dependent so if you have a cpu with more then 4 cores and threads I recommend you use this setting!

1: Adding ini line

go to your steam library and go to this path "SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/377160/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Fallout4/" then open up fallout4Custom.ini and add this ltwo lines.

[General]
iNumHWThreads= xx

xx being the number of cpu threads you have, I have a 6 core, 12 thread cpu so I put it at 12, though you could lower it by 2 so I set it to 10 just to leave the system with something to use.

Improvement 3: Setting the game to fullscreen

At default the game is set to borderless mode, this means you have to ability to alt tab out of the game but using borderless window actually decrease performance for a small amount, so if you are barely hitting that sweet spot of 60 fps, this can make it a little better

1: Changing ini file settings

you first need to go into your fallout4prefs.ini file, this is located in "SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/377160/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Fallout4/", open up fallout4prefs and search for these options and change them to these lines, fullscreen should be enabled.

bTopMostWindow=1
bMaximizeWindow=1
bBorderless=1
bFull Screen=0
iSize H=1080
iSize W=1920

Improvement 4: Disabling High resolution textures

Why, because they do nothing but waste space, and are not optimized at all, I recommend on using mods if you want your game to look better.

1: Removing High resolution textures.

Go to your fallout4 properties and go down to DLC, now find High resolution textures and un-tick the box, done, saves you 50 GBS! OF USELESS DATA and your game will run better now!

[Greg Goodman]

I tried this guide and ProtonDB tinkering advice(people reporting great experience on weaker machines). I just can't squeeze more than 15 FPS from this game.

[Clothahn]

Still working very well. You can skip the first part about alternative Proton.
thxsomuch

[JS7H]

This was the only game I have needed to useoptimization, and it worked for me..
Every other game ran more stable, faster FPS, smoother,everything, compared to windows 11 pro, AND with lower temps.. I switched to linux for gaming only recently, and now Fallout 4 is ALSO running better than all others, I am officiallyl ONLY using windows for ASIO ableton and reason.. If I can get that to work without or the same latency, Windows will fly out the door forever.

[RedSnt]

Thanks for all the tips. It was biPresentInterval=1 that I needed for the game to not run like thick soup.
Gamemode and MangoHud are a must. I can recommend GOverlay for setting up your MangoHud.conf file. I have it set to global and have several FPS limits set to toggle between (144, 108, 72, 0) so I have near vsync like options to choose from (default FPS limit switcher key is F1, and you hide the overlay with shift+F12 - you can change it in the .conf file).

[outsidefactor]

The release of Proton 8 makes GE unneeded, especially as Proton 8 works so well with the Linux Mod Organiser 2 installer.

[vArIaBlEsYnApSeS]

Thanks this guide quasi works on my 5 year old potato gpu laptop. Couldn't use the Mango or the Gamemode codes in the launcher just wouldn't start with the lines in there. It is still sketchy slow but there are some minor improvements with this guide.

[Pirate Jones]

buy normal pc to gaming lol, linux to hack the nasa

[Bongo]

> I use arch btw
I am using Debian BTW. I didn't like Arch.

[Big Laugh]

to add to this, one can type in the launch options "konsole && echo %command% > /dev/null" which will open konsole, assuming you have it installed, with the correct variables for your prefix and stuff. Then you can ls to find where you are, and then move the latest version of Mod Organizer's installer into this folder, then run it using proton. Something like "~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/Proton-6.14-GE-2/proton run ModOrganizer.exe" if you are using protonGE 6.14 2. You can also install the F4SE to this same folder, and with these tools play a modded version of Fallout 4 on Linux. I use arch btw

[Big Laugh]

Dude, When it comes to linux... you need like 20 more IQ... Explain this guys that you dont read the comments on this amazing guide