Greetings!
I’m rebuilding my old gaming-focused beast. I’ve got parts coming today (new mobo, cpu, ram, and cooling unit, everything else I hope to reuse, to keep this cheap as possible), and I’ll be building it up tomorrow (thermal paste arrives tomorrow 😭)
I have no need for this computer to do anything but gaming, as I have others that can’t handle gaming for that. So I’m thinking a gaming-focused distro would be good. However this is nowhere near top of the line hardware, I’m aiming to run mostly cpu-heavy games (stuff like rimworld and oxygen not included), as I really like having way too much going on at once. So maybe that changes things.
I’ve had an absolute hell of a time getting games to run through lutris on stock Ubuntu. I’m hoping bazzite will improve that somewhat. It probably won’t.
But I understand it’s fedora based, which is a big new thing for me as I’ve only messed with Debian-based. And there’s probably a lot I’ve not considered.
So what do I need to know? What would be helpful to know before I start this? Any good resources you can point me toward for gaming on bazzite, like install troubleshooting guides or something that might make this less of a nightmare? (Seriously I can only get a handful of games installed that should be able to run, and that’s with an absolute ton of effort, very frustrating.)
Thanks in advance!
I find it strange that you are having so many issues installing games through Lutris as it has been a very seamless experience for me. I can even use the “create a Steam link” feature of it to create links that I can use in Gamescope mode on Bazzite and install artwork for via a Decky plugin.
What games are you trying to install via what methods? Like, are you trying to install Morrowind via cds (as just an example)? I’m sure some of the folks here, including me, could help with your install and playing issues.
As for Bazzite, I think it’s amazing. I’ve been using it on a tiny computer that I have mounted to the back of a monitor as a console like experience and it’s been great. Most of my games are on Steam, so that is mostly install and play at the touch of a button. Lutris (for me) has been a very easy experience as well to “side load” games I have local copies of.
I second what another commenter said about using ProtonDB to check compatibility and possible work arounds. There is even a Decky plugin for it to integrate it into Gamescope.
I mostly use the install from exe and the totally manual options because I no longer have a steam account (ex locked me out and I can’t recover it, and I refuse to repurchase games), nor do I have an account with any of the other platforms.
So I know part of the problem is that they aren’t official, and it really mucks up the process, but it’s a total crapshoot which ones will work and which won’t. Like I got rimworld pretty easily, but plucky squire doesn’t work after installing as an exe. Same method. Hogwarts legacy and Indiana jones won’t even go through the install without crashing, tho I suppose that could be the potato I’m trying to install them on as much as the files and runner and stuff… because even the gog games I have are… difficult.
Idk I sort of gave up after I got rimworld installed because that was enough. That was the 12th game I tried to install and the first I could get to run (not just install but actually run). Then I swapped back to my windows laptop for a while but that crashes far too often… so time to try again.
Idk I’m not tech savvy enough for this tbh. But I’m doing it anyway! That’s how we learn! ;)
I appreciate the info, I’m hoping this will be a good… umm… experience and be… a good enough fit that learning what to do is actually worth it.
You can also try Bottles for some exe games instead of Lutris.
Yeah. Depending on the source of your media, it can be kinda a crap shoot on whether it will work or not. I have had mixed results with some of my sources as well. I can happily say that GOG installers are some of the easiest and work the best, if that is an option for you.