# Games

> Native Steam with Proton, and Windows programs outside Steam on Wine.

Source: https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/games

## What it is

Steam is the regular Arch Linux package. Windows games run through Proton, which Steam installs and updates itself. A Windows program you download yourself opens with a double-click through Wine, or umu-launcher when Wine is not installed.

## Why

Proton is where game compatibility work happens, so WolOS does not ship its own layer on top. What WolOS adds is a check of everything Steam needs (32-bit graphics libraries, the Vulkan driver, NVIDIA's matching userspace) so a missing piece is a sentence with a fix, not a silent crash.

## How

Press Get on Steam in the Store, then start it from the Dock. If a game will not start, run `wol games doctor`: each failed check prints the command that fixes it.

## Reference

Steam is the native Arch package from `[multilib]` ([ADR 0016](/manual/adr-0016)). Windows games run on Proton, which Steam installs and updates itself. There is no custom compatibility tool and no Linux ABI shim. For Windows programs outside Steam, `wol-run --exe` uses the native `wine` package (`/usr/bin/wine`, WoW64) and falls back to umu-launcher (`/usr/bin/umu-run`, multilib) when wine is not installed.

### Pieces

| Piece | Code | Does |
|---|---|---|
| `wol games steam [url]` | `crates/controller/src/games.rs` | checks what the client needs; first start: a notification; then `/usr/bin/steam [url]` |
| `wol games doctor [--json]` | `crates/core/src/games/doctor.rs` | every check with the exact fix; exits 1 when one fails; JSON when not a TTY |
| `/usr/bin/wol-run --exe <file> ...` | `crates/proxy/src/exe.rs` | opens a `.exe` (`.msi` through `msiexec /i`) with one prefix per program; wine gets DXVK/vkd3d-proton copied from a Proton in the Steam library, umu brings its own |
| `steam.desktop` | `desktop/overlay/.../applications` | Apps, Search, App Store "Open", `steam://` links: `wol games steam %u` |
| Notifications | `crates/core/src/games/notice.rs` | what a Dock or Apps start says; bodies pass `shell::copy::lint` |

### Doctor checks

| Check | Fails when | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| `base` (info) | never: names the WolOS base (os-release) and whether the kernel is linux-wolos | another kernel is reported and kept |
| `multilib` | `[multilib]` off in `/etc/pacman.conf` | enable it, `pacman -Sy` |
| `steam` | no `/usr/bin/steam` | `pacman -S steam` |
| `drm` | no `/dev/dri` | `wol hw doctor` |
| `lib32-gl` | no 32-bit Vulkan loader or OpenGL (the client is 32-bit) | `lib32-vulkan-icd-loader`, `lib32-mesa`, vendor lib32 driver |
| `vulkan-icd`, `vulkan` | no ICD in `/usr/share/vulkan/icd.d`, or only llvmpipe | vendor Vulkan packages |
| `nvidia` | `lib32-nvidia-utils` missing or not the running driver's version | `pacman -S lib32-nvidia-utils` |
| `futex-waitv`, `ntsync` (warn/info) | kernel lacks them: Proton falls back to esync/fsync | none |
| `wine` (info) | not installed | only for programs outside Steam |

The client starts only when `multilib`, `steam`, `drm`, `lib32-gl` and `nvidia` pass (`doctor::STEAM_CLIENT`).