Recently switched to Linux need help with games outside of steam

Easiest way is to add the game to be launched through Steam, and then you can use Proton.

As others have suggested Lutris, Heroic, or Bottles can make the process easier. I use Lutris personally.

I'll walk you through exactly how I install a pirated game using Lutris since you mentioned you're new to Linux and using WINE/Proton.

• Download and extract your desired game.
• Create a new folder wherever you store your games. This folder will be the WINE prefix for the game you are installing, so I usually name it the name of the game (don't use spaces in the name of the folder, for some reason, even if you wrap the path in quotes, Lutris gets unhappy, use Game-Name instead of Game Name). You should always install games in their own independent prefix.
• Click the plus (+) icon in the top left of Lutris, then click on Add locally installed game.
• Fill out the name field, and select Wine in the Runner dropdown.
• Switch to the runners tab and select the version of WINE you would like to use in the Wine version dropdown.
• Switch to the Game options tab and click Browse next to the Wine prefix field. Navigate to the folder you created earlier. Click Save in the top right of the window.
• Navigate to the game in your library and click play, this will create the WINE prefix. Once the error message saying something about a missing executable comes up, just dismiss it.
• Copy the game to /path/to/prefix/drive_c/
• Right click the game in your library and click configure. Switch to the Game options tab and click Browse next to the Executable field. Navigate to and select the game installer. Click Save in the top right of the Window.
• Launch the game from your Lutris library and proceed with the installer as you normally would.
• With the game installed right click the game in your library, and click configure again. Switch to Game options and click on Browse near the Executable field again. Navigate to the installed directory and select the exe that launches the game. Click save in the top right of the window.

And we're finally done lol. Now when you launch the game it should open up like normal. Once you get the hang of the flow it just takes a couple minutes.

I've heard some people mention they have had issues with Fitgirl installers, I've never had any problems personally so I guess it's luck of the draw on games. I've also never had any issues with the GOG installer, Razor1911's, or clean Steam files cracked with Mr. Goldberg etc. If you have issues with one source, but the game is verified to work on ProtonDB or something, it's best to just try another source.

Some games may require you to install one or more additional dependencies, dotnet is one you will probably need to install frequently. Here's some info on that.

If you run into any issues let me know and I'd be glad to help if I can.

I personally use bottles installed through flatpak for non-steam game needs. Especially if you're pirating, you can use flatseal to disable things like internet access for bottles (and games that you run through bottles) and inter-process communication, making it just a bit safer if you have trust issues.

Setting bottles up is a bit of a pain, but once you do that you can pretty much run anything through it easily

if everything else fails, you could try making virtual machine running with windows

Like everyone else, I suggest Lutris or Heroic Games Launcher for most games. Lutris has a relatively straightforward interface to walk you through what it offers. It can even help you install EA and Ubisoft games. Heroic launcher allows you to install games from the Epic and GOG stores. Minecraft has multiple launchers available. Plus, there's RetroArch and DOSBox for most retro stuff. There are system-specific emulators like Dolphin for GameCube. There are even some fun, free games like "Super Tux Kart" and "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead."

Everything I just mentioned is available for download using the "Discover" app in desktop mode of Bazzite. If you have questions about specific games, I might be able to help.

Not on bazzite but I use Lutris and Heroic

There’s also bottles if you find that easier to use

If ur using bazzite then an app called bottles is a great choice, you can find it the app store(flatpak)

So I set up bazzite recently to play with it, and it has steam and lutris preinstalled which is nice. I installed the heroic games launcher flatpak from the discover app just because it's been easier to set up games than lutris has been in my experience. You connect your other store accounts in the setup and you just have a list of games to click on and install, same way as you do in steam.

You can also install individual exe files in heroic pretty easily, I've had better success with games like king arthur legends rise by installing them in heroic as a custom game.

You may not need it, but you can also install ProtonUp-Qt if you need to install a specific proton version like Glorious Eggroll or something. It's another point and click app that'll do everything for you.

Yo um, I dont know how much helpful it is, but take a look at the gaming section and the gaming bookmark section of this guide I made https://codeberg.org/BlastboomStrice/LinuxPlan/src/branch/main/LinuxPlan.md

You can use Heroic?

I don't know what you to do exactly but most thing should be solvable with lutris. It is pre-installed in bazzite. Afair it should do wine and proton.

That’s what I used when I switched to Bazzite.

Most games work flawlessly.

What Linux distro are you using? I'm on Aurora and wine doesn't really work unless you install it from the distrobox.

Not familiar with bazzite but lutris works great, its super neat and very intuitive to use, even to sail the seas on Windows waters