Game fixes

When a Windows game misbehaves, read its log first (Troubleshooting). Then work down this list, in the Proton card of the game’s Game settings, most rows behind Y:

1. Check its umu id.
2. Try another Proton build.
3. Turn the sync modes off, one at a time.
4. Turn Wayland off, for a game on the desktop.
5. Add the DLL overrides or runtimes the game needs.
6. Turn off an upscaler upgrade you turned on.
7. Reset the prefix last, since the next launch builds a fresh one.

When a PlayStation pad does nothing in a game, see PlayStation controller.

GAMEID and protonfixes

umu-run applies the fixes it knows for a game by the game’s umu id, which Universe fills in from its store or its Steam app id. When the fixes are missing because the game got the wrong id, set the umu id, or, while it’s empty, Desktop and library › Steam app id.

Another Proton build

Pick another Proton build. To get one you don’t have, install it from Settings › Emulators & Proton › Proton › Builds, whose menu offers older releases under Install another version….

Sync modes

Esync, Fsync and NTSync are on by default, under Sync. A game that hangs or stutters may do better with one off. Turn them off one at a time, NTSync first.

Wayland

Wayland, on by default, runs Proton’s own Wayland driver. Universe leaves it out in Big Screen’s gamescope, and in a game’s own unless its arguments include --expose-wayland, so it matters for a game on the desktop. Turn it off when such a game misbehaves.

DLL overrides and runtimes

A game or a mod that ships its own DLL, such as dxgi.dll, may need a DLL override with n,b. A runtime the game asks for, such as a Visual C++ redistributable, comes from Winetricks, on the game’s Data and saves page.

Upscaler upgrades

Under Upscaling, four rows swap a game’s upscaler for a newer one, and each says whether it works on your GPU: DLSS upgrade, FSR 4 upgrade, XeSS upgrade and OptiScaler, which adds FSR 4 or XeSS to games that only offer DLSS. All four are off by default. A swapped upscaler can upset a game or its anti-cheat, so if a game broke after you turned one on, turn it off first.

PlayStation controller

PlayStation controller sets how GE-Proton hands a PlayStation pad to a Windows game: native, as a DualShock 4 or as an Xbox pad. auto, the default, goes by what the game’s Steam page says it supports, and the row says which one the game gets. When a game made for Xbox pads doesn’t see your pad, pick as an Xbox pad.