I’m currently trying to get Transistor to run.
EndeavourOS, Nvidia gpu, and I have the Windows version that was free on Epic that one time, so ideally I’d like to run it through Heroic.

According to PCGamingWiki, it can be run DRM-free with the -AUTH_LOGIN=unused launch option, so that’s what I’d like to do.

EDIT:
I want to be able to sideload the game files

Looking on ProtonDB, people mainly suggest setting the compability to Windows XP, and it seems to run best with Proton Experimental. One report mentions adding it to Steam to launch it there, but it’s all the same for me:

Quick blackscreen with the game trying to launch, and then it crashes back to desktop.

Did anyone get it to run recently? Any other ideas I might’ve missed?

  • MentalEdge
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    328 months ago

    Remember that experimental is a constantly changing version. When you see users suggesting you set a game to use proton experimental, always check the date, because more likely than not, experimental no longer refers to the same experimental they used.

    I’ll test this out and get back to you on whether I can run it.

      • MentalEdge
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        8 months ago

        I’m back.

        I installed the windows version from steam. The game does not run under proton 8.0-5, but does with the current versions of experimental and Proton-GE from the AUR.

        I did not need to set windows version to XP, or do any other kind of extra fiddling. So all you should need is to set the no DRM launch option in heroic to allow the Epic version to run.

        If you haven’t installed that Proton-GE package from the AUR, I suggest doing so. It’s been the only “custom” proton version I’ve needed for ages, it gets updated when a new version comes out and makes itself available for selection in both Steam and Heroic, so it’s a very set and forget way to use the GE versions of Proton.

        • Miss BrainfartsOP
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          28 months ago

          Still the same. It tries to launch, I get a short blackscreen, and then it crashes again. I have sideloaded it into Heroic, and the log stops with these two lines:

          INFO: [Frontend]: Refreshing sideload Library

          WARNING: [Backend]: refresh not implemented on Sideload Library Manager

          If I download and install it directly from Epic again, and simply check the box for it to run offline, it works just fine. But that kinda defeats the point, I want to be able to sideload it without having to authenticate myself, which should be possible according to the entry at PCGamingWiki

            • Miss BrainfartsOP
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              28 months ago

              I put it into the field for launch options in Heroic first, to which it told me that it’s an environment variable I have to define in the appropriate table below, so I did that.

              • MentalEdge
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                8 months ago

                It is most definitely not an environment variable. The game doesn’t see those.

                They are a Linux thing.

                • Miss BrainfartsOP
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                  18 months ago

                  Doesn’t run either way, so there’s that.

                  The Steam version doesn’t seem to need any launch option tweaks to be run directly from the executable, but then again, Steam also sells the native Linux version.

                  One more info I found is that the game might crash on startup when it can’t load the correct audio device. But the file that is mentioned, where I’d have to manually select the device, doesn’t exist. So that’s another avenue to explore.

                  I’m so confused though. I tried it on Windows too, added the launch option to avoid authentication, but it does not want to launch.

  • Bo7a
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    38 months ago

    Shot in the dark - Is there any chance the game data is on a shared NTFS partition? The start > blackscreen > dead pattern often happens if you happen to be accessing the game data from an NTFS partition, but that part of the error message is super deep and not really obvious.

    • Miss BrainfartsOP
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      8 months ago

      Everything’s on my ext4 Linux drive.

      After some more trial and error, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that either the Epic Version can’t actually be run DRM-free, or I’m somehow being too dumb to copy paste the launch option that allows it to.

  • @five82
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    38 months ago

    I don’t have an Nvidia card myself but have you tried the latest Wine-GE through Heroic?

    Worst case, you can pick up the native Linux version on Steam right now for 80% off.

    • Miss BrainfartsOP
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      18 months ago

      Latest Wine-GE seems to not even try to launch it. With Proton, I can at least see the Transistor.exe pop up in btop, so there’s that