1y ago

"You should migrate to Linux"

Dual-booting Windows 11 and Fedora 38. Gaming on Win 11 is, as expected, most times great. I want to migrate to Fedora and use it as a daily driver, and while it does a damn good job at doing just that, it's disturbingly aweful at gaming. I've installed Steam and I set out to try a couple of games to see what it would handle.

It should be noted that I'm not a hardcore gamer, and I've historically not gamed on PC (but PS and Xbox), so I don't have quite the extensive library of games on Steam like many others do. I've got Game Pass, but that won't help me here. Anyhow... the games I've tried to run are games that I currently have on Steam.

Hardware:

CPU: Ryzen 5 4600G
GPU: RX 6700 XT
RAM: 32 GB 3200 MHz
SSD: 4 TB M.2
I expected Civilization VI to run fine, and... it did. although anti-aliasing decided not to work.
Humankind, does not run. At all.
Broforce does in fact run perfectly fine!
F1 2015 (don't laugh, it was free), does run and it does in fact run at max settings, but the controls (keyboard + xbox) are fucked, so that's also a no go.
Red Dead Redemption 2, hahaha no.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, hahah no, for some reason.

While I "love" and support "Linux", this doesn't cut it. Why am I even "here"? I've been using "Linux" for at least 15 years (incl. Windows),but if I want to play a God damn fucking game, I want to play it now, not tomorrow, or after I've googled a fucking hack that'll break x amount of shit and take me hours to get running. This is why I'll still use Win 11 as my daily.

Fedora as an OS is smooth, quick AF and I very much like it. Gaming on it? God no.

My point is, while Win 11 is basically "don't worry, it'll run!", Linux (or Fedora at least is "I don't know... maybe?". That won't convince a lot of people, and currently not me.

EDIT: THIS IS WHY LEMMY IS BETTER THAN REDDIT. HUMAN CONVERSATION. THANK YOU ALL

67 comments

Others have said enough but I just want to mention protondb.com look up a game you want to play here and you can see how others on Linux are doing with it.
- Yeah, thanks for the mention, but it doesn't seem very reliable unless people mention their HW. I'm on an all AMD system and even though it's rated GOLD, it doesn't even run on my system. (4600G & 6700 XT).
  Your reply is MUCH appreciated though!
  
  Yeah it should give you an idea if it’s Linux making it harder for you to game or if it’s your hardware. Or which version of proton they are using or any tweaks they did. Good luck!
  
  This is a late reply so you may have already noticed by now, but in case you didn't (or someone else who passes by doesn't notice) - ProtonDB by default lists Steam Deck users on the top half of each game's entry now so you won't see those users hardware as it should be the same. However, on the second lower half of the page you'll see people who aren't on Steam Deck and generally users have their HW included so it shows up to the right of their comments.
  I think its incredibly silly that it can't be changed. I don't have a Steam Deck for example, so I use this Tampermonkey script to add a collapse button to it (I don't want them completely gone as its still a good rough indicator).
  
  For GTA VC for example people list some workarounds: https://www.protondb.com/app/12110.
  You could also try using WINE: https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=18567
  Edit: Usually the only hardware that matters is the GPU. The software is also important: GPU drivers (mostly for Nvidia users), version of Proton/WINE, Wayland vs Xorg, dxvk and extra libraries that a game might need.
- Want to add that on desktop steam you can also add the Deck Verified indicator to games. While this isn't as in depth. It's definitely more streamlined and makes it easier to find games that are supported well.

Red Dead Redemption 2
Are you using the Steam version or the Rockstar version? Because the former should just work OOTB (unless something has changed recently). The latter can be a pain to get working.
I expected Civilization VI to run fine, and… it did. although anti-aliasing decided not to work.
It has a native version and sometimes they are missing features/performance. Try forcing Proton.
while Win 11 is basically “don’t worry, it’ll run!”
That hasn't been my experience at all, even with gaming. But YMMV.
- I played RDR2 on Linux just a few months ago and there was no configuration needed whatsoever.

You didn't mention it in your post, did you make sure you set proton to run for non-verified games in steam settings? Also did you try proton experimental and/or Proton-GE?
HUMANKIND seems to be a mixed bag but the others are reported to run well.
- I did indeed try Proton. Proton is basically why I even bother to install Steam on Linux these days, but Humankind, a game I very much enjoy, does "almost" run. It'll go to a black screen, and then it'll freeze. I've tried different combinations of games and settings (incl. Proton settings)and launch settings, but not a lot seem to want to launch or work.
  Again, I've been a general Linux user for years, and I'll keep using it, but the dream is to completely ditch Windows. It doesn't look like we're quite there yet (to me, at least).
  Note that I'm not making this post to hate on Linux or Fedora, even though it may seem a little... ya. I just want to game without booting into Win 11, and it doesn't let me - yet.
  
  Also, since you're already on Fedora, you should check out Nobara, which is gaming-optimized Fedora-based distro made by GloriousEggroll, the guy who makes Proton-GE.
  
  They said Proton-GE btw, which is a custom build of Proton by GloriousEggroll, which has a bunch of tweaks to make various games run, or run better.
  https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom#overview
  Proton-GE (or Lutris with Wine-GE) is what you really should be using, if you intend to game Linux.

I agree that the experience on Linux is quite variable; I set up my Linux installation to play games once 3 years ago (it didn't take me hours) and my Steam games are plug and play. I don't play all the games from those lists but RDR2 plays perfectly fine for me. Occasionally, there would be updates that would introduce a regression for some games (DX12 is still a bit hit or miss on some titles) and it would take a few searches to find a workaround, but I can accept that, since I can stay on an OS I trust and would rather use. Rarely, there would be a serious bug or issue that I find difficult to triage because I can't tell whose fault it is between Proton/Wine, Steam, Nvidia etc. But this happened once in the past few years.
I think what would help is Steam making their own Wiki (with contributors) on gaming on Linux for its own platform for players who just want a streamlined experience.
But communities like /c/linux_gaming (or its orange site equivalence) are ways to get support and help one another. You could even see it as the "friends you make along the way".
I would say gaming on Linux has come a long way since, but depending on how much time and energy one has for the occasional tinkering, one might need to exercise more patience. Sounds like Windows gives you what you need, and that's okay.
- I’ve gone through about a dozen distros over the last year since I decided to use Linux exclusively, finally landing on EndeavourOS as my current home distro.
  You know what I’ve found? I don’t play games nearly as much, because due to whatever the hell is wrong with my brain, I enjoy the troubleshooting as much or more than the gaming. It’s become an unexpected weekend joy to find some random game from my past have an absolute ball tinkering to make it work only to finally launch the game and say “alright, that was fun” and go to bed.
  I should probably see a professional.
  
  You and I both ;)
  
  Okay I thought I was the only weirdo who had more fun installing and tweaking a game than playing it.
  
  This is exactly what set me on my career path from my time as a teenager finding games on the seven seas. I found that I enjoyed doing all of the service administration, hacking, tweaking, and troubleshooting to get the games working, managed, and distributed more than actually playing the games.
  I spent more time on ripping and copying PlayStation games than I did playing them.
- A+ reply. I totally agree. I'll say that the platform is NOT the problem, but the approach. What is "Linux" these days? A colleague who've been using Windows for all his 35 years asked my yesterday about Linux. "What's the best Linux-thing (distro) for a noob like me that's used to Windows?", was basically his question.
  My question then is "Well, do you game?" Of course, he games. He just bought Baldur's Gate 3. He's set for "life" (cough 1-6 months?). Anyhow, knowing he's playing Baldur's Gate 3, LoL, and WoW (yup), I don't dare push him on his "linux quest" quite yet.
  Linux is fantastic if you know what you want.
  
  Also worth noting that the fact that Linux gaming works at all on many "Windows-exclusive" titles is an absolute magnificent feat of engineering. For the longest time we've been working to get games working on Linux despite both game developers and engine makers historically expressing anything between disinterest and antagonism towards supporting games on Linux.
  But I also get that the final product is still not all that smooth from a user's perspective. Just be sure to put the blame on where it belongs (definitely not Linux, or Wine who has been bending over backwards for over a decade to swim against the flow).
  
  LoL and WoW basically work perfectly on Linux (platinum rated). As for BG3, it works fine for the most part with Proton-GE / Proton Experimental. But since it's still very new though, expect bugs, but also expect the compatibility to get even better within the next few weeks.
  My question then is "Well, do you game?"
  Really though, the question shouldn't be "do you game", but "do you like tinkering around, fixing things, troubleshooting, and learning new things, in your free time? ", or, "do you like major changes, and having the patience to make a major change in your life work, or would you rather prefer familiarity and stability, a mindset of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'?"
  If someone has been running Windows for 35 years and hasn't checked out Linux already in some capacity, I doubt they're the kind who likes change, the kind of person who likes to experiment and tinker. Personally, I wouldn't recommend Linux to them based on that reason, unless they're also the non-tech-savvy kind who have very simple requirements - like my Mum and Dad, who've been running Linux for over a decade now without any issues (because their requirements are very simple, so Linux fits their needs perfectly).
  
  Wait, but the three games you listed all work great on Linux. I'm confused. I am a few hours into BG3, I play LoL a few times a week, and I know WoW works because I played a ton of Hearthstone and Overwatch a few years back and those were some of the first games working well with DXVK. So I know Battle.net games usually work great.
  
  @I@lemmy.world
  My response to his question is usually linux mint

Can you list the issues because I don't have problems with these titles on linux. Maybe fedora issues, they are notorious for not fixing issues. That's why nobara was born
- I have RDR2 installed and it works just fine. My process was:
  Install from Steam
  Play
  That's it. Maybe OP is trying to play from another store? If you play on Steam, almost everything works without any configuration whatsoever.

Freedom requires sacrifices. I research if a game will run before buying it. I don't but the ones that won't, because freedom is more important to me.
This is why I’ll still use Win 11 as my daily.
I think your goal should be to do the opposite. Run GNU/Linux as your daily and switch to Windows only when you have to. Eventually you will become better at solving issues and will be able to run more games without using Windows. Maybe in a few years you will even decide that you no longer care about those remaining games that don't run and ditch Windows entirely.
That won’t convince a lot of people
That's fine. Most people don't care about freedom, security and privacy, so they aren't willing to spend the extra effort to get those things. But it also means that publishers don't have a good reason to stop abusing their users with DRM and spyware, since people will buy those games anyway. They don't have to publish for GNU/Linux, because people are fine with running Windows and not being in control of their computers.

I have a very similar system to you (Fedora 38 + AMD 5800X3D + AMD 6900 XT) as my daily driver and out of the games you listed I can only tell you that Red Dead Redemption 2 worked out of the box with no tinkering.
One thing that comes to mind, maybe it's using the integrated GPU of your 4600G?

RDR2 worked just fine on my system, which is very similar to yours:
CPU: AMD 5600
GPU: RX 6650XT
RAM: 16GB 3000MHz
SSD: 512GB M.2 NVMe
OS: openSUSE Tumbleweed - used KDE on X11, can try on GNOME w/ Wayland later today (I switched recently)
So my GPU is slightly slower, but the same gen, and my CPU is the same class, but without the integrated graphics and one gen newer.
I did nothing to get RDR2 to work, I just installed and launched it.
I haven't tried the others though.
Edit: I just checked, and it works fine on GNOME Wayland, so that's not it.

I exclusively play Steam games on my Ubuntu machine because I don't have to do anything, it just works for me (only had to set up proton once on Steam and I was done forever).
There are sim games that I just boot into Windows to play them.
The boot up time of programs and privacy is worth it in my mind.
- Even with Steam there can still be some strange issues. For example, Far Cry 4 will crash with no error messages if it can see more than 31 logical CPU cores. You have to use the WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY environmental variable to limit it to less cores. Apparently, windows has been programmed to limit the number of CPU cores in certain games to work around bugs that the game developers should have fixed instead. I guess Proton should start doing that too since high core count CPUs are becoming more common.
  
  I wasn't aware, thanks! I guess I'm fairly lucky with my setup then, being either popular or just supported

Dropping by to throw some more praise onto the pile for Nobara Linux - it's my current distro and I have an AMD RX 6700 as well. All the games in my Steam library work great, including Baldur's Gate 3 (no tweaks necessary other than enabling the latest GE-Proton version). Unfortunately I haven't played any of the games you listed; my preferences lean mostly towards RPGs like Elden Ring, Path of Exile, Guild Wars 2, Valheim (with mods!), Enderal and so on.
- How do you run gw2 on linux?
  
  Not the one you have been asking, but you can eigher install Lutris, and then install GW2 from there, or download it on Steam. Those are 2 fairly straightforward ways. If you have an ArenaNet account (rather than an account binded to Steam), but still want to use Steam as your launcher - just write "-provider Portal" in launch options.
  
  I use the Steam version with the -provider Portal launch modifier (lets me use my old ANet account)

Are you using AMDVLK or RADV? I've heard that AMDVLK has been the source of a lot of problems for AMDGPU users on Linux.
- I'm using whatever ships with Fedora 38. I haven't touched it.
  
  mesa-vulkan-drivers are installed? You should check journalctl output when you launch the games that don't work. It should give you more info. AFAIK RDR2 should be working fine.

Do you have Proton installed, and did you tell Steam to run games using it? Go to Steam -> Settings -> Compatibility. Make sure Enable Steam Play is checked for both Supported and "Other" titles, and the drop down has a Proton version in it. I personally use Proton Experimental for everything.
I can't help but notice that Civ VI, F1 2015 and Broforce which all work for you are all native Linux titles, and all of the ones that don't work don't have Linux versions and would therefore need to be run through Proton. ProtonDB lists all of them as Gold tier titles, so they should generally work okay with only minor issues. Steam doesn't do great messaging and prompt players to do this from what I remember.
- Appreciate the reply! Yeah, you're right, the games that should run, run (even though Civ VI is having some issues with AA). I do have Proton enabled, and I have checked ProtonDB (and read comments for tips and "run-commands", but I'm still stuck.
  It should again be mentioned that I'm on Fedora 38, but that shouldn't have any impact right? I'm aware that PopOS is the "go to" distro when you wanna game on Linux, but is that actually true?
  
  There's actually a distro based on Fedora called Nobara that is gamer focused. It's maintained by a well-known Redhat employee who also maintains Proton-GE.
  Nobara KDE has been my distro of choice for a while. Everything seems to just work for me.
  
  I’ve been gaming on fedora for 2 years now, and it’s worked perfectly for me every time. Civ 6 has working AA for me, and even most ray traced games I have run with ray tracing. I can’t recommend pop these days because it is fairly old, and in its next version will get a whole new desktop which may or may not work well.
  
  Regarding the distro, definitely not the case. Steam Deck runs on Arch for example. Years ago I played on Fedora just fine.
  If you don't mind elaborating, what are the issues you're seeing? I absolutely get your frustration, but I think many of us would be happy to help you and hopefully it's a quick solution!
  
  Any distro should work provided you have the right packages. The package maintainers will ensure the versions play nicely together. What matter a bit more is X11 vs. Wayland, and Nvidia vs AMD, but in general, I'm fairly confident you should be able to play on any distro through Steam. Some distros come packed with drivers/wine/etc. for convenience, some you might have to compile them. The former will advertise their "gaming-readiness", I would stick to those. Outside of gaming, you will get the same smoothness you find with Fedora with other distros.

Works for me
- Runs on my machine™

Fedora 38 specifically is terrible for gaming. Google and you'll find out how bad. Ubuntu and derivatives still seem to be the best supported for most gaming applications, especially Steam.
- @justanotherperson @I@lemmy.world
  Huh, I don't use fedora (I use #Nixos). Do those issues also apply to #nobara?
  
  I think it mostly centers around the specific implementation choices the Fedora maintainers made with regard to libraries and kernel modules. Nvidia drivers causing lots of issues, people complain about performance degradation after kernel patches...etc. Reddit is full of users complaints, and if you dig in here, you'll see lots of posts asking for help with issues mention F38.
  
  I found Nobara ran pretty well but maybe 5 % of my library wouldn't work on Nobara but runs on Debian and arch based distros as well as solus on the same hardware.
  
  Nobara is gaming centric, so no. Glorius Eggroll codes on a version of Proton and is the developer of Nobara. However, when I gave it a go I found it to be a bit buggy. YMMV though. (Nobara I mean. His version of Proton is amazing.)

Linux gaming often requires tinkering if there is no native port of the game, and that is unlikely to change in the near future or ever. If you are not the tinkerer type you should keep a Windows partition for games. I've been playing exclusively on Linux for the last two years and almost always the bigger AA games require some adjustment and "Googling" But if it is the cost of my freedom and system that I enjoy to use everyday then I accept it.

Also a side note, they pushed the new steam ui broken and games crash immediately if the overlay displays anything

Are you on Wayland or X11? And have you tried switching it?
I also totally get your point and agree. I started using Fedora this year as well and especially Wayland is driving me nuts but X11 isn't a great alternative either, at least on a notebook. For example: you lose a lot of useful touchpad features, if you go back to X11.
- For me the biggest issue with X is that it can't do per-display scaling, which makes it pretty annoying to use with one 4k and one 1080p display.
  The only workaround that I've found so far that sorta works is just scaling everything up to where it looks good on the biggest screen, and then scaling the other screens down using xrandr.
  Then again the only reason I haven't committed to Wayland is because the issues I've had there have been much worse.

You will get there(although I haven't heard great things about Fedora gaming). I made the switch November 2021 and I haven't booted back into windows in about 9 months. I ended up picked EndeavourOS cause I wanted something Arch based to be as close to Steam Deck packages as possible(and I already prefer KDE Plasma, so picked that as well).
I still have my hiccups. I still can't get SteamVR to work at all. I spent about 45 minutes yesterday troubleshooting why Outward stopped working, when all the protondb reviews say "it just works". I did eventually get it working from a random suggestion from the arch forums to add PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1 %command% to the steam launch commands and that fixed it. If I had to guess I think it's something to do with my 1070Ti not playing nicely with the latest nvidia drivers. Also Epic made some sort of stupid update to FallGuys and I can no longer get it working for more one initial run per install. So that's frustrating.
But I also love how much I know my system now. I love being able to update everything from one or two commands. I love pipewire for doing music recording stuff.(I fought for years on windows to try and cobble together something similar). I love having bash macros to easily download embedded videos and do quick ffmpeg conversions. Really, it definitely comes down to how I feel much more connected to this system than I ever did to a windows install.

Eh... just lower your expectations and dive in. Not like theres any "Wowzers AAA+" game to play nowadays. If anything, its a great way to exercise your braincells and "the future you" will definitely appreciate what you've done today.

This has been the exact same story for decades. Linux is great for certain professional endeavours/for work, but it doesn't really have the ecosystem for gaming that exists on Windows. You can run Linux from inside Windows if you just need a few applications. But sadly, beyond a few publishers who make their games Linux compatible, if you want to game without hassle then Windows is your best bet.

67 comments