Not really. If such kind of issue occurs, I'd simply use Windows version in Wine.

What games do you have problem?

The only game that I do have problem is The Bard's Tale. This game native version does run but has some serious bugs also the proton version does not run, so I really can't progress the game. Unfortunately I had not played the game much when it was new to be sure if the bugs always existed.

For some older games like Trine just using steam runtime as compatibility is enough (by default I am always running steam-native). Other games had always problems, so the old distribution is completely irrelevant.

I am really annoyed that people have the a very wrong idea about compatibility. We need to promote Linux native API's Like SDL, Vulkan and OpenGL. Games should never-ever by default be dependent to specific versions of Libraries and especially never be dependent to a desktop environment. If you are independent of such things then you have an ELF that will just run on any distro now and to the future.

Valve did two very wrong things that are still haunting the linux gaming. Steam runtime is just the wrong way doing things. Fortunately we have a way out and Valve should adopt this (The way out is using steam-native and pushing the runtime bullshit to compatibility) The other wrong thing is client being 32bit. Linux and Mac clients should had been 64bit from the beginning. Apple "forced" Valve to do the right thing. Valve needs to do the right thing on Linux even if there is nobody that can force them to do it.

Fortunately Valve also did the what really had to be done and this is going forward with SDL (and also many other good things). So even if Valve made some serious mistakes we really need to be grateful to Valve that Linux is a gaming platform.

Last edited by lucinos on 28 June 2023 at 2:50 am UTC

Bard's Tale is one example. Some other examples are 32-bit games compiled without big files support, making them crash on large XFS partitions and so on. For example Shadow Tactics: Blade of the Shogun had such issue. This is not a common thing today becasue everyone is making 64-bit games, but for a while a whole ton of games were bugged 32-bit ones, becasue Unity had such bug.

Last edited by Shmerl on 28 June 2023 at 3:10 am UTC

No.......

I did do this back in Windows days...... I kept an old XP machine to play old games but it got to much of a hassle to swap machines...... And ive had no luck with duel booting...... So I gave up on that.....

Also I think that Proton/WINE will help to preserve games..... So I dont really see the point myself...... Each to their own though....

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderNo.......

I did do this back in Windows days...... I kept an old XP machine to play old games but it got to much of a hassle to swap machines...... And ive had no luck with duel booting...... So I gave up on that.....

I remember that I was using two versions of Windows from 2003 to 2004 to solve these issues. I had been using Windows at home for over a year, and it was easy even back then.

Quoting: ShmerlNot really. If such kind of issue occurs, I'd simply use Windows version in Wine.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderAlso I think that Proton/WINE will help to preserve games..... So I dont really see the point myself...... Each to their own though....

Below are some examples.
Probably, I could run many of them on these modern machines if I find time to do it.

Mandrake 7.2 - Exile 3, Würstelstand
Suse 9.3 - Mohaa, Raptor, Reel Deal Slots, Inner worlds
Suse 10.1 - Universal boxing manager, Odyssey By Car, Nuts & Scrap
PCLinuxOS 2010 - Runesoft, LGP, Loki
Ubuntu 22.04 - current games

On the other hand, I don't care about Wine if something doesn't work.
I have a few older machines, so I can always come back to solve these issues later. All four computers are connected to the same monitor, so I got used to the idea of playing games for Linux in a lazy way. It gives me the same experience. Companies are doing incredible job when they are porting games to Linux. I have low expectations about Linux, and I try to respect the time and money they invested.

Windows users build machines with DOS or Windows 98, and Mac users upgrade old Power PC/Intel Macs to play games. I found it fun upgrading the old PC from GeForce 4 MX to GeForce 7300 GT.

Why should we care about preserving games for the other operating systems?

I noticed that Grid Autosport doesn't run on Ubuntu 22.04. I will install something from 2016 because there is a difference between Linux in 2016 and 2023.

Why Steam users can't solve these issues in the same way instead of using Proton?

People can waste hours trying to troubleshoot a game or temporarily use the old Linux distribution. In this case, they can enjoy playing a specific game and find a solution for the new distribution when they find the time.


Last edited by gbudny on 28 June 2023 at 11:55 am UTC

No, I spend far less time ticking the compatibility box on Steam to run them with Proton. Or Wine if not on Steam. Less hassle, less time wasted, more time gaming.

Quoting: Liam DaweNo, I spend far less time ticking the compatibility box on Steam to run them with Proton. Or Wine if not on Steam. Less hassle, less time wasted, more time gaming.

You can always keep the older Linux distribution and when you have it. I'm pretty sure that a minute of booting the older system won't take too much of your time.

I'm finding it enjoyable to run every game for Linux that I didn't play like it was in the past.

Last edited by gbudny on 28 June 2023 at 12:09 pm UTC

Quoting: gbudny

Quoting: Liam DaweNo, I spend far less time ticking the compatibility box on Steam to run them with Proton. Or Wine if not on Steam. Less hassle, less time wasted, more time gaming.

You can always keep the older Linux distribution and when you have it. I'm pretty sure that the time of booting the older system won't take too much of your time.

I'm finding it enjoyable to run every game for Linux that I didn't play like it was in the past.

Just seems like a waste of time for me. Why dual-boot, when I can just click a few buttons on the same system I am on and save space too?

Quoting: Liam DaweJust seems like a waste of time for me. Why dual-boot, when I can just click a few buttons on the same system I am on and save space too?

A minute is a waste of your time?

Windows and Mac users dual-boot their operating systems to sort out these issues. Amiga users do it with AmigaOS and MorphOS.

Why do we always think that Linux is a better operating system? Maybe it is a terrible operating system.

Maybe we should think about older Linux distributions like tools. We need a specific Linux distribution to run an old game and enjoy it.

In this case, we don't have to worry about the lack of patches or poor technical support. It matters what is displayed on the same monitor. If it's a native game for Linux, it's a better choice for me.

It's a much healthy way of thinking to give up and accept this operating system as it's. Maybe it was a hopeless choice, and when we get stuck with these games. It probably doesn't hurt to use native games in a lazy way.

We can always find time to troubleshoot some native games in the distant future. I don't know when it will happen with some of them.

Last edited by gbudny on 28 June 2023 at 12:40 pm UTC

Quoting: gbudnyWhy should we care about preserving games for the other operating systems?

For me, it's because I like those games. I don't care what OS they are or aren't for, I just care about the games themselves and being able to play them how I choose.

Quoting: gbudnyWhy Steam users can't solve these issues in the same way instead of using Proton?

People can waste hours trying to troubleshoot a game or temporarily use the old Linux distribution. In this case, they can enjoy playing a specific game and find a solution for the new distribution when they find the time.

There's a principle called Occam's Razor, which states that "Plurality should not be posited without necessity.". It's sometimes alternately explained as "The simplest answer is the one most likely to be correct.".

For the everyday user just looking to game, there are simply far less hoops to jump through to just click a menu and then click a checkbox in the Steam client, than there are to set up, maintain, and switch back and forth between a current OS and a separate outdated one whenever a problem with a game might occur.

That said, I fully understand the appeal of this for real-hardware retrocomputing if that's anyone's jam, but I don't really understand going through that hassle for relatively recent or current stuff. In those cases, I'd rather just stick to one system myself.