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CheddarSoup

Recruit
Jan 26, 2023
5
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I just tried installing EU4 , the core game only, on Ubuntu Linux Steam. I used Proton compatibility mode to get it to run, which seemed to work, but when I tried to play the game, I got this:

Screenshot from 2023-01-26 03-46-42.png


I found another thread that handled a similar error on Windows, but can anyone help me sort things out on Ubuntu? I tried uninstalling and reinstalling by just using the steam menus, and it didn't solve the problem. I am not using any mods or expansion packs.

Any help would be great. Thanks!
 
First of all, you should not use proton, because eu4 has a working uptodate Linux version which supports ubuntu. Proton is just creating additional problems and would slow down eu4(especially the startup). What exactly happens when you try to start eu4 from steam without proton(deactivate the checkbox "force the use of a specific steam play compatibility tool")? If the launcher is working, make sure that the playset which is selected on the main page of the launcher doesn't contain any active mods(the launcher might have automatically activated them without your knowledge). If the game doesn't start without mods, what happens if you start the eu4 executable from a terminal window? If eu4 doesn't start from the terminal, can you post the output which you get there?

Disclaimer: I'm not working for Paradox. I'm just trying to help people.
 
First of all, you should not use proton, because eu4 has a working uptodate Linux version which supports ubuntu. Proton is just creating additional problems and would slow down eu4(especially the startup). What exactly happens when you try to start eu4 from steam without proton(deactivate the checkbox "force the use of a specific steam play compatibility tool")? If the launcher is working, make sure that the playset which is selected on the main page of the launcher doesn't contain any active mods(the launcher might have automatically activated them without your knowledge). If the game doesn't start without mods, what happens if you start the eu4 executable from a terminal window? If eu4 doesn't start from the terminal, can you post the output which you get there?

Disclaimer: I'm not working for Paradox. I'm just trying to help people.
If I do not use Proton, then the game does not even load at all. It doesn't even make it to the startup screen.

I don't know how to launch the eu4.exe program from the terminal. If I open it with Wine, it loads a title screen but then an error pops up that says it needs Steam. If I run the game launcher without Steam, it says I don't have a game installed.

When I load the game using Steam, after using Proton, it gives me the option to use playsets. When I choose none, the error message I showed previously appears whenever I press play. So I don't think there are any additional mods being loaded, and I haven't bought any expansion packs.
 
If I do not use Proton, then the game does not even load at all. It doesn't even make it to the startup screen.
What do you mean by "startup screen"? The paradox launcher with its "PLAY" button and playset selection? Or does the launcher work and you don't get the first window of eu4 which only says "EUROPA UNIVERSALIS IV" in big letters?
I don't know how to launch the eu4.exe program from the terminal. If I open it with Wine, it loads a title screen but then an error pops up that says it needs Steam. If I run the game launcher without Steam, it says I don't have a game installed.
Launching eu4.exe would not help, because that's the windows version. I was asking you to launch the linux version who's executable is just called "eu4" without any file extension. To install the Linux version, you first have to deactivate proton for eu4 in steam. Then you open a terminal/console window and then either navigate to the folder where steam installed eu4 with the "cd" command and then enter ./eu4 to run it, or you open the terminal directly in the right folder with your file manager(if your file manager supports that) and then enter ./eu4 to run it or you enter the full path to the eu4 executable surrounded by quotes. For example(the path depends on your steam version, steam settings, how you installed steam, your distribution and your username, but you should be able to find it by right clicking on eu4 in the steam client and selecting "manage"-> "browse local files" ):
Code:
"/home/username/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Europa Universalis IV/eu4"
 
What do you mean by "startup screen"? The paradox launcher with its "PLAY" button and playset selection? Or does the launcher work and you don't get the first window of eu4 which only says "EUROPA UNIVERSALIS IV" in big letters?

The paradox launcher, apparently. I didn't know what what supposed to show up, but...
For example(the path depends on your steam version, steam settings, how you installed steam, your distribution and your username, but you should be able to find it by right clicking on eu4 in the steam client and selecting "manage"-> "browse local files" ):
Ah, found the eu4 file and ran it directly, which worked! Thank you! Now, if I could only get the launcher ("dowser") to work. When I try to run that directly, I get a "runtime communication error." What I want to do is change the display settings so it's actual full screen, and not just a maximized window within Ubuntu. Some menu items are getting cut off on the bottom of the game screen, and I would like to be able to see them. That's a totally different problem, though I'm open to solutions for that too.

Thanks!
 
What I want to do is change the display settings so it's actual full screen, and not just a maximized window within Ubuntu.
Can you not change those within the game? In any case, they are held in your Documents/Paradox Interactive/EU4/settings.txt and pdx_settings.txt files.


Launcher logs are in:
  • $XDG_DATA_HOME/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/logs/ (if $XDG_DATA_HOME is set)
  • ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/logs/ (if $XDG_DATA_HOME is not set)
 
The paradox launcher, apparently. I didn't know what what supposed to show up, but...
Do I understand you correctly that the launcher doesn't even open a window when you launch the Linux version from the steam client? Then the first thing which you can try is to delete the directories ~/.paradoxlauncher and "~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/" and the file "~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcherpath". This uninstalls the launcher and all its files. Then you can try to start eu4 from steam again to reinstall the launcher. If this doesn't help, you can attach the log files which AndrewT mentioned.

What I want to do is change the display settings so it's actual full screen, and not just a maximized window within Ubuntu. Some menu items are getting cut off on the bottom of the game screen, and I would like to be able to see them.
Are they cut off, because there is a menu bar from your desktop which is in front of the game? Or are you running the game with a resolution lower than 1280x720? Then increasing the resolution should help. Or did you maybe increase the GUI scale in the video settings to a value above 1.0? That cuts off part of the screen unless you have a very high resolution. In any case, the video settings are available in the game or by editing pdx_settings.txt (if it exists) or settings.txt(if the other one doesn't exist) which should be in ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV (not in "Documents" like on Windows or macOS)
 
Do I understand you correctly that the launcher doesn't even open a window when you launch the Linux version from the steam client? Then the first thing which you can try is to delete the directories ~/.paradoxlauncher and "~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/" and the file "~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcherpath". This uninstalls the launcher and all its files. Then you can try to start eu4 from steam again to reinstall the launcher. If this doesn't help, you can attach the log files which AndrewT mentioned.
That is the correct understanding. I haven't tried deleting anything yet but...

Are they cut off, because there is a menu bar from your desktop which is in front of the game? Or are you running the game with a resolution lower than 1280x720? Then increasing the resolution should help. Or did you maybe increase the GUI scale in the video settings to a value above 1.0? That cuts off part of the screen unless you have a very high resolution. In any case, the video settings are available in the game or by editing pdx_settings.txt (if it exists) or settings.txt(if the other one doesn't exist) which should be in ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV (not in "Documents" like on Windows or macOS)
The resolution was higher. I went to the pdx_setttings.txt and changed it from borderless_fullscreen to fullscreen in the settings. Then I tried loading it with Steam running, but by directly running the eu4 file as suggested in an earlier post. I was thrilled to see a true fullscreen mode at long last! But then, when the game actually reached the first menu screen, the mouse cursor was invisible. The mouse still worked, but since I couldn't see the cursor, it was a lot of fumbling around to get the proper menu choice highlighted. Proceeding through menu screens did not make the mouse cursor reappear.

It is worth noting, that I exited and reran the game several times, even exiting steam entirely, but the mouse cursor remains invisible when I run true fullscreen mode every time I load the game now.
 
I haven't tried deleting anything yet
Please try that so that you can get a working launcher and don't have to always run eu4 from the files, because that will probably cause problems with steam integration, DLCs and achievements.
The resolution was higher. I went to the pdx_setttings.txt and changed it from borderless_fullscreen to fullscreen in the settings. Then I tried loading it with Steam running, but by directly running the eu4 file as suggested in an earlier post. I was thrilled to see a true fullscreen mode at long last! But then, when the game actually reached the first menu screen, the mouse cursor was invisible. The mouse still worked, but since I couldn't see the cursor, it was a lot of fumbling around to get the proper menu choice highlighted. Proceeding through menu screens did not make the mouse cursor reappear.
I have no idea why the cursor could be broken on fullscreen. But maybe we can fix whichever problem you have with borderless fullscreen. Can you describe in what way the menu items are cut off in borderless fullscreen or maybe post a screenshot which shows it(or a photo of the screen in case it is not visible in a screenshot)?
 
Please try that so that you can get a working launcher and don't have to always run eu4 from the files, because that will probably cause problems with steam integration, DLCs and achievements.
I deleted the files and directories you mentioned and trying to launch the game still did nothing. The "play" button changed to "stop" for a few seconds, then returned to "play" without launching anything.

I also just tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game, but all of the problems are the same upon reinstallation.

I am not eager to refund the game, but I may do so soon if the window for doing so has not closed.
 
I deleted the files and directories you mentioned and trying to launch the game still did nothing. The "play" button changed to "stop" for a few seconds, then returned to "play" without launching anything.
To solve the launcher problem, can you please attach the log files which AndrewT asked for? And can you please try to run dowser from the terminal(it is in the same folder as the eu4 executable) and tell me if it gives any error message. And if the launcher installer got far enough to install it in a subfolder of ~/.paradoxlauncher, can you try to run "Paradox Launcher" from that subfolder in a terminal and report if that gives an error or does something.

As for your other problem, can you please answer my question from my previous comment?