The fungal infection of AI in everything in Windows 11 finally tipped me back fully into Proton-land, and I run Garuda and couldn’t be happier. All my games run, sometimes more smoothly than they even did on Windows, and I am reunited with my love: gnome3. Thank you, Valve. Thank you Linus.
I migrated away from Windows to Cachy OS earlier this year and I’ve never been happier. Linux still isn’t perfect for gaming but it’s night and day compared to the last time I tried like 10 years ago.
Light and day???
🤦♂️ How did I miss that…
Switched on my daily driver around 2016 and have been doing all but VR gaming on Linux since about 2019. I would totally recommend it to any one as long as they aren’t a tripple a, release day kinda gamer.
ONE OF US.
ONE OF US.
ONE OF US.
ONE OF US.
I started the switch over last night. Installed Kubuntu on a spare external ssd. Got Steam installed, figured out how to select the drivers I needed for my nvidia gpu. Even got remote desktop access to the game server I’m running. Linux has amazing capabilities built in, I’m impressed. Took some work to get Enshrouded running on Steam this afternoon (probably not the best game to start off with, it’s problematic) but after a good bit of trying different options it started up. If I can get Orca running for my 3d printer, there really isn’t much I’m going to miss from Windows.
I got over 400 hours on Enshrouded on KDE Fedora, it runs very smooth if you have the hardware, and enshrouded has high demands for that hardware.
It’s running great now, played a couple hours this afternoon. Only problem I had was a connection loss with the game server once. That could be anything, not unusual. Otherwise runs really smoothly.
Orca slicer has an App image available on their GitHub release page! You’re all set!
Have Orca installed, and it started up. Now I either have to figure out copying over all my configuration files, if that’s an option, or rebuild everything manually. After tuning my printer settings and filaments over 2 years, would be a lot to redo.
Orca works fine on Linux, just the occasional bug. And no mesh fixing.
I have really high hopes about SteamOS for PC. Not because linux, but because Linux + good support
Steam OS is not, and will not be a good desktop OS. At least in the foreseeable future. If you want that kind of experience now, install Bazzite.
Imho Valve’s crown jewel is proton, which is already available by default on any Linux Steam install. Going for a “boring” Linux like Mint and installing Steam delivers a seamless experience for many gamer profiles already nowadays. The progress has been amazing (ymmv of course)
Still very excited about SteamOS because so many gamers seem to put enough trust in Valve to actually bite the bullet and ditch Windows.
The last bit is the key here. Is it gonna be objectively a better pick than any distro on the market right now? Not really. But the Valve name carries a lot of weight and will definitely bring in a lot of interested folks.
I made the switch in January, and it’s been great. The only game I’ve had trouble with is a fully-kitted Skyrim with a bajillion external apps/runtimes, but I’ve managed to get even that working fine. Every other game is just Install/Play from Steam with no tweaks.
Are you using steamtinkerlaunch? I just discovered that and absolutely love that I can use vortex again
I haven’t been, but am looking at it after your post.
SteamOS already has worse support than Linux distros half it’s age.
You mean the old debian based version? True, but the steam machines concept was a major misfire. This is not the case with steam deck and its version of SteamOS
No because that would be like 1/10 it’s age. I mean SteamOS 3.
I want to go Linux on my main gaming system coz I like KDE and GNOME more than ugly ass Windows 11, but I just don’t want to deal with compatibility crap.
i think those times are over. so i put some mint linux on any pc, install steam and then add non steam game .exe file. only setting needed is run with proton10. i have not yet found a thing that doesnt run. and it so far every time outruns windows.
As a primary Linux user, there are many cases that don’t work. Many kernel level anti cheat (which I would refuse to install on windows anyway), some games have noticeable worse performance (obscure expedition 33 has low average fps and terrible dips on linux, but it’s “OK” on windows for my specific hardware ).
On average, I think Linux is still better, but YMMV depending and what games your want and what HW you have.
I’m an old fart, so I don’t want to play any games with kernel level anti-cheat. I’ve yet to encounter a game that doesn’t work in Linux.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle had some AMD driver issues early on, but I was able to tinker a short term fix until they fixed it. MachineGames’ engine has always been wonky on release.
Kernel level anti cheat is the final obstacle for Linux gaming, I think. Its really the only thing that categorically does not work, so if those are the games you want to play you really are fucked.
So what games do you play?
Most just work out of the box for me without having to deal with anything
I don’t think Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals work. Mostly coz they are online multiplayers. I also play games ranging from really old from circa late 90’s to brand new games like Doom The Dark Ages. I’m sure there will be a lot of problematic ones in between as some are already problematic with Windows, let alone anything else.
Both Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals work out of the box. I have had no issues playing either game. Are we anti cheat yet can help you see what multiplayer games work.
The older games you play may actually work better. Many people have found that Wine fixes several of issues when running older games.
Yeah, I’ve seen how you have to manually install EasyAntiCheat garbage on Linux. It looked like absolute horseshit stupidity. Wouldn’t want to deal with that.
I don’t understand your argument. 100% of my library works under Linux. In fact based on protondb’s ratings, half of them don’t even require me to do anything (this is excluding titles that run native on Linux):
For the half that requires “tinkering” it literally means adding one well documented argument to the command line to make it run smoothly.
The benefits of Linux far outweigh the cons of having to suffer the shitshow that is windows.
Okay, fair enough. I actually have a sacrificial SSD in my system that I can entirely dedicate to Linux install without dealing with dual boot and I’m just gonna slap Kubuntu on there since I already use it on other systems and see how it works for games I’m currently playing (OW2, Marvel Rivals, Doom The Dark Ages and Oblivion Remaster).
EDIT: What about GOG and potentially Epic games? I mostly have games on Steam, but I have A LOT of nostalgic games on GOG and I’m pathological hoarder on Epic that I might play one day.
Heroic launcher takes care of both GOG and Epic, no worries.
I don’t know kubuntu that well, just be aware that certain graphics cards will require a more bleeding edge distro. People have been swearing by Bazzite, CachyOS and Nobara lately.
I use Arch btw
Older ones work usually better in Wine/Proton than on Windows.
I’m using an old 2080ti still and Bazzite has given me zero issues. PoE 2 was unplayable at first but that was more of a positive for me.
I only ever boot up Windows for VR stuff. It’s never been a barrier to me otherwise. Though I don’t often play anti-cheat heavy eSports games.
Monado helped me kick windows for VR stuff.
