Lutris is an open source gaming platform for GNU/Linux. It makes gaming on Linux easier by taking care of managing, installing and providing optimal settings for games.
Lutris does not sell games, you have to provide your own copy of the games unless they are Open Source or Freeware. The games can be installed anywhere you want on your system, the tool does not impose anything.
Lutris relies on various programs referenced as 'runners' to provide a vast library of games. These runners (with the exception of Steam,Desura and Web browsers) are provided by lutris, you don't need to install them with your package manager. We currently support the following runners:
- Linux (Native games)
- Steam
- Desura (Experimental support)
- Web browser
- Wine
- Wine + Steam
- DosBOX
- Mame
- Mess
- ScummVM
- Mednafen
- FS-UAE
- Vice
- Stella
- Atari800
- Hatari
- Virtual Jaguar
- Snes9x
- Mupen64 Plus
- PCSXR
- Osmose
- GenS
- NullDC (using wine)
- OpenMSX
- Frotz
- Jzintv
- O2em
Runners that will be added in future versions of Lutris:
- PCSX2
- Dolphin
- Reicast (replacing NullDC)
Lutris automates installation of games using configuration files written in JSON or YAML, these scripts list various files needed to install a game and run a list of actions on them (such as extract, move, execute, …). The syntax of installers is described in docs/installers.rst (also available on lutris.net when writing installers).
A web UI is planned to ease the creation of these scripts.
You can optionally create an account on lutris.net and connect to this account on the client. This will allow you to sync your game library from the website to the client (not the other way around). If you wish, you can sync your Steam library with your Lutris library on the website.
The client does not store your lutris.net credentials on your computer. Instead, when you authenticate, the website will send a token which will be used to sync your library. This token is stored in ~/.cache/lutris/auth-token
The client, runner and games configuration files are stored in ~/.config/lutris. There is no need to manually edit these files as everything should be done from the client.
lutris.conf: stores preferences for the client's UI
system.yml: stores configuration that will be used for every game
runners/*.yml: stores configuration used for any game from a particular runner
games/*.yml: stores configuration used for a specific game
The game configuration can override previously defined runner and system configuration and runner configuration can override system configuration.
The data necessary to manage your library and run the game is stored in ~/.local/share/lutris .
pga.db: stores your game library, the installation status, the location on the filesystem plus some additional metadata. This file is a SQLite database.
runners/*: runners downloaded from lutris.net (emulators and such)
icons/*.png and banners/*.jpg: images for the games.
The following command line arguments are available:
--version show program's version number and exit
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose Verbose output
-d, --debug Show debug messages
-i INSTALLER_FILE, --install=INSTALLER_FILE
Install a game from a yml file
-l, --list-games List all games in database
-s, --list-steam List Steam (Windows) games
--reinstall Reinstall game
Additionally, you can pass a lutris: protocol link followed by a game identifier on the command line such as:
lutris lutris:quake
This will install the game if not already installed or launch the game otherwise (unless the --reinstall flag is passed).
Lutris is far from complete and some of the most intertesting features are yet to be implemented!
Here's what to expect from the future versions of lutris:
- Better support for multiple wine version
- Integration with GOG and Humble Bundle
- Integration with the TOSEC databse
- Management of Personnal Game Archives (let you store your games files on private storage, allowing you to reinstall them on all your devices)
- Game saves sync
- Community features (friends list, chat, multiplayer game scheduling)
- Patched emulators to provide better fullscreen and controller support
- Controller configuration GUI (with xboxdrv / joy2key support)
Want to make Lutris better? Help implement feature, fix bug, test our pre-releases or simply chat with the developers?
You can always reach us on:
- IRC: #lutris on the Freenode servers
- Github: http://github.com/lutris
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LutrisGaming
- Google+: https://plus.google.com/+LutrisNet
- Email: contact@lutris.net