Linux and Steam Deck

Linux and Steam Deck

Blacklist runs under Proton (Steam) or Wine (Lutris, Heroic…), and 5th Echelon works there too. The client detects Wine and fills in what Wine leaves out:

• the network check behind "The Splinter Cell Blacklist service is not available" (thanks to Thiago's fix);
• starting without Ubisoft Connect.

With the Linux launcher (recommended)

1. Download launcher-linux-x86_64 from the latest release and make it executable:

   chmod +x launcher-linux-x86_64 && ./launcher-linux-x86_64

   On a Steam Deck, do this in Desktop Mode (Steam button › Power › Switch to Desktop).
2. Never started the game on this PC? Start it once from Steam, then quit. Proton creates the game's Wine files only on the first start, and your save goes in there. Until then the Status card says Start the game once first.
3. Choose a server and press Connect, as on Windows (Getting Started).
4. Press Play. Steam games start through Steam, with Proton. Other installs start with wine in their own prefix, or from the app you installed them with.

On a Steam Deck you need Desktop Mode only for the setup. The client is installed in the game's own folder, so afterwards just play from your library in Game Mode.

Where it looks for the game

• Steam: native (~/.local/share/Steam, ~/.steam/steam), Flatpak and Snap, and every Steam library, SD cards included.
• Ubisoft Connect inside ~/.wine, Lutris prefixes in ~/Games/, and Heroic prefixes.
• Anywhere else: Settings › Game › Choose folder…, the folder with Blacklist_DX11_game.exe (…/src/SYSTEM).

CPUs with more than 16 threads

Under Wine, the game can freeze at start on a CPU with more than 16 threads, with or without 5th Echelon. The fix is a Steam launch option. The launcher's Status card (Set the game's Steam launch options) and Settings › Game show it, with a Copy button.

In Steam: right-click Splinter Cell: Blacklist › Properties › Launch options, and paste:

WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=16:0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 %command%

When the launcher starts the game with Wine itself (not through Steam), it sets this for you.

With launcher.exe inside Proton

The Windows launcher also runs under Proton:

1. Add launcher.exe to Steam as a non-Steam game.
2. Make it use the game's own prefix, so settings and saves end up where the game looks. Set its launch options to:

   STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="<your Steam library>/steamapps/compatdata/235600" %command%
   

It then starts the game directly, CPU fix included. This route is less tested than the Linux launcher; reports are welcome.

Without a launcher

Everything the launcher does can be done by hand:

1. Rename the game's uplay_r1_loader.dll (in src/SYSTEM) to uplay_r1_loader.orig.dll, and put the one from a release in its place.
2. Write uplay.toml there, or uplay.override.toml, with the server and your account. See Setting up the game from another tool.

Where things are on Linux

	Path
Launcher settings, identity, log	~/.config/5th-Echelon/
Game settings and logs	The game folder: uplay.toml, bl-tracing.log
Save (Proton)	<Steam library>/steamapps/compatdata/235600/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/5th-Echelon/Saves/

Saved passwords stay readable in uplay.toml on Linux (Wine prefixes can't share Windows' encryption keys); the file is readable by your user only.

Linux problems

Problem	Fix
"The Splinter Cell Blacklist service is not available"	The 5th Echelon client isn't installed in this copy: press Fix everything in the launcher. Check Settings › Game shows the copy you actually play
The game freezes at the start	CPUs with more than 16 threads
Start the game once first won't go away	Start the game from Steam and quit it from its main menu, then Check again. Check the launcher found the right Steam library
"Couldn't start the game: couldn't run wine"	The copy isn't from Steam, and wine isn't installed: start the game from the app you installed it with (Lutris, Heroic)
The launcher won't open its window	It needs working graphics (OpenGL). In a virtual machine, turn on 3D acceleration or install its graphics driver