I had wanted to play a game I saw on YouTube called "Project Castaway" ..... this is a survival game that looked like fun with tons of videos describing how to play it ...
I went to Steam and searched for it but as I have Linux as one of my criteria for games I can play on Steam .... it told me it wasn't compatible .....
I mentioned that on this board and if I remember correctly Michal said to go ahead and download it anyway because Steam would refund me if it didn't work .... being lazy I decided not to go through the hassle of that I just skipped the idea .....
Well yesterday I got a message from Steam that it was on sale again so I decided I would try it but this time I checked on ProtonDB but didn't see any ratings for the game in fact it was blank ..... I did see that the Penguin was highlighted .... I clicked on it and found one post that said it would work and to use Proton Experimental ....
To make a long story short I paid my money and played the game .... everything works ..... lesson learned always check with ProtonDB and check for the Penguin .... LOL
Yup, checking for compatibility ahead of time is a good idea, and protondb is a really good resource for that. Can give you a good idea of what to do if it does or doesn't work too, and specifics of everyone's machines so you know what they do or don't have similar to you.
I'll be honest, most of the time in the past 4-5 years, I haven't ever bothered to check compatibility. I buy, download, and see what happens. If it doesn't work, I look up if there are fixes. And if I can't get it working, then I refund. The VAST majority of games work without doing basically anything nowadays, so it's pretty great.
If something is new or pre-release, checking Steam Deck verification is another useful method. While it's not completely ironclad, if a game will run on Steam Deck, it's running on Linux, and it's VERY unlikely to balk just because you're not on a Steam Deck.
Yes, very well said, and I agree. I don't personally own a Steam Deck, but I know it runs on Linux. Like you said, if the game runs on a Steam Deck, it will likely run on Linux for sure.
It is hardware you don't have, but all that hardware is is a normal computer running an AMD APU stuffed into a handheld running Valve's Arch Linux variant, SteamOS. The hardware is so standard you can (and I have) run Windows on it if you really want to, and Valve even provides drivers for that, though doing so is unsupported.
When games I'm looking forward to are close to release, I look to see if they're Steam Deck verified in advance/if the publisher says it's going to be Steam Deck compatible. I'm yet to run into a game that runs on my Steam Deck that hasn't worked great on Linux.
Thank you that is some very good info ..... I'll check Steam Deck next time I'm looking to install a new game ....
I gave up on the Project Castaway survival game as it is being developed by only 2 people and in early development ..... it is full of glitches making it impossible for me to play ..... I think that's why it is on sale so the developers can use players to tell them where all the problems are ....
Instead I found Stranded Deep which has been around for ages .... it runs very smooth with minor mishaps like pigs flying or getting stuck in rocks and trees but that just makes them easier to kill for their leather and meat .... LOL
While it's not completely ironclad, if a game will run on Steam Deck, it's running on Linux, and it's VERY unlikely to balk just because you're not on a Steam Deck.
