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Two bits of major news to cover for the Steam Play Proton compatibility layer, with some exciting major changes coming in with updates. Don't know what Steam Play Proton is? Go take a look at our dedicated page.

Firstly, if you have an AMD GPU and you don't mind grabbing the latest development code for the Mesa graphics drivers - Cyberpunk 2077 should actually work on Linux with the new Proton 5.13-4 release. Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais mentioned that CD PROJEKT RED allowed them some early testing time to get the work done for both vkd3d (the Direct3D 12 to Vulkan layer) and radv (the AMD Mesa Vulkan driver). As an NVIDIA GPU owner, this makes me quite jealous as it seems my only other current choice on Linux is Stadia or GeForce NOW (unofficially - until later in 2021).

Additionally, there's now also a new Proton Experimental branch available which has the start of major architectural changes to Wine. This brings with it a plan to reduce CPU overhead and improve performance in scenarios related to input and windowing. Seems Proton Experimental is an additional version of Proton, so you would install it along side the other versions currently available for this compatibility tool.

You can find the Proton changelog here.

Need help and / or tech support? Be sure to check out our dedicated Forum.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Nocifer Dec 10, 2020
Quoting: GuestWow, Linux gaming has really made giant strides lately! Some years ago we were just happy when a native AAA title like XCom 2 or Civ V got a native port. Nowadays native ports are out of the question and we are happy if a game *may* run ok in Linux using a compatibility layer tied to a specific store and only if you have a specific vendor gpu. Amazing progress!

Tied to a specific store? You do realize that Wine as a project predates Valve and Steam on Linux by a good few years, right?

And you do realize that Valve upstreams all their work to Wine proper, so Linux gamers benefit regardless of if they're using Steam or not (in fact I myself am not, I use good ole system-wide installed Wine)?

And you do realize that most often, due to various reasons that are not of relevance here, Windows games running on Wine are much more hassle-free than Linux native games, due not to some kind of special incompetence on the part of the people making them but due to the lackluster graphics/audio/input/etc Linux stack?

And you do realize that Nvidia not being as good as AMD on Linux is due to Nvidia's stubbornness and/or indifference towards Linux, and not due to some inherent flaw of Proton?

And finally, you do realize that being on a platform of less than 1%, you are in no way entitled to demand anything?

Gee, when did the Linux community become so full of itself?


Last edited by Nocifer on 10 December 2020 at 3:37 pm UTC
Trias Dec 10, 2020
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Quoting: The_Aquabatyou can always resort to oibaf ppa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

A BIG thank you!
With Mesa 21 from this PPA black environment graphical bugs are gone, everything seems good.
Thank you again!
Rooster Dec 10, 2020
Quoting: GuestSome years ago we were just happy when a native AAA title like XCom 2 or Civ V got a native port. Nowadays native ports are out of the question and we are happy if a game *may* run ok in Linux using a compatibility layer

Yes, that is the harsh reality, which I see quite a lot of people have problems to come to terms with. Your point?
To add salt to the wound, if the companies behind those games did not think SteamOS is gonna be a big thing, we would have never gotten those ports, no matter how many of us would throw a tantrum.

On more positive side, said compatibility layer has come a long way and nowadays, it is usually question of when a game will run ok, instead of if.
Shmerl Dec 10, 2020
Quoting: TriasThanks for the script again, but it's proved too difficult for me. After resolving some issues I ended with a long log that ends with

The script is made for recent Debian testing (it can work on unstable too I suppose). So it should be OK if you are using Debian. It's not guaranteed to work with other distros, you'd need to adapt it to your needs. But it gives you the idea how to do it.


Last edited by Shmerl on 10 December 2020 at 3:48 pm UTC
Shmerl Dec 10, 2020
Quoting: YoRHa-2BThe Stadia port was done by QLOC fwiw, not by CDPR themselves.

I wonder how the hell they even made this broken mess of a game work on there. The only reason it doesn't work on Nvidia with vkd3d-proton right now is because it's so buggy that we need a Vulkan extension that works around these bugs by chance, since it more closely resembles native D3D12 behaviour than our previous implementation without that extension. It's that bad.

Interesting and it's too bad CDPR still don't have Linux developers in-house. Such big company shouldn't be cheap about it, by outsourcing their work.

By the way, I noticed the game has a blinking issue, like in the bar where lights are flickering, the whole screen filckers (i.e. periodic black frames appearing I suppose). Is that the bug in the game or vkd3d-proton problem? I can open a bug report probably.


Last edited by Shmerl on 10 December 2020 at 3:59 pm UTC
Koopacabras Dec 10, 2020
yeah sure we had some golden days with a lot of linux natives ports, but I also remember game starving for the next Feral Port. I just could play all the relevant linux releases (AAA type) in the year and still have a lot of wasted gaming time because I didn't have anything else to play.
Shmerl Dec 10, 2020
Quoting: YoRHa-2Bit's so buggy that we need a Vulkan extension that works around these bugs by chance, since it more closely resembles native D3D12 behaviour than our previous implementation without that extension. It's that bad.

I suppose the game code can change with their updates throughout next year, so there might be a lot of catching up because of this.
bubexel Dec 10, 2020
Quoting: BasianiProton, Steam Play?! GG :D
Pay $60 and you will got $10 product because no RTX, no DLSS, no perfect performance, Proton just runs that game with low FPS and also no one knows how many times that low FPS goes to 0 when game will be updated.
Damn! Absofuckinlutely smart marketing from CD Project.
I'm not dumb to buy that sh*t. Yes, sh*t, because you are paying same as Windows users and getting maximum 25% quality compared Windows users.

Since i know RTX and DLSS are from your graphic card. You mean that 90% of its price comes from this features from your videocard? what about history? gameplay? and a long etc.. what will think CD project after 7 years of hard work that only 10% of its price is from their work XD

What you think of players that buy it on a ps4? they are scammed also?

If you want to irritate people use good arguments atleast.
poiuz Dec 10, 2020
Quoting: ShmerlInteresting and it's too bad CDPR still don't have Linux developers in-house. Such big company shouldn't be cheap about it, by outsourcing their work.
You realize that you just called Valve a cheap company? They outsource most (or all?) of their Linux work.
scaine Dec 10, 2020
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Quoting: poiuz
Quoting: ShmerlInteresting and it's too bad CDPR still don't have Linux developers in-house. Such big company shouldn't be cheap about it, by outsourcing their work.
You realize that you just called Valve a cheap company? They outsource most (or all?) of their Linux work.

Pretty sure that the main driving force behind Valve's Linux work is in house. What's outsourced? Or are you conflating sponsoring Collabora and Codeweavers work with outsourcing?
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