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Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition crashes on launch with Proton
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Itagane Aug 25, 2021
My System Info

Linux Distribution: Pop! OS 21.04
Desktop Environment: GNOME
Graphics Card: NVIDIA Geforce GT 635M
GPU Driver Version: 390

Have you checked for system updates?: Yes

If this is to do with Steam, please add your system read-out from Steam -> Help -> System Information (please put that into Pastebin/Gist as linked above!): https://pastebin.com/dVyM1e0V

If this is not Steam, you can still give us a system readout using inxi with "inxi -SbCGxx" in terminal (please put that into Pastebin/Gist as linked above!): n/a

You can note your issue below here
I'm trying to run AoE2 DE on my old Asus A75VJ with various Proton versions (including the latest GE version). Unfortunately, it either crashes on launch or shows the game logo and the Xbox signin prompt and crashes right after.
Based on my own googling, I'm afraid that the nvidia-driver 390 is simply too old, but any of the 4xx driver versions seems to be incompatible with my GPU as commands like `nvidia-settings` or `nvidia-smi` result in errors and I can not switch my system to the NVIDIA graphics mode.
According to ProtonDB however, the game has Gold status and many users with Pop! OS and NVIDIA GPUs report almost flawless experiences. Does anyone here know what might be my problem and how to fix it?

Note any particular steps to reproduce it below here
PS: Ignoring my NVIDIA GPU and running the game on my Intel integrated graphics doesn't work either.

Last edited by Itagane on 25 August 2021 at 7:10 pm UTC
tuxintuxedo Aug 26, 2021
Have you tried "normal" Steam, not flatpak?
Also, lately Proton likes to run everything (or most things) through Vulkan (neglecting OpenGL) which your video cards and drivers might not support. If the previous question doesn't help, you should look into forcing Proton to use OpenGL.

Last edited by tuxintuxedo on 26 August 2021 at 3:39 pm UTC
Itagane Aug 26, 2021
If you mean the deb release, no I have not because I didn't realise it might make a difference. I'll try it out and report back
whizse Aug 26, 2021
1. You need to get a log from Proton, otherwise we can do nothing but speculate. It's a bit fiddly but instructions are available here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton#runtime-config-options

2. You might also try asking for help in the Proton issues thread for the game if you haven't already done so.
whizse Aug 26, 2021
Just to clarify what tuxintuxedo so wisely suggested:

Use the Set Launch Options setting in the game's Properties dialog in the Steam client. Set the variable, followed by %command%. In your case, try "PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command%" to use the OpenGL-based wined3d renderer instead of the Vulkan-based DXVK renderer.

That's almost straight from the Proton README linked above.

HTH,
Itagane Aug 26, 2021
Thanks to both of you for the advice; I have updated my Steam system information and added a Proton log. I also reinstalled Steam as .deb instead of flatpak and added the suggested launch option but that didn't change the behaviour, the game still crashes on launch :/
whizse Aug 26, 2021
The Proton log looks a bit sparse. I think you forgot to add PROTON_LOG=1 in the same place you set PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1.
tuxintuxedo Aug 26, 2021
I don't know much about Pop OS, but some people say that it is better to install Steam from their repository than the .deb file directly from Valve (might take care of dependency problems). And an LTS version might be a better choice for a system, than one that lives only 9 months.
Itagane Aug 26, 2021
Using PROTON_LOG=1 %command% PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command%, I got a slightly longer log and updated the pastebin entry from my previous reply.
Itagane Aug 26, 2021
@tuxintuxedo Could you elaborate on these alternative versions and where to find them? I'm not too knowledgable about these things and mostly installed programs via the Pop OS store so far

Last edited by Itagane on 26 August 2021 at 6:28 pm UTC
whizse Aug 26, 2021
Try this instead:

PROTON_LOG=1 PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command%

The Proton log should be looong. The last log I grabbed from a game crashing on start was 44 000 lines...
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