Linux Gaming

Sunday Open Thread: Doing Something While Doing Nothing

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I’ve been feeling pretty under weather in and out throughout the day. I woke up feeling fine, had breakfast, and started doing the dishes when I started feeling queasy. I’ve been taking some stuff for it, but I’ve pretty much been relaxing a little more than what I wanted to… oh well. I sometimes think that’s my body’s way of telling me to sit the fuck down and relax for a minute.

I pretty much kicked back and played under Linux up until the evening to crack open Windoze to play Serious Sam 4, where surprisingly Yutram and I had a good time! I tried to get it to work under Linux, and for the most part it does!… but the textures flash in and out like crazy. I’ll have to double check to make sure but I’m pretty sure I’m running the latest Open Source drivers. I also played a little Quantum Break under Linux, and while that does work the game will crash when it tries to play a live action video, and since minor interactions can change how these scenes play it I’m going to have to exclusively play this under Windows unfortunately. Tried to get a couple Sonic games to work; All Stars Racing Transformed runs but I can’t configure the graphics, and Generations runs, but sound is completely broken and controller input is non existent. I did play a bit of Trine, as that does have a native client, only to find that the Linux version only goes up to 1080p while the Windows launcher allows me to use 1440p and also detects my proper refresh rate, whereas the Linux build does not. I’m thinking next time I fiddle with it I’ll see about configuring the text file for the Linux client to see if that makes any difference. I’d rather not run it under Proton unless I absolutely feel the need to.

I’ll see about being a little more productive tomorrow.:P

Playing Spyro To Keep Warm

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I had a nice quiet evening to myself, a bit of a cold bite in the air, and managed to have a little fun with some Proton Powered Spyro to help heat up the room. Now if I could just figure out how to get a mod manager to work properly under Proton or Wine it would be perfect. I even managed to get a couple achievements/trophies at the same time! One funny thing that did happen was finding a sleeping sky bat; usually they hang from the ceiling in the ice cave.

I Learned A Lot About Borderlands 2 This Evening

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Tonight I sat down and played a long overdue session of Borderlands 2. I wanted to do a recording as I do with a lot of things that I play, and as per tradition the encoder in OBS was overloaded, even on settings I usually use. Out of curiosity I decided to use the same settings under the Linux version, and while I’m happy to say that it worked perfectly out of the box with only a slightly lower framerate, the client itself seems to have become a time capsule of sorts of early adventures in Linux porting. I copied my Windows save over to the Linux side and found that my shield and certain weapons were missing, items that happened to be in the Commander Lilith DLC which they never ported outside of Windows (along with some other DLC packs).

Our content is in another castle

I did some further investigation and found that Aspyr is working on an update for the Linux and Mac clients, but until then if I want to play the Linux version it has to be with other Linux and Mac users on a much more ancient build of the game. I have to confess; finding that out after getting a successful recording under Linux was kind of a kick in the crotch to me. I have all of this power and capability now, squandered by missing content, alas… At least they’re working on it though, maybe if we’re lucky they’ll update the graphics a bit? (For the record D3D9 = DirectX 9 and OpenGL is OpenGL)

D3D9
OpenGL
D3D9
OpenGL

It isn’t a dealbreaker or anything, but if Valve can get their games running under Linux with little to no visual sacrifice, then Randy Bitchford should be able to part with some of his Bitchford Bucks to pay for a better Linux experience (though I do like the ad free experience in the old version.  :v ). That said, I was reading the Linux requirements and found that AMD and Intel GPU’s aren’t officially supported (Fuck NVidia). I wonder what an NVidia GPU under Linux would look like? Perhaps something for a future project on my gaming laptop.

Meanwhile, back in Windows; I researched that a bit as well and found some interesting tips that seem to get rid of the encoding problem, at least for my setup. Disabling Ambient Occlusion and switching from borderless window to fullscreen seemed to do the trick. I’m not sure why, but switching from borderless to fullscreen increased my framerate (the opposite if what I would expect), and disabling AO made the encoder overload error go away, at least for local recordings. The true test will be recording and livestreaming it at the same time. If I can do that then my soul will be at peace… until NVidia fucks it up again.

If you’re looking to make some tweaks to your install, no matter what OS platform you’re on I highly recommend the PC Gaming Wiki. They’ve helped me fix up a couple of games thanks to their community provided tips and tricks!

Vacation Day 5: Words This Time

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99% of the day was enjoyed outdoors… with a gaming laptop… for science. I tested a few more games under Proton, and 99% of what I tested actually worked! Mortal Kombat 9 ran as if it were native, Hard Reset Redux worked just as well as on my main desktop, and I even tried a freebie! I played Particula for the first time, and it ran perfectly from what I can tell. I might have to run it under Windows though just to compare grapical details. Framerate was excellent, but I’m not familiar with the game’s graphics, and I couldn’t tell if the enemy emotions on the map (I’ll explain later) were rendering correctly or not… that nerd stuff.

I did play the native port of Valley, which strangely ran better on the laptop than it did the desktop. On my desktop install of Linux it seems to run sluggish, though I might have to double check my settings to make sure it wasn’t something like Motion Blur causing issues. A GTX 1070m should not be outperforming a Vega 64… especially when I know the game runs flawlessly under Windows.

Some Penguin Approved Gaming And Chill

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I kicked back today with a good breakfast, a little photo work, and lots of Linux gaming. Took a bit of a break from using Proton to play some native Linux TF2 and Dusk. Apparently in Discord it reads that I’m playing hl2_linux instead of TF2, that made me chuckle a bit. The last time I played TF2 under Linux it kept giving me stack errors, nice to see they’ve fixed it.

I prepped my laptop on the Linux side for some fun lunch time shenanigans tomorrow. Since DMC5 runs so well on my Manjaro desktop setup with pure AMD hardware I want to see how well it runs on my laptop with Intel/NVidia. I did a quick test launch and it automatically detected the best settings, always a good sign! It even sees the proper refresh rate (144hz). Should make for a fun, scientific lunch break. I also installed a few Portal 2 mods in case I wanted to do somewhat actual not actual science.

Weekend Of Linux Stuffs

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My attempts to try and run this game into the ground have been futile. Other than issues with FOV during cutscenes Devil May Cry 5 continues to run, and at decent framerates despite the eyecandy being cranked to max. My attempts to mod this game on the other hand have proven to be a bit of an issue… I can install and run Vortex, but it only renders as a black window. I can also run Fluffy Manager 5000 but for some reason it doesn’t see the mod folder. Modding will take further science, but aside from that I’m still impressed with how well Devil May Cry 5 performs.

I’m also happy to report that I finally finished the 4th and final part of the Skyrim saga! I’m going to work on the video thumbnails tomorrow, and from there work out release dates, and of course start project prep for the Broforce vids.

I think I have everything pieced together the way I like. I’m running xfce with two tool bars. The one on the bottom is my Linux studio tools. I even installed Photoshop for shits and giggles, and the once in a blue moon chance I decide to use it. It kinda feels mac-ish sitting there on the desktop like that, only cooler looking because I’m outside of their walled garden. 😛

Now… I wonder what would be good for a future Linux livestream. 😛

Add Devil May Cry 5 To The List Of Recommended Playable Linux/Proton Games

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Well… I might not be able to get the first three DMC games to run under Proton, but their latest game DMC5 runs almost perfectly. I’ve only played three levels, but so far it has been just as stable as it is under Windows. The only problem that I’ve found is that it has issues rendering FOV and background/foreground blur during cutscenes.

Graphical glitches aside; DMC5 has been just as impressive performance wise as the RE2 remake. Next time I play I’ll see how it handles recording and mods, though something tells me the latter will be identical in process to Windows.

MangoHUD is Sabrosa

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One of my favorite websites to read is GamingOnLinux, and recently they had an article about MangoHUD. I compiled it to try today, and I have to say it’s pretty nifty.

MangoHUD lets you view your CPU/GPU stats on the fly, and it also reports what API your game is currently using.

This could come in handy for benchmarking purposes. There are more ways to configure it, including an optional GUI you can install separately called goverlay..

I might look into doing some comparison videos on Windows vs Linux performance as I continue to perfect my Linux Gaming studio. Given that I can record Vulkan (under certain conditions) things are looking on the up and up.

Okami Plays Nicely With Proton… Kinda

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When Proton was brand new I remember Okami being among one of the first titles I tried to run, but never to any success. I’m happy to say that has changed, at least with Proton 5.0 hard at work. The only problem I’ve found with it is a random crash that can occur at anytime during any particular cutscene, and given that you have to manually save at certain locations this can be a little annoying if you’ve covered a lot of ground and barely made it to a save point before crashing. Still, it’s much further along than it was when Proton was in its infancy.

Now that I know how well it performs on my desktop I’ll have to install it on the laptop to see how Proton handles the game on an NVidia GPU… because science!

Sunday Summer Evening Open Thread

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We’ve been experiencing a heatwave of sorts for the last couple of days. I’ve been taking my gaming laptop to that magical place called outside. Replaced the Mint partition with Manjaro, configured it to my liking. I have to say I was expecting a minor headache getting the NVidia proprietary drivers to run, but it was extremely painless thanks to instructions at their wiki and a simple duckduckgo search could offer. Then once it was ready enough for my liking I began plugging games into it. Mostly some of the old school Tomb Raiders, and for the hell of it I loaded a Linux native game… that was produced by Microsoft. O_o

I’ve progressed much further into Dust: An Elysian Tail, even managed to get a few achievements! I keep meaning to finish this game, but by the time I pick it up again the saves are far gone. Fortunately this looks like a game the Steam Cloud doesn’t completely screw over. I finished playing on my laptop when things cooled off enough and continued my adventure on my desktop from the exact same point. I love it when things work out like that.