Game does not launch from Steam since Update [Linux/Ubuntu]

Wicked Bug Reporting
1

Hey there,

been playing on Ubuntu just fine. Was looking forward to start a fresh game no in Co-Op with a friend. Only the games does not start anymore from steam.

I have reinstalled them and patched it today since I also inserted a new hard drive and it was time to free up space on the main drive.

Now the simply will not start. It cycles trough Play→ Synchronising →Checking for Updates and simply goes back to the “Play” option in Steam.

I have check the files and moved it again to the old hard drive. No change.

The only other thing that had happened since then was the update itself.

For further information se Specs below:

Hardware-Information:

  • Hardware: Acer Nitro AN515-45
  • RAM: 16,0 GiB
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H with Radeon™ Graphics × 16
  • GPU (int): AMD Radeon™ Graphics
  • GPU (main): NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3070 Laptop GPU
  • Harddrive Space: 1,6 TB

Software-Information:

  • Firmware-Version: V1.08
  • Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS, 64-bit
  • GNOME-Version: 46
  • Kernel-Version: Linux 6.14.0-37-generic
3

Hi there,

I am having the same issue on EndeavourOS/Arch. Played the game yesterday just fine, today it downloaded the hotfix, then I purchased the game, then it said there was another update (when I hit the update button it just flashed and was done), and since then the same is happening as for Kevin - it cycles through the launch phases and then nothing, it just goes back to “play”. Did not try to reinstall the game yet, but after I noticed it’s got a native linux version I moved the game from NTFS drive (I got a dual boot with W11, shared steam library) to a btrfs drive, did not help.

Operating System: EndeavourOS
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.22.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.18.6-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core Processor
Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (60,4 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Graphics Processor 2: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core Processor
Manufacturer: ASRock
Product Name: X870E Nova WiFi

5

just tried running with Proton 10 and it works for me, so it seems to be a problem just with the linux version, at least on my side

8

I had the same behavior experienced after hotfix 2 (and consequently, the steam common distributables). I had to delete the wine prefix so that it could be re-created on the next launch of the game, then everything was fine.

E.g. Your steam library folder has a subfolder like this: steamapps/compatdata/1371980/

Just delete it. Some of your in-game settings may need to be reset afterwards (such as vsync/FPS limit), but most things including your saves will be safe in the Steam Cloud.

9

hmm, this is a bit confusing, because when you go into the compatibility options it shows also a linux runtime 1.0 (scout), so I thought the game has a native linux version. But it doesn’t, I’m not sure why the linux runtime is there. And yes, the wine prefix can get corrupted, usually it happens after a Proton update based on what I read. And then you have to manually deleted it and let Steam/Proton create a new one. I’ve dealt with the exact issue few months ago when all of my games stopped working. But I did not connect the dots here, got confused by the linux runtime option.

10

or maybe that’s the problem? the hotfix messed something up so now steam thinks it’s got a native linux version and tries to run it that way? And forcing the Proton by compatibility options just “reverts” it back to as it should be? just guessing here, but none of my other games shows the linux runtime option unless the game has a native linux version

11

Please add any solutions or tips here guys! https://www.protondb.com/app/1371980

Thank you all for your willingness to dive in (seriously, Linux users are another breed :wink: ).

Silas

13

Just to be clear about the different versions of Proton and the strange names it can have:

Basically, the Scout, Sniper, etc. versions are internal development branches at Valve. You don’t need to choose “Scout” or “Sniper” manually.

Proton Experimental is the version just after the development branches, a kind of “pre-release” with the latest fixes and improvements. It may be less stable but allows you to benefit from Valve’s latest fixes (dx11/12, support for new titles, bug fixes, etc.). Often a comfortable choice for newly released games (especially Unity or UE5 games).

Proton (implied stable) is the default version for games, with the work done upstream (in the dev and then experimental branches).

The other solution is to install another Proton, called ProtonGE (Glorious Eggroll), which is a community build of Proton outside of Valve with additional features (anti-cheat, VR, etc.) and is often very effective.

You can manage your Proton versions using tools such as ProtonUp to install and update your ProtonGE versions.

Personally, I have been running NRFTW with ProtonGE (currently 10.29) without any issues since the beginning (AMD GPU).

Hope this helps.

EDIT: For those who want to go further:

Scout (1.0): The basic runtime, historically based on LD_LIBRARY_PATH and Debian 10, deprecated and used on older Linux titles.

Soldier (2.0): A container-based runtime (podman) used by Proton 5.13 to 7, also deprecated.

Sniper (3.0 and known as the Steam Linux Runtime): Current version for everything Proton 8 and above, OCI-based container (also podman), features the Sniper SDK for native Linux games.

14

Hi Alistanor,

Thx for the details. However this confirms what I thought - after the last update, Steam thinks it’s a native Linux game and tries to run is as such. And on Steam discussions someone noticed that a Linux depot has been added to the game.

The depot 1371986 seems to have been added 11 days ago, and 3 days ago the size of the depot changed from 0 to 2,43 GiB. And it seems Steam is now trying to start the game from this depot as a native Linux game. And that’s why the compatibility options shows also the Scout. I am not sure if devs tried adding a native Linux version and it’s just broken, or if this is some kind of error.

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15

Thanks for the clarification. Normally, if a game is natively supported on Linux, Steam will launch that version without any changes.

If it doesn’t work, you can check the box “Force use of Steam Play compatibility tool” (not sure if that’s exactly what it says, my Steam isn’t in English). In this case, Steam will take the Windows version of the game and run it in the specified Proton (which is why checking this box usually causes you to download or update the game). That’s the behavior described in this post by @Kevin_Machel

My game has this box checked, so Steam doesn’t try to launch the Linux build but stays on the Windows build in compatibility with Proton.

EDIT: Please note that by forcing compatibility, there is a high chance that the game will not find your local saves. Cloud saves usually allow you to find them.

EDIT 2: It’s great news that a native version of the game may be in development even though, given the changes, I have my doubts.

16

Pretty much all Proton related issues are fixed by simply enabling developer mode in Steam, and then right clicking on the game and go “Developer>Delete Proton Files”.

This will clear out any leftover cache from previous versions of the game, and proton.

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