EQ2 on Linux and Mac guide

So you used the community built EQ2 installer in Lutris? Awesome, that should come bundled with everything you need.

Oh yeah, our community has come a long way when it comes to Wine and overall gaming performance. We have gone from below and then to somewhat similar native Windows performance and now it's reached the point where Linux is actually surpassing Windows in many cases via DXVK / Vulkan. And all of that while still using a translation layer instead of a native client. Nvidia is also opening up their drivers and joining the open source club, which will likely increase both performance and compatability even further on Nvidia gpus.

Now that you mention it, I'll be updating our guide here soon and adding a short guide for "Bottles".

Xubuntu is really light on system resources too - perfect for an older computer like that. *thumbsup*

Actually, installed it semi-manually

Created a new prefix, and ran the installer inside it. Then repointed the main entry point to the launchpad.

Also installed DarqUI and EQ2Map as well via the "run exe inside prefix" option in Lutris.

Here we go Sturmlocke. Smooth as you wouldn't believe, even on this old beastie of a machine (image link: https://ibb.co/r2CKGKh)

Loooookin' good! So if you're at 46 fps at extreme graphics and 1080p, how high does it go on high / very high details? I would assume you'd be hitting those sweet, sweet 60 fps then?

Oddly enough on High, it doesn't get that much faster, I only get around 55 fps whilst flying high up in an open world zone, and up to about 80 fps whilst in a small house. On extreme it does sometimes dips to about 25 fps momentarily in same open world zones though it usually hovers around 40. I assume this is due to compiling and loading shaders as I don't know if non-Steam versions have that functionality to preload them all.

Yup, for sure, shader pre-caching is one thing that's going to be a factor when not using Steam, but that should get better and stabilise over time as you travel through the zones and while your local shader cache gets built up in the background as you play along. Luckily Steam performs shader pre-loading and pre-caching automatically before and after launching a game and the more ppl that play and produce a cache = the bigger said cache gets = benefits everyone playing via Steam in the end. This shader pre-loading and pre-caching feature is also able to fix a ton of stuttering issues that are exclusive to their natively played Windows counterpart, such as Elden Ring and more. Game consoles have been doing stuff like this like forever, was about time that PC gamers get a taste of what further optimisations can actually do in order for us gamers to reap the benefits. That said, I assume that your i5 is going to be holding you back a bit too. I have an i5 6500 and an i7 7700 here and the difference between the two is as clear as night and day. In some games my fps literally doubles with the i7. New World is such a game and EQ2 also likes to push the i7 in a lot of zones, giving it that extra boost to stay above 60 fps during heavy load situations.

If you ever get the chance, upgrade that i5 to an i7 with at least 4c / 8t and swap out that Nvidia for a more powerful AMD card = noteworthy fps boost. You'll get the most out of DXVK with an AMD gpu after all, the open source drivers are in great shape. I actually don't remember how Lutris handles this with the Wine version that you're using right now, would have to check later tbh, but with ProtonGE you can actually activate something called "ASYNC", which can help improve said fps dips and stutters if you don't have access to a healthy shader cache.

See here for more information:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vltbx5/valve_proton_downloaded_shaders_vs_proton_ge/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vltbx5/comment/idx600q/

For example, this is what it would look like for someone using ProtonGE with Steam instead of Valve's "official" Proton when you add the above to the Steam launch options of EQ2: DXVK_ASYNC=1 WINE_FULLSCREEN_FSR=1 WINE_FULLSCREEN_FSR_MODE=balanced gamemoderun %command% --disable-gpu

Lutris should have on and off switches for all of these features IIRC.

See here for more info on ProtonGE + FSR:

• https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/tag/GE-Proton7-25

I could be wrong, but I - think - ProtonGE also benefits from Steam's shader pre-caching and pre-loading nowadays, which could be a great combo with Async activated. Btw, in case you're wondering, the additional arguments are just for AMD FSR in order to further increase performance on lowend hardware and you already know what GameMode does ofc.

Where exactly was this picture taken?

Heh! That is a goat, not a sheep. ;->

Uwk

Tried ACT in the same bottle, and a different bottle than EQ2 is in. Still didn't work either time.

I'm not quite sure what command/additional software i'd need to download to make this happen.

Its one of the early Reign of Shadows instances I think.

With everything rammed up to the max quality as far as I can, I'm getting almost 80 fps in (solo) instances. No idea what I'd get in raids as I don't raid these days.

Those are excellent numbers tbh, considering the hardware. Hm, we could do a comparison screenshot. Head over to Qeynos harbour, stand on the rock that's in the water in front of the lady fishing near the teleporter globe and look towards the Qeynos castle. I'll do a screenshot too so we can compare the numbers.

41 to 46 fps. One core maxed out constantly, but GPU usage is only between 40% and 60%.

Hail Typhon,



This is with Async on, maximum graphic details (everything set to max), 8 x AA, Vsync and FSR (ultra quality) activated in order to upscale to 1080p native resolution. Playing via Steam ofc and making use of the automatic shader pre-caching feature etc. My Optiplex 3040 SFF isn't thaaaat much more powerful than your current machine, but it has newer tech, features and drivers, which most likely is going to be beneficial for this kind of stuff. My i7 Optiplex is much, much higher ofc. Will try to make a screenshot later and post it here.

Btw, those cpu usage numbers look alright for the zone you were in. There are zones where cpu usage on all cores goes up considerably. I think I posted a few numbers in another thread around here, will try to find it so that we can compare a bit.

Update: On my Optiplex 7050 with the i7 and RX 570 GPU, I am getting about 120 fps at the same spot in the Qeynos harbour. Will upload a screenshot via Steam tonight.

here's be's results uhv testin' betweens Crossover(win7 64bit Bottle) and Steam on Linux:

on same Hardwares,

OptiPlex 790, i7 CPU, 16GB ram, Radeon RX 6400;

same character, same zone, same in-game settings:

High Quality, max in-game FPS(240), no vsync.

same Operating System

(Kubuntu):

Crossover



Steam


so kinna tinks Crossover be's gud fur non-Graphics-intensive Win programs on Linux,
but less-so fur EverQuest II on Linux.

p.s.
me's jus noticed AA setting difference ; but stills emphasizes point.

Kunverslee, Crossover be's abell to's ru multipulls EverQuests at sam tim onna Linux!!
less-so Steam, since wun need SEPARATE* Steam accounts to run multipul instances on sam kompuuter.

(Since Steam panics if two diffent kompuuters log onna same Steam account.)

((an' NO; "Family" settin no be makin diffence on panic))

*{speculative; untested at this time}

but wif lowered Graphics settin [High Performance on both instances in below case]
wun abell to's runs mor den wun EverQuest II at sam tim, onna sam kompuuter!!!!

Hail again everyone,

I just read this post, which is why I thought it might be a good idea to recommend two other Linux distros for the folks out there that:

• are looking for a Mac OS equivalent with a fundamental free and open source spirit
• are going to build a PC exclusively for PC gaming or just for EQ2, like our friend here
• or for the folks among us playing EQ2 on a big TV screen from the couch, see here for example

First things first, for the Mac OS lovers out there that cherish good design decisions, check out Elementary OS. Beautiful distro, feautring the latest Ubuntu 22.04 Linux Kernel and building upon Ubuntu LTS stable foundations. Elementary OS 6.1 is what I am currently using for my EQ2 Relaxation video series.

For the ppl seeking a console like gaming experience or an OS built for a single purpose - EQ2 or gaming in general.

Chimera OS features:

• Both SteamOS 2 (stable) and the new Steam OS 3 Deck interface (new and shiny)
• The newest drivers for your gaming hardware
• Controller support out of the box (Playstation, Xbox, you name it)
• Valve's gaming optimised compositor called "Gamescope" (= better performance when gaming)
• Builtin and easily usable AMD FSR support when using the new Steam OS 3 interface
• GameMode support preinstalled, see my previous posts for infos on how to use GameMode with Steam
• No other fluff stuff in the background; no Desktop, no programs or anything else stealing precious system resources away from your games
• Retro gaming support out of the box
• Everything Proton, ProtonGE and even DOSBox related preinstalled and preconfigured (no manual download or installation of Steam, Proton, ProtonGE and more necessary as it comes bundled with the OS ready to be used)
• The best living room experience for your PC, mainly built for your gaming controller in mind, but also usable via mouse and keyboard (in other words, you can use this just fine with EQ2)
• Also built using Linux ofc
• and more...

ChimeraOS is what I use on my living room PC. Yes, I play EQ2 with a PS4 controller from the couch on a huge 55" TV screen from time to time - mostly when soloing and when I have my kids with me. More often than not I am seeing way above 100 fps on my old Optiplex 7050 PC at maximum settings (see Mac and Linux guide for specs). Anyway, in short, ChimeraOS = a highly, highly trimmed down and highly optimised Linux distribution meant for one thing: GAMING. Everything about it has been built to maximise performance on your PC for a console like gaming experience, which results in superior performance and maintainability. As always: If you're willing to go the Linux route, it's recommended to go for an AMD gpu instead of Nvidia, mainly because of the superior AMD open source drivers, which are being worked on by major third parties, such as Valve and more. AMD = your best bet when it comes to Vulkan / Steam Proton gaming performance on Linux. That said, Nvidia is OK too, if that's what you currently use or have.

ChimeraOS:







Elementary 6.1:

Btw, just in case anyone is wondering:



Ubuntu 22.04 just got upgraded to 22.04.1.

More here: https://canonical.com/blog/upgrade-your-desktop-ubuntu-22-04-lts

Nvidia Linux users should be happy about this, because Nvidia is opening up even more of their closed source drivers: https://www.phoronix.com/news/NVIDIA-3D-Headers-Fermi-Ampere

Not up to par with AMD just yet ofc, but it's a good start. Let's see what happens next.

And ChimeraOS just got a brand new release: https://linuxgamingcentral.com/posts/chimeraos-34-released/

Don't forget, Lord Gaben knows da way:

Gabe Newell: "Linux and open source are the future of gaming"


More here: https://www.pcgamer.com/gabe-newell-linux-and-open-source-are-the-future-of-gaming/

So it has been written, so it shall be done.

Oh btw, totally forgot to add the screenshot of Qeynos that I promised further above.

This is the same spot @Typhon, but this time with my Optiplex 7050 + i7 + AMD RX 570 on Linux:



It's even a bit higher than I thought to have seen, which is fine with me ;D If you guys want we can post some comparison screenshots of different regions etc. For example, my smaller Optiplex 3040 struggles a bit in Cobalt Scar (40-60 fps depending on the viewpoint) whereas my bigger Optiplex doesn't even break a sweat (90-120 fps) -> in both cases the same reso and max graphics settings + 8xMSAA.