It depends on how badly I want to play it. I have hundreds of games on my backlog so most often I just move onto another native game. If it looks like an easy fix then I may try to troubleshoot.

My standards are high. Not only does it have to be native, but also open source / source available.

This is also a practical matter as I do not use x86 and if a game cannot be compiled for my architecture, then it basically doesn't exist, as far as I'm concerned.

My choice is "I play a game for Windows on Wine, Proton, etc."

Jupiter Hell is one such game for me and it's not the developer's fault. My distro is running an older version of GLIBC while the game requires a more recent one. The Windows version works fine with OpenGL rendering (doesn't run with Vulkan on Wine).

It's not a perfect solution but it works.

Last edited by Avehicle7887 on 25 Mar 2022 at 7:04 pm UTC

Yeah, I'm using proton for Dying Light. The native has some sort of graphical issue with my system.

Most of the older games I've played either have a engine reimplantation in Linux or I DosBox them. Most of my collection is post 2009, so I haven't had much in the way of problem.

I only have 1 system and don't multi boot or VM or anything. It's a little past my comfort zone.

Last edited by denyasis on 26 Mar 2022 at 2:11 pm UTC

If it's a new game and I an be of help to the developer/porter or others I try to figure out what's wrong and fix it.

If it's an older title I'm usually lazy and just run the Windows version in Wine/Proton.

I thought that virtual machines would be more popular among Linux users.

In the past, some users booted to the other operating system when they had issues with games for Linux. I don't see it in this poll right now, which is weird.

I have three computers with four Linux distributions to play games from 1996 to 2022. I hope that I won't be the only one who uses Linux in this way.

I have low expectations about the quality of games for Linux because I understand it's impossible to keep them constantly updated.

@whizse
In my case, I'm not sure if it's laziness. Sometimes, I want to run the game for Linux and postpone the usage of tricks on my main computer with Linux.

Last edited by gbudny on 26 Mar 2022 at 2:40 am UTC

Quoting: GustyGhostMy standards are high. Not only does it have to be native, but also open source / source available.

This is also a practical matter as I do not use x86 and if a game cannot be compiled for my architecture, then it basically doesn't exist, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm envious. I hope to have a Power9 system one day.

I check the Arch wiki because it usually has the answer, if not I just try to search, and add it to the wiki. Had such a problem with the original Insurgency. However, it's been a loooooong time since I have had any problems with a native game.

Quoting: GuestIf it can't be solved with fiddling around with libs, i usually use a light container like whatever team has built in or conty. Not that i ran into any of those games in recent times, pretty much anything native i have seems like click and play on testing right now.

(i selected 'i use a virtual machine with a different linux distro' for lack of a better alternative)

Unfortunately, I didn't add this option, and I can't edit it.

At least everyone can read your comment about using a container instead of a virtual machine.

Quoting: gbudnyI thought that virtual machines would be more popular among Linux users

Really? I was always under the impression that dual booting was more popular. Especially with a Windows/Linux mix. Maybe I'm ignorant, but it seemed to be easier to dual boot as opposed to setting up a VM. (Not that either are terribly difficult these days).

Quoting: denyasis

Quoting: gbudnyI thought that virtual machines would be more popular among Linux users

Really? I was always under the impression that dual booting was more popular. Especially with a Windows/Linux mix. Maybe I'm ignorant, but it seemed to be easier to dual boot as opposed to setting up a VM. (Not that either are terribly difficult these days).

You're probably right. I thought too that is a more popular solution among Linux users.

However, no one decided to choose any of these two options.

Unfortunately, I can't agree that dual-booting is much easier than setting up a virtual machine because it's always less risky.

Especially, I'm thinking about a situation when a user decides to install Windows as the second operating system on the same hard drive. I read many times this is still a complicated process, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

No option in poll for me as i haven't encountered a game that doesn't work. There have been few native games that do need some minor workarounds sometimes, but those have been super rare also. so i guess the "i try to use different libraries option then"

lets say if there was one that really couldn't work no matter what workarounds i throw at it, then i would run in in proton if i really wanted to play it ofc.

Quoting: XpanderNo option in poll for me as i haven't encountered a game that doesn't work.

I assumed that everyone runs into a problem when playing games for Linux at some point.

I feel for me the only valid answer would be "I select a different game", but that may include several of the other options as well; in other words, with only one possible choice, I think the poll doesn't give an accurate representation. As such, I didn't cast a vote.

If a game doesn't run out of the box, I may try a different environment (runtime/libraries etc.). I don't see a point in installing a different distribution, there are enough knobs to fiddle with.
If that doesn't work, I might or might not try other approaches depending on the game, including running its Windows version through Wine or Proton, but it would have to be a game I really want to play, and I don't have much patience with that; it either works, or it doesn't.

Should there really be a game out there that doesn't run on x86(_64) – which I really doubt there is – I might consider looking into that. Might change in the future, and I would definitely like to see more support for other architectures, even ones I personally don't have access to. But if Linux on x86 is a niche market, any other architecture is even more so regardless of OS, with the possible exception of Mac/Android on ARM; at least for the foreseeable future. And then there are emulators too to at least partially work around platform issues, just (maybe) not for the most demanding.

If none of that helps, I simply don't play that game. I haven't had to use Windows for whatever reason for well over a decade by now, and I can't see myself going back, neither using dual boot, nor in a virtual machine.

Quoting: gbudny

Quoting: XpanderNo option in poll for me as i haven't encountered a game that doesn't work.

I assumed that everyone runs into a problem when playing games for Linux at some point.

Usually the problem is more to do with performance. Where native performs like trash. But then again there aren't many native games i play these days. Amnesia Rebirth i think was the last one i bought and that worked with zero issues.

Quoting: XpanderThere have been few native games that do need some minor workarounds sometimes, but those have been super rare also.

Given the sorts of games that I play, this has been the only issue that I've encountered to date, myself (and only with one game, Tanglewood, which has a couple of easy fixes available for Linux users).

However, I know that it will come up in the future, and when it does I'll be using Proton/Wine to sort it out, so that's what I've voted for.

Missing the use a cloud service option

Quoting: ValckI feel for me the only valid answer would be "I select a different game", but that may include several of the other options as well; in other words, with only one possible choice, I think the poll doesn't give an accurate representation. As such, I didn't cast a vote.

I know that could be a little confusing. I'm not sure if you read my remarks about this poll in my first post. I mentioned the order of answers and the last option from a list when you can't run a game for Linux.

For me the answer is not 'this' or 'that' - It depends. I have taken part in the poll and my answer was "I would play a game for Windows on WINE/Proton", which is typically my solution when (1) The game *works* on WINE/Proton, (2) I already own the game, and (3) I specifically want to play *that* game.

This gives me the opportunity to mention a few things of interest, related to my overall position:

I'm quite disciplined with myself when it comes to making game purchases or deciding what I'll play. Gave developers are generally losing out, when they don't release a game natively on Linux - because I hold back from buying games if Linux is not supported. I held back *for years* on The Witcher 3, but eventually 'gave in to temptation' when it dropped to 80% off.

On the other side of the coin, I watched reviews of Early Access "Slay The Spire" and was captivated by the game play, and I was very keen to begin playing it as soon as I could. The cherry on top was that even though it was EA, the StS developers had a native Linux build. I got it at the full asking price and played and played that game, enthralled by it. (I was one of the early supporters giving a high-praise review early on in its production - and the Devs never let me down.)

Putting this into perspective, I was just as keen on Witcher 3 as I was on Slay The Spire - But without the native Linux capability, I just could not bring myself to part with the money.

It is quite similar when it comes to the games themselves. If I have two comparable titles *in my collection* but one is a native Linux build and one is Windows (Proton-capable) then I'll install and favour the Linux one. (I've got such a back-log to get through, ahem.)

Moving on to Windows-only Anti-Cheat games - I tend to avoid these like the plague. I do have a dual-boot system, but it is only for exceptional cases where I actually boot up Windows. No, I won't boot up Windows to play RUST. I still own the game and I liked playing it a lot, but it isn't *good enough* that I'm willing to boot up (spit) Windows in order to play it.

Quoting: Arcadius-8606Missing the use a cloud service option

Unfortunately, I forgot to add this option, and I can't edit it now.

I don't use it, so I can't say too much about them. It's an interesting concept to sort out all of the issues differently.

I understand why people use them, but I always preferred to have a game for Linux installed/unpacked on my computer.

Of course, everyone could have a different opinion about it.

Last edited by gbudny on 31 Mar 2022 at 4:51 am UTC