SteamEdit with the WINE + Steam install through Lutris

Support
1

So there’s a known issue with Final Fantasy XIV on Steam with Windows where folks who have purchased the Windows version of the game cannot log in through Steam and have access to all of Steam’s features. Turns out there’s a hidden command line argument injected into the game’s appinfo.vdf that flags the game as “The Steam Version” of the game even though the Windows and Steam versions are literally the same in every other way.

A program called SteamEdit not only allows you to change the titles of your games but also allows you to edit these hidden command arguments. As I am one of those affected by the developer’s sudden changes in policy I was able to use this program to help me use my account in the manner that I wished to launch it.

I’m now trying to switch everything over to Linux in an attempt to become more familiar with the operating system and computing environment in general. I’ve learned of several different programs such as WINE, Steam’s proton, and Lutris. Unfortunately I can seem to find out how to get the SteamEdit program to work through WINE. I can get it to start on Linux but it can’t find the appinfo.vdf file it needs in order to run so it just shuts down right away. I surmise that this is because there is no way for the program to locate the file because it’s running in its own independent WINE instance.

What I’m trying to do is run SteamEdit in Lutris’s Windows + Steam installed version of WINE. I believe if I can manage to get it to run through Lutris’s built-in WINE install then I can get past the blocks the developer put on the Steam version of the game and I’ll be able to log into the account I’ve been using for nearly ten years now.

Any help in doing this would be greatly appreciated. Below I’ll list the things I’ve done to try to get past the block through Steam.

1.) I ran the game through the Linux version of Steam running different forms of Proton (both official and GE vesions). I can get the launcher to start but I get blocked at the screen where it asks me my account information. I am then denied access because it’s reading the game as the Steam version when I have a Windows install.

2.) I’ve installed and ran the game directly from Lutris by downloading the DXVK version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. This version works with my account fine, but since I don’t have access to the Steam overlay, I can’t use my Steam Controller, which is my preferred method to play.

3.) I’ve tried adding the Lutris working version of the game as a non-Steam game through the Linux version of Steam. It doesn’t seem to even launch the launcher. I think it may be because I’m running a DXVK version with Proton, which might be arguing with itself. Possibly WINE arguing with Proton. I’m not sure.

4.) I am now trying to run the Windows + Steam version through Lutris. This gives me the same result (accept the Windows + Steam interface is a bit buggy versus the native Linux one) as the Linux version. I can get to the point where it asks my login information but then it denies me because it is being seen as the “Steam Version” when I have a “Windows Account”. This version runs Steam through WINE, but I can’t seem to figure out how to get SteamEdit to run through the same version of WINE.

5.) I’ve tried downloading WINE separately as well as through Lutris but it looks as though there are two different instances of the same program on my system when I do that. When I explore the different virtual c:\ drives it has different things on them and I can’t seem to locate the .local file through the WINE instance as it is a hidden file and I can’t figure out how to unhide it. Lutris’s WINE install is in this hidden folder.

SteamEdit allows me to edit the appinfo.vdf launch arguments and get rid of the hidden “-issteam” flag that is blocking me from playing the game through Steam. Editing launch options doesn’t seem to override the baked in appinfo.vdf file that is updated whenever a change is made to the file. So setting “-isnonsteam” as an Argument or Launch option doesn’t seem to work as I’ve tried that as well.

Sorry for such a long post but I’m thinking that someone from this community would be knowledgeable about getting a Windows program other than Steam to run through Lutris’s version of WINE. Even better if you know of another method to bypass Steam’s updating of the appinfo.vdf natively on Linx so that I can just install the Linux version of Steam and play my game that way.

Thank you for any help you might be able to offer.

2

I’ve managed to find a way to get SteamEdit working through Linux so running the WINE + Steam version is unnecessary.

I’m now currently underway in trying to fix up the minor glitches that I’ve noticed with the game. I’m currently using GloriousEggroll’s custom Proton version (Proton-4.21-GE-2). Small things I’ve noticed are that the Shadowbringers opening’s audio will lag an become out of sync and the Answers and Introduction movies do not play, but the Heavensward and Stormblood intros play without fault.

Fairly minor things that I’ve learned can be circumvented by installing quarts and windows media player 10 through winetricks. Unfortunately I haven’t learned how to modify an existing Proton instance so I havne’t quite figured that one out yet.

I also noticed that when I would run the game with only Lutris that it came packed with a different custom installation. Is there a way for Lutris to change Steam’s version of Proton or a way to launch a Steam Game through Lutris and just turn off Steam’s Proton and use the built in DXVK that comes packaged with Lutris?

3

Steam is a black box for any tool that works with it – there’s the basic CLI API (for running/installing games), but nothing beyond that – there isn’t even a way to detect if the game stopped running nor a way to quit Steam automatically after it does. So the only way you can affect how Steam runs games is via Steam itself (in case of Proton version, that means you can choose one of the versions supported by Steam over the default one, but that’s it).

If you’re running the game not via Steam, you can set up Lutris to do the same (most likely you’ll have to switch the runner type to Native, and then either set up running config the way you did with command line, or make a script that would do the running for you and point Lutris to it).

You can try protontricks for that. Although it works with Steam’s winebottles, so if you’re not running the game via Steam I’m not sure if it’ll work.