[TUTORIAL] patcher/loader guide for linux + Steam Play

[buck2202]

Important

There is way simplified proton tutorial if you click here -> #225
Below one still probably works but may be overcomplicated

Click Here to show old tutorial

Note: environment variable setup possibly broken for Proton 6+. Needs investigation. Confirmed working on 5.x versions
Note: edited to add a new environment variable STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH apparently needed for Proton 6/experimental. Comment if there are still issues

Since MSC works fairly well through wine/proton on linux, I've been trying to get your loader functional as well. I found that versions <=1.1.7 worked without issue, but after you switched to doorstop, there was no indication of the mod loader being present. The patcher worked fine, but no console/settings/etc.

@piotrulos, I've read through past issues and some comments on steam/nexusmods/etc and know that you're (understandably) not interested in making code changes, but I did manage to get v.1.11 working successfully with only some minor configuration changes. It took a while to figure out so I just wanted to post here for others to find, or to offer it for your readme/wiki.

The bottom line is that there seems to be NOTHING inherently incompatible about the patcher/loader with wine/proton, i.e. "Steam Play". To successfully use it, we just have to make sure that the patcher operates in the same wine environment as the game, and set a dll override so that UnityDoorstop functions (again, in the proper wine environment).

I haven't tested many specific mods, but this is what worked for me to get the loader working

Summary

• Identify your steam install path, proton version/install path, My Summer Car install path, and My Summer Car "compatdata" path
• Download and extract MSCModLoader, navigate a terminal to the extracted directory
• Set terminal variables

STEAMINSTALLDIR="YOUR STEAM CLIENT INSTALL DIRECTORY"
PROTONDIR="YOUR PROTON DIRECTORY"
MSCCOMPATDIR="YOUR MSC COMPATDATA DIRECTORY"

• Run patcher and install: STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="${STEAMINSTALLDIR}" STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="${MSCCOMPATDIR}" WINEPREFIX="${MSCCOMPATDIR}/pfx" "${PROTONDIR}/proton" run ./MSCPatcher.exe
• Open wine configuration for the MSC prefix: STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="${STEAMINSTALLDIR}" STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="${MSCCOMPATDIR}" WINEPREFIX="${MSCCOMPATDIR}/pfx" "${PROTONDIR}/proton" run winecfg
• Set library override for winhttp to (builtin,override)
• ...
• Profit

Step by step instructions, with screenshots:

Some versions of Proton require an environment variable specifying the steam installation directory. When proton initializes a new game prefix, certain dlls are copied from this location (and they're confirmed and/or updated at every launch within the proton prefix). For most people, the directory we want is either ${HOME}/.steam/steam or ${HOME}/.local/share/Steam. My nearly fresh-install directory looks like this:

$ ls "${HOME}/.steam/steam"
appcache          depotcache                     linux32   servers                  steam_msg.sh                    ThirdPartyLegalNotices.html
bin               fossilize_engine_filters.json  linux64   ssfn___________________  steam.sh                        ubuntu12_32
bin_steamdeps.py  friends                        logs      steam                    steam_subscriber_agreement.txt  ubuntu12_64
bootstrap.tar.xz  GameOverlayRenderer64.dll      music     steamapps                steamui                         update_hosts_cached.vdf
clientui          graphics                       package   steamclient64.dll        tenfoot                         userdata
config            installscriptevalutor_log.txt  public    steamclient.dll          ThirdPartyLegalNotices.css
controller_base   legacycompat                   resource  steamdeps.txt            ThirdPartyLegalNotices.doc

and the legacycompat subdirectory should contain some steam-related dlls

$ ls "${HOME}/.steam/steam/legacycompat"
GameOverlayRenderer64.dll  iscriptevaluator.exe  steamclient64.dll  steamclient.dll  Steam.dll  SteamService.exe

If you get a directory not found error or empty listing, you probably have a non-standard install location and will have to track it down yourself. Something like locate steamclient.dll might help.

Next, identify the version of proton that you're using to launch the game. If you've set a specific override for MSC, it will be in the game's properties:

Otherwise, look to Steam>Settings>Steam Play

We need to find the installed directory for the correct version of proton. For 5.0-10 shown in my screenshots, you'd look in your steam library for "Proton 5.0". Open its properties, go to the local files tab, click browse, and a file browser should open to the correct path.

This is your "Proton directory"

Next, find your MSC installation directory. Go to MSC in your library, properties>local files>browse, and again, a file browser opens to the correct path.

This is your "MSC Install directory"

Finally, we need to find the compatdata directory for MSC. This is where the wine registry/libraries/etc live. If your MSC install directory was /foo/bar/steamapps/common/My Summer Car, the compatdata directory should be /foo/bar/steamapps/compatdata/516750 (516750 is the game's App ID in Steam).

This is your "MSC compatdata directory"

Let's set the paths that we've identified into variables for easier use. Open a terminal, and enter

STEAMINSTALLDIR="YOUR STEAM CLIENT INSTALL DIRECTORY"
PROTONDIR="YOUR PROTON DIRECTORY"
MSCCOMPATDIR="YOUR MSC COMPATDATA DIRECTORY"

so, for me, it's

STEAMINSTALLDIR="${HOME}/.steam/steam"
PROTONDIR="/media/evodata/SteamLibrary.linux/steamapps/common/Proton 5.0"
MSCCOMPATDIR="/media/evodata/SteamLibrary.linux/steamapps/compatdata/516750"

Put all paths in quotes. These variables are not directly accessed by proton and don't need to be exported; they're only for our convenience to avoid retyping long paths (and allow you to copy/paste the commands below). They ONLY APPLY TO THE TERMINAL WINDOW YOU TYPE THEM IN, so we're going to use this window for everything. Download and extract the MSCLoader zip wherever you want, and navigate to it in the terminal you have open.

Run the patcher with this command:

STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="${STEAMINSTALLDIR}" STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="${MSCCOMPATDIR}" WINEPREFIX="${MSCCOMPATDIR}/pfx" "${PROTONDIR}/proton" run ./MSCPatcher.exe

A good hint that you're on the right track here is that the patcher detects your "My Documents" folder as belonging to "steamuser". Click the "MSC Folder" button and navigate to your My Summer Car install folder. In the proton environment that we're using, your "real" filesystem is under drive letter Z (So, Z:\media\evodata\SteamLibrary.linux\steamapps\common\My Summer Car for me). Click "Install MSCLoader".

Choosing "My Documents" for your mod folder corresponds to <MSC compatdata>/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/MySummerCar/Mods in your "real" filesystem

Good so far?

Close the patcher window (it cannot launch the game, and we're not done yet), go back to your terminal, and enter the following command

STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="${STEAMINSTALLDIR}" STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="${MSCCOMPATDIR}" WINEPREFIX="${MSCCOMPATDIR}/pfx" "${PROTONDIR}/proton" run winecfg

In the "Libraries" tab, check your "Existing overrides" for winhttp. If it isn't present, type winhttp it into the "New override for library" box and click "Add". In the end, you should have a winhttp (native,builtin) line in your overrides

If it doesn't say (native,builtin), just highlight winhttp, click "Edit", and select "Native then builtin"

Click apply, and OK, and the "Wine Configuration" window should go away.

What did we just do? MSC Mod Loader uses Unity Doorstop to inject itself; Doorstop overrides a system dll with a placeholder that links to the "real" library plus a handle to additional code. When a Unity game looks for a library on Windows, it first looks in the game's root directory. If it's found there, it uses that one; if not, it falls back to the system version. On wine/proton, this does not happen by default. Generally this is good and required (wine provides many "system" dlls, which is what makes it work at all), but in this case, it prevents the Doorstop hook from being seen when the game launches. By overriding winhttp, we've just made the proton behavior match what happens on Windows.

We're done with the terminal, so you can close it. Launch the game through steam as you normally would, and you should be all set

[piotrulos]

Good tutorial, I leave it pinned if someone wants it

[buck2202]

Just a quick followup to say I've tried a handful of mods and so far everything has worked as it should. Hope this is helpful to someone. Thanks for your work on this project!

[slowpoke9292]

how do i fix crashing?
output_log.txt

[buck2202]

I don't see anything that looks like a crash in your output. Can you confirm that you applied the patch using the game's proton prefix, and that you're launching the game through steam? Which version of proton?

[slowpoke9292]

I don't see anything that looks like a crash in your output. Can you confirm that you applied the patch using the game's proton prefix, and that you're launching the game through steam? Which version of proton?
I got it fixed using windows steam, plus I don't have Proton. Thank you though :)

[slowpoke9292]

(I can also post an ingame screenshot if needed.)

[sharkjung]

Can't get anything upwards of 1.1.7 to work. As you stated above, the patcher works fine but the mod loader simply doesn't even seem to be installed. I was using Proton 5.13 so far, but tried version 5.0-10 in my last attempt and that gave me the same results. Could you help me out?

[buck2202]

Can't get anything upwards of 1.1.7 to work. As you stated above, the patcher works fine but the mod loader simply doesn't even seem to be installed. I was using Proton 5.13 so far, but tried version 5.0-10 in my last attempt and that gave me the same results. Could you help me out?

@petralka that sounds like the necessary winhttp override isn't set up. did you go through the whole process using the game's proton prefix as described above? you can always verify local files in steam to get a fresh start if you think there's a chance you were working in your pc's default wine for any of it

edit: even though the patcher might seem like it's working if you just use the system's default wine installation, I'd recommend doing everything under the correct proton prefix so that the patcher sees the same paths as when you launch the game through steam

[slowpoke9292]

Can't get anything upwards of 1.1.7 to work. As you stated above, the patcher works fine but the mod loader simply doesn't even seem to be installed. I was using Proton 5.13 so far, but tried version 5.0-10 in my last attempt and that gave me the same results. Could you help me out?

@petralka that sounds like the necessary winhttp override isn't set up. did you go through the whole process using the game's proton prefix as described above? you can always verify local files in steam to get a fresh start if you think there's a chance you were working in your pc's default wine for any of it

edit: even though the patcher might seem like it's working if you just use the system's default wine installation, I'd recommend doing everything under the correct proton prefix so that the patcher sees the same paths as when you launch the game through steam

An update to my last comment: I got it working with the full package.

[sharkjung]

I tried the full package this time, one thing I noticed was that I wrote MSCOMPATDIR instead of MSCCOMPATDIR, going through my command history I discovered that I was using both names. Anyways, it worked! Thanks for the guide, @buck2202!

[thebirdwashere]

I am getting this error when running the STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="${MSCCOMPATDIR}" WINEPREFIX="${MSCCOMPATDIR}/pfx" "${PROTONDIR}/proton" run ./MSCPatcher.exe command.

Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/jacob/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton 6.3//proton", line 1264, in <module> g_session.init_session(sys.argv[1] != "runinprefix") File "/home/jacob/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton 6.3//proton", line 1078, in init_session g_compatdata.setup_prefix() File "/home/jacob/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton 6.3//proton", line 652, in setup_prefix steamdir = os.environ["STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH"] File "/usr/lib/python3.9/os.py", line 679, in __getitem__ raise KeyError(key) from None KeyError: 'STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH'
Does anyone know what is wrong? I tried re setting the variables, and that didnt help, i also started the game for the first time to see if that would help.

[thebirdwashere]

Is the STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="${MSCCOMPATDIR}" WINEPREFIX="${MSCCOMPATDIR}/pfx" "${PROTONDIR}/proton" run winecfg working? Should open a window alike

No, that wont open either.

[thebirdwashere]

Try just "${PROTONDIR}/proton" run winecfg if that doesn't work then your proton is broken

Seems it's broken, Should I try an older version such as the one in the screenshots?

[thebirdwashere]

Seems that switching to Proton 5.13 allowed me to launch winecfg and the patcher, now to try and see if it actually patched.
Yup, it patched, thank you for the help! I did check the integrity first and nothing showed up.

[buck2202]

PROTONDIR and MSCCOMPATDIR are only used within the scope of a single terminal session to avoid retyping long paths, so it shouldn't be necessary to export them; they're just variable names that I chose, not things that I know are used internal to proton. They'll just get expanded by the shell in the patcher and winecfg commands.

I don't have access to a proton 6.3 install to check at the moment, but it's possible the environment variables that it needs are different than the version I tested with. Can you check a 5.x version and I'll try to circle back to check against 6.x?
edit: seems you did that already! I've had lots of games just outright fail to launch with proton 6, so I've been avoiding it

[buck2202]

@Kreyren yep, what I meant was that MSCCOMPATDIR and PROTONDIR are just for convenience; they don't need to be accessible inside the runtime. Proton internally needs STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH and WINEPREFIX, the shell expands MSCCOMPATDIR into its constant value when we use it to define the others, and ${PROTONDIR}/proton is just the complete path to the executable.

$ echo 'echo "$inside"' >test.sh
$ chmod +x ./test.sh 
$ cat ./test.sh
echo "$inside"
$ echo "$inside"

$ ./test.sh 

$ outside="asdf"
$ inside="${outside}" ./test.sh 
asdf

this is all we're really doing.

I'll add a note about possible incompatibility with proton 6, and try to come up with a solution.

[piotrulos]

Just a thing that I didn't see anyone metion, Doorstop also supports version.dll proxy, that should be more compatible with wine stuff.
If you install latest modloader (1.1.16) just rename winhttp.dll file to version.dll and see if that fixes issues.

[Greasy2071]

Hi.
I've done everything on the guide to a T, and redid it too, but for some reason the mod loader doesn't show up? There's a text file about the loader crashing which i'll attach
MSCLOADER_CRASH.txt
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[buck2202]

hm, can you paste the contents of steamapps/common/My Summer Car/doorstop_config.ini? I'm wondering if there's just something non-standard in there. with that said, I haven't updated to the latest mod loader in a while, so something may have changed

[buck2202]

without seeing it, I'd try deleting any comments from that file, as they seem to be causing a parse error

[piotrulos]

It doesn't seem to be a valid config, since official config file doesn't have comments.
It looks more like config file from "proloader" which is totally incompatible with regular loader.

[Greasy2071]

# General Doorstop settings
[UnityDoorstop]
# Specifies whether assembly executing is enabled
enabled=true
# Specifies the path (absolute, or relative to the game's exe) to the DLL/EXE that should be executed by Doorstop
targetAssembly=mysummercar_Data\Managed\MSCLoader.dll
# Specifies whether Unity's output log should be redirected to <current folder>\output_log.txt
redirectOutputLog=true
# If enabled, DOORSTOP_DISABLE env var value is ignored
# USE THIS ONLY WHEN ASKED TO OR YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS
ignoreDisableSwitch=false

alright i've took all the comments out (the bits with the hashtags i hope lol) havent saved changes yet in case i messed something up which is very likely considering all my brain cells went out of me when i was born save one
sorry for the long reply my emails don't come up unless i check them myself.
i did have the mod loader pro but i haven't used it since i got the latest version of this one.
thanks for replying
edit: oh wow it makes the comments big
edit 2: ok i deleted the comments and launched the game and MOP is throwing a bunch of errors. I'll try to fix that maybe reinstall it or smth idk but the loader itself is on the menu of the game
//Fixed formatting for you

[Greasy2071]

here are the console errors

not sure if you'll be able to see them well

[piotrulos]

Download MOP 3.2.3 https://www.nexusmods.com/mysummercar/mods/146?tab=files&file_id=1556 if you want a working version.
3.3 doesn't work.

[piotrulos]

I think I may have solution for linux in 1.2 modloader update, but no promises yet since it's untested. It's really low priority, and it will be released as completly "experimental" thing.

[buck2202]

I've updated the original post to hopefully resolve setup issues in Proton 6/experimental. I've tested the steps above for 1.1.16 loader with proton experimental as of today, and the errors @grumpzalt saw above should be covered (undefined STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH). The changes seem harmless for Proton 5

[mldkyt]

I get a KeyError 'STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH

[buck2202]

can you either paste your terminal output in a code block, or add a (terminal) screenshot?

[AbsoluteAnton]

When i try to choose the msc folder in the installer i cant find the folder.
It is located in /home/Anton/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/My Summer Car/.
The problem is that the folder ".local" isnt listed in the wine file explorer.
Is it the only way to move the whole steam directory? @buck2202

[buck2202]

oh, that's an annoying thing I didn't know about the wine file explorer

You should be able to navigate to /home/Anton, type .local in the file name box+hit enter, then continue browsing. Alternately, you could just symlink the directory to some other non-hidden location

You shouldn't have to move anything, though

[AbsoluteAnton]

Ok, thanks. I'll try

[AbsoluteAnton]

I got it to work.
Thank you!

[AbsoluteAnton]

If this is irrelevant you can delete it but could you smart guys post a tutorial on how to get msc editor up and working?

[buck2202]

been I while since I've played/tried to use it, but if I remember correctly, the editor mostly "just worked" with standard Wine. I think the interactive map was iffy, but editing fields worked ok. don't recall if there was a trick to it, though, sorry :/

if just plain-old wine doesn't work, might just wanna try its nexusmods discussion or github (linked from its nexus page). if I get back into it, though, I'll look for your post and follow-up

[BerkeSinanYetkin]

You know, adding the .exe as a non-steam game and starting it through steam with proton also works

[xbelanch]

At the moment, I followed all the steps but with Proton 8.0 but no luck at the end. Any hints to solve this?

Five minutes later: it works (typo error -> winehttp instead of winhttp)

[MillionsToOne]

I think there should be a disclaimer for those that have MSC installed in another path that they need to replace the path inside the msc.sh files to the path matching the game directory's location, just to make it more noob friendly since they might not realize it.

[sofiedotcafe]

You could just use protontricks?

[MillionsToOne]

That isn't in the official guide, which a lot of people follow

[BerkeSinanYetkin]

Wait what there is native support for linux? Since when?

…

On Thu, Mar 21, 2024, 1:05 AM NAAIN ***@***.***> wrote: but i found it on /mnt/nvme0n1p3/home/tupo-nain/.local/share/Steam/userdata/1393184437/516750/ac/WinAppDataLocalLow/Amistech/My Summer Car/ and on /mnt/nvme0n1p3/home/tupo-nain/.config/unity3d/Amistech/My Summer Car/ (im talking about linux native version btw) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#135 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ARCWMNHTDLHBEQZUNBDPU63YZIBZJAVCNFSM5CXZU6VKU5DIOJSWCZC7NNSXTOKENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQ5TQOBVHA2TCMI> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[MillionsToOne]

It's buggy. Don't bother with it.

[HEPOSHEIKKI]

Fix for those getting the STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH KeyError:

Add STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="~/.steam/steam" in front of any command giving the error.

[realairacobra]

Game says checking for updates and completely freezes; before you say something about me needing to buy the game, i have it, it's just not detecting my steam account.

output_log.txt

Fixed by completely reinstalling the game

[realairacobra]

did this kinda rushed, my bad, expected output_log to give out some of that info, im using steam from the AUR, i tried proton GE and a bunch of other versions but its all the same, im on arcolinux, i followed everything correctly

[MillionsToOne]

did this kinda rushed, my bad, expected output_log to give out some of that info, im using steam from the AUR, i tried proton GE and a bunch of other versions but its all the same, im on arcolinux, i followed everything correctly

Steam isn't in AUR. Only in the extra repository. Regardless, you should try Proton 8.0-5. Try reinstalling the mod loader, since the log suggests you didn't install it correctly. Most likely you used the wrong STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH value in it. The right path is /home/$USER/.steam/steam/

[realairacobra]

ah alright, im trying to get it running on 6.3-8 because thats where force feedback works for me on other games, STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH is ${HOME}/.steam/steam which leads to the directory without any issues, i'll try the one you sent anyway

[realairacobra]

Compeletely deleted and reinstalled msc it works now

[MillionsToOne]

ah alright, im trying to get it running on 6.3-8 because thats where force feedback works for me on other games, STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH is ${HOME}/.steam/steam which leads to the directory without any issues, i'll try the one you sent anyway

Well yes, $HOME is short for /home/$USER

[Visne]

You can bypass all this by setting launch options in Steam to WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winhttp=n,b" %command%.

[AliceSchaffernoth]

Nothing was working until I did this. Thank you!

[Mircas001]

[Mircas001]

this might be related to the new 1.3 installer

[piotrulos]

There is new tutorial, way simpler: #225

[Mircas001]

OMG THANK YOU