I completely forgot about AI Anti-Cheat, lol. But yes, this is another form of Ant-Cheat that seems to be very effective. (Although I don't much like the idea)

You have a point, but if Microsoft completely locks down the kernel, preventing any third party software/driver from running at the kernel-level, Anti-Cheat developers will have to find a new way to implement Anti-Cheat. This may open up the possibility of some newer form of Anti-Cheat being user-space; or at the very least NOT ring 0, which in-turn may open up the possibility of this new form of Anti-Cheat working underneath Linux.

Or maybe we're all still screwed because this new form of Anti-Cheat will perform on a basis that trusts that there is no third party access to the Windows kernel because of how restricted it is, therefore nullifying the need to be ring 0, but it still might not work under Linux due to the freedom/access users have to the kernel.

But then again, in order to implement any third party driver into the Windows kernel, it has to be signed and/or approved by Microsoft first (IIRC). But cheaters get around this through various means. So maybe nothing changes; but if Microsoft DOES restrict kerne-level access, this leads me to think that Anti-Cheat will have to change in some form or another, which may lead to it working on Linux.

TBH, The only way(s) I see Anti-Cheat moving forward at all, is:

• Hardware level Anti-Cheat (similar to a DMA card. Maybe it requires a certain type firmware that is universally used across all/most major video game companies)

• Some form of emulated environment. Maybe like a specific kernel that is used for each game.

I was initially going to post just the changelog itself, but included in the changelog are other older fixes before July 22nd. Even though the fixes present on July 22nd are bolded, I decided to use the blog post because it only highlights the fixes for July 22nd. I didn't think of this previously, but I could have just posted the changelog, and specifically noted the July 22nd fixes 😅

Sorry for the trouble

No problem! I'm glad I could help :)

Do lutris always download user-made scripts, or is it just if you select it?

Lutris does not automatically download user-made scripts; you have to add them manually.

The only times I've encountered a game or program not launching via Bottles, it had to do with missing dependencies and/or other issues with the installer.

SteamDB has a list of dependencies that are used for Ape Out, of which you can try adding to your Bottle.

However, I would try running the game in Lutris; In Lutris, if you encounter issues with the game, you can click on "show logs" which will (hopefully) help you out a great deal. Lutris uses their own runtime which is primarily pulled from Valve's Steam runtime (IIRC), saving you from having to hunt for dependencies (if missing dependencies are the issue).

You can check if it's using the Discrete GPU by going into "Details" in your game's bottle, then go into "settings", and make sure that the toggle for "Discrete Graphics" is turned on. You can also set an environment variable; DRI_PRIME=1. Also might want to check your HDMI or DP cable is plugged into your GPU. You could also try checking GPU usage while the game is running, and seeing if it's using your GPU at all.

You said you moved to Fedora from Pop_OS; If you are using an Nvidia GPU, you might want to check if you've got the Nvidia Proprietary drivers installed or the Nouveau drivers. You can check this by running lsmod | grep nvidia in a terminal. If you get any output whatsoever then you're using the Nvidia Proprietary drivers, which is what you want for gaming.

If it is a shader issue; in the same "settings" in bottles make sure DXVK and VKD3D aren't disabled. There's no real way to bypass shader compiling. All your games need to compile shaders.

You can thank AMD for that.

From AMD:

Console-Class Gaming on the Go: Built-in AMD Radeon 800M graphics are the world's best graphics for gaming^8^, ensuring top-tier gaming experiences with high frame rates and ultra-low latency.

Source: https://www.amd.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-6-2-amd-unveils-next-gen-zen-5-ryzen-processors-to-p.html

Or as I've taken to calling it; GNU+Linux

The first "2" probably indicates that it's a sequel. "Ship" probably refers to the developers, "Harbour Masters" who made "Ship of Harkinian", the PC port of Ocarina of Time. The second "2" (I'm not too sure on this) might again, refer to it being a sequel, and "Harkinian" is likely taken from "King Harkinian" from the old Zelda CD-i games.

Since you have Nvidia you'll want to use the Nvidia proprietary drivers for the best performance. The open source driver for Nvidia (nouveau) is awful when it comes to gaming performance, unfortunately. (Although this will soon be fixed with NVK)

Depending on your distro of choice, you'll need to figure out whether you want Secure Boot on or not. I believe Windows 10 doesn't require Secure Boot to be enabled, but I think Windows 11 does. So depending on how frequent you want to be booting into Windows this might be a bit of an annoyance. You can leave Secure Boot disabled and use the Nvidia Proprietary drivers as-is, but if you want to enable Secure Boot you'll have to sign the Kernel yourself - it's a pretty straight forward process.

I recommend you try to keep Secure Boot enabled for the added benefit of security and ease of use when dual-booting, but if you don't want to go through the hassle of signing your own Kernel, then simply leaving Secure Boot disabled when in Linux will suffice.

I recommend against using Ubuntu because of Canonical's many poor decisions with Ubuntu. I won't get into it right now, but if you're comfortable with Ubuntu don't let me stop you from using it.

In reality, you can use whatever distro you want. One distro isn't inherently better at gaming then another. It's a matter of configuration.

Or as I've taken to calling it, GNU+systemd+Linux.

Incredible!! I don't think I have ever heard this explained in such simplicity. Great write up.