I’ve been gaming on Linux for over a year now, and most of my games library was on GoG, though I also have a number of games on Steam.
Using Lutris for GoG games, in my experience the rate of “just runs out of the box” games (via Wine) is pretty much the same as for Steam (via Proton), both being somewhere around the 9 in 10.
The Steam App basically wrapps the whole Proton thing with automated configuration, including game-specific configuration scripts, and that’s the same as launchers like Lutris and Heroic doing with Wine, but if you’re trying to use Wine directly without such a launcher its like trying to run Steam games without Steam and just doing all the Proton configuration (both general and game-specific) yourself - the old way of running games in Linux from a decade ago with was a complete total PITA.
ampersandrew@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Through Heroic, while there are some exceptions, you get nearly the same out of the box compatibility. And if you don’t get that compatibility and don’t have the patience to troubleshoot, the refund system for GOG is very generous. I just tried The Alters today, which I knew had issues with Proton outside of Steam Deck, and I got it working just before running out of patience and refunding the game.
Cybersteel@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Sometimes half the fun is troubleshooting, to the point where you had your fun fixing something and don’t feel like playing the game anymore.
ampersandrew@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t have to troubleshoot anything most of the time, and I’ve bought dozens of games through GOG of late, for what it’s worth. And in the case of The Alters, the Steam version has many of the same problems. Just letting you know it’s an option, anyway. You can even route some of your GOG purchase to go toward development of Heroic by buying through the Heroic client, so that it makes sure it only gets better and so that GOG knows how much of their revenue they’re giving up to people who want this sort of functionality.