I moved to Linux Mint fairly recently but still dual boot for a couple of programs that require Windows. I avoid Windows when I can but I like to play The Sims 4 and want to play it on Linux so I tried to install it on Steam (I own it on EA but it’s free on Steam right now and I haven’t been able to get Bottles to run the EA app without EA crashing before starting) but the EA app just blanks out when I run it. My EA account is linked to Steam (checked on EA’s website to confirm that they’re linked) and I can’t find any other reason for this issue online. Any ideas? Thanks!

Edit: tried again after relinking my EA and Steam accounts and waiting a while to let it boot and so far nothing. Looking at Steam, it seems like it stopped at loading “Microsoft DirectX” so I’ll have to go from there.

  • heartsofwar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    I think you might be crossing the streams a little…

    • WINE is the base open source software that allows you to run Windows applications / games on Linux
    • Steam Proton is its own fork of WINE that has additional changes contributed from CodeWeavers, Valve, and other developers as well as integrating packages / libs like DXVK.
    • Steam is a Proton management sandbox which allows you to run multiple different Proton prefixes / environments
    • Lutris is a WINE or Proton management sandbox which allows you to run multiple different WINE / Proton environments with a gaming focus
    • Bottles is a WINE or Proton management sandbox which allows you to run multiple different WINE / Proton environments with a general focus

    To get the best compatibility, and run Sims 4 from Steam, you need to

    • Run Steam natively on your Linux computer which loads a Proton environment that will run the EA app and kick off Sims 4

    Do not use Bottles or Lutris; they’re not necessary and might only cause problems.

    According to ProtonDB, if you already linked your EA account, you might need to downgrade to Proton 8.0-2 to get Sims 4 to work…

    • Lord Goose@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Thanks for the really detailed explanation! This is a really nice overview for me.

      I’ll try again to run the game on Steam on a few versions of Proton. If that doesn’t work, I might try relinking my accounts as another commenter suggested.

    • Lord Goose@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      11·
      1 year ago

      I looked through these yesterday and I’ve tried several of these fixes with no luck. Is WINE a prerequisite to running The Sims 4 off of Steam (given that I’m using Proton for all Steam games)?

      • angrymouse@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        What I would try in your situation (I don’t have the game so I can just give ideas):

        Firstly I would try to wait a lot of time after I click on play, idk 10 minutes (because of some ppl comments on proton db I’m inclining to believe this blank screen wait until some shader compilation.

        Then I would relink my ea account with steam (if it is possible, usually is, unlink and then link again).

        Then I would try to run it on 8.0-2 and 7.0x In order.

        Then would I close steam and delete the wineprefix, (wineprefix is a C: disk emulation where wine will run this program) on steam folder there is a compatdata folder, inside it you should find the Id of your game, it is the number in the URL of the game in steam store.

        Also, I would reboot my system if I had a recent update in the last two sessions, idk why but when I update me endevour sometimes I feel the next session a little unstable until I reboot two times.

        This is what I can think of right now

        • Lord Goose@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          I’ll see if any of these steps work. Thanks for all of the possible troubleshooting steps! I’ll update you on the results.

  • Black Xanthus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    You may want to look into Lutris. They’ve done a lot of work on bringing windows games to Linux, and basically do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

    It will also link to your Steam, EA, Origen, Cog etc accounts and do the same for games there as well.

    • Lord Goose@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I’ve been trying to stick with Steam because Steam has been such a pleasant experience for me (besides some issues with NVIDIA but that’s not Steam’s fault) but I might have to take a look at Lutris if none of the other fixes work. Thanks for the recommendation, though!