Background

There are a lot of Steam games with great Linux-native source ports, like Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (OpenRCT2), Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (Daggerfall Unity), Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (OpenMW), all id Software games pre-2009, and any game supported by the ScummVM project, to name a few. The only downside to playing source ports rather than the original game (most of the time), is the lack of steam integration.

However, it is possible to play these games through source ports with steam integration on Linux, and I'll explain how.

First, Steam-Play-None

In order to get around using Proton for many of these games, we need to install the Steam-Play-None compatibility tool. This compatibility tool basically allows us to use no compatibility tool and run these games natively. To install, follow the steps listed on the GitHub page.

Now, by default, steam only gives you this tool as an option for Linux-native steam games. However, many games with source ports only have a Windows version on steam, like Morrowind or Roller Coaster Tycoon 2. So we need to change the configuration files for Steam-Play-None.

Go to the file ~/.steam/steam/compatibilitytools.d/Steam-Play-None/compatibilitytool.vdf and change the line stating

      "from_oslist"  "linux"

to

      "from_oslist"  "windows"

Now Steam-Play-None can be used for Windows-only steam games.

Second, Modify Launch Options

Now, open steam, and go to the game for which you want the source port to run when you hit "Play." Right click the game and click "Properties." Under "General," there are two settings you want to change: First, turn "Enable the Steam-Overlay while in-game" off. Next, put this for the launch options:

LD_LIBRARY_PATH="" "*insert absolute path to source port here*" # %command%

That's it! Now when you play your source ports, it will track hours into Steam.

Backstory

Before this game, I had not finished any racing games. I had not played any other Burnout games, and the only Need for Speed game I had played is Underground 2, which I got very close to finishing but ended up soft locked (due to trying to have a separate performance car and "decorative" car, and not allocating my money correctly to the point that I ran out).

That being said, I have finished many open-world, "movement"-based games as I will call them--games like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Odyssey, and even games like Batman: Arkham City and Sony's Spider-Man. I consider these games "movement"-based because unlike games like the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (which I am also a big fan of, and have finished many times), these games make moving around the open world itself feel good, satisfying, and a game within itself, if not the core gameplay.

I consider Burnout Paradise one of the best of these open-world, "movement"-based games. In my opinion, it should be up there with Super Mario Sunshine as a classic in the category.

The Good

To start, the driving model in Burnout Paradise feels very good in my opinion. If I am correct in understanding the lingo of the genre, it has brake-to-drift driving where the vehicles are incredibly light. This makes the movement very light and fun, resembling more a platformer than a hardcore racer.

This works great with the game's map, as it is filled with billboards and secrets that encourage you to explore and try for difficult jumps and tricks. That combined with the game's stunt gamemode, which was difficult for me at first, but then became incredibly fun and rewarding, made me appreciate the game's uniquely light movement and large amount of areas around the map to pull off barrel rolls and flat spins.

Adding on to this great movement system and map to accompany it, the game does crashes incredibly well, as, from what I have seen, is true for the other Burnout games as well. This makes failure feel punishing, but not in an overly frustrating way. It is incredible to see how much the cars will deform and deteriorate in this game, especially for one for the seventh generation of consoles.

On another note, the game works great for short sessions, as the gameplay is broken up into short 5 minute segments, whether with races, stunt runs, road rage, or any of the other gamemodes. This makes me think this game might be one of the best racing games on the Nintendo Switch, as I just imagine it working very well on a portable device.

Overall, it's an undoubtedly fun game, and it was very easy for me to play it enough to "finish" it, by getting the initial Burnout license. It does the open world very well, and it feels very freeing and fun.

The Bad

This game has a few problems. For one, the races are too open. Instead of having to stick to a specific path like Need for Speed, or having to go to certain checkpoints, the races just have a start and an end with you deciding the path. This is fine, but checkpoints would allow me to focus more on racing and less on driving the best path. In the Big Surf Island DLC, the races use checkpoints, so I believe the developers saw this as a problem to improve upon as well.

One thing the game does not tell you, is that a lot of important controls are within a menu controlled by the d-pad (or for keyboard players, the numpad). Controls like retrying an event, for example. I did not know this until later into playing the game, but it saves a lot of time. Also, if you stop completely during an event, you will end the event (also saves time when you know you will lose, or win).

I also do not like that 100% completion of the Big Surf Island DLC requires engaging in multiplayer challenges. This means that once the multiplayer elements shut down, 100% will become impossible, which is a shame.

I do not like the "Road Rules" system. Getting the best time on a road is fun, but repetitive. Winning showtime road rules, though, is frustrating. This gamemode needs some work, as it feels like a lot is based on the luck of how many buses spawn.

Lastly, I wish the game was not locked to 60 fps.

Final Thoughts

This game rocks. It feels good just to boot in, drive, and explore the map, and that's the most important thing in an open-world racing game. To me, the game is very underrated. I would recommend it to anyone who likes video games, at least to play it enough to get to the Burnout License.

Next game I plan to finish: Need for Speed Heat!

This is likely the best open source port of a racing game. Plus, you can play it in your browser!

Hello, for context I have 76 hours in Burnout Paradise currently. I have achieved 100% on the main island, 100% on the bike DLC, and about 50% on the Big Surf Island. I learned today that to get 100% for Big Surf Island I need to do the multiplayer challenges, which I am not interested in and have no one to do them with. Should I give up on the 100% everything dream?

I’m considering getting these games. I’m more of a Need for Speed fan most of the time, but I’m looking for a game that is DRM free and that feels great to play and can run on most modern computers.

Thoughts?

This developer has created a great open source cross-platform wrapper for Need for Speed II SE, that allows it to run on modern x86 and amd64 hardware. Here is a short guide on how to play this amazing game using this wrapper.

Mount the NFSIISE CD-ROM

Note: I do not want to promote piracy in this community, as I feel this community is not a good place for that discussion.

My legal backup of my Need for Speed II SE CD-ROM was for some reason in bin/cue format, so here is how I managed to extract its contents:

On Windows, I used this open-source software called WinCDEmu. It allowed me to mount the bin/cue files and extract the contents.

On Linux, I extracted the contents in two steps. First, I ran this command to convert from bin/cue to ISO (bchunk is in my distribution's repositories):

bchunk nfs2se.bin nfs2se.cue nfs2se.iso

Then, I opened my file manager (in my case, dolphin), and right clicked the ISO file to mount it.

Download the NFSIISE Wrapper

The open-source cross-platform wrapper can be downloaded here. Download the wrapper for your operating system, extract it, and put the FEDATA and GAMEDATA directories from the CD-ROM in the wrapper's directory.

In the case of Windows, this is all that needs to be done. The executable from the cross-platform wrapper should now run fine. On Linux, you may have to run the script titled convert_to_lowercase. You also want to make sure you have all the necessary 32-bit dependencies. I run Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and I believe since I have steam downloaded that I already had all necessary 32-bit dependencies. In case you don't and are on a Debian-based system, try running these commands as root:

dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt update
apt install libgx-mesa0:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libsdl2-2.0-0:i386

Now you should be good to enjoy this 1997 classic!

I would love to grow this community more, meet more people interested in this subject, and grow in my passion for arcade racing games!

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/57179824

For me: the Out Run OST. Everyone listens to and praises Nintendo OSTs or Square Enix, but Out Run is something else. I have rarely listened to video game music that catchy.

An arcade racing game done well is simple: you are in a vehicle, and you want to go fast. The first hour of the game, or even the first ten minutes of the game, you get it--you move quickly through a handcrafted environment, with great movement and consequences for failure. It is the quintessential game when it comes to easy to learn, hard to master. And yet, there is nothing violent about it, or scary, or all that stressful (unless it's one of the more competitive or difficult ones, like Trackmania). It just feels good.

Open world arcade racing games especially feel like one of the only types of games where you can turn it on and just relax. Listen to music, enjoy the scenery, drive a fast car through a busy city, and zone out. There are a few other single-player games with a similar zone out feeling, but not many, and certainly not many as pure and fun as arcade racers.

For me: the Out Run OST. Everyone listens to and praises Nintendo OSTs or Square Enix, but Out Run is something else. I have rarely listened to video game music that catchy.

I personally love arcade racing games, but I found no community on Lemmy. There is a need for speed community, but it looks dead. Is anyone else passionate about arcade racing games and would be interested in this?