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[Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

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Vlamoric
Posts: 1
Joined: 2023-02-07 00:48

[Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

#1 Post by Vlamoric »

Hello,

I want to know if there are technical possibilities to install a recent video game made for windows 11 on a GNU-Linux distribution like Debian? This would save us from buying the Windows license just to play our video games.

Best regards,

only_someone
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Re: [Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

#2 Post by only_someone »

I recently moved from Windows 10 to Debian 11 as a gamer myself.

There are many games that run natively on GNU/Linux systems but also even more that work with Proton. Proton is a Wine based system to run games for Windows on GNU/Linux systems which works very well. Some games support Proton directly but some do not, you can check this on page [1] to see if it works with your game.

If you install Steam on e.g. Debian [2] Proton comes directly with it. As a tip I can give you in the Steam settings to set it to "Proton Experimental", so the performance is slightly better.

The thing that causes the most errors is the anti-cheat software, which is why most online games do not support Proton. Games like Rainbow Six Siege claim to support Proton, but Easy Anti-Cheat doesn't, so you can't play online.

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[1] https://www.protondb.com/
[2] https://wiki.debian.org/Steam
Last edited by only_someone on 2023-02-07 07:44, edited 3 times in total.

only_someone
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Re: [Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

#3 Post by only_someone »

Before I forget, what you can also look at is Lutris [1], it is a GNU/Linux game manager where you can also play games that are not on Steam. You can easily install it with a Debian package [2].

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[1] https://lutris.net/downloads
[2] https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/lutris

porschemad911
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Re: [Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

#4 Post by porschemad911 »

I exclusively game on my Debian Bullseye + backports desktop and laptop. Well, I also have an offline Windows XP desktop, but I only play old games on that with hardware EAX support.

On my Debian machines, I play Steam games using Proton, and non-Steam games (eg installed from optical media or from downloadable GOG installers) in vanilla Wine prefixes (ie without Lutris, PlayOnLinux etc). Sometimes they require some tweaking, perhaps with winetricks.

I have run quite a few different graphics cards in my desktop, both Nvidia and AMD, and the AMD cards are more reliant on newer kernel and Mesa versions over time. The Nvidia proprietary drivers seem to handle performance improvements and newer features with less dependencies. However, I downgraded from a 2080 Super to a 5700 XT and I wouldn't go back to a Nvidia card at this point. With my Radeon card I have found that for best performance and compatibility, I have had to compile and use on demand newer Mesa versions using this handy script, but I don't think I will do that after Bookworm becomes stable and I upgrade to it.

I have a FreeSync display and have had both Nvidia and AMD cards doing variable refresh rate on it, with the AMD cards being slightly easier to get working.

I use a Logitech G27 force feedback wheel in racing games (Assetto Corsa, Dirt Rally 2.0 etc) and it works really well. I use a wired Xbox 360 controller for some games and that works really well too.

In summary, I'm very happy with the games I can play on my Debian machines, have not found much that I can't get working in the end.

porschemad911
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Re: [Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

#5 Post by porschemad911 »

I should add - I use the LXQT desktop environment with openbox as a window manager vs the xfwm4 window manager that is installed by default with the task-lxqt-desktop package. This is just so I'm not running a compositor for FreeSync and for reduced input lag. I have not had any issues with tearing at all.

porschemad911
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Re: [Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

#6 Post by porschemad911 »

Sorry I should also add - I use Mangohud as an overlay to monitor CPU / GPU performance and to apply an FPS cap. I did build version 0.6.8 from the Github repo and it works really well. The version packaged for Bullseye does mostly work ok, but version 0.6.8 picked up more stats in more games for me.

only_someone
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Re: [Software] Play video games on a linux distribution such as Debian

#7 Post by only_someone »

porschemad911 wrote: 2023-02-09 23:31 Sorry I should also add - I use Mangohud as an overlay to monitor CPU / GPU performance and to apply an FPS cap. I did build version 0.6.8 from the Github repo and it works really well. The version packaged for Bullseye does mostly work ok, but version 0.6.8 picked up more stats in more games for me.
I also use the GOverlay [1] to configure MangoHud. Theoretically you can also just edit a configfile but this way you can see better what you are doing and for beginners like others I know who switched from Windows it was very helpful.

btw Nvidia has e.g. such a replay function in this Geforce Experience, that is not available on GNU/Linux but OBS Studio [2] also has a buffer function (settings > output > "Output mode" to advanced > Replay Buffer) which is more uncomfortable to start but offers much more functions.

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[1] https://packages.debian.org/sid/goverlay
[2] https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/obs-studio

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