Gaming

Introduction

I don't often have time to play games. But when I do, I use Linux. Yes that was supposed to sound like something else. :-) And thanks to Steam, I can play lots of games on Linux. And what do you think powers the Steam Deck?!?!?! :-)

My gaming rig isn't anything too impressive. Partially cobbled together, but a friend gave me a good start. The high-level specs are:

  • Dual Core i7-7700 / 3.6GHz

  • 16GB Memory

  • nVidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti 8GB

  • 1 TB m.2 SSD (Windows has regular SATA SSD)

  • Kubuntu 20.04 LTS / Windows 10 (only when I have to)

First Advice

Kubuntu is great, Steam is great, Proton is great, etc. etc. Still, always update; I do it before I play each and every time. This includes checking Driver Manager for updates to video card drivers as well. It sometimes breaks things, but if I'm desperate to play, I can roll things back. Oh, and Steam allows you to choose different Proton versions.

It has mostly been a good experience. In the past, an upgrade to Proton or the game wrecks it. Before being able to choose the Proton version, I'd wait a week and it'd be sorted out pretty quick. But now with multiple versions, the system is hardly ever down.

Proton Tricks

I do like Skyrim and had played it quite a bit on a PS3. So this is mostly about Skyrim Special Edition on Kubuntu/Steam/Proton at this point. It is hard to find a place that compiles all the tweaks. There is someone maintaining a python app called Proton Tricks. It's a wrapper for WineTricks to be used with Steam/Proton. Use it at your own risk, I make no guarantees. I've not had to do any tweaks since going to Kubuntu 22.04, so that's about it now.

Appendix A - FTP Games

I like Steam, so don't take this section as bashing Steam (too much). I'm embarrassed at how much I've spent and even more so about how much I haven't played for what I've spent. Anyways...

I do wish they would not obfuscate getting to the Free-To-Play games they have in their catalog. The Free-To-Play games do not show up in your Library when setting up a new machine. They do show in your purchase history. Really silly, like they are second class citizens. Anyways, here is a list of ones I don't want to forget (either to check out or because I play):

Appendix B - Hmmm?

Why have just one Appendix? :-P