|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Gaming on Pop!_OS |
| 3 | +description: > |
| 4 | + Want to game on your super awesome new System76 machine? Take a look at these instructions to set your system up for gaming! |
| 5 | +keywords: |
| 6 | + - gaming |
| 7 | + - support |
| 8 | + - steam |
| 9 | + - lutris |
| 10 | + - gamehub |
| 11 | + - proton |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +facebookImage: /_social/article |
| 14 | +twitterImage: /_social/article |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +hidden: false |
| 17 | +section: media |
| 18 | +tableOfContents: true |
| 19 | +--- |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +# Gaming on Pop!\_OS |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +## Steam (Install) |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +### Install Steam From Command Line |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +Open the <u>Terminal</u> application by searching for <u>Terminal</u> after pressing the Super Key <kbd><font-awesome-icon :icon="['fab', 'ubuntu']"></font-awesome-icon></kbd>/<kbd><font-awesome-icon :icon="['fab', 'pop-os']"></font-awesome-icon></kbd>/<kbd>SUPER</kbd>. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +Once the <u>Terminal</u> application is opened you can use the Command Line tool `apt` to search for it like so: |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +```bash |
| 34 | +apt search steam |
| 35 | +``` |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +Once we find the right name for <u>Steam</u> we can install it with `apt` as well. Please type this command into the terminal and press <kbd>Enter</kbd>: |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +```bash |
| 42 | +sudo apt install steam |
| 43 | +``` |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +**IMPORTANT NOTE:** Be very careful when using sudo with ANY Command. It can make system wide changes so be sure to read everything before entering 'Y'. |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +### Install Steam From the Pop!_Shop |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +Open the <u>Pop!_Shop</u> application then either search for Steam or by clicking the <u>Steam</u> icon on the Pop!_Shop home page. Now click the **Install** button. |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +Once installed, use the Activities Overview to search for and run <u>Steam</u>. |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +### Enable Steam Play (Proton) |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +Proton is a compatibility layer tool which enables support for some Windows games on Linux. It's based on the WINE project with some tweaks and additions by Valve. You can enable Proton in: |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +Steam -> Settings -> Steam Play -> Check the box for "Enable Steam Play for supported titles AND "Enable Steam Play for all other titles" as pictured below: |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +## Install Protonup to Manage Custom Proton Versions |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +<u>Protonup</u> is a tool, written in Python, used to install the newest-available version of ProtonGE into Steam's proton directory. <u>ProtonGE</u> is a fork of <u>Proton</u>, maintained by GloriousEggroll on Github. |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +Glorious Eggroll often does testing of newer games and is often able to implement bug fixes before the team at Valve does. If a game is not working with mainline or experimental versions of Proton, trying ProtonGE is a good troubleshooting step. |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +You can view Glorious Eggroll's Github [here](https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom). |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +The <u>Protonup</u> tool is maintained by Naseef in the PyPi project directory [here](https://pypi.org/project/protonup/). |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | +First, to install `protonup` we'll need the Python package manager, `pip`. |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +```bash |
| 76 | +sudo apt update |
| 77 | +sudo apt install python3-pip |
| 78 | +``` |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +Now, let's install `protonup` via `pip`. |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +```bash |
| 83 | +pip3 install protonup |
| 84 | +``` |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +The `protonup` command will be available after a reboot, or you can run the below command to add it to your `PATH` for immediate use. |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +```bash |
| 89 | +source ~/.profile |
| 90 | +``` |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +After <u>Steam</u> is installed, you can run protonup in a terminal. The command will fetch the newest ProtonGE build. This tool will also pull hotfixes. Below is an example of the tools output: |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +```bash |
| 95 | +protonup |
| 96 | +Ready to download Proton-6.10-GE-1 |
| 97 | +Size : 370.81 MiB |
| 98 | +Published : 2021-06-07 |
| 99 | +Continue? (Y/N): y |
| 100 | +Downloaded 100.0% - 370.81 MiB/370.81 MiB |
| 101 | +[INFO] Installed in: /home/aaronh/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/Proton-6.10-GE-1 |
| 102 | +``` |
| 103 | + |
| 104 | +## Gamehub (Install) |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | +<u>GameHub</u> is a game launcher that can use different compatibility layers like Wine/Proton, DOSBox and other tools. It can hook into Steam, GOG and other sources. |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +It is written in Vala and you can read more about it [here](https://tkashkin.tk/projects/gamehub/). |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | +### Install Gamehub From Command Line |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | +Open the <u>Terminal</u> application by searching for <u>Terminal</u> after pressing the Super Key <kbd><font-awesome-icon :icon="['fab', 'ubuntu']"></font-awesome-icon></kbd>/<kbd><font-awesome-icon :icon="['fab', 'pop-os']"></font-awesome-icon></kbd>/<kbd>SUPER</kbd>. |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | +Once the <u>Terminal</u> application is opened you can use the Command Line tool `apt` to search for it like so: |
| 117 | + |
| 118 | +```bash |
| 119 | +apt search gamehub |
| 120 | +``` |
| 121 | + |
| 122 | + |
| 123 | + |
| 124 | +Once we find the right name for <u>GameHub</u> we can install it with `apt` as well. Please type this command into the terminal and press <kbd>Enter</kbd>: |
| 125 | + |
| 126 | +```bash |
| 127 | +sudo apt install com.github.tkashkin.gamehub |
| 128 | +``` |
| 129 | + |
| 130 | +### Install GameHub From the Pop!_Shop |
| 131 | + |
| 132 | +Open the <u>Pop!_Shop</u> application then either search for GameHub, or navigate to the GameHub page by clicking the <u>GameHub</u> icon on the Pop!_Shop home page. Now click the **Install** button. |
| 133 | + |
| 134 | + |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | +Once installed, use the Activities Overview to search for and run <u>GameHub</u>. |
| 137 | + |
| 138 | +## Lutris (Install) |
| 139 | + |
| 140 | +<u>Lutris</u> is a game launcher, written in Python, that is very similar to <u>GameHub</u>, though it also has its own community that writes installer scripts like the WoW installer (covered later on in this article). |
| 141 | + |
| 142 | +You can read more about Lutris [here](https://lutris.net/). |
| 143 | + |
| 144 | +### Install Lutris From Command Line |
| 145 | + |
| 146 | +Open the <u>Terminal</u> application by searching for <u>Terminal</u> after pressing the Super Key <kbd><font-awesome-icon :icon="['fab', 'ubuntu']"></font-awesome-icon></kbd>/<kbd><font-awesome-icon :icon="['fab', 'pop-os']"></font-awesome-icon></kbd>/<kbd>SUPER</kbd>. |
| 147 | + |
| 148 | + |
| 149 | + |
| 150 | +Once the <u>Terminal</u> application is opened you can use the Command Line tool `apt` to search for it like so: |
| 151 | + |
| 152 | +```bash |
| 153 | +apt search lutris |
| 154 | +``` |
| 155 | + |
| 156 | + |
| 157 | + |
| 158 | +Once we find the right name for <u>Lutris</u> we can install it with `apt` as well. Please type this command into the terminal and press <kbd>Enter</kbd>: |
| 159 | + |
| 160 | +```bash |
| 161 | +sudo apt install lutris |
| 162 | +``` |
| 163 | + |
| 164 | +### Install Lutris From the Pop!_Shop |
| 165 | + |
| 166 | +Open the <u>Pop!_Shop</u> application then either search for Lutris or by clicking the <u>Lutris</u> icon on the Pop!_Shop home page. Now click the **Install** button. |
| 167 | + |
| 168 | + |
| 169 | + |
| 170 | +# Using Steam |
| 171 | + |
| 172 | +Once installed, use the Activities Overview to search for and run <u>Steam</u>. |
| 173 | + |
| 174 | +## Proton vs. Native |
| 175 | + |
| 176 | + |
| 177 | + |
| 178 | + |
| 179 | + |
| 180 | +From a UI standpoint, there is virtually no difference between launching a Linux Native game and a game using Proton. The first picture is of a Windows game using Proton, the second is a Linux Native game. |
| 181 | +Once you've enabled Steam Play, they both present the usual green "Play" button. |
| 182 | + |
| 183 | +**NOTE:** If you haven't enabled Steam Play, other options like "Stream" or a greyed-out "Download" button may be present. |
| 184 | + |
| 185 | +If you click on the "i" button in the top-right corner of the game info pane, you can see that Proton games show the message: "Runs on this computer via Steam Play" and shows the Proton version you've selected. |
| 186 | + |
| 187 | + |
| 188 | + |
| 189 | + |
| 190 | + |
| 191 | +## Changing the Proton Version for a Specific Game |
| 192 | + |
| 193 | +It's possible to specify a certain Proton version on per game basis. You can switch between older and newer Proton versions installed on your system by the Steam client, or select custom versions of proton like ProtonGE. |
| 194 | + |
| 195 | +To change the Proton version: |
| 196 | + |
| 197 | +1. Click on the "Gear" icon in the top-right corner of the game info page. |
| 198 | + |
| 199 | +2. In the drop-down menu, select "Properties." |
| 200 | + |
| 201 | +3. Once the properties window opens, click "Compatibility" from the left menu pane. |
| 202 | + |
| 203 | +4. Check the box to "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool." |
| 204 | + |
| 205 | +5. Select the desired Proton version from the drop down menu (as pictured below). |
| 206 | + |
| 207 | + |
| 208 | + |
| 209 | +# Using GameHub |
| 210 | + |
| 211 | +## Using Steam on GameHub |
| 212 | + |
| 213 | +Once you sign into <u>Steam</u> though <u>GameHub</u> your games will be displayed. Note that games will be slightly discolored if they aren't installed. Notice, in this example, that the two, top left games are installed on this system. |
| 214 | + |
| 215 | + |
| 216 | + |
| 217 | +# Using Lutris |
| 218 | + |
| 219 | +## Using the website |
| 220 | + |
| 221 | +Some games like World of Warcraft (WoW) have installers on Lutris' [website](https://lutris.net/games) (see screenshot below). |
| 222 | + |
| 223 | +With <u>Lutris</u> installed you can click the **Install** button to start the installer script. A pop-up window will appear asking to use Lutris as the application to run the installer. |
| 224 | + |
| 225 | + |
| 226 | + |
| 227 | +Use <u>Lutris</u> to open the installer (shown below). From there click the **Install** button to start the installation. |
| 228 | + |
| 229 | + |
| 230 | + |
| 231 | +Next, click the **Continue** button to start the installation of <u>Battle.net</u> |
| 232 | + |
| 233 | + |
| 234 | + |
| 235 | +You will need to install some WINE packages during the installation of <u>Battle.net</u> |
| 236 | + |
| 237 | +**IMPORTANT NOTE:** close <u>Battle.net</u> to complete the installation then reopen it to sign into your account. |
| 238 | + |
| 239 | +Now that <u>Battle.net</u> is installed, you can select Wow from your Games and launch Battle.net with the **Play** button. |
| 240 | + |
| 241 | +Once <u>Battle.net</u> launches you can finish the World of Warcraft installation. |
| 242 | + |
| 243 | +**NOTE:** If you run two installer scripts for games from the same launcher application (e.g. <u>Battle.net</u>, <u>uPlay</u>, <u>EA Origin</u>, etc.) Lutris will install multiple copies of that launcher in separate folders inside the virtual `C:\` drive. This shouldn't prevent the games from being installed, just be mindful of hard drive space, and pay attention to where Lutris is installing game files. Overwatch could end up in the same general area as World of Warcraft, or in two seperate folders, each with their own <u>Battle.net</u> install. This means that clicking on Overwatch, or World of Warcraft will both launch <u>Battle.net</u> but one may show Overwatch as installed, and the other may show only WoW as installed, or vice-versa. |
| 244 | + |
| 245 | + |
| 246 | + |
| 247 | +## Using .exe files |
| 248 | + |
| 249 | +In this example we'll be using the Windows build of Firefox to show the power of both Wine/Proton and Lutris. From the Game Info screen when adding a game we'll set the Name and Runner (you can read more about Runners [here](https://lutris.net/runners/)). |
| 250 | + |
| 251 | + |
| 252 | + |
| 253 | +In the Game Options tab we'll set the path to the Executable (the .exe file extensions is short for executable) and we'll choose the `firefox setup [version].exe` file downloaded from the Firefox website (it will be in your ~/Downloads folder by default). For this example, we can leave the rest of the boxes empty in the other tabs and close this window. |
| 254 | + |
| 255 | + |
| 256 | + |
| 257 | +Now click on the Firefox item in <u>Lutris</u> and then press the **Play** button. Once the install is finished be sure to unclick the checkbox at the end of the installer. Once the installer closes, right-click on the Firefox item and hit the **Configure** button. Now change the Executable path to `~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Mozilla Firefox/firefox.exe` using the **Browse...** button. Otherwise, every time you launch Firefox, it will run the setup wizard again, intead of the newly installed `Firefox.exe`. |
| 258 | + |
| 259 | +> **NOTE:** You will need to hit <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>H</kbd> to show the hidden `.wine` folder when setting the Executable path first. |
| 260 | +
|
| 261 | +Now save and launch Firefox again with the **Play** button. After waiting for a few seconds a <u>Firefox</u> window should open. |
| 262 | + |
| 263 | +## Open Source Games |
| 264 | + |
| 265 | +### Unvanquished |
| 266 | + |
| 267 | +<u>Unvanquished</u> is a free, open-source first-person strategy game/shooter written in C++. You can read more about Unvanquished, and how to install it on their website [here](https://unvanquished.net/). |
| 268 | + |
| 269 | + |
| 270 | + |
| 271 | +### Veloren |
| 272 | + |
| 273 | +<u>Veloren</u> is a multiplayer RPG which is written in Rust. You can read more about it and about installing it on their website [here](https://veloren.net/). |
| 274 | + |
| 275 | + |
| 276 | + |
| 277 | +### 0 A.D. |
| 278 | + |
| 279 | +<u>O A.D.</u> is a free, open-source game of ancient warfare written in C++. You can read more about it and about installing it on their website [here](https://play0ad.com/download/linux/#Ubuntu). |
| 280 | + |
| 281 | + |
| 282 | + |
| 283 | + |
| 284 | + |
| 285 | +### Battle for Wesnoth |
| 286 | + |
| 287 | +<u>Battle for Wesnoth</u> is an open source, turn-based strategy game with a high fantasy theme. You can read more about it and about installing it on their website [here](https://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothBinariesLinux). |
| 288 | + |
| 289 | + |
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