How to launch games via Proton from CLI (plus QA)


        
            
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            How to launch games via Proton from CLI (useful for debug)
In just 2 steps
First. Run this:

export STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH=~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata

Second. Now in the same terminal, run your game (this example: Raft)

~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ 5.13/proton run ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Raft/Raft.exe

If you want different proton version, replace it in the first part of path, for example, this is "Breathedge" game on Proton-Experimental:

~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ -\ Experimental/proton run ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Breathedge/Breathedge.exe
I recommend you doing (and publishing) your own notes if your app is running, but unstable.
Q & A
Q: What actually is Proton?

A: Improvement to WINE written by Valve/Steam. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_(software)
Q: Will my game "X" actually run with proton? Which Proton version do I need?

A: Check out the database by typing your game name in search here: http://protondb.com
Q: I've tried my game with proton, it does not work, what else to do?

A: Check if guys at WINE itself was able to run it, by searching in "Browse Apps" here: http://appdb.winehq.org. Also, as with proton, try different versions of wine, and maybe even on different linux distros or with different hardware (CPU, GPU, etc.)
Q: My game still don't work neither with WINE nor with Proton, can I try something else?

A: Yes, you can also try different other ways: 

Lutris (https://lutris.net),
PlayOnLinux (https://www.playonlinux.com/en),
Crossover (https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover),
Pegasus (https://pegasus-frontend.org),

Q: I want to manage Wine Bottles, or run different software, but I don't want to do it via CLI. I need GUI. How do I do that?

A: There are plenty of different software for that. Check out: 

https://github.com/ergoithz/pywinery and https://sourceforge.net/projects/q4wine/ and http://vineyardproject.org and * https://github.com/mirkobrombin/Bottles-spacraft-tests for linux,
https://winebottler.kronenberg.org and https://karton.github.io for mac,
https://www.darlinghq.org for running mac apps on linux,

Q: Nothing helped! What else I can do?

A: Run VirtualBox, VMWare, Parallels, add GPU-passthrough, or just make a dual-boot with Windows.