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Writing Gamefixes

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Chris Simons edited this page Jul 24, 2021 · 6 revisions

Writing Game Fixes

Game fixes are written in python and are named by the Steam game ID with the extension .py. For example, the file 377840.py will be loaded when the game FINAL FANTASY IX is run. Gamefixes can be added to the ~/.config/protonfixes/localfixes/ directory. Here are some things to consider when writing fixes:

  • Only import libraries that are part of the Python standard library for portability.
  • Use docstrings and comment thoroughly. There will likely be people without python experience making game fixes and good commented examples will help
  • Do not use any hard-coded paths, Steam may not always be installed in the same location.
  • Check your gamefix with pylint. You can safely disable warning C0103, modules named by Steam ID will never conform to snake_case naming style.
  • Check over at https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/protonfixes. Although the gamefixes there may rely on features in proton-ge, some may work with little or no modification.

Testing

When testing, local fixes can be added to ~/.config/protonfixes/localfixes/. They should be imported the same way as an included fix would be. For example, ~/.config/protonfixes/localfixes/377840.py would be loaded for FFIX. Please feel free to submit working gamefixes to improve the project.

If you mess up your Proton prefix and you want to start fresh, just delete the directory in ~/.local/share/Steam/compatdata/GAMEID, Proton will recreate it automatically

Debugging

Proton output can be seen in either /tmp/dumps/${USER}_stdout.txt or the terminal you started Steam from. To add additional protonfixes debugging information, add the following line above import protonfixes:

from protonfixes import debug

This will add information like this:

ProtonFixes[27351] DEBUG: ---- begin protontricks debug info ----
ProtonFixes[27351] DEBUG: Proton Python Version:
ProtonFixes[27351] DEBUG: /usr/bin/python3
ProtonFixes[27351] DEBUG: 3.7.0 (default, Jul 15 2018, 10:44:58)
[GCC 8.1.1 20180531]
ProtonFixes[27351] DEBUG: ---------------------------------------

Although the environment variables are dumped, the sensitive variables like SteamUser and SteamAppUser are filtered out.

Gamefix utilities

These helper functions can be used in a game fix by importing the util submodule:

from protonfixes import util
  • util.protontricks('verb')
    • installs a winetricks verb
  • util.use_win32_prefix()
    • creates and uses a win32 (32bit) wineprefix
  • util.replace_command('original', 'replacement')
    • replaces text in the game's launch command
  • util.append_argument('argument')
    • adds an argument to the game's launch command
  • util.protonprefix()
    • returns the path of the current wineprefix used by Proton
  • util.set_environment('VARIABLE', 'value')
    • sets an environment variable
  • util.winedll_override('dllname', 'x')
    • override dllname where x is n for native, b for builtin, or '' for disable
  • winedll_override shortcuts:
    • util.disable_dxvk()
    • util.disable_esync()
    • util.disable_d3d10()
    • util.disable_d3d11()
    • util.disable_nvapi()
  • util.get_game_install_path()
    • returns the path to the current game
  • util.create_dosbox_conf('filename', conf_dict)
    • creates a config file filename with the dict conf_dict (needs to have '-conf' and 'filename' added with util.append_argument for dosbox use config)

Example game fixes

377840.py - Changing the executable launched and setting an environment variable

""" Game fix for FINAL FANTASY IX
"""
#pylint: disable=C0103

from protonfixes import util
from protonfixes.logger import log

def main():
    """ Changes the proton argument from the launcher to the game
    """

    log('Applying fixes for FINAL FANTASY IX')

    # Fix crackling audio
    util.set_environment('PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC', '60')

    # Replace launcher with game exe in proton arguments
    util.replace_command('FF9_Launcher.exe', 'x64/FF9.exe')

410900.py - Running a winetricks verb

""" Game fix for Forts
"""
#pylint: disable=C0103

from protonfixes import util
from protonfixes.logger import log

def main():
    """ Uses winetricks to install the ole32 verb
    """

    log('Applying fixes for Forts')

    util.protontricks('ole32')

15700.py - Example using a win32 prefix

Oddworld doesn't actually require a win32 prefix or dotnet35, but I used it for testing since it's 32bit

from protonfixes import util
from protonfixes.logger import log

def main():
    """ Adds -interline to arguments, uses a win32 prefix, and installs dotnet35
    """
    
    log('Applying fixes for Oddworld: Abe\'s Oddysee')
        
    # Adding -interline fixes slow video but adds scanlines
    util.append_argument('-interline')
    
    log('Using a win32 prefix')
    util.use_win32_prefix()
    
    # Make sure any winetricks are run after changing to a win32 prefix
    util.protontricks('dotnet35')
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