EQ2 on Linux and Mac guide

Discussion in 'Tips, Tricks, FAQs, and New Player Discussion' started by Sturmlocke, Mar 28, 2022.

  1. Gabaron Member

    Hi! Could someone please explain how to install eq profit with maps on Mac m1 through crossover ? Thanks!
    Sturmlocke likes this.
  2. a_shrubbery Active Member

    Hey man

    I haven't time to dig into this right now - but thanks for the (at first glance) very in depth guide. I am a long time user of Ubuntu for web dev; and only just recently with the Steamdeck changes, and Windows 11 ... and checking my library against Proton ( with eg. https://checkmydeck.herokuapp.com/ ) ... I am experimenting with using Ubuntu as my "daily driver".

    I installed Steam and was pleasantly surprised; First small indie game I tried I didn't even realize it has a native Linux port so it ran just flawlessly. Then I tried Quake (the remaster), with Proton and ... it just works. The hell?

    And now I'm reading It sounds like EQ2 might work too? Because if it does, I'm that much closer to literally "retire" my Windows partition. I 'm so tired of switching between OS'es.

    Quickie question : should I install EQ2 via Steam, or can I just "Add game to library" so it (presumably) runs with the Proton layer?
    Sturmlocke and Aterskia like this.
  3. Aterskia Active Member

    ya YA!
    me'es screenchots abov dat be's tellin' stories!!
    EQII kin, INDEED RUN EQII (running eben now!)

    eyver Steam ors CrossOver workies fine fur EQII on Kubuntu2205 (well, less graphics Q fur CO)

    and ya YA, jus fawool Sturmlocke's guide, and yu's gud to pway EQII affer it be's download!!

    p.s.
    ohs, an me'es awlmos furgit: Nu!,.. NU! i's mean, Ni!;)
  4. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Hello folks ,

    on my phone rn, going to answer real quick, got my kids with me rn.


    Will post some info on this asap. Usually you can install any additional software into your preexisting Crossover eq2 bottle. Can post more details later.


    First of all, congrats on making the jump to Ubuntu and considering it as a daily driver. Yes, EQ2 works beautifully on Ubuntu and in fact runs faster due to the Dxvk API (translating the old legacy dx9 API to Vulkan). On Ubuntu + Steam = a matter of a few clicks to get eq2 up and running. You'll find detailled instructions and a step by step tuto in the guide on page 1, but feel free to let me know if you need further assistance and I'll look into it.

    I recommend installing EQ2 via Steam instead of adding the .exe as a non-steam game. Much easier this way + you'll benefit from Steam's Vulkan shader preloading and preaching for EQ2. In addition, the more of us that play via Steam + Linux = the more shader cache gets built per zone and region = better overall performance for all of us playing eq2 via Steam.

    Btw, ditched Windows during my early teen days and we only use Linux and Mac in our household (Mac = mandatory for work). Smooth sailing so far :)
    Aterskia likes this.
  5. Unrivaled Member

    I played around with it, I can't get it to work. I put the eq2map folder in the darqui folder and it did not work. I can /loadui over to eq2maps but I can't get them to work together.

    I've always ran the installer. The installer I can't get to work even in the same bottle, and installing frameworks.
  6. Aterskia Active Member

    yu's be makin chang to EQ2.ini inna Root of \EverQuest 2\ directory?
    dat waies me'es had toos t' git EQ2MAPS t' wurk.
    see here fur wat me'es do wif EQ2MAPS, mehbees heps yu's?
  7. Unrivaled Member

    Yes, still does not work unfortunately.
  8. Gabaron Member

    I have been struggling, still haven’t solved this issue
  9. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Hail Gabaron, in bed rn, typing from my phone and slowly falling asleep, but will try today once I am back up. Can only try on Linux though, mainly bc our Macs are only meant for our home office work. Report back tonight, if everything goes according to plan.

    Cheers
  10. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Working on this rn, should have feedback in a few minutes.
  11. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Ok, keep in mind that I'm doing this on Linux - elementaryOS 6.1 to be exact. Your mileage may vary if you're on Mac, but it should be somewhat similar in theory.

    Step 1: Install Crossover 22, which just got officially released a few days ago. Better performance, new and improved interface and functions.


    [IMG]


    Step 2: Download and install EQ2 via Crossover 22. Make sure that you change the bottle type from Windows 7 32-bit to Windows 7 or 10 64-bit. Reason: EQ2 is now 64-bit only and 32-bit support has been dropped.


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    Step 3: Launch and update EQ2. Enable DXVK and Esync for improved performance. See troubleshooting steps in the Linux and Mac guide on page 1, if you see a white or black EQ2 Launchpad. No screenshot for this step available, not necessary imo. Make sure to select the "full client" version of EQ2 and don't use the streaming client. Let EQ2 fully download and patch all necessary files, login to your account once and then close both EQ2 and EQ2 Launchpad.


    Step 4: Download and install ProfitUI CE 1.0.0.2. Don't try with the old version 1.0.0.1 as that one has been deprecated and doesn't update anymore. See official Patreon page for more infos.

    Step 5: Right-click ProfitUI CE .EXE and select "run with Crossover (installer)" or something to that effect.


    [IMG]


    Step 6: By default, Crossover will now try to make a NEW bottle for ProfitUI CE, which isn't something we want. Instead, change that default by asking Crossover to install ProfitUI into your preexisting EQ2 bottle. You can do this by clicking "edit" in the installation path window. Confirm and install ProfitUI CE.


    [IMG]

    [IMG]


    Step 7: ProfitUI launches and asks you to set the default installation path of EQ2. In my case, I didn't change the original default installation path, so this is what it looks like on my machine.


    [IMG]


    Step 8: Patch and update ProfitUI and EQ2Maps. Perform any tweaking steps that you might want to use (theme selection etc.).


    [IMG]

    [IMG]

    [IMG]


    Step 9: Done. All of the above should now be installed in the EQ2 default UI folder as it would be on a normal Windows installation. Launch EQ2 and check everything out.


    Step 10 - optional: Perform this step only if you're seeing manifest errors or if you're experiencing issues when trying to launch and use ProfitUI etc. Install .NET 4.8 via Crossover into you pre-existing EQ2 64-bit bottle and then try to install, update and use ProfitUI again. NET 4.8 is available directly in Crossover's built-in software search field / list.


    [IMG]


    Lemme know how it goes!
    Breanna likes this.
  12. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    PS: My interface is in German, hope that doesn't hinder you from understanding the above. OS is in German language.
  13. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Before I forget, if you just found this thread and if you're wondering what we're all talking about here and how it works, see here:



    Nick goes into detail in explaining some of the things related to Steam, Proton, Linux and more.
    Breanna likes this.
  14. Unrivaled Member

    Just updated to 22. I can still run EQ2, but I had to run the --disable gpu note from the first page to get the launcher to not show up in all black/white.

    Don't notice any significant changes in performance what so ever.

    I'm still not having luck with maps.

    Edit: This is on mac, macOS Monterey 12.4
  15. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    On my phone rn, already in bed.

    Have you activated dxvk for the EQ2 bottle and were you using that before CO22?

    Maps: Did you do perform the same steps as seen in my previous post?

    Need a bit more info on where exactly you're getting stuck on Mac. You're trying to install Maps through ProfitUI, right? Btw, feel free to send me a PM so we can go over this step by step and then we can post our verdict in here.

    Gonna be awake for another one or two hours before I fall asleep
  16. a_shrubbery Active Member

    I am running EQ2 on Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS.

    Was able to move over all my configs, hotbars, keymaps etc. But I am familiar with all those files and where they are.

    EQ2MAP works just fine for me under Linux. I simply copied over my folders from winows partition , namely /UI/EQ2MAP/ and make sure the following line is in eq2_recent.ini => cl_ui_skinname EQ2MAP There's literally nothing else to it, if you download the EQ2MAP static archive (not the updater) you just need that folder in the right place and the eq2_recent.ini to mention it.

    An interesting related question would be whether you can run the EQ2MAP updater via Steam? Did anyone try? I wonder how I will update it later. Otherwise it's easy enough to just update the folder with the static archive.

    So for me so far the results are mixed

    - framerate sure the game runs really well, the FPS does seem to be on average better, it's a very werid feeeling in Qeynos to have the framerate average close to 60 - but it also has a downside in that's maybe why I notice the stuttering a lot more .;. those small frame drops are really noticeable when you get stretches of close to max fps.

    - texture quality : there doesn't seem to be a "anisotropic filtering" setting within EQ2 - do you know if we can control this elsewhere? This has a very noticeable impact on image quality: the ground in the distance is just blurry - in Windows I think by default with NVIDIA the anisotropic was set to max - but here on Ubuntu 22.04 it seems to be low by default which noticeable reduces the overall image quality.

    The launcher is still glitchy for me with `gamemoderun %command% --disable-gpu` in that the mouse cursor often doesn't show up on the window until I alt tab a few times or flick the mouse ... but... I guess this is a minor annoyance.
    Sturmlocke likes this.
  17. a_shrubbery Active Member

    Important to note also that Google Chrome can cause lag in Linux.

    With stock Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS and a GTX 1080 and the proprietary drivers, I was getting lag on the desktop when dragging windows around. Eventually traced it to Google Chrome and only when certain sites are open - that's because some sites do some rendering that's heavy on GPU / OpenGL - for example github.com homepage if you are not logged in the globe and the OpeNGL animation going on causes lag.

    I had to uncheck "Use hardware acceleration when available" in Google Chrome's "System" settings - which is lame. But thankfully since it no longer uses the GPU path, and most sites do not require much rendering processing anyways - it doesn't have much affect on the CPU and it fixed those lags for me.

    This matters, because in this kind of game you might wanna alt tab to a wiki oftentimes... so be aware other apps on the desktop can cause lag. Not just Steam / Proton / etc.
    Sturmlocke likes this.
  18. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Hey there,

    ty for posting how it has gone for you, sounds like you made it run pretty quickly and that all by yourself. Superb! Yeah, seeing Qeynos run at a high fps rate almost feels surreal, gotta get used to that for sure. At had a similar reaction btw. At such a high framerate, every little hiccup or bottleneck in the sys will be noticable, especially when playing in windowed mode and when running multiple apps all at once. That said, this might also be a shader caching related issue with your Nvidia hardware. In order to further diagnose this, I will post a bit more info further below.

    Will try to answer your questions rn, gonna have to keep it short though bc I hurt my right shoulder and can barely move my arm, severe pain. Typing from my phone rn using the other hand.

    Never had that Chrome stuff happen to me tbh, but I also don't use it much. Big brother alias Google is watching you. I prefer Firefox, which ships with Vaapi hardware acceleration for smooth video playback on Linux, or Chromium (Google Chrome's open source version of this browser, with one version available being completely "ungoogled"). Give these two a try and lemme know how it goes, unless you need Chrome, then we can check what might be causing that strange effect to happen. Generally speaking ofc, when running Gamemode with eq2, or any other game for that matter, your PC is being pushed to its max power on a kernel lvl by using several gaming enhancing kernel optimizations, which usually focuses its entire effort on the active window alias game, which in turn might cause issues when multitasking with other app windows opened in the background. I suggest you turn off Gamemode if you're going to be alt-tabbing as it's really meant to be used in fullscreen with only the game running at peak PC performance. Make sure to set your power profile to maximum performance in the Ubuntu system settings afterwards though.

    Another thing to look out for is an app called "Nvidia settings", which you should have installed by now, after installing the proprietary Nvidia drivers ofc, which you hopefully installed via Ubuntu's preinstalled "additional drivers" app. Open Nvidia settings app and there you will find: a) a way to force anisotropic filtering per game or for all games and b) a setting called "powermizer". Powermizer adjusts the clock speed of your GPU automatically, just like on Windows, but it is recommended to set it to "prefer maximum performance" when gaming. Note that this setting resets to default (auto) after a reboot, but there is a way to make this change permanent, if you wish to do so. Let me know and I'll post a quick and dirty tuto on how to do this, takes two minutes. I always set powermizer to max performance when gaming on my Nvidia workstation. Doing this could also further improve Chrome performance when hardware acceleration is on, but should not be necessary tbh. Good way to test for potential issues though. Doing this will also further reduce stuttering on weaker or older hardware.

    Question: do you play in fullscreen or windowed mode normally?

    You're correct though, EQ2 doesn't have an anisotropic filtering setting built in by default, and this is merely one way to activate it by force. That said, would love an in-game setting for this, might be worth adding AMD's FSR and a few more or other antialiasing methods as well, such as fxaa etc. Make a feature request post about this and I'll upvote your idea :)

    Oh those fps stutters that you mention should not occure at all, doesn't happen on my end for example, but they *can* happen during the first run around per zone, if (!) there is no sufficient shader cache available via Steam, which gets built as you play along. Once it's full per zone = smooth as butter. That said, there should be sufficient shader cache available and Steam should take care of that by downloading and building said cache before the game launches, cache it has gotten from other users thus far, if you have it enabled in the Steam settings that is. Also an interesting point: eq2 + Vulkan really likes multicore cpus with at least 4c and 8t. Anything just quad core won't feel as good. In addition, it's best to use a modern amd Gpu on Linux + Proton + Eq2 as that will yield the best performance due to the superior open source drivers that Valve has been directly working on in a combined effort with the foss community (with the goal of further enhancing gaming performance ofc). Nvidia is ok too, but not nearly as good as amd when it comes to this game and Vulkan.

    Yes, you can use the EQ2 map updater in order to update your maps installation, but you can also use ProfitUi for this, see further above, which is something that I only discovered after someone asked about it here. Will post more info on the rest once I'm healed, wanted to do it some time ago, haven't found the time yet, but it's on my list. More Infos coming asap.

    Hope this helps, let me know if you need anything. Can respond, might just take half an hour to post, lol.

    Edit: Almost forgot to ask, are you using Wayland or X11? You can check this by seeing the sysinfo in system settings - or - by checking the little circle icon on the lower-right part of your login screen on Ubuntu. Wayland = newer, more modern display manager and X11 = old display manager and recommended for Nvidia users as Nvidia has just recently started putting in the effort to properly support Wayland. Amd and Intel support Wayland just fine, resulting in increased performance when multitabbing in Eq2.
  19. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Please note, AMD is pretty much a tweak free ootb experience for EQ2 on Linux. Mentioned this a couple of times in my previous posts, just a small reminder here again. AMD = superior open source drivers developed by AMD, the FOSS and Valve community with various features, functions and optimisations specifically built and enhanced for gaming on Linux. There are many technical reasons as to why AMD is outperforming Nvidia right now, when it comes to DXVK / Proton / Vulkan that is, and I won't go into detail about this subject with this post, but I might consider sharing more info about this some day. That said, AMD was already outperforming Nvidia on Windows shortly after EQ2 launched all the way back in 2004, countless of examples in old sections of the Nvidia forum, and I still remember the complicated discussions this triggered on their forums, considering EQ2 = Nvidia "the way it's meant to be played" stamp. That said, Nvidia was in fact outperforming AMD on the OpenGL front for many, many years, a time before we got introduced to DXVK / Proton and Vulkan, but now the tables have turned. So my suggestion still stands, if you want the best possible ootb experience for EQ2 on Linux / Ubuntu, go with an AMD GPU. Nvidia is in fact starting to put more effort into Steam, Proton an Linux as of lately, even starting to open source their drivers on Linux, see few pages back for more info, but a lot of things are still work in progress and will take time to fully mature on Nvidia's end.

    NVIDIA -> Ubuntu 22+

    Will post a few details on how to make the game look even better with Anistropic Filtering and another feature called "Nvidia Image Sharpening / GL sharpening". Both of these options are in the nvidia-settings app, and both can make Eq2 look super sharp and double the amount of details seen in textures etc. Update: Tuto updated with more infos. Working on more right now, gonna take some time though.

    Important.

    [IMG]

    During my testing of EQ2 on a freshly installed Ubuntu 22.04.1 partition (.1 = new point release, you get these automatically via system updates), I found a glitch exclusive to Nvidia users. If you have just installed Ubuntu 22.04 / 22.04.1 onto your PC recently, you might be experiencing this issue without even knowing it. When installing Ubuntu, you are given the option to install third party software and drivers, which will automatically install the newest Nvidia proprietary drivers - among other many other things like Wifi drivers, multimedia codecs and more. It seems that when doing this, it doesn't pull in all of the necessary libraries, which in turn might result in poor performance or games not launching at all when using Nvidia. For example, if you don't fix this, DCUO will spit out an error claiming that your gpu is not supported and will fail to launch. This is just another prime example of why using open source drivers for an improved user experience is so important (AMD). So before you dig into any of the tweaks further below, make sure to check the following: After you install Ubuntu, open the "additional drivers" app, which comes preinstalled on Ubuntu, and check this list:

    [IMG]

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    • If you are seeing a green light + if you are actively using the recommended and tested Nvidia proprietary driver, then you don't have anything to worry about. You're good to go
    • However, if the app is telling you that a you are using a "manually installed" Nvidia driver, then you're going to have to do the following in order to fix that
    • Open up the app that is named "Terminal", preinstalled on Ubuntu
    • And type in the following command: sudo ubuntu-drivers install
    • Confirm with your user password
    • Reboot your machine when this is done
    • That's it. Check the "additional drivers" app again and it should be showing you the same thing that you see in my screenshot further above. The Nvidia drivers, libs and tools required for gaming are now fully installed
    • This has been a recurring issue for some Nvidia users on some Nvidia hardware, mainly due to the nature of closed source Nvidia drivers, see here for more info
    nvidia-settingsapp on ElementaryOS, same for every other distro though. Comes preinstalled after you install the proprietary Nvidia drivers on Ubuntu, eOS, PopOS, openSUSE, Fedora and many more:

    [IMG]

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    Wayland versus X11

    Please note: The vast amount of nvidia-settings will - only - be visible under X11 as of this writing. Wayland and nvidia-settings work together too, but the nvidia-settings app is missing some core functionality only present under X11 right now. Nvidia is actively working on Wayland adaptation and more improvements together with Valve and the open source community. In fact, they actually announced that their drivers are going open source in the near future, see previous pages in this thread. You can try both and see which one performs better with your hardware, but I recommend sticking to X11 on Ubuntu for the time being. During my testing, EQ2 loses about 10-20 fps when gaming on Wayland = X11 is faster on Nvidia. On AMD it's actually the other way around on my system.

    Q: How do I switch between X11 and Wayland on Ubuntu?

    A: See here: Ubuntu = Wayland - and - Ubuntu on Xorg = X11. You can switch between the two right from the login screen.

    [IMG]

    Performance

    Q: How to make nvidia-settings set max-perf mode automatically after a system reboot?

    A: See here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/419019/nvidia-settings-powermizer-performance-mode-on-12-04-4-64-bit

    That's a question that I actually researched and answered myself many years ago, I believe it was the year 2014 or something to that effect. It's my own post / question basically up there. IIRC, Nvidia dev support and I diagnosed this step by step and then we came to this conclusion. It's an old guide, but it still works like a charm with newer Ubuntu versions. Ubuntu 22 has a start-up program utility that comes preinstalled. Use that to follow the guide above.

    Q: How can I further improve performance and reduce shader related stuttering on Nvidia with Steam and Proton?

    A: See Options further below.

    Option A: Disable DXVK / Vulkan for EQ2 and enable WineD3D / openGL rendering instead. This will eliminate Vulkan shader stuttering completely for EQ2. That said, there is a small glitch that is exclusive to Nvidia users, will post more details further below.

    You might be asking yourself the following right about now:

    The answer is yes and no; it totally depends on your hard- and software combo and the game you want to play. PC gaming involves so many unknown factors, such as apps running in the background, different Desktop Environments, all sorts of brands and drivers etc. All in all, some games might prefer one rendering method over the other for *insert reason here*. Yes, DXVK / Vulkan will get disabled by doing this, which might reduce performance and stability for some titles, but it might also improve the same for other games. Good news is that you can turn this feature on / off on a per game basis via simple launch command. Luckily, Wine development has further improved - - - even without the use DXVK / Vulkan rendering. This is ideal for Nvidia users facing performance issues - or - for ppl using old hardware that is not compatible with the more recent developments and trends, such as DXVK and Vulkan in Proton.

    So as you can see, not enabling DXVK and using WineD3D / openGL instead can also vastly improve performance, stability and fix glitches with some titles, such as Rocket League. With this update, the performance difference with and without Vulkan is getting a bit closer to one another on Linux, which is great for all of us in the end, because it means more ppl are being reached by these nifty improvements - even if you're using older or weaker hardware that is. These improvements are for Wine version 7 and above, and since Proton 7 is based on Wine v7, it should - at least in theory - make use of these improvements too. Tested DXVK on / off with Steam and Proton on my Nvidia Linux system for EQ2 / DCUO just now and performance was great regardless of which rendering method was being used. Linux and our open source software is improving at such a drastic rate, incredible to say the least.

    This is how you enable OpenGL / WINED3D and disable DXVK for Proton 5, 6 or 7 and Experimental:
    • Add PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command% to your EQ2 launch options in Steam
    • Start the game like you normally would afterwards
    • You can always try Proton Experimental too ofc, because that version is usually built against the latest and greatest from upstream Wine = newer version Wine, DXVK and more included
    [IMG]

    Option B: Give another Proton version a try. You can go from Proton 3 all the way up to Proton Experimental. That said, Proton version 3.16 is the one that I recommend IF all else fails, and only IF all else fails to achieve what you're looking for. Proton 3.16 = will have less fps, due to being a lot older that is, and it won't be using Vulkan by default (openGL instead), but it might be a bit more stable in terms of fps spikes and fluctuation on certain systems. It all depends on how subjective you are to fps fluctuation when gaming at 60 fps and above.

    Option B.1: Use the community version of Proton named "Proton GE" or "GE Proton" and enable Async for DXVK via this Proton version. Async = asynchronous compilation of shaders = reduces or completely eliminates shader related stuttering for some games and some hardware. Please note: This is not available with the official Proton version built right into Steam (Valve). As of this writing, this only works with the community version of Proton (Glorious Eggroll). More infos about the two here. You're going to have to delete the compatdata folder for your game inside of the steamapps folder every time that you wish to switch back and forth between the official Proton version by Valve, and the community edition by ProtonGE. I will post a small tuto on how to do this further below (wip).


    Manual, quick and dirty way. This is for those that use the native version of Steam on Ubuntu called "Steam (installer)". In other words, this is not meant for the Snap or Flatpak version of Steam (sandboxed env).
    • Download a release from the Releases page
    • Create a ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d directory if it does not exist
    • What this means is that it wants you to open your home folder on Ubuntu
    • Make all files within your home folder visible
    • You must perform this step bc by default all Steam files and folders are invisible to you as a user
    • Usually you can do this via your file manager; on Ubuntu with Gnome this menu shuold be accessible via the three dots or lines on the upper right corner of your home folder
    • See here for example
    • Then you find the .steam folder after it has been made visible
    • Go inside said .steam folder an open the folder named "root"
    • In here you just create a folder named "compatibilitytools.d" (without the quotation marks ofc)
    • Open the folder compatibilitytools.d and unpack / extract the ProtonGE release tarball into the compatibilitytools.d folder
    • Alternative: You can also just copy the ProtonGE release tarball into the compatibilitytools.d folder and right-click it -> unpack here, which will unpack all of its contents into the compat folder. Make sure to delete the tarball / zip once it has fully entpacked ProtonGE
    • Restart Steam
    • Enable proton-ge-custom for EQ2 just like you would swap between normal Proton versions via the EQ2 compatability tab - or - by setting ProtonGE as the default Proton version for all games in the SteamPlay settings
    • Launch command after installing and enabling ProtonGE for EQ2: DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
    • This launch command goes directly into the Steam launch options for EQ2, see pic above
    How to clear the compatdata folder for EQ2 after switching back and forth between Proton (Valve) and ProtonGE (community edition)?
    • wip
    Automated installation method for ProtonGE:
    • wip
    Things to consider when doing this on Nvidia (it'll work, just not as good as it could):

    [IMG]

    The "catch" by using this method for EQ2 on Nvidia rn: wip

    wip - Placeholder for a very quick and dirty mini guide on how to do so.

    Option C: https://www.protondb.com/help/improving-performance

    Please note: Infos in the ProtonDB link above are a bit outdated. If you're an AMD user, just ignore this part completely, even if it mentions a few tweaks for AMD. These have all been made the default on any modern Linux distro by now, no need to manually do this anymore on AMD. This is only for our Nvidia users out there.

    Make sure that you have the latest Nvidia drivers installed on your system. You can use these environment variables in order to further enhance performance for certain games:
    • __GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATION=1 for OpenGL games
    • __GL_SHADER_DISK_CACHE=1 to create a shader cache for a game
    • __GL_SHADER_DISK_CACHE_PATH=/path/to/location to set the location for the shader cache.
    wip- will post howto's for this asap.

    Option D: Disable the Steam Overlay. I mention this a few posts back, and I believe I noted it in the guide on page 1, but here it is again just in case you missed it. This also goes for Windows btw = can cause the game to stutter heavily depending on how long it has been played or how often you use this feature. Enabled = it's always running in the background while you're playing EQ2, so it's best to disable it for now, if you are in fact getting stuttering, lag or framedrops from having this enabled. Trial and eror with this one. This can also affect other games, on all Operating Systems, see Google for various user results.

    Placeholder for pic -> Disable Steam Overlay for EQ2

    Option E: Use an NVME M.2 drive for EQ2. Loading speeds on a more modern NVME driver are great.

    See here for more info: https://blog.system76.com/post/641571610853326848/the-system76-guide-to-gaming-on-popos

    I can confirm this as I use several nvme drivers in my Linux computers.

    Option F -> only for Ubuntu 22+ with Gnome: Disable Vsync and Triple Buffering in EQ2, especially true if you are playing in windowed mode. Ubuntu 22+ with Gnome ships with Vsync and Triple buffering enabled by default, which makes Desktop animations and more a lot smoother and much more fluid (like on iOS or MacOS). It's also great for lower end machines, bc it can make the desktop render at buttery smooth 60 fps instead of 20 or 30 fps. That said, this feature is usually bypassed and ignored when a game is in full screen (bypass compositor), in order to maximize performance for said game, but it usually gets applied to a game when running in windowed mode. So activating this in the game, playing in windowed mode aaand having Ubuntu do it additionally = stutter = waste of performance and system resources.

    Option F.1: Completely contrary to what I just said above, try enabling Vsync and Triple Buffering inside of EQ2 via its graphics tab (advanced mode), and try limiting your fps to around 60 too. Some systems prefer this approach, which might help reduce frame drops and stuttering in heavy load situations (will eat more of your VRAM though). During my test cases, I have noticed that enabling Vsync in EQ2 with triple buffering seems to yield the best performance for my Nvidia machine (full screen). If I disable Vsync and Triple Buffering, I notice small irregularities with the frame pacing every now and then. Tinkering is recommended, especially if you're using Freesync or Gsync with Ubuntu (both supported).

    Option G: Enable AMD FSR via ProtonGE. <- wip

    [IMG]

    Option H: Play around with Vsync settings in your Nvidia control center, set image settings to "high performance" and don't forget to set Powermizer to maximum power and save that change after a reboot (see further above). Vsync + and especially flipping can affect fps spikes and stutter in certain games. Sometimes off is better, sometimes on is ideal.

    Option I: Give another flavour a try. Kubuntu seems to be the most flexible, featuring a vast array of configuration and tweaking options, giving you many more options to adjust as a gamer, without compromising its looks or visual fidelity that is, and allowing for desktop composition to be turned off completely during gaming, which will most certainly reduce the chances of getting lag or fps issues right from the get go, because there is no 3D desktop being rendered while you play.

    Option J: GameScope (wip)

    Option K: Protontricks (Ubuntu Software Center, wip)

    Option L: Turn down shadows from extreme to medium, for example. We know that shadows are glitchy atm but will in fact get fixed with the next expac later this year. Depending on the zone, and how the shadows are (mis)behaving or being used, this can have a tiny or huge performance impact on all operating systems. You'll notice this one more on Linux due to the overall higher average framerate though.

    Option M: Enable or Disable GameMode via Steam Launch Commands. In some rare cases, usually where thermal or power throttling is an issue, turning GameMode on can actually make your performance worse. Turning it on usually helps keep framerates, frame times and overall performance high though. I have it on, works good for me, but try it out yourself and see how it goes.

    NVIDIA Image Sharpening alias GL Sharpening and Anistropic Filtering launch commands for Steam:

    Alrighty then, back so I can post a bit more info. Gonna do this step by step, can't do it any other way rn. Here comes an arsenal of pics showcasing how EQ2 looks with max settings, 1080p, 8 x AA, 16 x AF, and Nvidia Image Sharpening set to around 80%, denoising filters are at around 25%. In other words, you can fine tweak the details and adjust them to your likings. I completely overdid it with the texture sharpness on purpose, just to show you what this feature actually does in EQ2. Zoom into the pics to see the difference.

    Original (zoom into face and look at the foliage in the background):

    [IMG]

    Enhanced (same as above - zoom):

    [IMG]

    I had to take these shots in windowed mode, which drastically decreases the graphics and colors on all systems (Windows, Linux, maybe even Mac); it's a bug and I have reported it somewhere here on the forums already. Anyway, this was the only way to get the sharpening filter to be visible on these screenshots, bc fullscreen doesn't show it on screenshots for whatever reason. Again, I completely overdid it on purpose, but doing Anistropic Filtering + activating the sharpness enhancing filter on Nvidia = super sharp image -> even on 1080p. Textures, foliage, sprites, face details etc. pp. pop out much more. Just check out my characters face and how super detailed he now looks. Makes meh look much older than I actually am tbh, bah! I explained how to enable Anistropic Filtering on Ubuntu + Nvidia a bit earlier, basically by using the nvidia-settings app to activate AF x 16 via a simple slider, but you can also just use a single launch command for everything in Steam. This method gives you better control over which title is meant to use X feature. X = whatever you want to throw in there.

    For example, this command enables image sharpening at 100 %, adds a denoising filter at 25 % (increase of sharpness = more noise or a more pixelated image = denoising filter gets rid of the artifacts created during sharpening), adds Anistropic Filter x 16, enables GameMode and fixes the launcher glitch by disabling the gpu for our EQ2 Launchpad when Vulkan rendering is being used

    __GL_SHARPEN_ENABLE=1 __GL_SHARPEN_VALUE=100 __GL_SHARPEN_IGNORE_FILM_GRAIN=25 __GL_LOG_MAX_ANISO=4 gamemoderun %command% --disable-gpu

    [IMG]

    The values are explained here, but can also be found in the nvidia-settings app installed on Ubuntu by clicking the "help" button in the corresponding menu entry (each menu entry has its own help file): https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/450.57/README/openglenvvariables.html
    • __GL_LOG_MAX_ANISOFiltering Type
    • Example: __GL_LOG_MAX_ANISO=4 is the equivalent of enabling Anistropic Filtering x 16
    • 0 = No anisotropic filtering
    • 1 = 2x anisotropic filtering
    • 2 = 4x anisotropic filtering
    • 3 = 8x anisotropic filtering
    • 4 = 16x anisotropic filtering
    Image Sharpening

    The __GL_SHARPEN_ENABLE environment variable can be used to enable image sharpening for OpenGL and Vulkan applications. Setting __GL_SHARPEN_ENABLE=1 enables image sharpening, while setting __GL_SHARPEN_ENABLE=0 (default) disables image sharpening. The amount of sharpening can be controlled by setting the __GL_SHARPEN_VALUE environment variable to a value between 0 and 100, with 0 being no sharpening, 100 being maximum sharpening, and 50 being the default. The amount of denoising done on the sharpened image can be controlled with the __GL_SHARPEN_IGNORE_FILM_GRAIN environment variable, with 0 being no denoising, 100 being maximum denoising, and 17 being the default.

    This is how to do it quick and dirty just by using Steam. Now then, up next: How to do all of the above via nvidia-settings app by creating "application profiles" for each game, which in turn allows you to activate these things via point and click method. Gonna do this later tonight though, off for now.

    For our developers sharing this world with us, see Valve's Proton Github for various commands that might help you fine tune or test your game / project with Proton: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton

    Enough of these launch commands, gimme a point and click option or slider!

    Anistropic Filtering sliders have already been mentioned further above, same for Anti Aliasing FXAA, MSAA and more, but I understand that there is more to be seen and explained here. Incoming: Doing all of what you have just seen above, which has been done via copy and paste Steam launch option commands, but doing it via a point and click GUI by using the preinstalled nvidia-settings app on Ubuntu. Said this before, will say this again: nvidia-settings gets automatically installed after you enable / install the official proprietary Nvidia drivers via the preinstalled Ubuntu app named "additional drivers". Do not download and install them manually via Nvidia's website. Ubuntu, and many other major Linux distros, prepackage and actually test the Nvidia drivers for you, making them available and ready to install via two or three clicks. Literally.

    wip - working on it albeit a bit slow

    AMD -> Ubuntu 22+

    Performs nicely out of the box, no tweaking necessary. Will use this section for additional or useful Steam launch commands for the preinstalled open source driver on Ubuntu. These launch commands will include how to active and use Anti Aliasing, Anistropic Filtering and more.
    Breanna likes this.
  20. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Ok, posted a few infos for you @ a_shrubbery. Have to continue in this post bc my post above has reached the max length of characters per post.

    Section reserved for media:




    ^ This is how it is running for me on Ubuntu 22.04.1 after building a sufficient amount of shader cache during the first two runs. Buttery smooth 60 fps most of the time, minus a few mini dips in Kelethin. 4K version WIP.

    Nvidia setup and config for the video demonstration above:
    • Optiplex 3040 SFF
    • Core i7 6700 (upgraded the cpu from i5 to i7 recently)
    • 16 GB DDR3 RAM
    • 1 TB SSD and 512 GB NVME PCIE x1 adapter
    • Nvidia T600 4 GB GDDR6
    • EQ2 installed on the NVME drive
    Steam, Proton, game settings and more:
    • Using Steam installer (not the early access Snap, waiting for the latter to mature a bit more)
    • Running Proton Experimental
    • Launch commands: gamemoderun %command% --disable-gpu
    • Nvidia-settings CP: image quality settings = high performance, Vsync off and page flipping off
    • Protontricks (can be installed via Ubuntu Software Center, see page 1 for more info): installed directx9, d3d compiler 43 and 47. This step is not necessary at all, EQ2 runs just fine on Proton without doing any of this because EQ2 ships with all the necessary dx9 libs that both Windows and Proton might require, which usually gets pulled automatically via Launchpad (still installed dx9 dlls manually just to be sure)
    • Extreme graphics = manually set all of the sliders to max bc the preset doesn't do this by default. In addition, activated gpu shadows, ambient occlusion, sun shafts and more.
    • AA x4 for 60fps but turned AF off bc the latter messes with my screen recording sometimes
    • Fullscreen, GameMode enabled via launch options in Steam
    • Vsync and triple buffering are both enable in the EQ2 advanced settings
    • wip, list not complete yet
    Important to note (these are my observations, not an expert, just IMHO):

    I "quickly" walk or fly through each and every zone in its entirety before recording in order to create a sufficient amount of shader cache for my gpu. Then I log out, relog and check performance of the zone. I do this not only for my own sake. As mentioned before, the shader cache created during my run also gets sent back to Steam in order to be processed, which benefits everyone else with a similar setup / same gpu running on Vulkan through Steam. Ideally more of us on Linux would take a char and run through all of the zones and places in Norrath, and then wait for the cache to be synchronized with Valve's servers, to the benefit of us all. It's either that or DBG / DPG could reach out to Valve in order to have all of this done by a single dev for both AMD and Nvidia. The more a zone gets played, the more shader cache gets built and sent in for processing and decompilation, which ultimately improves performance on various systems running Steam. I also noticed that I get more frequent shader cache updates when using my AMD powered Optiplex 7050 MT, which could be an indication that more ppl are playing EQ2 + Steam + AMD, thus adding to an already good experience for AMD users. As you can see in my video, gameplay is mostly buttery smooth at 60+ fps, even though I was recording above 1080p, merely a few frame drops here and there. All of this even though I was recording via OBS Studio and had Firefox opened and uploading stuff in the background. Some zones are a bit more challenging for my hardware, such as certain areas in Qeynos, but that's only normal considering the age of my cpu (from 2015) and the low profile 40 watt performance of my Nvidia gpu (which on paper is comparable to an AMD RX 570 from 2017 performance-wise). I noticed that going one or two presets lower, going from extreme graphics to say very high or high graphics, drastically improves performance even further and fps stabilize even more, especially if you turn off gpu shadows. It is true though, I do notice more fps flactuation on Nvidia than on AMD, depending on the zone and player number ofc, and I feel like there is still a lot that can be further optimized on Nvidia's end in order to fully capitilize on the advanced capabilities available with Linux, Proton, DXVK and Vulkan. It's a good experience nonetheless.

    For example, in order to prove what I just said above, here is Karuupa Jungle on a fresh installation of Ubuntu 22.04.1 with the Nvidia hardware seen above. Before the Vulkan shaders get built and processed by Steam:

    [IMG]

    [IMG]

    After the Vulkan shaders get built and processed by Steam:

    [IMG]

    [IMG]

    Same spot, same location. Now then, what I assume is happening is that it seems like some zones or places don't have a shader cache ready for usage that Steam can share with me for my hardware, so I might be the first person to actually walk around in said places with the setup that I have. You'll notice this when the game stutters or lags a bit and framerate drops from say 60 to 30 fps. When I see this happen, I just stand still for a while, and let the computer and OS do its thing. After a while, could be a few seconds or a few minutes on Nvidia, framerates go up from stuttering 30 fps to buttery smooth 60 fps for the zones and places affected by this drop in performance. The good thing about this: After it is done processing the new assets, the shader cache gets built and saved locally onto your hard drive - and - synchronized with Steam when possible and necessary. Meaning, ideally, the next time you visit the same spot again, everything is going to be super smooth and fluid performance-wise. And to top it all off, other users with similar hardware will benefit from this effect too ofc, bc Steam will take, build and process that shader cache before the game starts for you - and - other users, leading to a better overall out-of-the-box experience for other ppl walking in your shoes. Using third party apps like Bottles, Crossover, Wine, Lutris etc. will not have the same effect without Steam and its synchronizing shader processing techniques, which is why I recommended Steam in the first place on page 1. In other words, using mentioned third party apps means that you will have to build the shader cache from scratch by yourself during your first walkthrough and it will also merely be saved locally and not used to further enhance the experience for other ppl playing the same game.

    In order to further showcase how smooth things are running now that Steam / Proton have finished processing said shader cache, I will make another walkthrough video, like the one seen at the start of this post, so you can see how smooth things run now with your own eyes. Karuupa Jungle is running at native 1080p / 60 fps for me most of the time now, which drastically enhances the look, feel and overall atmosphere of this zone a lot. It's also important to note that shader processing is a lot faster on AMD hardware, when using the preinstalled open source drivers that ship with Ubuntu 22 by default, because Valve and the Linux community have been putting in the extra amount of work in order to speed things up even more.

    Mentioned this before, see here for example: https://steamcommunity.com/games/221410/announcements/detail/1602634609636894200

    Ofc things have only further improved since then as these advancements have gotten even better since their introduction in the post seen above - on AMD that is. Btw, so glad that DBG have confirmed that water and shadows are getting fixed later this year. Noticed a lot of water flickering during these walkthroughs of mine. Really disturbing for video capturing to say the least.

    wip - bare with me pls, doing all of this with one arm / hand rn. Keep in mind though, Linux is a highly flexible system that lets you adjust a lot of things. Now this doesn't mean that you absolutely have to perform these steps, but that you are given the option or freedom of choice to do so, if and when you see fit. For example, on Windows the game Elden Rings has had bad stuttering and lag even on highend systems, while it has been running smoothly on Steam Deck with Linux and Proton. The same goes for GTA IV and Saints Row 2 btw, see opening post on page 1 for more info. In other words, as a Linux user, you at least get the chance to further optimize a game, if it's not running the way you want it to perform. It's not a necessity, but rather an option that you can fully exploit. The computer is yours after all - you are its master and not the other way around. At the same time, just because you can, doesn't always mean that you should. It's completely up to you ofc.