Can't say I have that issue, Games go in my games folder, Steam games are obviously in theirs within steam.

I cant say I've installed any programs that have requested nor placed themselves in the main user dir.

My recent example is GNUstep. They could have at least made it default to a hidden dotfile.

Quoting: GuestI've seen overriding $HOME work.

I never tried that. Might start implementing it to avoid games saving in .config or .local folders.

Quoting: Guest

Quoting: pete910Can't say I have that issue, Games go in my games folder, Steam games are obviously in theirs within steam.

I cant say I've installed any programs that have requested nor placed themselves in the main user dir.

Unfortunately there are many games that like to litter the home directory with saved games and config. Not as much of a problem since various XDG_* settings have started to be respected by most developers, but some games still like to do it.

There's not really a single way to fake the home directory for all games that do this unfortunately. I've seen overriding $HOME work, I've seen using LD_PRELOAD with a custom library to intercept certain function calls and return more reasonable value, and even chroot environments.

Still cant say Iv'e have any on mine, I know .conf DIR gets full from game folders full of config files /save games ect.

Lightworks creates a working dir for projects is all I have personally but that's understandable .

Since most of the game's directories are hidden, it doesn't look crowded until you show them, so it's not really a big deal to me.

I mean we already run executables out of /home/user and have a ton of other stuff in there, I don't think a ".folder" is really that offensive, but I understand how the clutter can be annoying.

If you really want to alter it, I think changing $HOME might work, or doing a ton of symlinks. I've done the $HOME thing once ever (rearranging partitions) and it wasn't what I'd call fun, lol

Last edited by denyasis on 29 Dec 2021 at 12:41 am UTC

After getting the tip on the discord, I use the .hidden file to make them "invisible" - just list each folder in a new line and they get bundled with other dotfiles.

Still not ideal because the real mess is with the hidden files anyway - .factorio, .renpy, .mozilla, .mono, .paradoxlauncher, .psensor, etc - but at least it gets rid of things like the visible "My Games" folder (created by As Far As The Eye - great game, just wish it put the files in a sensible place).

yeah the .hidden file with directories you dont want to show up helps with the $HOME mess when viewing from GUI..can still access those directories with command line or when showing hidden dirs in the filemanager.

There are different tricks. You can indeed override $HOME, but some games are resistant to it due to the nature of system calls they use. Here is a trick I'm using for Umineko games for example:

 ln -s $(pwd)/user_data/.Umineko4hdz $HOME

 ./"Umineko1to4"

  unlink $HOME/.Umineko4hdz

I.e. create user_data somewhere where you want, put a symlink in $HOME for it (that will prevent it from creating a clutter dir but will give access to it) and then unlink it to clean up after the game exits.

Last edited by Shmerl on 29 Dec 2021 at 6:15 pm UTC

I install all of my games directly into the games folder. Since my collection is DRM FREE and ROMs, I don't have issues with clutter.

Halloween: The new nightmare doesn't clutter your home directory because it keeps all configuration files and saves in one directory.

Quoting: eldakingAfter getting the tip on the discord, I use the .hidden file to make them "invisible" - just list each folder in a new line and they get bundled with other dotfiles.

Thank-you! I didn't know this trick.

Quoting: pete910Can't say I have that issue, Games go in my games folder, Steam games are obviously in theirs within steam.

I cant say I've installed any programs that have requested nor placed themselves in the main user dir.

The issue isn't where games install, but rather where those games create their savegame and/or configuration files and/or folders. I've seen some that create "dotfiles" and "dotfolders" in the user's home, which is also rude, but I think the ones that bother people are when they create unhidden folders/files either directly in the user's home folder or Documents folder. A few games I have do that, and it annoys me every single time I see it. It just reeks of "clueless rude lazy programmer".

Quoting: BlooAlien

Quoting: pete910Can't say I have that issue, Games go in my games folder, Steam games are obviously in theirs within steam.

I cant say I've installed any programs that have requested nor placed themselves in the main user dir.

The issue isn't where games install, but rather where those games create their savegame and/or configuration files and/or folders. I've seen some that create "dotfiles" and "dotfolders" in the user's home, which is also rude, but I think the ones that bother people are when they create unhidden folders/files either directly in the user's home folder or Documents folder. A few games I have do that, and it annoys me every single time I see it. It just reeks of "clueless rude lazy programmer".

The old loki games did this and a good few other older titles, Trouble is now they clutter up .config instead :grin: