Steam, Lutris & Wine

Steam, Lutris & Wine

This article will guide you through the setup of game launchers on Arch Linux.

Table of contents:
  1. Steam
  2. Lutris
  3. Wine

Sources:
Linux gaming guide by @keybreak

Steam

TL;DR

  1. Enable Proton in Steam play.
  2. Check your game in protondb for game state / recommendations.
  3. Problems? Try GloriousEggroll or TK-Glitch engines or see full 4.4 Problems section.
  • Config location: ~/.steam
  • Proton engines location: ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common

Keep in mind that Proton will be installed in the same library as the first Steam Play game you try to launch, and will only be installed in one location.

  • Game PREFIX location, where [appid] is your game id: (look up steamdb if in doubt)
    ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/[appid]/pfx/

More Proton FAQ

1. Setup

  1. Install package:
pacman -S steam

Make sure to select a valid vulkan package fitting your used GPU (graphics-card) it will show up like this:

And read the output of the install process to make sure inserting the correct number.

  1. If using a controller, also install:
yay -S game-devices-udev
  1. Launch client and login to your account.
  2. Enable Proton to play Windows games with Linux Steam;
    • Steam -> Settings -> Steam Play
    • Enable Steam Play for supported titles.
    • Enable Steam Play for all other titles.
    • Run other titles with…
      (here you can choose a Proton version which will be used globally)

2. Install games

Now you’re ready to install games!

  1. Download game.
  2. Go to Library tab.
  3. Select your game title on left panel.
  4. Hit Play!

3. Configuration

To configure Proton through Environment variables, which you may see in protondb reports;
(see available options)

  1. Select game title on left panel.
  2. Right Button -> Properties -> Set launch options…
  3. Enter desired variables, separated by a space and ending with %command%
  • To disable variable, add =0 after
  • To enable, use non 0 values
  • For example, let’s enable DXVK HUD
    DXVK_HUD=full %command%
  • Install additional original Windows libraries with Winetricks (if required), where [appid] is your game id:
    (look up steamdb if in doubt)
    WINEPREFIX="~/.steam/root/steamapps/compatdata/[appid]/pfx/" winetricks "win7"

To use specific version of Proton for specific game (may be useful if latest has problems);

  1. Select game title on left panel.
  2. Right Button -> Properties
    • Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool.
    • From dropdown menu choose Proton engine.

Install custom Proton engine;
(eg. GloriousEggroll or TK-Glitch)

  1. Create ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d directory, if it does not exist.
  2. Extract archive to ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d
  3. Restart Steam.
  4. Select custom Proton engine for specific game or globally.
  • Change default location for games library;
    • Steam -> Settings -> Downloads -> Steam library folders
    • Add library folder
      (you can choose for example another drive)
    • Right Button -> Make Default folder
      (if you want it as default)
  • If you want to use NTFS disks with Linux Steam: Using a NTFS disk with Linux and Windows
  • Create log file to check if everything fine or file a bug, use Environment variable:
    PROTON_LOG=1 %command%
  • Log will be saved at this location, where [appid] is your game id (look up steamdb if in doubt):
    ~/steam-[appid].log

4. Problems

  • Game doesn’t launch or crash:
    • See if there are some known solutions to problems of this game at protondb or lutris.
    • Try to disable DXVK PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command% If it works without DXVK.
    • Still doesn’t work? Check Requirements and Proton bugs. If you have an AMD GPU check this.
  • Game stuttering on first launch:
    • This is normal, because shaders have to be loaded first. They are written directly into shader cache.

Lutris

Best all-around game launcher, can be used for: Wine, Steam, Native, Emulators
See how at 2. Configuration and 4. Game configuration.

  • Config locations:
    ~/.config/lutris
    ~/.local/share/lutris
  • Icons created by Lutris (might be useful to backup / transfer your library):
    ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps
  • Wine / Proton engines location:
    ~/.local/share/lutris/runners/wine
  • A lot of useful libraries & runtimes which for example allow to easily run Proton without steam client!
    ~/.local/share/lutris/runtime

1. Setup

Install package:

pacman -S lutris

2. Configuration

You can configure Defaults for each runner (default settings when you add new game).

  1. On left panel hover over Wine tab and select cog.
  2. Show advanced options on bottom left.
  3. Runner options tab:
    • Wine version – most important, here you can set / update the default Engine which will be used for all games. It can use anything installed: System, PlayOnLinux, Steam, or any Engine put in:
      text ~/.local/share/lutris/runners/wine
      text ~/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-amd64
    • Enable DXVK/VKD3D – useful to turn off globally, if your GPU doesn’t support Vulkan.
  4. System options tab:
    • Restore resolution on game exit. (may be useful in some cases)
    • Switch to US keyboard layout. (may solve problems for multi-lingual inputs)

3. Add game

  1. Press to add a game, let’s do a minimal setup required to start.
  2. Game info tab
    • Name – enter name of your game, you can name it whatever makes sense for you.
    • Runner – select Wine.
    • Release year – optional, but nice in case you have big library.
      (you can look up year of your game in PCgamingWiki)
  3. Game options tab
    • Executable
      Some games have multiple executables, prefer x64 ones first!
      text ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/Crysis/drive_c/Games/Crysis/Bin64/Crysis.exe
    • Wine prefix
      text ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/Crysis
  4. Save – your game will now be available on the list.
  5. If there’s no game image, that’s caused by Name not being exactly identical to its database one.
    Fix with Identifier. Look up the game on Lutris db
    Get this ID: https://lutris.net/games/crysis/ and paste it into Game settings.
  6. Select game, Right  Button -> Configure
  7. Identifier Change and paste crysis.
  8. Apply
  9. Save

4. Game configuration

Here are some essential configuration options to know.

  1. Select game, Right  Button -> Configure
  2. Runner options tab:
    • Wine version – you can force Engine for a specific game (will be used even if you change global, so don’t forget to change that option back if needed).
    • Enable DXVK/VKD3D in most cases it’s best to use, but can be toggled in case of problems.
    • DXVK version – you can force specific DXVK version for a specific game, in case of problems.
    • Enable Esync – best to enable in most games which heavily use CPU or to avoid stuttering.
    • Enable Fsync – same as Esync. Should be better, but Engine and Kernel must support it! (Lutris will alert you if it’s not supported by Engine in use)
  1. System options tab:
    • Disable Lutris runtime
  2. Game options tab:
    • Arguments – a very useful option to pass game command-line options.
      (for example in Crysis to force DirectX 10 mode: -dx10)
  3. Install game.

Lutris can auto-install the required Engine and Winetricks. Also you can download an Install script.
Install scripts are not always a recommended method of installation;

  • Scripts are made by regular users and can be outdated or not follow current best practices.
  • Scripts can use a win32 Engine. (you can change Wine / Proton version later, but not it’s ARCH!)
  1. Find your game from Lutris (or on Lutris db) Search -> Search Lutris.net
  2. Select game, Install
  3. Choose Installer script to use, it can be either of; Wine / Steam / Emulator – choose wisely!
  4. From now on follow dialogs and install whatever is offered to you.
  5. Turn off Lutris search mode, now it will be available in your games library and you can begin playing.
 TIP: When using Proton or Protonified engine with Lutris you MUST use option:
Disable Lutris runtime either globally or for specific game.

Wine

TL;DR

  1. Create non-system WINEPREFIX with non-system Wine (amd64):
    POL (staging-linux-amd64, upstream-linux-amd64)
    It’s better to use separate prefix for each game.
  2. Check protondb and lutris for game state / recommendations.
  3. Install game. (prefer DRM-free installers like GOG)
  4. Use Lutris as launcher.
  5. Enable DXVK and Esync.
  6. Problems? Try GloriousEggroll or TK-Glitch engines, or see full 7. Problems section.
 TIP: Do NOT launch wine / winetricks directly from launcher or terminal without ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES, as this will add unnecessary stuff and mess with your mime-associations, icons, etc.
  • Default WINEPREFIX for system version of Wine:
    (not needed for games, can be safely removed if not used by anything else)
    ~/.wine
  • Mono (FOSS .NET by Wine) & Gecko (FOSS Internet Explorer by Wine) installers location:
    (both auto-installed while creating WINEPREFIX)
    ~/.cache/wine
  • Winetricks downloaded installers location:
    ~/.cache/winetricks

1. Prepare

Create the following bash scripts and make them executable with chmod;

create-structure.sh

#!/bin/bash
title=$(basename "$0")
echo -n -e "\033]0;$title\007"

# Colors
c0=

\e[0m'
c1=$(tput setaf 202)
c2=$(tput setaf 154)
b0=

\e[25m'
b1=

\e[5m'

# Force output in english
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

# OPTIONS
WINE_ROOT="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux"

STRUCTURE=(
    "$WINE_ROOT"
    "$WINE_ROOT/wineprefix"
    "$WINE_ROOT/wine"
    "$WINE_ROOT/wine/linux-amd64"
    "$WINE_ROOT/wine/linux-x86"
)


main() {

    create_structure
}


create_structure() {

    echo
    echo "   ---------------   Create structure   ---------------   "
    echo

    for path in "${STRUCTURE[@]}";
    do
        if [ ! -e "$path" ];
        then
            mkdir -p "$path" \
            && echo "${c2}[+]${c0} ${path}" \
            || echo "${c1}[${b1} ${b0}]${c0} ${path}"
        else
            echo "${c2}[x]${c0} ${path}"
        fi
    done

    echo
    echo "${c2}Script finished!${c0}"
}

main "$@"

create-prefix.sh

#!/bin/bash
title=$(basename "$0")
echo -n -e "\033]0;$title\007"

# Colors
c0=

\e[0m'
c1=$(tput setaf 202)
c2=$(tput setaf 154)
b0=

\e[25m'
b1=

\e[5m'

# Force output in english
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

# OPTIONS
NAME="GameName"
ENGINE="5.11-staging"
ARCH="amd64"

WINE_ROOT="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux"
PREFIX="${WINE_ROOT}/wineprefix/${NAME}"
WINE="${WINE_ROOT}/wine/linux-${ARCH}/${ENGINE}"
LOADER="${WINE}/bin/wine"
SERVER="${WINE}/bin/wineserver"


main() {

    create_prefix
}


create_prefix() {

    echo
    echo "   ----------------   Create prefix   -----------------   "
    echo

    ARCH=$([ "$ARCH" == "amd64" ] && echo "win64" || echo "win32")

    env WINEARCH="$ARCH" WINEPREFIX="$PREFIX" WINELOADER="$LOADER" WINESERVER="$SERVER" WINEDEBUG="-all" wineboot
    env WINEPREFIX="$PREFIX" WINE="$LOADER" WINESERVER="$SERVER" winetricks isolate_home mimeassoc=off

    echo
    echo "${c2}Script finished!${c0}"
}

main "$@"

install.sh

#!/bin/bash
title=$(basename "$0")
echo -n -e "\033]0;$title\007"

# Colors
c0=

\e[0m'
c1=$(tput setaf 202)
c2=$(tput setaf 154)
b0=

\e[25m'
b1=

\e[5m'

# Force output in english
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

# OPTIONS
SETUP="Setup.exe"
NAME="GameName"
ENGINE="5.11-staging"
ARCH="amd64"

WINE_ROOT="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux"
PREFIX="${WINE_ROOT}/wineprefix/${NAME}"
WINE="${WINE_ROOT}/wine/linux-${ARCH}/${ENGINE}"
LOADER="${WINE}/bin/wine"
SERVER="${WINE}/bin/wineserver"


main() {

    run "${SETUP}"
}


run() {

    echo
    echo "   ---------------------   Run   ----------------------   "
    echo

    local file="$1"
    [ -f "$file" ] || exit_error "$file doesn't exist"

    if echo "$file" | grep -iq '.msi';
    then
        echo "${c2}[>] run .msi ${c0} $file"
        env WINEPREFIX="$PREFIX" WINELOADER="$LOADER" WINESERVER="$SERVER" WINEDEBUG="-all" WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winemenubuilder.exe=d" msiexec /i "$file"
    else
        echo "${c2}[>] run .exe ${c0} $file"
        env WINEPREFIX="$PREFIX" WINELOADER="$LOADER" WINESERVER="$SERVER" WINEDEBUG="-all" WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winemenubuilder.exe=d" "$LOADER" "$file"
    fi

    echo
    echo "${c2}Script finished!${c0}"
}

main "$@"

tricks.sh

#!/bin/bash
title=$(basename "$0")
echo -n -e "\033]0;$title\007"

# Colors
c0=

\e[0m'
c1=$(tput setaf 202)
c2=$(tput setaf 154)
b0=

\e[25m'
b1=

\e[5m'

# Force output in english
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

# OPTIONS
TRICKS=(
    win7
)
NAME="GameName"
ENGINE="5.11-staging"
ARCH="amd64"

WINE_ROOT="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux"
PREFIX="${WINE_ROOT}/wineprefix/${NAME}"
WINE="${WINE_ROOT}/wine/linux-${ARCH}/${ENGINE}"
LOADER="${WINE}/bin/wine"
SERVER="${WINE}/bin/wineserver"


main() {

    tricks
}


tricks() {

    echo
    echo "   --------------------   Tricks   --------------------   "
    echo

    printf "%s\n" "${TRICKS[@]}"

    env WINEPREFIX="$PREFIX" WINE="$LOADER" WINESERVER="$SERVER" winetricks "${TRICKS[@]}"

    echo
    echo "${c2}Script finished!${c0}"
}

main "$@"

2. Setup

  1. Install Wine package (it doesn’t really matter which one you use as system version):
pacman -S wine
pacman -S wine-staging
  1. Install Winetricks package:
pacman -S winetricks
  1. Run create-structure.sh script, it will create folder structure in:
    ~/.PlayOnLinux ├── wine │ ├── linux-amd64 │ └── linux-x86 └── wineprefix

3. Engine

With Wine you can use any Engine! Few things to know;

  • Usually it’s best to use the latest version, unless there is a known problem or an update has broken compatibility for a specific game.
  • You can upgrade or downgrade to any Engine and Version without problems. Just note that if you go from Wine to Proton your new user directory will move to: drive_c/users/steamuser/

If your game configs / saves are in an old user directory, just move them to steamuser or create a symlink. Do the opposite to update from Proton to Wine.

  • You can use only one ARCH for PREFIX since it’s created, and in most cases you should use amd64!

Best to choose engines in the given order, in case of problems;

  • PlayOnLinux (staging-linux-amd64, upstream-linux-amd64)
    (best place for compiled versions of original Wine / Wine-staging)
  • TK-Glitch (Wine version)
  • GloriousEggroll
  • Proton Compile source or if you have Steam client download it and copy this dir:
    ~/.steam/root/steamapps/common/Proton 5.0/dist
    …to your Engines path and rename it 5.0-proton:
    ~/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-amd64/5.0-proton

Once downloaded, put engine in: ~/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-amd64

4. Create prefix

To now demonstrate a complex case, let’s install Crysis from GOG.
After all, this is the most important question of gaming: “But can it run Crysis?!”

  1. Open create-prefix.sh with a text editor of your choice, and change these options:
    # OPTIONS NAME="Crysis" ENGINE="5.11-staging"
  2. Run create-prefix.sh script. This will create your prefix at:
    bash ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/Crysis
 TIP: Such a PREFIX is fully portable, if you remove this dir with symlinks to devices:
~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/Crysis/dosdevices
Now it's safe to copy / backup PREFIX.
It will be auto-created next time you run anything in PREFIX - so it's safe!

5. Install game

  1. Open install.sh with a text editor of your choice, and change these options:
    # OPTIONS SETUP="setup_crysis_2.0.0.7.exe" NAME="Crysis" ENGINE="5.11-staging"
    You can use absolute or relative to Setup executable, if you use relative, like i did here – just copy script to your setup directory. Make sure your NAME and ENGINE variables are same as on 4. Create prefix.
  2. Run install.sh script.
  3. Follow installer steps and install to some simple location like C:\Games\Crysis
    if possible avoid and disable;
    Any redistributable software like DirectX, Microsoft Visual C++, etc.
    Create desktop icon / link.
 TIP: If you don't want auto-installed proprietary software (GOG installers don't ask you about installing redistributables);
Create temporary PREFIX CrysisTemp.
Install game as usual.
Move game folder to clean Crysis PREFIX.
Remove CrysisTemp PREFIX.
  1. This is a rare case, but if you look on Lutris db see Wine GOG version.
    Install -> dropdown -> Views install script.
    You will see some winetricks recommendations:
d3dx10_43
d3dcompiler_43
vcrun2005

You can try without, but in general Lutris has good recommendations.

Always recommended to add win7 at the end of tricks, because sometimes winetricks reset OS to install some software properly!

  1. Open tricks.sh with text editor of your choice, and change this value:
    # OPTIONS TRICKS=( d3dx10_43 d3dcompiler_43 vcrun2005 win7 ) NAME="Crysis" ENGINE="5.11-staging"
    Make sure your NAME and ENGINE variables are same as on 4. Create prefix.
  2. Run tricks.sh script.
    Just proceed with installers windows-style, if asked about Sending anonymous information or something along those lines – select NO.

6. Configuration

Use Lutris as a launcher, it will make things much easier!
Read from Lutris up to 4. Game configuration.

7. Problems

  • Installer gives errors such as:
    Runtime Error (at -1:0): Cannot Import dll: C:\users\user\Temp\is-VADAE.tmp\isskin.dllerr:module:import_dll Library MFC42.DLL (which is needed by L"C:\\users\\ready2rumbelx\\Temp\\is-L6E45.tmp\\isskin.dll") not found
    • To solve, install those winetricks with tricks.sh: mfc42 vcrun6
  • Installer fails;
    • Prefer simple installers and no DRM if possible, these are main points of failure. (for example GOG)
    • If a retail game (CD / DVD) fails to install directly in Wine, then install on a Windows VM and copy installed game folder in your WINEPREFIX.
    • Still doesn’t work? Please report bug to Wine.
  • Launch fails or crashes during gameplay;
    • Disable DXVK / VKD3D
    • If it works without DXVK, report bug to DXVK
    • Disable Lutris runtime.
    • Try another Engine or version.
  • Multiplayer games might not work because of anti-cheat.
 TIP: To disable network for WINEPREFIX use Firewall.
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