Gaming on Linux 2021 | A GNU Era of Gaming

[FreDre]

I've migrated from Windows 10 to Linux Mint a few weeks ago and I couldn't been happier; Much more faster and highly customizable.
The only thing that sucks is that even with a modern NVIDIA GeForce 1060 GPU, I have inconsistent FPS in CS:GO.
I'm using NVIDIA Proprietary drivers.
I've heard that Nouveau (open source NVIDIA drivers) is lagging a lot.
AMD, ironically, is getting better on Linux now (due to Valve's collaborations on MESA).

If Microsoft keeps pushing their Windows 10 cloud/telemetry crap into their users, I can see a bigger migration into the Linux ecosystem.
But I still think the GPU drivers need more work to be on par with Windows.

 

[timmbp]

Fractious thread. Was getting really frustrated with W10 that I decided to upgrade my PC a little bit and switch to Linux. Still have a small W10 partition on it, but plan to stick to Linux full time.

 

[the botanist]

It does have a lot to do with your exclamation. Linux maybe the Dark Souls of operating systems but I switched like 5 years ago and sure enough now using Mac or Windows feels clunky because I've gotten used to something else.

Click to shrink...

This is a really good comparison, I was thinking the exact same thing.
Once you learn how things work you start thinking like "yeah that's nice, why can't I do that on my windows machine".

 

[Xiofire]

Desperately want to ditch Windows and give Linux a fair shake, but I play too many "AAA games" on launch to fully move over in one fell swoop.

Really hope Linux adoption outside of the indie space takes off in a big way.

 

[Mexen]

Good thread.
I run Steam on Ubuntu. Currently waiting for a sale on pillars of eternity.
There's this logic game about circuit puzzles, I think the creator posted it on reddit. I can't remember the name though but it has nerd in the title

 

[Deleted member 1849]

Seems I missed it when creating the thread, but Chasm just got released:

Good thread.
I run Steam on Ubuntu. Currently waiting for a sale on pillars of eternity.
There's this logic game about circuit puzzles, I think the creator posted it on reddit. I can't remember the name though but it has nerd in the title

Click to shrink...

Trying to find this, since none of the puzzle games I know of have nerd in the name.

Is this it? https://iamsodarncool.itch.io/tung

 

[5Twist]

The AMDVLK vs RADV competition definitely helps the AMD cards on Linux. I just wish that we have something similar for NVidia...

 

[Mexen]

Seems I missed it when creating the thread, but Chasm just got released:





Trying to find this, since none of the puzzle games I know of have nerd in the name.

Is this it? https://iamsodarncool.itch.io/tung

Click to shrink...

Wait, what is tung? The Ultimate Nerd Game?
That's it!

Edit: it is!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Crayon]

The AMDVLK vs RADV competition definitely helps the AMD cards on Linux. I just wish that we have something similar for NVidia...

Click to shrink...

I know it's exciting. I'm switching to red next time. I got both my nvidia cards a few years ago when the nv proprietary driver was way ahead in performance.

 

[Damaniel]

So I decided to toss Linux Mint 19 on my PC. Decent so far, but nouveau didn't support my dual monitor setup out of the box so I had to install the binary Nvidia drivers instead (no big deal, I probably would have done it anyway).

I set up my standard software of choice - Discord (works great!), Steam (also works great!), Visual Studio Code (...you get the picture). I played some Torchlight 2 and Borderlands 2 with no issues at all. Wine/Lutris on the other hand? No luck yet. I did get Path of Exile to install after dealing with the version of Wine that Lutris uses (and the version of Steam that it installed under Wine), but when I run it, it reports a frame rate of 0.5 FPS (and, in reality, pretty much hangs without even getting to the title screen). Might be DXVK related - I didn't have a chance to experiment with disabling it but I'll probably do that next.

 

[Crayon]

Great lo-spec game!

This is a roguelike rpg. It's way way more inviting and easy to get into than you may imagine. It's available on steam for about 7 bucks or you can download for free from https://te4.org

This is a super cozy game that won't heat up that old laptop!

 

[5Twist]

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

 

[Crayon]

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

Click to shrink...

I'm I guess a basic user. No development or anything. I switched off windows xp about five years ago when I tried Ubuntu. I've tried multiple distros and I liked most of them. Theyve almost all been official ubuntu flavors with different de's tho. I particularly like lxde and gnome 3. But honestly my favorite is unity. Unpopular, I know. I actually really like it the way it works.

My gf switched a bit after and she sticks with mint.

The farthest I've strayed from the Ubuntu nest is steamos.

 

[Mugen]

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

Click to shrink...

Yes. I use Ubuntu 16.04 on home desktop, Fedora 28 on laptop and Ubuntu 18.04 on work desktop. I prefer 18.04 as Unity and Plymouth caused a lot of headache in 16.04, both at home and work before upgrade. Switched to the amazing i3 window manager instead a while ago though. Future PC might be Fedora+i3 which I believe could be a dream combo, or I stick with 18.04. (Beware of a rather steep learning curve for i3 though.)

 

[Deleted member 1849]

https://www.gog.com/game/this_is_the_police_2

This is the Police 2 with the day 1 DRM free Linux release.

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

Click to shrink...

These days I use Xubuntu at work and Ubuntu with the budgie DE at home. I have used Debian in the past and quite liked it, might even consider going back to it in the future.

Xfce is my preferred DE, absolutely cannot stand Gnome or KDE. It is the perfect mix of a lightweight, customisable environment with everything being pretty traditional and sane.

Budgie is not too bad. The default setup is arguably a bit better than Xfce, but it lacks a lot of the easy customisation options. It also doesn't have the outstanding dual screen and HiDPI bugs that Xfce has.

These days, Linux is more of a means to an end for me, so I don't play about too much with DE's and WM's. Have been considering trying a tiling WM like i3 though.

 

[Dave.]

Nice thread, excellent title!

I've been a primary linux user for a long time now, I love KDE and have used Kubuntu for years. It's awesome how much progress is being made on gaming.

 

[timmbp]

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

Click to shrink...

I'm using Manjaro which is Arch-based. It's nice. Everything worked out of the box for me. Didn't need to hunt for any codecs, drivers, or whatnot. Even my Dualshock 4, which I had trouble with on other distros, worked right when I plugged it in and was recognized by Steam.

 

[Deleted member 1849]

On the topic of good Arch-based distros. I have been real tempted to install Antergos recently. Heard many good things.

 

[Crayon]

I'd like to see a movement where are PC gamers installed Linux in a VM and used it to buy their Steam games that had Linux versions. Just a little thing people could do to show some support for an alternative.

 

[Bjones]

Ive used Debian for years and Ubuntu which is Debian based. Gnome3 is a really good desktop these day.

Elementary is also a good one as I have my wife using it and she took to it pretty quickly. She really liked libre office was free and installed as an alternative to ms office.

 

[Deleted member 43446]

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

Click to shrink...

I've now been running Elementary OS for about a month, super snappy and beautiful distro based on Ubuntu so it is super easy to use. Before Elementary I used Mint as my main OS for about 5 years and before that Ubuntu which was my introduction to Linux back in 2008.

I always dualboot with a Windows version though for pc gaming/emulation and some apps that weren't available on Linux(ie iTunes).

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

Click to shrink...

I dabbled in Mint for a few years, dual booting between Mint and Windows 10. Mint is definitely a great beginner distro, particularly for those used to a traditional desktop paradigm like Windows XP/7. I also used Xubuntu on an old hand-me-down laptop for a couple of years.

I now use Xubuntu 18.04 on my desktop and Ubuntu 18.04 (GNOME) on my laptop. I love how clean, simple and lightweight the Xfce DE is. Gnome feels much better for a touch screen though, which is why I just use the default Ubuntu environment on my laptop. I now use Linux almost exclusively, and only boot Windows 10 if there's a game or app I desperately want to use.

Since Switching to Linux full time, I feel empowered and empassioned about computing in a way I haven't since I built my own PC when I was 17 and started mucking around with a but of code and scripting. It just feels so good to be in control of my desktop again, and I like being part of a collaborative community where anybody can contribute. When my daughter is old enough to want a computer, she's getting a laptop running some Debian derivative.

 

[Deleted member 11934]

I now use Xubuntu 18.04 on my desktop and Ubuntu 18.04 (GNOME) on my laptop. I love how clean, simple and lightweight the Xfce DE is. Gnome feels much better for a touch screen though, which is why I just use the default Ubuntu environment on my laptop. I now use Linux almost exclusively, and only boot Windows 10 if there's a game or app I desperately want to use.

Click to shrink...

I just installed Ubuntu like yesterday, and this new GNOME is confusing, coming from when it was still a couple bars up and down. I don't get the App thing to launch stuff without categories and all. Might be because I avoided Unity. I always loved GNOME but now seriously thinking about moving to KDE.

 

[Deleted member 20297]

I just installed Ubuntu like yesterday, and this new GNOME is confusing, coming from when it was still a couple bars up and down. I don't get the App thing to launch stuff without categories and all. Might be because I avoided Unity. I always loved GNOME but now seriously thinking about moving to KDE.

Click to shrink...

Why not try Mate?

 

[Deleted member 11934]

Why not try Mate?

Click to shrink...

I'll check it out thx!

 

[Deleted member 20297]

Just out of curiosity. What are your preferred distros and DE's? I've been using Linux Mint due to its ease of use and I like the light-weightiness of Xfce. Anyone uses Debian-based or Arch-based distros, by any chance and how is the experience?

Click to shrink...

For desktop, I use Ubuntu Mate, for servers Debian (of course without DE ;)).

 

[Deleted member 721]

Didnt knew ffxv Works on wine


Btw Whats the pros of arch Linux distro comparing to Ubuntu or mint?

 

[Deleted member 20297]

Btw Whats the pros of arch Linux distro comparing to Ubuntu or mint?

Click to shrink...

Arch is a "rolling distro" which means packages get updated when there is an update. For certain software like Firefox, Ubuntu also updates them also within its release but usually, they are way more conservative when it comes to major upgrades to software. Some features get backported to Ubuntu, too, like kernel features, for example and you get new kernels when you "dist-upgrade" to a new major release.
The package format is also way more user-friendly in Arch, the deb-format is not that easy. Well, it is easy to use but when you want to build a new package, the deb format is horrible.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

I just installed Ubuntu like yesterday, and this new GNOME is confusing, coming from when it was still a couple bars up and down. I don't get the App thing to launch stuff without categories and all. Might be because I avoided Unity. I always loved GNOME but now seriously thinking about moving to KDE.

Click to shrink...

I'm not really that into the Gnome interface either, it just works nicely with my touch screen.

I'd strongly recommend Xfce if you just want a classic desktop experience. MATE and Cinnamon are also great, but I'm not as familiar with them.

 

[Deleted member 11934]

Mate feels great, back to when I was a teen trying out 7.10. LOL I'm old.

 

[timmbp]

Setup Lutris for Wine. Seemed to go okay but ran into a bug when trying to install any game in Steam (Wine). Kept getting a 'content servers unavailable' error. A quick search on reddit led my to a fix from WineHQ bugzilla. Guess it's a known bug for fresh install.

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=45329#c4

At least now I've got 868-Hack and Cogmind setup to play.

 

[plebc]

What the situation with Nvidia and Linux laptops these days?

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

What the situation with Nvidia and Linux laptops these days?

Click to shrink...

It varies from brand to brand. Dell and Lenovo laptops are renowned for working well with Linux. You can even buy Dell laptops with Ubuntu on them (or at least you could, not sure if that's still an option). I've also had good experiences with Sony Vaio laptops. Some can be a headache due to weird hardware implementations and stuff. I currently have a Lenovo Yoga 510 that works perfectly with Ubuntu.

System 76 makes excellent Linux laptops at a range of specs, up to a beast with dual 1080ti GPUs.

There are cheap Chinese generic laptops running Linux (like Pinebook), but I haven't heard anything positive.

GPU switching isn't the best in Linux, but in Ubuntu 18.04-based systems, getting a game to run on the dedicated GPU is just a matter of adding a flag to the desktop shortcut (or in terminal, if that's how you choose to launch your games).

 

[Crayon]

I just installed Ubuntu like yesterday, and this new GNOME is confusing, coming from when it was still a couple bars up and down. I don't get the App thing to launch stuff without categories and all. Might be because I avoided Unity. I always loved GNOME but now seriously thinking about moving to KDE.

Click to shrink...

Gnome 3 is.... Fun. lol. As far as I can tell, you're supposed to use a keystroke or two to start the forward search in the apps screen? Idk. It is weird.

I don't know if I would recommend it to many people. But I do find it fun. I like messing around with the gnome extensions.
.
.
.

We have that thread up about twitch Prime. I looked into it really quick, and I'm finding that there's no Linux support at all even though many of the games have Linux versions. And the twitch desktop client does not appear to run very easily in wine.

 

[Deleted member 11934]

Gnome 3 is.... Fun. lol. As far as I can tell, you're supposed to use a keystroke or two to start the forward search in the apps screen? Idk. It is weird.

I don't know if I would recommend it to many people. But I do find it fun. I like messing around with the gnome extensions.

Click to shrink...

I tried! It's just that extensions were having strange issues on a newly installed system, and I didn't find the menu options that good, so I just went to what feels familiar (Gtk2). But some things were undeniably pretty cool.

 

[plebc]

It varies from brand to brand. Dell and Lenovo laptops are renowned for working well with Linux. You can even buy Dell laptops with Ubuntu on them (or at least you could, not sure if that's still an option). I've also had good experiences with Sony Vaio laptops. Some can be a headache due to weird hardware implementations and stuff. I currently have a Lenovo Yoga 510 that works perfectly with Ubuntu.

System 76 makes excellent Linux laptops at a range of specs, up to a beast with dual 1080ti GPUs.

There are cheap Chinese generic laptops running Linux (like Pinebook), but I haven't heard anything positive.

GPU switching isn't the best in Linux, but in Ubuntu 18.04-based systems, getting a game to run on the dedicated GPU is just a matter of adding a flag to the desktop shortcut (or in terminal, if that's how you choose to launch your games).

Click to shrink...

What about battery life? I am interested in Dell XPS 15 with 1050 Ti, but I'm not sure if having a dedicated GPU will have any impact on battery.

 

[5Twist]

Anyone saw this article from Phoronix about Linux losing Steam market-share? I wonder if this is something of concern since while the gaming experience on Linux has improved this year, it's not really gaining traction. In the comments sections, someone posted this link about Linux's issues and while I'm not tech savvy, it sounds like it still has a long ways to go.

 

[Crayon]

Anyone saw this article from Phoronix about Linux losing Steam market-share? I wonder if this is something of concern since while the gaming experience on Linux has improved this year, it's not really gaining traction. In the comments sections, someone posted this link about Linux's issues and while I'm not tech savvy, it sounds like it still has a long ways to go.

Click to shrink...

I saw that. Before it was up, then down again, and up again. I don't think there's much in it. When you are hanging out under 1%, you're almost lost in the noise.

 

[Bjones]

I just installed Ubuntu like yesterday, and this new GNOME is confusing, coming from when it was still a couple bars up and down. I don't get the App thing to launch stuff without categories and all. Might be because I avoided Unity. I always loved GNOME but now seriously thinking about moving to KDE.

Click to shrink...

The newest version of gnome3 is probably the most polished of all the desktops and closest to windows if you set the bar at the bottom.

Cinnamon is good also but not as polished.

The only things big I do not like is you do have to mess around a bit to get normal min max window buttons

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

What about battery life? I am interested in Dell XPS 15 with 1050 Ti, but I'm not sure if having a dedicated GPU will have any impact on battery.

Click to shrink...

Oooh, nice. I haven't used a laptop with NVIDIA graphics, but as I understand NVIDIA Optimus should allow you to control if/when the discrete GPU gets used, thereby saving power. Using a dedicated GPU will definitely drain battery significantly faster than using the integrated Intel graphics, but the ability to disable the GPU negates this.

My Yoga 510 has built in HD620 Intel graphics and a dedicated AMD GPU with 2GB RAM. Ubuntu will use the built in Intel graphics by default, and I'll use that for most games because it's good enough for older games or anything that's not too taxing. If it's a game that requires a bit more grunt ( or more importantly, the dedicated GPU memory), I just make a desktop shortcut for the game and insert a command into the shortcut which will turn on the AMD GPU just for that application. I get like 5 or 6 hours of general PC usage normally, or about 2 hours of gaming on the GPU.

There are some power saving features in modern laptops which are not yet implemented in Linux AFAIK. However, you're probably only talking about saving minutes of battery power with these features. How you use the thing will matter more (e.g. having wireless on, screen brightness, workload).

 

[Bjones]

Anyone saw this article from Phoronix about Linux losing Steam market-share? I wonder if this is something of concern since while the gaming experience on Linux has improved this year, it's not really gaining traction. In the comments sections, someone posted this link about Linux's issues and while I'm not tech savvy, it sounds like it still has a long ways to go.

Click to shrink...

Linux won't take off for gaming unless ms really gives people a reason to want to switch.

But also it will just automatically get better even without big numbers because of mobile devices. Mobile devices being huge means there is more need for middle ware like unreal engine to support standardized apis like Vulkan. Ms has been costing on direct x for a long time and even though it's great! It doesn't do anything for that billion dollar mobile market.

 

[Akelisrain]

Made the switch from Win 10 to Ubuntu today. Biggest reason I chose it was so I can continue my El Gato game capture. Only game I am really going to miss on my pc is T7.

 

[708]

I wish Bethesda would support Linux. They're the only big pub that I care about. If it wasn't for Beth and PUBG, I would have switched to Linux already.

 

[StereoVSN]

I saw that. Before it was up, then down again, and up again. I don't think there's much in it. When you are hanging out under 1%, you're almost lost in the noise.

Click to shrink...

It's mostly the Chinese market users that recently came in starting with PubG that caused the fluctuation. Also that's why Win7 grew as well.

 

[Crayon]

I wish Bethesda would support Linux. They're the only big pub that I care about. If it wasn't for Beth and PUBG, I would have switched to Linux already.

Click to shrink...

Bethesda would be my first pick for a AAA publisher 2 support Linux. Their games do seem to run easily in wine though. Some developers actually pay attention to that but keep it low-key because it's not official support.

 

[Akelisrain]

Ended up reformatting SSD and reinstalling Ubunutu. Spent past two nights trying to get Elgato cap card to work. Never did work though, just didn't compile how all the tutorials did. Probably cause I am using a different version of Ubuntu. Also tried Listro and it kept hanging on me while trying to Install T7. Don't know what I did wrong but hopefully the reformat helps. Got really familiar with terminal the last 2 nights. Going to have to research how to use WINE. Listro seems to confusing for what ever reason, I also dont want to create an account to manage a library .


EDIT: Unable to install Steam via WINE. GET NSIS Error. Giving up for the night. Any advice would be nice. :'(

 

[Deleted member 15948]

Watching this for later reference. Among other things I remember really wanting to get EVE Online working on Wine, but it seemed like just too much effort some years ago.

Especially since I've been playing with custom settings in ds4drv (DS4 controller driver) a lot lately, so I know I've already got the controller situation well under control.

 

[Xiofire]

Might finally bite the bullet and buy another 250GB SSD to give Linux a proper go on my main PC.

Of course my friends decide now is the time to get back into PUBG, so I'll have to keep Windows around for at least the foreseeable future :c

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

Might finally bite the bullet and buy another 250GB SSD to give Linux a proper go on my main PC.

Of course my friends decide now is the time to get back into PUBG, so I'll have to keep Windows around for at least the foreseeable future :c

Click to shrink...

A separate physical drive is definitely the way to go. Windows 10 has been notorious for breaking GRUB during updates lately when using partitions on the same drive. Dual booting is the best of both worlds :D

 

[Xiofire]

A separate physical drive is definitely the way to go. Windows 10 has been notorious for breaking GRUB during updates lately when using partitions on the same drive. Dual booting is the best of both worlds :D

Click to shrink...

Oh damn, I can imagine.
With how Windows like to reset program defaults with every update, I can only imagine how hostile it'd take sharing a hard drive with an entirely different OS :P

EDIT: Unable to install Steam via WINE. GET NSIS Error. Giving up for the night. Any advice would be nice. :'(

Click to shrink...

I'm not very well versed in Linux or getting Windows games under Linux running through WINE, but have you tried Lutris? I get the impression from the YouTube videos and Reddit posts I've seen that Lutris just handles the install of Windows Steam under WINE? Sorry if I've totally misunderstood, very new to this.