What is general practice for installing games from outside Steam?

PC/Linux/Steam Noob here. I just got a game from GOG and I’m seeing tutorials mention Heroic, Lutris, and Wine via ProtonUp-QT as methods to get non-Steam games installed and running on Deck. Which method would you consider the easiest and most reliable for content from GOG, Ubisoft, Epic, etc…

Follow up, here's what I did:

  1. Desktop Mode: I installed Heroic Launcher (it handily chose a location in my games folder), and added it to my steam library.
  2. Game Mode: I did the change artwork stuff for Heroic, booted it, signed in and all that jazz, then installed and launched the game (Lost Ruins).
  3. Desktop Mode: I navigated to the (Lost Ruins) game folder and found the "start.sh" file that boots the game, then added that one to steam.
  4. Game Mode: Did the change artwork stuff for the game itself, and now I can add game-specific settings for it.
  5. (Extra) I added a "Heroic Launcher" collection to store GOG & Epic content.
ekZepp,
@ekZepp@lemmy.world avatar

For now i’ve just installed the exes of Epic and Ubisoft separately. In future i’ll probably switch to heroic launcher.

neonred,

I am a simple man, all I do is wine setup.exe.

(Okay, plus different prefixes and winetricks for dxvk, etc. But in a nutshell, that’s it)

AnonTwo,

Generally I add installers using "add non-steam app", then once they install successfully, remove it and instead add the executable that was created.

Proton can do it correctly just it's a PITA navigating the folders to make it work.

Lutris can work but some of it's scipts are outdated or not made with steamdeck in mind

candle_lighter,
@candle_lighter@lemmy.ml avatar

I use the Steam Link app on my desktop to use keyboard + mouse on the Deck. For content from Epic, GOG, and Amazon I find Heroic Launcher to be the easiest since it’s a native Linux app and has a simple “add to Steam” button. For emulation, I use Emudeck, for everything else I use Bottles or Lutris.

soulsource,
@soulsource@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

What I do is usually:

  • Install the game on my desktop PC.
  • Copy the files over to the Steam Deck via sftp
  • Use Desktop Mode to add it as a non-Steam game to the Steam Library
  • If it’s a Windows game, force Proton in the game’s properties in Steam
  • Use SteamGridDB (and sgdboop) to set a nice image for it.
corus_kt,

Same for all my non steam games, never had much trouble outside of the occasional winetricks workaround

Etterra,

Step one, delete GOG and Epic

Telorand,

Why?

firecat,

He is a loyalist to Valve corporate and will defend the billion dollar company. Do not become such person or hate on websites that offer free games.

Telorand,

I mean, I understand that some people don’t like Epic or their hostility towards Linux, but with patience, you can build a pretty large library of freebies without giving them a penny.

DroneRights,

I like GOG and dislike Epic. I am fully in favour of taking Epic for a ride and enjoying their free games, that’s how I got subnautica, and I’m also against giving them any actual money.

lupec,

I just use Lutris for everything since it integrates with all the storefronts I care about, but as others have brought up Heroic is also a good option. I’d say try a handful of games on each and see which you prefer.

Diurnambule,

Heroic for epic games. For others games I run the installers from lutris and add games and run them directly in stram

Lipriv30,

I have gog set up and go in gog to install and play games. Is there a better way than that?

Diurnambule,

Yeah but it require to have money to buy games.

rgalex,
@rgalex@lemmy.world avatar

Heroic is a client for GOG and Epic Launcher, so if I install a game from there, I use Heroic.

Lutris is more generic, and has specific script installers per game, so I use Lutris as a fallback if the game is from somewhere else, or the game does not correctly work with Heroic.

Then, as a third fallback, I try to install the game with Wine directly, then add it a shortcut on Steam to benefit from Proton through Steam. In the above cases (Heroic and Lutris), they would be using their own packaged version of Wine/Proton, so it’s worth to try it before giving up.

Cralder,

I would recommend using bottles as the last fallback instead of just wine. Makes it easier since it automatically creates a wine prefix for each game/launcher

Diurnambule,

Same method but I run wine in lutris. I would add to use the steam id of the games as name in steam to get steamdeck controler config related to the game and to look into the the plugin “steamgriddb” to add images and logo to imported games

rikudou,

Heroic for GOG and Epic. No idea about Ubisoft.

Nilz,

I use Heroic if the game is from GoG or Epic and Lutris for the rest. I wouldn’t bother with using just Wine since it’s a lot easier to configure compatibility settings for each individual game with Heroic and Lutris. Both can use the same compatibility layers anyway.

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