# What are my options for steam on freebsd?



## rewtkid (Dec 13, 2018)

Is it even worth it yet? What games can I play? I was going to try https://github.com/SteamOnFreeBSD/SteamOnFreeBSD but to be honest I looked at the code and im not running those scripts on my system again. It tries to pull in stuff from outdated mirrors and several linux distributions that not only the packages are out of date, but the mirrors are no longer working so it bombs out, I tried it on a previous install, I even found the latest versions of the packages manually and edited the script and it still kept bombing out in other places so I gave up. It also wants to install to the system in a mostly irreversible/inconvenient way which I dont like. I dont install anything without using packages or ports if I can help it, thats how your system gets nonsense scattered all over the place. 
I am on 12-CURRENT with linux support if that matters. I have been out of the freebsd game a while now, quite a few years actually and wine was very unstable and buggy when my old ass tried to use it. Is it better now? Thanks.


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## Shadow53 (Dec 13, 2018)

I'm pretty new to FreeBSD myself, but if FreeBSD's wine works the same as on Linux, then it has gotten a lot better at playing games from Steam. That would probably work for you.

Regarding installing "native" Linux Steam on FreeBSD, my guess is you're going to have to do something like what those scripts are doing to get it running.


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## ShelLuser (Dec 14, 2018)

I personally wouldn't bother considering that most games on Steam are meant for Windows anyway. Wine can do a lot, but not that much with modern games.


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## shkhln (Dec 14, 2018)

rewtkid said:


> What games can I play?



https://reviews.freebsd.org/D14721 (+ dxvk and, optionally, my glibc shim for Nvidia's Vulkan driver).



rewtkid said:


> I was going to try https://github.com/SteamOnFreeBSD/SteamOnFreeBSD but to be honest I looked at the code and im not running those scripts on my system.



Linux Steam is installable via steam-runtime, but I'm unable to log in that way.


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## rewtkid (Dec 14, 2018)

FreeBSD is great but I guess it still has a long way to go when it comes to gaming, that's ok because that's not what it's really made for anyway. I will just use it as a workstation. I was just wondering if there have been any severe changes in gaming capabilities since i used it in the early 2000 2001 era. Apparently not. I am a pretty hardcore gamer. I like city building games like cities skylines and many many other games too many to list. I just wish BSD would work a little harder to make it possible. I would shitcan windows in a second without looking back. Me and probably most if not all of you as well I am sure of it! Thanks for the answers anyways.


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## rewtkid (Dec 14, 2018)

shkhln said:


> Linux Steam is installable via steam-runtime, but I'm unable to log in that way.



Well that's not helping you much is it. LOL.


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## shkhln (Dec 14, 2018)

rewtkid said:


> I was just wondering if there have been any severe changes in gaming capabilities since i used it in the early 2000 2001 era. Apparently not.



I dunno what your problem is. Wine is definitely more stable now than in 2001.



rewtkid said:


> Well that's not helping you much is it. LOL.



I'm not asking for help with Linux Steam, I'm describing its current state.


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## rewtkid (Dec 14, 2018)

I think I misunderstood you or you misunderstood me. I don't have a problem. I was just trying to understand what you meant by this steam-runtime you speak of. What good is it if you can't even log into it. As far as my freebsd gaming comment goes I stand by it, it certainly doesn't look like a lot has changed for FreeBSD where that is concerned. I can play almost all of my games now on linux however. I would just like the same for BSD one day. I guess that day isn't today. Than again, I just had to spend four days getting basic sound to work. So I won't expect serious gaming any time soon.


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## alexseitsinger (Dec 14, 2018)

rewtkid said:


> I was going to try https://github.com/SteamOnFreeBSD/SteamOnFreeBSD but to be honest I looked at the code and im not running those scripts on my system.



Why don't you want to run them? I've looked at them before and they don't seem terrible. There's a lot of downloading, moving, and patching going on, which might be annoying to reverse, but I doesn't look malicious or anything. I've been curious to give it a try myself. I might give it a shot on another machine once I modify some of the scripts, since they're downloading from RU servers and settings RU language, at some point.


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## rewtkid (Dec 14, 2018)

alexseitsinger said:


> Why don't you want to run them? I've looked at them before and they don't seem terrible. There's a lot of downloading, moving, and patching going on, which might be annoying to reverse, but I doesn't look malicious or anything. I've been curious to give it a try myself. I might give it a shot on another machine once I modify some of the scripts, since they're downloading from RU servers and settings RU language, at some point.



It tries to pull in stuff from outdated mirrors and several linux distributions that not only the packages are out of date, but the mirrors are no longer working so it bombs out, I tried it on a previous install, i didnt mention that, I will edit my original comment. I even found the latest versions of the packages manually and edited the script and it still kept bombing out in other places so I gave up. It also wants to install to the system in a mostly irreversible/inconvenient way which I dont like. I dont install anything without using packages or ports if I can help it, thats how your system gets nonsense scattered all over the place. The quality of the code could be fine for all I know, that part of it wasnt what I meant. You should make a fork of it and fix it when/if you find the time. perhaps you are better then me and will have better luck. I know a lot of people would be grateful myself included.


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## kpedersen (Dec 14, 2018)

rewtkid said:


> FreeBSD is great but I guess it still has a long way to go when it comes to gaming



FreeBSD doesn't have to go anywhere for gaming... Games simply need to come to *it*


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## rewtkid (Dec 14, 2018)

kpedersen said:


> FreeBSD doesn't have to go anywhere for gaming... Games simply need to come to *it*



Yeah I agree and that's what I meant but I can see how it can be misconstrued.


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## shkhln (Dec 14, 2018)

Well, the native FreeBSD Steam client doesn't exist. If Valve invents some kind of vm and container format for games (think WebAssembly) then it might make some sense.


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## kpa (Dec 14, 2018)

FreeBSD is not a market/has no visible market share where it counts and that's why gaming companies show zero interest in porting their games/gaming frameworks to FreeBSD.


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## Beastie7 (Dec 14, 2018)

Personally, I'm not a fan of Apple-styled walled gardens like steam. Like the old days, I prefer just having to download and install a single binary, and that's it. Let me manage my own games.


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## k.jacker (Dec 14, 2018)

Exactly, that's why I like gog.com much better than steam.
Some days ago I stumbled over this:
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/how-to-stardew-valley-on-freebsd.68551/

Didn't take more then 15 minutes to get the Linux version of Stardew Valley from gog.com running on my FreeBSD machine.
Download, extract, patch by running fbsd-fnaify.sh from github, install sdl2, mono and openal-soft packages and off you go


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## tingo (Dec 18, 2018)

ShelLuser said:


> I personally wouldn't bother considering that most games on Steam are meant for Windows anyway. Wine can do a lot, but not that much with modern games.


There are *many* games on Steam that works with Linux, specially Indie releases.


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## SirDice (Dec 19, 2018)

I've had varying success with Steam on FreeBSD. Some Linux games work with Steam on the Linux emulation, most don't. Some Windows games work with Steam on Wine, but again, most don't. So it's a hit or miss, with the majority being misses.


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## BSD User (Jan 16, 2019)

I like playing games and Steam is my primary platform. I tried gaming on various Linux flavours, macOS and FreeBSD - ended up with Windows. In general nothing beats Windows in terms of gaming experience  Just build a dedicated machine for gaming and don't forget to add a good VR Headset.


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## shkhln (Jan 17, 2019)

Both second computer and a video game console involve some compromises (either cost, consumed living space, game availability or controls) and, more important, are sufficiently _obvious_ that OP is likely already considered them. You don't need to bring that in every thread.

As for Wine, I believe my success rate is somewhere close to 3/4 titles _after_ consulting appdb.winehq.org. Occasional tinkering is required.


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## nemo (Aug 20, 2019)

Quite simple answer. If you want to play games on open-source system, choose debian (steam is based on it). If you need FreeBSD, think of dual boot. If you have recent machine, think of virtualization of one of them, depending of what you need more: FBSD desktop/server, or OSS gaming solution?My favourite games run well on wine, but yes, they're quite outdated... :-D


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## shkhln (Aug 20, 2019)

There is absolutely no reason in installing Linux just for games. You might as well dual boot into Windows at this point. And no, "Linux has AAA games 'cause Steam" is a very annoying meme, nothing more.


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## kpedersen (Aug 20, 2019)

Yep, for games, just think of your Windows gaming box as a slightly overengineered graphics card.
Rather than just upload the shader programs, you upload the entire games. XD


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## shkhln (Jan 23, 2020)

Somehow this thread still has more visibility on Google than my Linux Steam thread.


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