this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2023
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I'd argue that the idea that most games don't work on Linux is a flat-out misconception in 2023.
It's hard to quantify, but Valve's own Steam Deck (=running on Linux) verification stats have 70% of games either Verified or Playable (Playable generally means that it runs but text is small on the Deck screen, or it needs a lot of keyboard input -- nothing that matters on the desktop). Crucially, "Unsupported" doesn't mean it doesn't run -- it means untested, and in my experience at least, many of those just work too.
Protondb shows 80% of its catalog with a Platinum, Gold, or Silver rating -- 70% are Gold. Silver generally corresponds to e.g. switching to Proton Experimental, which is a single-click process.
Anecdotally, after being gaming only on Linux for more than a year, with a catalog of 500+ games, I've had one (1) that gave me any more trouble than that Proton Experimental switch (Assetto Corsa, first one).
So there is no "unspoken part" here. The experience running Windows games on Linux isn't what it was even 2 years ago. It is, for many people, an entirely seamless experience now.
PS: seeing Windows games running better on Linux isn't a new observation either. Elden Ring was a great example where Proton shader precaching eliminated the stutter that plagued that game at launch, so it didn't happen on Linux.
Wait...so, if i understand this correctly yeah...the Deck might upen us all up to a future of Linux as our operating system as gamers?
Seeing how popular it is etc, might that actually be on purpose? Excuse me being dumb, i just play games and that's it basically no real computer tech knowledge.
That was always Gabe's intention with SteamOS when it came out around a decade ago. He has never really liked windows, and definitely never liked the potential for Microsoft to mess with his product. SteamOS was made from the ground up to supplant windows as the primary gamer OS, we are just now witnessing the turning of the tide.
Gabe Newell has been openly critizicing Microsoft for quite some time now and therefore, Valve has been pro Linux for years.
It is not too far fetched that the Steamdeck is their second attempt to make Linux gaming more widespread after the failed "Steamboxes". This and they took the opportunity to make a PC-Switch knock-off when the market was perfectly ready for it.
"Proton shader precaching eliminated the stutter that plagued that game at launch, so it didn't happen on Linux."
I've been meaning to ask, and it probably should be it's own thread, but when launching a game and it says 'Processing Vulkan Shaders', does allowing it to partially process do anything.
Warframe for me will quickly jump to 33%, then do about 1% per 10-20 seconds. I don't want to wait 10+ minutes to reach 100%, but does letting it get to like 40-60%, then hitting skip, at least keep the processed sharers, or does it skip/dump and process on demand? Basically, is Immediate skip vs giving it a minute or two before skipping worth anything?
I can only speak from my own experience on this one, but depending on the game, letting it complete means less stuttering the first time you see some shader effect in-game. My understanding is that it offsets processing that otherwise has to happen during runtime.
I've seen conflicting reports of how worth it that is, and I suppose it probably comes down to a lot of factors, in particular the game itself and the power of the hardware it's running on.
I tend to let it complete always, but for me that's generally less than a minute. Gives me time to get my gaming beverage ready, haha
If you let it run through once, it should cache the compiled shaders so it will recompile only after the game or your gpu drivers are updated
"gave me any more trouble than that Proton Experimental switch (Assetto Corsa, first one)."
Oh great, the only game I have any interest in playing...
The instructions for getting it to run are all over Protondb (needs winetricks), and even then, it looks like a minority of hardware configs that have issues -- perhaps even AMD specifically.
Edit: also it looks like it may work OOTB now if you start it using Glorious Eggroll's Proton 7.2 or higher