How to game on Nitrux pt. 1: Get started

In general, Linux gaming used to be limited to a few FOSS games, but this is no longer the case, and it has seen steady growth over the past few years. With major companies like Valve providing Steam for Linux, Proton, the development of DXVK, the ongoing work by Wine’s developers, and Indie game developers creating games with Linux support out of the box, the fun for Linux continues to expand.

This post will be pt. 1.

Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆

📜 Table of Contents

1. Native
   1. AppImageHub.com
   2. PortableLinuxGames
2. Native and Non-Native
   1. Steam
   2. Heroic Games Launcher
   3. Bottles
   4. itch.io Store
3. Middleware used to run non-native games on Linux
   1. Proton/DXVK
      1. Proton (flavors)
   2. Emulators

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Native

Native games are those specifically designed for Linux and do not require any emulation or Middleware to run.

Not all games native to Linux are FOSS (free, as in freedom, open-source software) or free (as in gratis).

With that said, how can users obtain these native Linux games?

AppImageHub.com

The first source is AppImageHub.com, which offers games (among other applications) packaged as AppImage.

To explore the games listed at AppImageHub.com.

PortableLinuxGames

Likewise, PortableLinuxGames offers game packages such as AppImage. “PortableLinuxGames packs and distributes great Linux games as portable, self-contained packages that will (or should) run on any Linux system. It uses the AppImage package format and some script magic.”

• 🔰 Information: We recommend downloading the files from PortableLinuxGames  ~/Applications for organization.

Native and Non-Native

Non-native games don’t specifically target Linux but require a form of Middleware to run.

Steam

Steam is the most popular source for non-native games on Linux. Steam is a top-rated digital game store that offers Linux games (including free games). Steam has both ported and native Linux games and offers Steam Play for selected Windows games to run on Linux; see Middleware used to run non-native games on Linux.

• The Steam client doesn’t use the AppImage format; it stores the game in the user’s home folder rather than the root directory.
  • 🔰 Information: We include a shortcut to install the Steam client for Linux in the applications menu.

Heroic Games Launcher

Heroic Games Launcher is a popular option for accessing other stores, such as Epic Store, GOG, and Amazon. Heroic (for short) describes itself as “an Open Source Game Launcher for Linux, Windows and macOS.”

• HGL stores its content in the user’s home rather than the root directory.
  • 🔰 Information: We include a shortcut to install Heroic Games Launcher in the applications menu.

Like Steam, Heroic allows users to use multiple Proton and (vanilla) Wine versions.

Bottles

Bottles is an application that lets users run Windows software, such as Heroic Games Launcher and Steam. However, unlike these applications, Bottles uses separate environments (or Bottles, hence the name), allowing users to have different settings for each program. Additionally, Bottles handles many of the components required to run software, such as .NET installers and the VC redistributable packages, all via its integrated dependency manager.

Additionally, Bottles has a feature called Installers, which allows users to install many store launchers or select applications easily; check this link for a list.

• Bottles store their contents in the user’s home directory rather than in the root directory.
  • 🔰 Information: We include a shortcut to install the Bottles in the application menu.

Bottles also allow users to adjust which versions of Proton, DXVK, and VK3D to use.

itch.io Store

A third source for games is itch.io. itch.io is “an open marketplace for independent digital creators focusing on independent video games. It’s a platform that enables anyone to sell the content they’ve created.”

• The itch.io client doesn’t use the AppImage format; it stores the game in the user’s home folder rather than in the root directory, as with a Debian package.
  • 🔰 Information: We include a shortcut to install the itch.io client for Linux in the application menu; we do not include it by default.
  • 🔰 Information: Please refer to their troubleshooting guide for support with itch.io.
    • If users have problems launching the itch.io application after installation, do the following.
      1. Open the applications menu, right-click the desktop launcher, and select Edit application.
      2. Click the Application tab, then add the Chromium option –no-sandbox in the Arguments field.
         • The itch.io Store is not an AppImage. However, it’s an Electron application, so the same arguments apply.
           • 🔰 Information: What does the Chromium option “–no-sandbox” mean?
         • If there are other arguments in the desktop launcher, remove them.
         • Click the Accept button and launch the application.
  • ⚠️ Important: The itch.io Store does not work correctly on a virtual machine.

Middleware used to run non-native games on Linux

Proton/DXVK

First, let’s answer the question, “What is DXVK?“?. DXVK is a set of replacement DLLs that translate DirectX calls to Vulkan.

To run Windows games, Steam uses a version of Wine called “Proton,” which is optimized to run games that lack Linux support. Users can select from bundled Proton versions with Steam, as well as third-party customized versions.

• 🔰 Information: By default, Steam will use Proton as developed and distributed by Valve and does not support adding other flavors or releases of Proton through the GUI. To use different Proton flavors, users must manually add them to Steam.

Proton (flavors)

• Proton-CachyOS is a tool for use with the Steam client and umu-launcher that builds on Proton, introducing experimental features, third-party tools, and more.
• Proton-GE is a custom flavor of Proton created by GloriousEggroll (hence the GE).

To download either flavor of Proton, install ProtonUp-Qt.

Disclaimer: Nitrux does not develop Proton. Please create an issue at their respective bug tracker to report problems with this software.

Emulators

Emulation is a software compatibility layer that simulates the hardware components of game consoles, their instruction sets, and related APIs. In actual game consoles, emulation software can emulate CPUs, GPUs, audio hardware, and other physical components.

🔰 Information: The following list only accounts for some popular emulators available as AppImages either officially or by third parties and some Flatpak recommendations.

• Duckstation. DuckStation is a simulator/emulator of the Sony PlayStation(TM) console, focusing on playability, speed, and long-term maintainability.
• PCSX2. PCSX2 is a PlayStation 2 emulator—a free program that emulates the PlayStation 2 console, allowing you to play PS2 games on your PC.
• RPCS3. The world’s first free and open-source PlayStation 3 emulator/debugger, written in C++ for Windows and Linux.
• RetroArch. RetroArch is an emulation frontend that allows users to play games by hooking into game-specific emulation cores. It supports over 100 emulation cores; a list of which is available here.
• Cemu. Cemu is a Wii U emulator that can run most Wii U games and homebrew in a playable state.
• DeSmuME. DeSmuME is a Nintendo DS emulator.
• Dolphin. Dolphin is an emulator for two recent Nintendo video game consoles: the GameCube and the Wii.
• PPSSPP. A PSP emulator.
• Xemu. Original Xbox Emulator

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Check out Pt. 2 of this tutorial series, where we will examine additional tools to improve our gaming experience.