It's already possible to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Linux with Steam Play

Just a question, how good is EAC? I know that VAC has a lot of vulnerabilities, and there's cheaters in all valve's games.

It's curious how fast EAC conquested the market, and most of the newer games have it.

It's really "cheater-free"?

I think it's more like a virus scanner. It weeds out the easy to catch stuff. I've heard plenty of reports from cheaters in games that have anti-cheat (any kind). While some reports might be sore losers, I have no doubt there are people with enough time on their hands to beat it. Just like any other cracking, it becomes a sport in itself.

If it's that weak then why can't we just convince the dang thing it's talking to the kernel even though it isn't? Sure, that might not be an ideal solution from the game developers' point of view, but hey, if they don't like it they can make Linux versions of their games.

Anyway, never played Halo in my life, so nostalgia for me to worry about.

I only played the first one on PC back in the days and it looked outdated even then and controls were slow and unresponsive, story seemed to be nonexistent and it was really not fun to play.

So yeah no nostalgia for me either.

Rest of the games were mostly on consoles only is what i hear. Since i havent owned a console since the first NES, i havent even heard about the rest of the Halo games lol

The 2nd one was released for PC, but surprise, surprise Vista only. There are(were) patches to make it run on XP and 7, no idea about how well it works for newer Win versions or Wine.

I and a friend would beat the game at least twice in each difficulty in some sort of speed running craze.
IF they add offline split screen they may ignite my nostalgia flame, otherwise i am on the same boat as you, plus i know even without checking they won't.

See this issue where people share their problems launching MCC and also try my Proton build from here. It works for me and some other people but not for everyone. Still, give it a try or build it yourself if you can. Don't trust strangers from the Internet too much!


Last edited by rkfg on 5 December 2019 at 10:16 am UTC

I think the biggest issue with EAC is how intrusive it is. It clearly includes a kernel-level driver (I found issues describing BSoDs caused by EasyAntiCheat.sys) and Wine, being a userspace set of libraries, simply can't emulate kernel APIs because it would require root access and a kernel module. So Epic/Valve will either develop such a module and provide a way to build/load it from Steam (more likely) or drop the low-level part of anticheat which would make Linux a more preferable platform for cheaters (much less likely). Or maybe they'll find a middleground and do whatever's possible from userspace but with elevated privileges (access to /dev/mem, /dev/kmem and such).

TBH, I don't like any of these possibilities because this anticheat gets full access to your memory, processes and devices and can potentially steal passwords, keys and whatnot.

Are you a 100% of all you mention? I know for a fact that EAC has a Linux client version and it doesn't require root privileges in order to run. Also, if they install a driver on Windows I would expect that Windows users have to give privileges to Steam installer.


Last edited by x_wing on 4 December 2019 at 8:34 pm UTC

I think the biggest issue with EAC is how intrusive it is. It clearly includes a kernel-level driver (I found issues describing BSoDs caused by EasyAntiCheat.sys) and Wine, being a userspace set of libraries, simply can't emulate kernel APIs because it would require root access and a kernel module. So Epic/Valve will either develop such a module and provide a way to build/load it from Steam (more likely) or drop the low-level part of anticheat which would make Linux a more preferable platform for cheaters (much less likely). Or maybe they'll find a middleground and do whatever's possible from userspace but with elevated privileges (access to /dev/mem, /dev/kmem and such).

TBH, I don't like any of these possibilities because this anticheat gets full access to your memory, processes and devices and can potentially steal passwords, keys and whatnot.

Are you a 100% of all you mention? I know for a fact that EAC works has a Linux client version and it doesn't require root privileges in order to run. Also, if they install a driver on Windows I would expect that Windows users have to give privileges to Steam installer.

This is true for the Windows version, of course. Steam on Windows has a privileged service running that might help installing EAC transparently so the user doesn't need to supply any administrator credentials. That Steam service had a privilege escalation vulnerability that's been found and discussed recently btw. On Linux it's all more "user"-friendly.

not to sound like a complete noob, but I don't have a /.steam/compatibilitytools.d/ folder/file, so I have no idea how to use this work around on manjaro

not to sound like a complete noob, but I don't have a /.steam/compatibilitytools.d/ folder/file, so I have no idea how to use this work around on manjaro

You should create it. It must be at the same level where SteamApps and userdata are located.

Just a question, how good is EAC? I know that VAC has a lot of vulnerabilities, and there's cheaters in all valve's games.

It's curious how fast EAC conquested the market, and most of the newer games have it.

It's really "cheater-free"?

I think it's more like a virus scanner. It weeds out the easy to catch stuff. I've heard plenty of reports from cheaters in games that have anti-cheat (any kind). While some reports might be sore losers, I have no doubt there are people with enough time on their hands to beat it. Just like any other cracking, it becomes a sport in itself.

If it's that weak then why can't we just convince the dang thing it's talking to the kernel even though it isn't? Sure, that might not be an ideal solution from the game developers' point of view, but hey, if they don't like it they can make Linux versions of their games.

Probably. But that would be an exploitable flaw which will then be fixed and the cycle has to start all over again. Nice for those enjoying that challenge, but not really practical for Linux gamers.

A toast to Valve 🥂

not to sound like a complete noob, but I don't have a /.steam/compatibilitytools.d/ folder/file, so I have no idea how to use this work around on manjaro

Example:
mkdir ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d
wget https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/archive/4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz
tar -xf 4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz -C ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/

not to sound like a complete noob, but I don't have a /.steam/compatibilitytools.d/ folder/file, so I have no idea how to use this work around on manjaro

Example:
mkdir ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d
wget https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/archive/4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz
tar -xf 4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz -C ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/

i would recommend rkfg's build https://github.com/rkfg/proton-ge-custom/releases/tag/Guy1524
this is the newest version because GE Version does not work anymore


Last edited by McMarius11 on 5 December 2019 at 7:29 am UTC

not to sound like a complete noob, but I don't have a /.steam/compatibilitytools.d/ folder/file, so I have no idea how to use this work around on manjaro

Example:
mkdir ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d
wget https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/archive/4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz
tar -xf 4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz -C ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/

i would recommend rkfg's build https://github.com/rkfg/proton-ge-custom/releases/tag/Guy1524
this is the newest version because GE Version does not work anymore

Yes, but note that it might not work if your libgnutls version is too old. 3.6.6 and above were reported as working fine. With that patch you won't need to retry logging in, it just works.

not to sound like a complete noob, but I don't have a /.steam/compatibilitytools.d/ folder/file, so I have no idea how to use this work around on manjaro

Example:
mkdir ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d
wget https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/archive/4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz
tar -xf 4.21-GE-1-MCC.tar.gz -C ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/

okay, so whatever the reason, and should add the 3rd command line gave an error, but I extracted the file, and copied it to the "compatibilitytools.d" and regardless of restarting steam or restarting the computer, the new proton doesn't show up as an option; not really sure what I'm missing here, but I am using a non beta version of steam, and running it without an emulator.

I've spent few minutes on trying to sign in to my MS account, it gave me GfWL flashbacks. But eventually I succeeded and could start the game. It seems launching it in the EAC-free mode disables getting achievements.

To be honest, I've found Halo (or at least Halo: Reach) to be very mediocre so far, having finished 3 missions. Run forward, shoot bullet sponges with boring assault rifles, die from instakill attacks, repeat. Maybe I got spoiled by recent oldschool FPS games like Dusk, Ion Fury, Wrath, but I'm also enjoying Wolfenstein 2. Nice music though.

This is one of the weirdest store pages on Steam. It has a purchase option for "Halo: Reach". It is also there as DLC, which has a store page that says it's a DLC and requires The Master Chief Collection. And the Master Chief Collection is a package that includes Halo: Reach. Ok then.

It's probably because there's only Halo: Reach for now, and other games will be added later. I thought they had released the full collection and was surprised to see Steam dowloading only 15 GB. Now I understand it's only one game, not six.


Last edited by ageres on 5 December 2019 at 3:21 pm UTC

I've spent few minutes on trying to sign in to my MS account, it gave me GfWL flashbacks. But eventually I succeeded and could start the game. It seems launching it in the EAC-free mode disables getting achievements.

Try my build with the proper patches, it should let you login from the first try.

To be honest, I've found Halo (or at least Halo: Reach) to be very mediocre so far, having finished 3 missions. Run forward, shoot bullet sponges with boring assault rifles, die from instakill attacks, repeat. Maybe I got spoiled by recent oldschool FPS games like Dusk, Ion Fury, Wrath, but I'm also enjoying Wolfenstein 2. Nice music though.

That was my impression as well but it definitely gets better in the next missions. They're also pretty different in environment and even gameplay, you'll see for yourself. I know Halo is severly overhyped so it's better to keep your expectations low. I only played CE and 2 long ago, loved CE for its music and atmosphere. Don't expect much from the story, it has some twists but otherwise it's just a space opera about bad aliens and good humans. Unusual exteriors like ring worlds are good, lots of different guns and armor modules are nice, you can drive vehicles (or shoot from them and let the companions drive), use aliens' stationary guns and they can use human guns in trucks as well, some of the enemies are pretty tough and you'll need to flank them to kill. I.e. the gameplay isn't just dumb shoot&cover.

But the story and characters are not like those from better space operas like Mass Effect trilogy. Don't let that disappoint you, enjoy the atmosphere, music and some nice views. Even though the graphics are obviously dated, the textures are pretty sharp so they don't look that bad. I wish there were more triangles... but overall it doesn't distract from playing and doesn't ruin immersion so it's good enough. Not SotTR, of course, but okay.

Also, as I understand Reach is not about the main hero, Master Chief and his AI companion Cortana, both of which are very charismatic. So wait until the next games and you'll probably see why the series is praised so much. The music in CE and 2 is also on another level compared to Reach. Then again, don't expect much and you might be positively surprised. Or not.

I just completed it. It's a good game but it's really short, took me only 7 hours. I know it's kind of an intro to the series but still... could've been longer.

If memory serves...

Halo 1 was the greatest
Halo 2 was great despite how annoying it was to play as a particular character a lot
Halo 3 was good but not great
Halo ODST - not sure I even finished this one. Not memorable
Halo Reach I know I played but can't remember if I beat it. If rkfg says it was only 7 hours, then I probably did.
Halo 4 was excellent! I remember thinking 343 Studios did the series justice. Better than 3, maybe better than 2.

I have not played Halo 5 still. I'll have to ask around to see if my buddies would want to pay sometime on their system. Man, I used to love Halo, but I haven't had an Xbox for quite a few years.

The gist of this post was supposed to say don't judge the series by Reach. :)

Reach is more like a set of missions without a structured story behind it (I get what's happening but can't say I care because the character's backgrounds don't exist and they die too fast lol). Good gunplay and some views but that's mostly it. People say it's a blast in multiplayer but... you know. We don't have a way to verify that claim for now. Other games are planned for 2020 but no exact release dates are set. Let's hope it will be faster now that they ported one game, and that we'll have no additional issues with them.


Last edited by rkfg on 6 December 2019 at 10:20 am UTC

People say it's a blast in multiplayer but... you know. We don't have a way to verify that claim for now.

Which features are enabled when EAC is off? Singleplayer campaign works but any chance for online co-op or customs etc.?

People say it's a blast in multiplayer but... you know. We don't have a way to verify that claim for now.

Which features are enabled when EAC is off? Singleplayer campaign works but any chance for online co-op or customs etc.?

I don't know but you might be able to play with friends that also have EAC turned off. Matchmaking won't work for sure.