Linux Gaming @lemmy.world bigmclargehuge @lemmy.world 1 mo. ago

Linux is officially at 99% for me.

I was a long time Windows user, starting with XP. I only tried Linux a few years ago, and while I loved it, at the time I had to dual boot for a couple specific Windows only things (VR and flight/racing sim hardware).

A couple months ago though, I got sick of it. I figured if I really wanted to do those things, I could boot up a VM, or just force myself to be patient and wait for a proper Linux solution. So, I wiped all my drives and installed Arch. Around this time, I also got an AMD RX 7600XT, so that was a nice performance boost, plus it waranted a switch to Wayland.

Let me tell you, I have been so pleasantly surprised by basically everything I've tried. Cyberpunk 2077 through Heroic Launcher, for example, with 15 odd mods. Runs at a solid 80fps at 1440p on high settings, the only graphical issue I noticed was flickering volumetric clouds. This game ate my old card (the venerable GTX 1080) alive even on Windows.

Just last night, I found my joystick, an old VKB Gladiator + Kosmosima grip, plugged it in and it worked perfectly.

What has really, really impressed me though is VR. I have a Quest 2 that I used to use via Steam link to play my PC wirelessly. Obviously that isn't an option on Linux (yet) but that's where ALVR comes in. Sideload the client on the quest, run the streamer on the desktop, start SteamVR, and bam, it works. The first game I tried was Elite Dangerous, one of my all time favourite games and easily my favourite VR epxerience. Now, I won't go ahead and claim it's perfect, hence the 99% in the title. After fiddling with the settings and making sure I had hardware encoding/decoding set up right, I had very good clarity, up to 120hz refresh rate, but occasional blockiness and artifacting, especially in heavier graphical scenes, like during docking. However, out in open space, it felt just like the ED I know and love.

At this point, I'm just going to look at fiddling with some settings and hopefully smoothing out the stream, but the fact that I can play my favourite games, with my favourite hardware, with great performance and in VR, and the amount of setup is really comparable to what it is on Windows is just kind of wrinkling my brain. Plus, only a couple months ago, this wasn't the case. Support for things that were once doomed to be dual boot material for the foreseeable future is coming along rapidly. This is a great time to be a Linux gamer.

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Yeah, a lot of expectations people have around Linux are about a decade old. I think Linux has really improved a lot in the area of gaming over the last few years even.

And as long as Linux keeps being worth supporting I think we'll see more and more games targeted toward linux.
I switched from Windows to Linux during the whole Vista debacle back in 2008. For basically ten years I was out of the PC gaming scene. I fucking love Proton and what’s its done for Linux as a gaming platform. Now I play (almost) everything on Linux, no sweat. The only things I ever need my Windows partition for anymore are things with those shitty anticheat platforms that just assume you’re a cheater if you use Linux. Cause, you know, Linux scary.
Windows XP and 7 got a special place on my heart, but once i get a PC, I'm moving to Linux Mint
Just FYI, bazzite is amazing. It's made for gaming, and it. Just. Works.

https://bazzite.gg/
the fact that I can play my favourite games, with my favourite hardware ... is just kind of wrinkling my brain.

You're finally streets ahead
If AMD wasn't already cheering to Valve, they have to be at this point
All it's missing from me are anti-cheat games and Adobe products.
I was a long time Windows user, starting with XP.

Kind of the same here, except it ended with XP, I never switched to Vista. I started using Windows already with Windows 3.0 in 1991. I've been using Linux since 2005, because Ubuntu lifted the Linux experience enough to become my main OS.

Back then games were a huge problem, I'm glad to hear it works so well for you. 👍 😀
i only switched over quite recently (a few years ago)

i swear there has been significant improvements in wifi, bluetooth, gpu support, gaming over the last 10 years that made me think it was now good enough

also there was areas where linux was outdoing windows for quite some time; system wide audio equalizer, customization generally, home services and self hosting, development tools
I finally have Windows banished to a VM, only to be awoken for the 3 times a year I need a desktop version of PowerPoint.

I'm with you. 99% of the way there.
I haven't tried ALVR in over a year, but last time I tried it it had some major issues, good to see someone report that it's working well for them, I look forward to trying it again when I can
Interesting that ALVR works on Wayland. Because regular SteamVR seems to be borked on Wayland ever since the SteamVR 2.0 update :(
Hey OP, could you give a brief rundown on what settings you're using for ALVR? I was gifted a Quest 2 and would love to get it running on Linux. I got the ALVR app sideloaded on the Quest, but the performance seems to be atrocious. I also haven't been able to get the audio routed to the headset properly, not sure if that's something you got working either - if so I'd love to know the secret sauce for that one too!
Many hardware manufacturers unfortunately require windows for firmware updates. Fwupd isn't nearly used enough unfortunately
@bigmclargehuge it's pretty impressive how far along Linux has come. I also feel things mostly just working these days. I am facing some issue with a fingerprint reader on my laptop not being supported, but there are definitely fully compatible fp readers out there, even from the same manufacturer. And there's general stability, at least as good as on windows and I do say that while tinkering quite a bit.

And for many things AI related, like running models locally, this is almost a Linux first experience. Just the recently was I impressed how easy it was to get local llms to run using ollama, even on my laptop with an Nvidia GPU. Impressive.
Glad ALVR worked for you on Wayland. It never did for me but it's been a while. All Linux needs next is support from Adobe and AutoCAD and it'll be 100% for most people
I am in a similar situation, I use quest 2 a lot to drive in assetto corsa. I have a Thrustmaster TS 300 PC, I don't think there are any Linux drivers for that base.
I just wish someone could have a walkthrough guide on how to get the games (and launchers) to work for me like they do for you. Every time something jams up and I have to reinstall until I shrug and put windows back on.
I am like you but a year behind. I hope to get there too at some point. Switched to Linux for the majority of my pc use and a lot of games. But my VR flight sim and the occasional racing is holding me back. I have an HP Reverb G2 (Windows Mixed Reality) headset which doesn't work very well on Linux (yet?) and an Nvidia RTX 3080.

There doesn't seem to be an ideal Linux VR setup yet, now that SteamVR still does not work with Wayland. Hoping they'll fix it and then I can sidegrade to a Valve Index and an RX 6900 XT and be set. I don't like the complexity and latency of wireless streaming.
I also recently made the switch and was pleasantly surprised at how many games I could still play, even "Windows only" titles. Though my requirements are nowhere near yours as I don't have VR or HOTAS.

I'm still rocking an NVIDIA 1060.. What's the Linux community consensus on NVIDIA vs AMD? Because I think it's about time to upgrade.
If only I could play Rust on it, it would be at 100% for me
I have nothing to add except that ED with VR and hotas controllers is one of the best VR spaceflight experiences out there. Dogfighting with that setup is unparalleled. Being able to watch your target as you flip over them to their tail just gets my jimmies jumpin'.

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