steam deck Vintage Story on Steam Deck

[zamtoid]

yo! this worked perfectly. thank so much for your help!!!

[PopesofHazard]

On 4/21/2023 at 5:12 PM, mard said:

No idea, you need to contact the current flatpak package maintainer jascrain if you require this information.

However, if you don't want to wait, you can install v1.18 from flatpak's test branch by yourself.

Vintage Story 1.18 flatpak was already built and uploaded with continuous integration system: Update vs_archive.tar.gz to 1.18.0 by flathubbot · Pull Request #36 · flathub/at.vintagestory.VintageStory · GitHub. It's currently awaiting maintainer's manual intervention. As you can see, there's a command included that allows to install it.

Now, because "Discover" app offers only basic functionality, you will need to use the command line. Don't worry, the process is very easy, but not as ergonomic. It'll take a few minutes.

First you need to set up an account password to be able to use "sudo" command. Then, in Konsole application, type the following:

sudo flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/build-repo/18664/at.vintagestory.VintageStory.flatpakref

Then confirm the interactive prompt with Y, then Enter. Be patient, installing will take a couple of minutes.

Doing so will install Vintage Story 1.18 test version from test branch alongside already existing stable version - this is reflected in installed flatpaks list:

sudo flatpak list

Now, you may notice, that running the game from Steam will launch the stable version, instead of newly installed test version. To fix this, you need to go to your Library, find Properties of Vintage Story entry, then find Launch Options. Find the following parameter:

--branch=stable

then replace it with

--branch=test

That's it! When you run Vintage Story now, it should be v1.18.0.

To return to regular stable mainline Vintage Story version, just replace --branch=test with --branch=stable again.

 

What about "branch test is already installed" error? Just uninstall the previous test release first. Type

sudo flatpak uninstall at.vintagestory.VintageStory

Then, in interactive prompt, type the number and Enter for the test package you want to uninstall.

Edit: I've also updated the OP with the information above.

Will this be available to do with 1.18.1?

[zamtoid]

13 minutes ago, PopesofHazard said:

Will this be available to do with 1.18.1?

I just came here to check that, and yeah, it will! If you check the updated OP of this thread there is an explanation and link to 1.18.1.

[mard]

Good news. I'm on track to fix the problem with mods crashing on Flatpak installations, and first results look very promising.

The problems I identified so far are related to missing netstandard and C# compiler in flatpak manifest. I was able to correct them both on my test flatpak build, and connecting to the server I've been testing recently doesn't crash any longer. That means the fix would be seamless and already included as a part of the flatpak update, not requiring additional user intervention.

I still need to test some other mods in both single and multiplayer, so you'll need to hang on for a while. I'll keep you informed.

Edited April 27, 2023 by mard

[PopesofHazard]

On 4/23/2023 at 10:40 PM, mard said:

Good news. I'm on track to fix the problem with mods crashing on Flatpak installations, and first results look very promising.

The problems I identified so far are related to missing netstandard and C# compiler in flatpak manifest. I was able to correct them both on my test flatpak build, and connecting to the server I've been testing recently doesn't crash any longer. That means the fix would be seamless and already included as a part of the flatpak update, not requiring additional user intervention.

I still need to test some other mods in both single and multiplayer, so you'll need to hang on for a while. I'll keep you informed.

Cant wait! you are amazing!

[mard]

Today I bring amazing news for Flatpak users, but especially Steam Deck owners.

All my changes were finally approved by the maintainer and the updated Vintage Story flatpak package is available for update from the Discover app.

Beginning with this v1.18.1 release, problems related to missing mappings and assemblies upon joining modded games are now fixed! Test it out on modded servers, feel free to mod your singleplayer games too.

The update also comes with newer graphic libraries, which should come with free performance improvements, especially on Steam Deck hardware.

If you update, remember to switch back to --branch=stable in game's properties, if you made the change i mentioned in this post!

Enjoy!
 

Edited April 27, 2023 by mard

[mard]

Important update regarding joining modded servers

I've noticed that some servers still fail to join, when the game is run using Steam as a non-steam game (either through desktop Steam, or SteamOS gaming mode etc.).

This is because Steam is overriding LD_PRELOAD environmental variable on game launch. Steam sets LD_PRELOAD containing a path to a Linux .so library, related to Steam overlay. I suspect that this confuses Vintage Story, it tries to interpret the .so library as a mod and/or .NET assembly. However, I don't know why it affects only some servers, not all of them.

Anyway, I was able to workaround this, by adding the following parameter to the launch parameters. This will ensure that LD_PRELOAD set by Steam is reset:

--env=LD_PRELOAD=

The full line should look like this:

run --env=LD_PRELOAD= --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=vintagestory at.vintagestory.VintageStory

I will add this information to OP.

[SeiferLK]

I am trying to play in Japanese, but your fix is not helping. I tried everything, please help

 

I don't see Japanese font, I only see boxes

[mard]

2 hours ago, SeiferLK said:

I am trying to play in Japanese, but your fix is not helping. I tried everything, please help

I don't see Japanese font, I only see boxes

For Japanese , please use

--env=LC_ALL=ja_JP.UTF-8

For Korean , this should also work:

--env=LC_ALL=ko_KR.UTF-8

 

Here's the proof it works:

For more information, please see: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/794

Have fun!

I also updated OP.

Edited June 4, 2023 by mard

[zamtoid]

I'm having a weird issue since updating to 1.8.5 on my steam deck. I can open the game but when I get to the menu screen I lose the function to click anything to enter a game or look at the settings. Sometimes I am able to get a click or two in before I lose the function, but most of the time I open the game and can only move the cursor around, and then have to exit by hitting the steam button and exiting through the steam menus.

I've tried different controller layouts, messing around with turning the proton experimental settings on, and I've tried uninstalling, deleting all files, and re-installing, same issue still occurs. I've done that a couple times now, haha.

Any help would be very appreciated!

[mard]

18 minutes ago, zamtoid said:

proton experimental settings

Proton... Could you clarify, are you using Flatpak version as described in OP, or Windows version run with Proton? Flatpak version doesn't use Proton whatsoever, it relies on Linux build that utilizes Linux Mono runtime.

Windows build of Vintage Story, used with Proton on Linux is known to suffer with some weird mouse problems. It has been previously reported: Steam Deck proton no mouselook · Issue #2632 · anegostudios/VintageStory-Issues · GitHub. Flatpak version doesn't suffer from these problems - at least according to my personal experience.

Edited June 8, 2023 by mard

[zamtoid]

It's the Flatpak version. I just tried messing around with every setting I could, including the Proton setting in steam, haha. But yeah, it's not the Windows version. I messed around with that before and it was weird, but I was able to get into the game with it.

This issue does seem to be something with SteamOS, I think though. I just tried downgrading to 1.8.3 and the same issue occurs.

[mard]

49 minutes ago, zamtoid said:

It's the Flatpak version. I just tried messing around with every setting I could, including the Proton setting in steam, haha. But yeah, it's not the Windows version. I messed around with that before and it was weird, but I was able to get into the game with it.

This issue does seem to be something with SteamOS, I think though. I just tried downgrading to 1.8.3 and the same issue occurs.

Interesting. I'm running Vintage Story 1.8.5 on latest stable SteamOS 3.4.8, all Flatpak packages updated, I can't reproduce this issue. I am using --env=LC_ALL= --env=LD_PRELOAD= --branch=stable in launch parameters. I can navigate the menus just fine, enter the game, exit, mouse is fully functional.  I wish I could be able to troubleshoot it, I'd have something to work with.

If I was facing the problem you described, I'd try to do the following:

• Make sure that all Flatpaks are up to date in Discover.
• Add --env=LD_PRELOAD= to game's launch parameters as described few posts above. This will force Steam not to load some its own libraries that interfere with the program in some way. I think it's related to Steam overlay, which is not used outside desktop mode if I understand it correctly.
• Set mesa_glthread to false (if set previously with flatseal), or force it anyway by adding --env=mesa_glthread=false to game's launch parameters. mesa_glthread offers some substantial performance gains, but in my experience it leads to some weird problems.
• Rename/move/remove Vintage Story client settings file, $HOME/.var/app/at.vintagestory.VintageStory/config/VintagestoryData/clientsettings.json
• Make sure that the controller profile bindings in Steam are in order and not modified in some unpredictable way
• Try editing/adding --env=LC_ALL= or --env=LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 to launch parameters... It shouldn't make a difference, but who the heck knows, I had enough weird locale-related problems in the past.
• I'm grasping at straws at this point, but tools such as Decky may interfere with the game... If you use it, try disabling it temporarily.

Let me know if any of these help with your issue. If not, we'll need to dig deeper somehow, but I'm at a loss how to troubleshoot it.

Edited June 8, 2023 by mard

[zamtoid]

Your mention of Decky reminded me I did install it recently, so I uninstalled it and still had the same issue. But I feel like it has to do something with that, between the last time I played VS and now I set up an emulator, Cemu, to play BOTW. I haven't played any other games or messed with any other stuff in the console. I tried adding the "--env=LD_PRELOAD=" into the launch parameters but that didn't do anything either.

I don't have the time right now to try the rest of your suggestions, but I'll report back soon when I do have some more time.

[zamtoid]

3 hours ago, mard said:

• Set mesa_glthread to false (if set previously with flatseal), or force it anyway by adding --env=mesa_glthread=false to game's launch parameters. mesa_glthread offers some substantial performance gains, but in my experience it leads to some weird problems.

Ok! This is what fixed it for me. I started by just wiping my deck with a factory reset. But the problem persisted! I then got to this step and suddenly I could get into the game world and move around.

After that I completely uninstalled VS and downloaded the 1.8.5 stable flatpak again. I only entered this change into the launch parameters and voila! It worked, just with this change. So if anyone else has this issue start here.

Thanks so much, mard! You're help on all this steam deck stuff is so amazing! I really appreciate it!

[mard]

Hey, you're welcome. I'm happy you were able to fix the problem! But I'm sorry you had to wipe your Deck clean to figure it out.

I'm left with more questions than answers. I have been under impression that Mesa OpenGL threading is disabled by default on Steam Deck. I confirmed this not too long ago, by passing mesa_glthread=true to Vintage Story. It behaved in a noticeably different way, only then I was able to experience weird resolution glitches.

But now, I'm having second thoughts. Your case suggests that Mesa GL threading is actually enabled somewhere, because turning it off explicitly with mesa_glthread=false fixed the problem. So it must've been enabled recently, but then why I can't reproduce the problem by turning it on manually like in your case? BTW, are you using stable branch of SteamOS like me, or enrolled into Beta?

I don't know what to think of this. Flatpak's Mesa package states clearly which applications are run with GL threading by default. It's defined in /var/lib/flatpak/runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default/x86_64/22.08/active/files/share/drirc.d/00-mesa-defaults.conf. There's also this SteamOS native file in /usr/share/drirc.d/00-mesa-defaults.conf that looks mostly the same. In any case, I couldn't find Mono in either of them.

For time being, I think it'd be the best to advice users to explicitly set --env=mesa_glthread=false in case of encountering weird issues.

Edited June 8, 2023 by mard

[zamtoid]

It was no issue for me to wipe it, I had nothing serious saved on there at the moment. I was thinking Decky or something else I installed was affecting it, so I figured a fresh wipe would be best to figure out the issue.

After the factory reset I was on the latest stable SteamOS. No Beta or developer tools enabled. So the Mesa GL threading must be enabled in some recent SteamOS update (or possibly in the VS flatpak?), because I was able to run VS when 1.8.1 released, and the release just before that, on the Steam Deck with no issue.

[mard]

1 hour ago, zamtoid said:

Mesa GL threading must be enabled in some recent SteamOS update (or possibly in the VS flatpak?)

Mesa upgrade came from org.freedesktop.Platform upgrade in Vintage Story flatpak, beginning from 1.18.2 onwards. But GL threading was not enabled explicitly in this flatpak for sure. If it's really enabled, it must be something that came with Mesa's default configuration, which is proven to work on most configurations but sometimes leads to weird regressions.

Edited June 8, 2023 by mard

[1Joachim1]

On 6/8/2023 at 1:46 AM, zamtoid said:

I'm having a weird issue since updating to 1.8.5 on my steam deck. I can open the game but when I get to the menu screen I lose the function to click anything to enter a game or look at the settings. Sometimes I am able to get a click or two in before I lose the function, but most of the time I open the game and can only move the cursor around, and then have to exit by hitting the steam button and exiting through the steam menus.

I've tried different controller layouts, messing around with turning the proton experimental settings on, and I've tried uninstalling, deleting all files, and re-installing, same issue still occurs. I've done that a couple times now, haha.

Any help would be very appreciated!

i was about to post the exact same issue. the fun thing is that it has been progressive for some weird reason. i had the game installed since a long ago in my steam deck.. i installed it from discorvery without any guide whatsoever (i thought if it was in the discovery app it would run nicely) but yesterday i got the issue. i decided to add some more mods (through filezilla in a pc.. i want my deck to be as "cookie isolated" as possible) and then launch the world it started to load the world just fine then it stopped, it froze. so i had to manually close the game (from the steam button => close game) dissabled one of the mods i had and tried again.. and then i tried to enter the game again and the buttons were not working, so i decided to force closing it and then launch again, this time it worked, but the world didn't load... (got stuck in the "it senses" phrase) tried again repeating the process dissabling the 3 other mods that i added but leaving the ones i had previously active.. in the last try i had to then forced exit -again- and tried to load it up, no button functionality anymore. no matter how many times i tried to load the game, the buttons did not work.

On 6/8/2023 at 2:53 AM, mard said:

Interesting. I'm running Vintage Story 1.8.5 on latest stable SteamOS 3.4.8, all Flatpak packages updated, I can't reproduce this issue. I am using --env=LC_ALL= --env=LD_PRELOAD= --branch=stable in launch parameters. I can navigate the menus just fine, enter the game, exit, mouse is fully functional.  I wish I could be able to troubleshoot it, I'd have something to work with.

If I was facing the problem you described, I'd try to do the following:

• Make sure that all Flatpaks are up to date in Discover.
• Add --env=LD_PRELOAD= to game's launch parameters as described few posts above. This will force Steam not to load some its own libraries that interfere with the program in some way. I think it's related to Steam overlay, which is not used outside desktop mode if I understand it correctly.
• Set mesa_glthread to false (if set previously with flatseal), or force it anyway by adding --env=mesa_glthread=false to game's launch parameters. mesa_glthread offers some substantial performance gains, but in my experience it leads to some weird problems.
• Rename/move/remove Vintage Story client settings file, $HOME/.var/app/at.vintagestory.VintageStory/config/VintagestoryData/clientsettings.json
• Make sure that the controller profile bindings in Steam are in order and not modified in some unpredictable way
• Try editing/adding --env=LC_ALL= or --env=LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 to launch parameters... It shouldn't make a difference, but who the heck knows, I had enough weird locale-related problems in the past.
• I'm grasping at straws at this point, but tools such as Decky may interfere with the game... If you use it, try disabling it temporarily.

Let me know if any of these help with your issue. If not, we'll need to dig deeper somehow, but I'm at a loss how to troubleshoot it.

i don't remember seeing the 1.8.5 update on the flatpack version (discovery) but i was in the latest stable version of steamOS, however it is true that i updated everything else it was availeable (like 10 hours ago) 

On 6/8/2023 at 4:09 AM, zamtoid said:

Your mention of Decky reminded me I did install it recently, so I uninstalled it and still had the same issue. But I feel like it has to do something with that, between the last time I played VS and now I set up an emulator, Cemu, to play BOTW. I haven't played any other games or messed with any other stuff in the console. I tried adding the "--env=LD_PRELOAD=" into the launch parameters but that didn't do anything either.

I don't have the time right now to try the rest of your suggestions, but I'll report back soon when I do have some more time.

i also tried to uninstall it and it didn't fix the issue either. i made sure to press the "clear all data" from the discovery tho. (made a backup of my world and manually removed the mods with the filezilla client so i could have a list of the mods i had already in the world) but i don't want to wipe out the entire steam deck... i have too many things that i need on hand (i'm living in the netherlands for now for work until july the 7th )

On 6/8/2023 at 8:09 AM, mard said:

Hey, you're welcome. I'm happy you were able to fix the problem! But I'm sorry you had to wipe your Deck clean to figure it out.

I'm left with more questions than answers. I have been under impression that Mesa OpenGL threading is disabled by default on Steam Deck. I confirmed this not too long ago, by passing mesa_glthread=true to Vintage Story. It behaved in a noticeably different way, only then I was able to experience weird resolution glitches.

But now, I'm having second thoughts. Your case suggests that Mesa GL threading is actually enabled somewhere, because turning it off explicitly with mesa_glthread=false fixed the problem. So it must've been enabled recently, but then why I can't reproduce the problem by turning it on manually like in your case? BTW, are you using stable branch of SteamOS like me, or enrolled into Beta?

I don't know what to think of this. Flatpak's Mesa package states clearly which applications are run with GL threading by default. It's defined in /var/lib/flatpak/runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default/x86_64/22.08/active/files/share/drirc.d/00-mesa-defaults.conf. There's also this SteamOS native file in /usr/share/drirc.d/00-mesa-defaults.conf that looks mostly the same. In any case, I couldn't find Mono in either of them.

For time being, I think it'd be the best to advice users to explicitly set --env=mesa_glthread=false in case of encountering weird issues.

if you wanna test something you can use me as a test subject. i'm not able to apply this fix right now because i'm at work, but later on i can try it. if you want me to do some testings or providing you any kind of extra info about the system/updates feel free to ask.

14 hours ago, mard said:

Mesa upgrade came from org.freedesktop.Platform upgrade in Vintage Story flatpak, beginning from 1.18.2 onwards. But GL threading was not enabled explicitly in this flatpak for sure. If it's really enabled, it must be something that came with Mesa's default configuration, which is proven to work on most configurations but sometimes leads to weird regressions.

it would be good to put it in the OP, big scary bold letters. 


welp, what else i can say.. thank you all for posting the issue and the answer i'll keep you up if it worked for me if @mard doesn't need any extra info. 

[Denigirl]

I got the game to specifically play it on my steamdeck just now, and yes a vanilla installation done yesterday gives me the same problem. The game runs in the menu for a few seconds ( you can see the background image moving) and then it freezes.

[zamtoid]

27 minutes ago, Denigirl said:

I got the game to specifically play it on my steamdeck just now, and yes a vanilla installation done yesterday gives me the same problem. The game runs in the menu for a few seconds ( you can see the background image moving) and then it freezes.

Did you get it to work with the "--env=mesa_glthread=false" in the launch parameters?

Edited June 9, 2023 by zamtoid

[Denigirl]

3 hours ago, zamtoid said:

Did you get it to work with the "--env=mesa_glthread=false" in the launch parameters?

Sadly not, i added it and it didnt make any difference. I can try again later today

Edit: Tried it again an no its not working

Edited June 10, 2023 by Denigirl

[Denigirl]

15 hours ago, Denigirl said:

Sadly not, i added it and it didnt make any difference. I can try again later today

Edit: Tried it again an no its not working

I tried more around with when and how it crashes and it seems entirely random. Sometimes it crashes in 1 second, sometimes i can get into generating a new world and go through all the settings and five minutes in it crashes. The command did not make a difference, the same happens with or without it.

[zamtoid]

1 minute ago, Denigirl said:

I tried more around with when and how it crashes and it seems entirely random. Sometimes it crashes in 1 second, sometimes i can get into generating a new world and go through all the settings and five minutes in it crashes. The command did not make a difference, the same happens with or without it.

daaang. that's the exact same thing I was experiencing and that "--env=mesa_glthread=false" parameter fixed it all for me.

you're on the latest steamOS version and vintage story flatpak?

[Denigirl]

31 minutes ago, zamtoid said:

daaang. that's the exact same thing I was experiencing and that "--env=mesa_glthread=false" parameter fixed it all for me.

you're on the latest steamOS version and vintage story flatpak?

So funnily enough, yes everything was updated and the newest version. I just decided to reinstall the game, and then i had resolution issues so i had to change the config file and put the resolution in. added the parameter you mentioned, and yeah now it works flawlessly!

Thanks for prompting me to update/reinstall, im looking forward to playing :))