Steam Games in Linux

floppybootstomp

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I recently came across my first Windows 10 casualty – Civilisation V installed in Steam wouldn’t work. It did work in Win 7. It looked like a graphics problem as audio was working and the opening video played but when the game started I was greeted with a blank screen. I tried lots of things to remedy the fault including latest video drivers, all to no avail.

Looking at the Steam forums I wasn’t alone and lots of people couldn’t get the game to run in Win 10. Some blamed Win 10 while others blamed the game publishers arguing that they’d had the Win 10 codes needed for a year before launch. At time of writing there is no cure.

Wondering what to do I stumbled across the fact that Civ 5 works in Linux. I play games mostly on my living room machine which has a swappable hard disk caddy which I use to run Linux Mint 18. So I fired that up, updated Mint, configured Thunderbird email client (Steam send a confirmation email to install) and installed Steam then installed Civilisation 5. And in Linux it works perfectly.

While I was there I went through all my Steam games and found out which ones installed in Linux. Quite a few more than I expected. It did occur to me though that some games work best with a controller and my pair of Microsoft Xbox 360 wireless controllers won’t work in Linux. I wondered if any controllers worked in Linux apart from the Steam controller. Or, for that matter, any steering wheels.

I’d guess probably not but I’m assuming the Steam wireless controller works in Linux so that should be ok. Can anybody confirm this?

I then compiled a list of the games I own in Steam that work in Linux and decided to add some small comment after each one. The greater majority of games I bought in a sale, some I only paid about a quid for, I paid full price for very few. It did strike me how many games I’d purchased and not actually played, which will become apparent if you read all this list. Does anybody else do that? See a bargain, buy it then forget about it?

Anyhow, just out of interest, here’s a list of the games I own in Steam that work in Linux:

Adventures Of Shuggy – This was a cheapie game, I can’t remember what it’s all about but I’ve only played 30 minutes so it can’t be much cop.

Age Of Wonders III – I thought this would be like Age Of Empires but it wasn’t. In fact I couldn’t work out what the hell you had to do to play it so I gave up. Glad it didn’t cost much in a sale.

Alien isolation – The first game listed here I’m surprised works in Linux. A full length top game, I’ve only played a little so far but it’s looking good. Note it has a poor save system and it can be frustrating playing scenes over and over when you die.

Amnesia A Machine For Pigs – I haven’t played it yet

Amnesia The Dark Descent – Quite an odd game, scary, full of atmosphere, good so far

Bastion – I can’t remember what this is all about but I’ve played a few hours so it must be OK

Bioshock Infinite – Good game, really enjoyed playing this and there are some DLC’s to be had as well

The Book Of Unwritten Tales – A point and Click puzzle adventure game. I like it but it may not be to everybody’s taste. Relaxing

The Book Of Unwritten Tales 2 – As comments for the first game

Borderlands 2 – Possibly my favourite game as I’ve spent 1075 hours playing it though I have finally stopped playing it just recently.

Borderlands The Pre-sequel – Of the 3 Borderlands games this is the least engaging but still worth a spin. Avoid the DLC.

Broken Sword 1 Shadow OfThe Templars Directors cut – point & click, I haven’t played it

Broken Sword 2 The Smoking Mirror, Remastered – Point & click, I haven’t played it

Broken Sword 5 – The Serpents Curse – Point & click, pretty good.

Brutal Legend – This could have been good but it’s riddled with Quick Time sequences which totally spoils it. Also needs a controller to play smoothly. Frankly, I’d avoid it.

Capsized – Can’t remember what this was all about but I’ve spent a couple of hours on it.

Clockwork Tales: Of Glass & Ink – I really enjoyed this game, it’s a sort of sophisticated point and click. It’s cheap and it kept me interested from start to finish. Recommended.

Counter Strike: Source – Classic online fps

Day Of The Tentacle Remastered – Another point and click, classic game, though it doesn’t keep my attention like it did in the nineties.

Dead Island – Zombie killing. You’ll like this game at first but after a while it becomes repetitive and eventually stupidly difficult. Only buy if in a sale

Deponia – a point and click adventure game that so far I haven’t played

Dirt Showdown - A great arcade racing game with stock car racing, I finished this one in Windows with a Microsoft 360 controller. To play in Steam you will need a controller that works, the Steam controller is probably a good bet. I wonder if there are any steering wheels that work in Linux?

Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition – The classic nineties game updated to play on current operating systems. Good fun.

Dust: An Elysian Tale – A sort of full size side scroller with cutesy characters that I enjoyed a great deal, I finished this game and might play it again.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 – Not for me but Mucks likes it a lot. It’s a good thing we’re not all the same eh? ;)

Gone Home – A puzzle adventure game, I haven’t played it yet.

All the Half Life Games work in Linux and in my opinion they’re all good. These are the ones I have listed in my Steam folder:

Half Life
Half Life 2
Half Life 2 Deathmatch
Half Life 2 Episode 1
Half Life 2 Episode 2
Half Life 2 Lost Coast (A demo released at the time to show off the new game engine)
Half Life Deathmatch: Source
Half Life Blue Shift
Half Life Opposing Force
Half Life: Source

I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream – I haven’t played this yet

Kairo – I haven’t played this yet

Killing Floor – Zombie killing, I didn’t like it at all

Left 4 Dead 2 – Zombie killing – now THIS is what a good zombie game should be like, a great game

Lifeless Planet – I haven’t played it yet

Limbo – A puzzle game, very good, it’s all in black and white

Mad Max – I’m surprised this is on Linux, one of the best uses of the Batman game engine, this is a good game.

The Mean Greens – Plastic warfare – a toy soldiers fps that I didn’t realise was multiplayer only and therefore I have no idea what it’s like.

Metal Slug 3 – I haven’t played this yet but I do know it’s a very old game

Metro last Light & Metro Last Light Redux – Both really good, the redux version just has improved graphics

Metro 2033 Redux – I never got on with this game, I thought the redux version might have improved things for me but it didn’t. I didn’t like it, others do like it.

Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor – As the title suggests, a game drawing inspiration from the Lord Of The Rings saga. It uses the Batman game engine and imo is very difficult. I gave up on it, being a wuss. It does look very good indeed.

Millie – A sort of Bejewelled type of thing, a fun time-waster

Mountain – I Haven’t played it yet but apparently it’s a very simplistic sort of puzzle thing

Outlast – Horror survival. Hard. Dark & murky. I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Overlord – I haven’t played it yet

Overlord: Raising Hell – I haven’t played it yet

Overlord II – I played this on Windows and really enjoyed it until I got about 75% of the way through and got stuck.

Painkiller: Hell & Damnation – ALL of the painkiller games are great if you love mindless shoot ‘em ups. Which I do.

Portal – Too clever by far

Portal 2 – Too clever by far 2

Postal 2 – Absolute tosh

Psychonauts – good fun, good game, quirky, cheap

Road Redemption – An attempt to make a modern version of Road Rash. Worth a try if it’s in a sale.

Saints Row: The Third – A poor mans GTA V

Saints Row IV – A poor mans GTA V

Sid Meirs’ Civilisation V & all DLC’s – I’m sure this is a good game – once I can figure out how to play the bloody thing

Skullgirls – Mortal Kombat with cutesy Japanese girlies

Stacking – I played this briefly, it’s probably quite good, puzzle game based around the idea of Russian dolls fitting into each other

System Shock 2 – Classic game, it set a standard. Good but imo a little over-rated

The Talos Principle – Great puzzle game. I enjoyed this until it got stupidly hard. Are we detecting a pattern here?

Team Fortress Classic – as the title, classic multiplayer game

Team Fortress Classic 2 – played with cartoon characters, this multiplayer is, imo, good. I played it for about a year

Terraria – a side scroll game, didn’t appeal to me

Tomb Raider – the first of two great Lara Croft Games made in recent times – very good indeed

Torchlight II – an RPG I haven’t played yet

Trine 2 – I haven’t played this yet

Undertale – supposedly a very clever game, it left me cold. Maybe I’m daft.

The Witcher 2 – Oddly enough I haven’t played this one. I almost finished Witcher 1 and I’m currently playing Witcher 3 but somehow I passed this one by.

X3: Terran Conflict – Haven’t played it yet

X3: Albion Prelude – Haven’t played it yet

Xcom: Enemy Unknown – I played a little of this, it didn’t exactly grab me, maybe I’ll get back to it. Got it as a freebie with some hardware or other.

Ziggurat – I have no idea what this is all about.

And there we have it :D The main purpose of this list was to show some of the games that work in Linux, my personal comments are an afterthought ;)
 
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Coor that is quite a list there Mr Flops and when I download Mint there were many friends who are IT professionals MS engineers told me that games did not work in Linux. I will now be able to tell the they know nothing he he he:lol::lol::lol::lol:
 

Abarbarian

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I seem to remember that somewhere in the past, but I may be mistaken,that there was a general feeling around here that gaming would never be possible on a penguin box, apart from simple text or point and clicks. :lol:
Great list you have there Flops. :thumb:

Although I have not tried my controller on linux yet I would think that as the Steam os is linux based the controller should work just fine and dandy. It works really well on a Windows box.

As to your MS wireless controllers not working in linux, I feel you may be miss informed.

https://unixblogger.com/2016/05/31/...less-controller-working-under-your-linux-box/

Yup I buy games in sales only. So I have complete series of say Sam and MAX or Wallace and Grommit games.
I too have games that came from the Humble bundles that I have not even fired up at all. Now that I am flying Skylake though this winter will see a change in me gaming patterns..

:cool:
 

Abarbarian

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I am going to look into this as would love to play games on my Mint PC. :thumb:

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/wiki/Newbie_guide

This is pretty informative. You should be able to install Steam from within Mint.

A tip is to install your games on a separate partition, not on the root or home. By doing this you can keep all your games if you have to delete your Linux installation because it got corrupted or because you want to try a different Linux distribution.

There is this Linux games data base which is very informative.

https://lgdb.org/games/advanced?tax...omy_vocabulary_22_tid_op=and&&sort_by=created

If you trawl through the Mint installer thingy you should find some free games, some are quite good fun like Tux Racer or Out of Order.

:cool:
 
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Which controller should I purchase a wired one would be sufficient as my PC is in our utility/ Heating tank cupboard so not much room in here
 

floppybootstomp

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I still have a wired Xbox 360 controller that I used before I bought the wireless pair and apparently these will work within Linux without much messing about.

In my opinion the Xbox360 controller is the best one for PC games, I recently bought a receiver for the Xbox One controller and tried that, it was good but no better than the 360 controller imo.

Of course, I haven't tried a Steam controller yet.

Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...t_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=823PNBN331FQ1VY33RTD

Maybe I should try the wired controller in Linux Mint, now there's an idea....
 

Abarbarian

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These are just thoughts.

You have never used a controller so will be learning from scratch so it do not matter which type you learn on.
You will probably be buying games from Steam.
Steam has its own linux based os and made a controller to fit in with that.
You want to run games on a linux box.
Steam OS games should work really well on Mint.
The Steam controller is wireless.
Most if not all Steam linux games will be made to work with the Steam controller if applicable I should think.
You can buy a 5 meter usb cable for about £3.
Not all games work with a controller.

What sort of games do you fancy ?

:cool:
 
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The usual combat, space, racing games I was just looking on Steam's site to see what would suit me, probably the free/cheap ones to start with looks like there are plenty for a beginner.:nod:. Will the wireless controller run on Mint?
 

floppybootstomp

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Abarb, agree with all that except this one:

You have never used a controller so will be learning from scratch so it do not matter which type you learn on.

In my opinion the controller will make a difference, I know you is allergic to anything Microsoft but their controller is generally recognised as the best one out there.

I've used a lot less able controllers, some of the Logitech offerings, for instance, weren't too clever.

And yes, most games are much much better with keyboard/mouse combo. Some games, such as racing and some RPG's, suit a controller better.
 
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Thanks Flops will have a look on the net for one. I know the Steam one is £34ish. I will follow your advice and go for the Microsoft one BT do a good deal on it.
 
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Hi all thanks for all your advice and I have to report I have just now ordered (lucky last one in stock) from BT a Microsoft Xbox 360 controller which should arrive tomorrow. Now going to look on Steam for some games.:thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
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Morning all, my Microsoft Xbox 360 has just arrived from BT unpacking it I found a Microsoft Accessories 1.2 disc, I assume I do not try to load that into my Linux PC. I assume I just connect to the PC and it will recognise it OK or is there anything I should do before or after connecting it up.
 

floppybootstomp

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Nope, you don't need the drivers on the disk for Linux, they're in the repository I do believe.

You don't need them for Windows Ten either ;) (but they were needed for Win 7 and all MS OS's prior to)
 
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Thanks Mr Flops:thumb:I thought that was the case but thought I aught to ask as did not to bugger the OS/distro.:cheers:
 

floppybootstomp

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I have an update to this tale, which, as I stated in the first post, Civilisation V would not run in Windows 10.

Let me now state quite categorically that Civilisation V DOES run in my Windows 10 installation and it runs very well.

So what was the culprit for this games' non-running and the fact it runs now? Step forward Nvidia's Geforce Experience, a software program that updates the drivers for Nvidia graphics cards and which also sets up a users' games library to work at their optimal settings.

The Nvidia Geforce Experience had set Civ V to run at a much higher resolution than my monitor was capable of and that's why it wasn't working. I realised this when The Witcher III Wild Hunt also would not run and my monitor displayed an 'Out of range' message.

I looked in the Nvidia program and saw I could manually set each game program so set both Civ V and The Witcher III to run at 1920 x 1080 and then both of them worked.

I'm not sure what the max res my monitor can run at, I'll have to look in the manual, it's a Ben Q 28" EW2730 and then I will set each game to run at the max the monitor can display.

I think that's a bit naughty of Nvidia, them setting a games' max res without knowing if a persons' monitor can display it, it certainly caught me out.
 

Abarbarian

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Yer doing better than me then.

I have Lord of the Rings War in the North installed, think it came as part of a Humble bundle.

Tried to play it and it would not start properly.

Fiddled according to info from steam forums and it worked. Neat game, looks like I will enjoy playing.

That is if I can ever get it to start again.

Tried all the different ways mentioned I can find at stream and on the net and it just will not start again.

So I have a game that managed to start and stop several times and have several hours of game play on that will not start up again.

Not a happy bunny. :mad:
 

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