Update July 15th, 2023: I was asked via email to do a complete write up on how I got Assetto Corsa working on Linux. So, I went ahead and did that :). You can find it here - How to Get Assetto Corsa Working on Linux

For the most part, the games I play all generally work on Linux. The games I usually play are MMO's such as Final Fantasy XIV, Old School Runescape, Guild Wars 2, and more. Outside of MMO's, I enjoy the periodic ARPG, such as Last Epoch and the upcoming Diablo 4. However, there is one genre of games that have proven to be a bit difficult for me to get working on Linux.

That genre is racing games, more specifically, sim racing games.

Dirt Rally 2.0 is probably my most favorite sim-ish racing game that I play. On Linux, it works fairly well out of the box, albeit some audio issues here and there. But, my second most favorite sim racer is Assetto Corsa. But, I love the game because of the modding community behind it. On Windows, this was my go to game when I wanted to drift, do some touge battles, or try and do some races with others. However, on Linux, it has always been something that I decided not to install, as it was a pain to get working.

This morning, I decided to give it a go. After reading some guides, I found out that GE-Proton has scripts to get the default game working. Initially, you have to launch the game using Proton 5.0-X, and then switch it over to the latest GE-Proton version, which at the time of writing this post is GE-Proton7-55, and then launch the game again. It will take awhile, but it should error out, saying something along the line of "Steam can not be initiated."

Pressing OK on that error, and then running the game again will result in it launching.

Awesome, that is the first step down, then I needed to get Content Manager working, which is the mod manager for the game.

After following the steps 20 and onwards from the following guide - https://gist.github.com/ANBAL534/8057b5200ace9bdd98795b627e550ba0 - I was able to get content manager working.

One thing to mention is that since I was using GE-Proton, I needed to set Steam's launch paramaters too...

~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/GE-Proton7-55/proton waitforexitandrun ~/.steam/root/steamapps/common/assettocorsa/'Content Manager Safe.exe'; echo %command%

Launching Content Manager, and installing CSP all worked (I had to use CSP 1.80 as 1.79 did not work), and I was able to play on some Touge servers today.

The game holding me back

Assetto Corsa was one of the games that forced me to reinstall Windows when I had the itch to play it.

That is no longer the case. The game doesn't run perfectly on Linux, as it did for me on Windows. I am unsure if that is because of something I missed, or if it is just an Nvidia Laptop thing, but it is good enough for me to enjoy speeding around some mountain roads in my favorite cars.

With that out of the way, now it is just a matter of making sure I can get Diablo 4 working well on my computer during the upcoming May 12th-14th Server Slam weekend, so that I know what to expect on launch day. Other then D4, I have plans to play Street Fighter 6 and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life this year. Still unsure of playing any other games, but hoping all three of those work out well.

Linux is getting closer and closer to being a replacement for Windows gaming, and I hope that I can stick on Windows without having the inkling of switching back over to Windows.

But, I also have a feeling, a lot of my issues comes from the fact that I am using a AMD CPU/Nvidia GPU gaming laptop. Dual GPU laptops have historically been a pain in the butt for Linux. So, if I can ever get around to saving up enough for a desktop rig, I am hoping it is a bit smoother than the experience I am currently having.

Nontheless, I still love Linux, and even if it takes 4 hours to get a game working, I learn a lot in the time that I spend doing it!