(linux) Game missing backgrounds, models, etc...

[TimekillerTK]

Hello!

My game looks like in the screenshots below. I suspect this has something to do with old mods which weren't properly removed, affecting game assets in some way (?). The confusing part is that uninstalling/reinstalling the game doesn't resolve the issue.

I'm using SteamPlay/Proton. Switching between Experimental/Version 8/Version 7 makes no difference, result is the same. Things I've tried so far:

• Uninstalled / Reinstalled the Game
• Unsubscribed from all Steam Workshop Mods
• Removed some leftover Paradox Games / Stellaris files in my home folder
• Created a new playset
• Removing/adding DLCs

All to no effect.

 

[AndrewT]

The confusing part is that uninstalling/reinstalling the game doesn't resolve the issue.

Uninstalling in Steam only removes files that Steam put there.


Please do a full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere, and user empire designs.txt from /Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ if you have made any custom empires or races.
- "uninstall" in Steam-Stellaris
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris folders - In particular you need to make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam Stellaris or Documents Stellaris locations, before installing again.
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- start the game with no mods active and test

All the best!

 

[Eolanna]

Hello,

I have the same problem as TimeKiller, and has had it since at least the last 3.9 patch. I don't really know when it happened, or why, since there was a period of about a year I didn't play due to computer issues; Something which also saw me changing from an Nvidia to an AMD card, plus upgraded from Mint 20.3 to 21.2 (both Cinnamon flavoured).

That said, I've tried the steps you listed above, but to no avail. The models, menu background, and character portraits (and possibly more) is still missing. Regardless of whether I try Proton 8 or Experimetal. (Didn't run under 7 last time I tried, so I skipped it now to save time.)
Weird thing is, that if I add the game through Lutris and run it under Wine (with a newly created Wine prefix), the game runs perfectly fine. Only without access to my DLCs, which makes it a less than viable solution unfortunately.

I even tried running it in full-screen, to see if that changed anything. Which it didn't.

These are my system details:
termbin [dot]com [slash] yh1q


And some pictures to show the steps I've taken, and the problem remaining:

I unfortunately lost the screenshot of the validation being completed, but I hope this suffices:

In-game, missing models of ships and planets:

All portraits are missing too, except for backgrounds:

Please let me know if you need additional information, or of there are some things you'd want me to try. I'm a fairly advanced Linux user, and have some experience with programming, and I'm not afraid to experiment a bit.

PS: I assumed you meant "~/.local/share/" and not "~/Documents/", as Stellaris didn't put anything into the latter.

 

[Eolanna]

Oh, almost forgot: This seems to be the same issue as mentioned in these two threads:
forum/threads/stellaris-v3-8-1-50e0-graphics-missing-after-latest-update.1583133/
forum/threads/stellaris-3-9-x-dcaf-linux-soft-crash-on-launch.1603723/

So it is likely that this has been an issue since 3.8.1, at least.

 

[AndrewT]

FYI running the game under Proton or any emulation layer is not strictly speaking supported. You also get this issue when running Stellaris as a purely native Linux executable?

Unfortunately we didn't get any details of the OP's hardware or software, so we can't tell if there is any commonality - say video system, or Linux distro.

You are on the latest AMD proprietary video driver, and the latest Mesa version?


Please attach here your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/settings.txt and pdx_settings.txt .
From your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/logs/ folder, attach here system.log , error.log .

Also in Steam please click on Steam-Help-System Info, and paste everything there into a text file and attach that here.

 

[Eolanna]

Not forcing any compatibility layer only causes the launcher to crash when trying to open the EULA, though I suspect it is something else that's causing the crash as it crashed on the Launcher on "dcaf" as well. Even if it did not try to show the EULA, so I think it's something in the update (check) process that's crashing it.

I am not using the AMD proprietary driver, as that is not 100% compatible with their latest cards. I'm using the Open Source Mesa driver, which is recommended. I'm running Linux kernel version 6.3.7-1-liquorix-amd64, which includes the AMDGPU drivers, and Mesa version Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1. Turns out I had forgotten to re-enable the Liquorix repos after upgrading last time, so my kernel version was a bit "outdated". (Still newer than default Mint/Ubuntu version, which is 5.x.)
I'll update my Kernel version tomorrow, and do some further testing on the Linux native launcher issues.

As mentioned in my post above there is no "Stellaris" folder in "~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/", but it's found in "~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/" instead.
I did, however, attach the "pdx_settings.txt" file I found in there, as there was none of the other files located in there. Due to the launcher crashing before I have a chance to start the game, I presume.
This also informed me that the files for the Proton-enabled version resides, elsewhere. So I'll run down that lead tomorrow, as I sadly don't have the time to do so tonight.

 

[AndrewT]

Not forcing any compatibility layer only causes the launcher to crash when trying to open the EULA, though I suspect it is something else that's causing the crash as it crashed on the Launcher on "dcaf" as well. Even if it did not try to show the EULA, so I think it's something in the update (check) process that's crashing it.

Launcher 2023.14 has a bug where it crashes on Linux. That is fixed in later versions, but the update process can also fail - tricky! Can you see what launcher version you are on?

As mentioned in my post above there is no "Stellaris" folder in "~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/", but it's found in "~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/" instead.

I use the generic description Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ for all OSs, I'm not meaning to imply it is literally in a folder called documents. If you go into the pinned thread above with "file locations" in the title it specifies exactly where the folders are.

I did, however, attach the "pdx_settings.txt" file I found in there, as there was none of the other files located in there. Due to the launcher crashing before I have a chance to start the game, I presume.

Running the executable ./stellaris bypasses the launcher, and ought to create a settings.txt file.

 

[the'vill]

Are you using flatpack version of Stem?
I switched to packaged from flatpack, and this solved the issue.
I am using Tumbleweed and steam client v1.0.0.78-2.3. Flat pack version is similar (v1.0.0.78), but I would have to put money on it, I would rather point falatpack-nes as a source of error than steam version.

 

[Eolanna]

Launcher 2023.14 has a bug where it crashes on Linux. That is fixed in later versions, but the update process can also fail - tricky! Can you see what launcher version you are on?

Unfortunately since my previous post it has started to crash immediately upon trying to open the launcher, not even showing me a window for it. Not sure if it has anything to do with the update that has been in the meantime, or if it was something else updating...? When forcing it to use Proton 8 or Experimental, however, it does load up with version 2023.16 from a fresh install.

I have located the SteamPlay folders for Stallaris, and deleted the folder from it's "Documents". I even re-installed the game without any DLCs activated, without any noticeable effect on the issue.
You'll find the config and log files, from Proton experimental, attached to this post. I hope they're of assistance.

I use the generic description Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ for all OSs, I'm not meaning to imply it is literally in a folder called documents. If you go into the pinned thread above with "file locations" in the title it specifies exactly where the folders are.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification.

Running the executable ./stellaris bypasses the launcher, and ought to create a settings.txt file.

Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to download the Linux native version, for some odd reason. I've tuned off "Compability mode for all titles" in steam, but I can't turn off SteamPlay fully. If I were to venture a guess, it might be due to the fact that I got games installed that are windows-only.
However, that should not download and install a Windows client, if there's a native Linux client available. Not sure if this is a bug with Steam, or the Steam listing for Stellaris.

Are you using flatpack version of Stem?

I'm not using the Flatpak version, no. Flatpak isn't even installed on my system, and I used the official Steam repo to install it:

~$ aptitude show steam-launcher
Package: steam-launcher                 
Version: 1:1.0.0.78
New: yes
State: installed
Automatically installed: no
Multi-Arch: foreign
Priority: optional
Section: games
Maintainer: Valve Corporation 
Architecture: all
Uncompressed Size: 4 012 k
Depends: apt (>= 1.1), apt (>= 1.6) | apt-transport-https, ca-certificates, coreutils (>= 8.23-1~) | realpath, curl, file, libc6 (>= 2.15), libnss3 (>=
         2:3.26), pkexec | policykit-1, python3 (>= 3.4), python3-apt, xterm | gnome-terminal | konsole, xz-utils, zenity
PreDepends: dpkg (>= 1.17.0)
Recommends: steam-libs-amd64, steam-libs-i386, sudo, xdg-utils | steamos-base-files
Conflicts: steam-devices, steam-devices:i386, steam-installer
Breaks: steam64
Replaces: steam, steam:i386, steam-devices, steam-devices:i386, steam-installer, steam64
Provides: steam, steam-devices, steam-devices:i386, steam-installer, steam-launcher:i386 (= 1:1.0.0.78), steam:i386
Description: Launcher for the Steam software distribution service
 Steam is a software distribution service with an online store, automated installation, automatic updates, achievements, SteamCloud synchronized savegame and
 screenshot functionality, and many social features.
Homepage: <snip>

 

[AndrewT]

We're really in the wrong thread to work on this problem!

Package: steam-launcher Version: 1:1.0.0.78

When I look at my installation, it says Version 1702079146 from December 8. You are getting your client from here?

Steam, The Ultimate Online Game Platform

Steam is the ultimate destination for playing, discussing, and creating games.

store.steampowered.com

"Install Steam Now"

I don't seem to be able to download the Linux native version, for some odd reason. I've tuned off "Compability mode for all titles" in steam, but I can't turn off SteamPlay fully. If I were to venture a guess, it might be due to the fact that I got games installed that are windows-only.
However, that should not download and install a Windows client, if there's a native Linux client available. Not sure if this is a bug with Steam, or the Steam listing for Stellaris.

That's a huge problem, which I've seen a few instances of recently. My Linux instance gets the native version just fine. So I suspect that Steam is confused by your mix of Windows and Linux in the same download destination, as you say. What to do about that I have no idea!

 

[Eolanna]

We're really in the wrong thread to work on this problem!

We've gone a bit off-track with the side issues, indeed. However, the main issue as reported by the OP and in my first post remains.

When I look at my installation, it says Version 1702079146 from December 8. You are getting your client from here?
<link>
"Install Steam Now"

I have the same Steam version. The version number you quoted, from my previous post, is for the Apt package from the package manager, not Steam itself.

That's a huge problem, which I've seen a few instances of recently. My Linux instance gets the native version just fine. So I suspect that Steam is confused by your mix of Windows and Linux in the same download destination, as you say. What to do about that I have no idea!

I'll get in touch with Steam support, and check if they have any ideas on this. I'll make a new thread for this issue once I've figured it out. For now I'm just looking to get the "missing models under Proton" issue figured out, as that is separate from the Steam downloading issue.

 

[Modin676]

Dear everyone,
I have the same problem on my up to date Suse Tumbleweed (no flatpacks for steam), when starting native version of stellaris, it tries to start the launcher, but stops and I can hit play again. When switching the compatibility to any version of proton (tried three versions so far), it loads the game, but textures are missing as described above. When I then close the game, switch off the compatibility, steam then runs an update on steam of about 250MB, and when I then start, the native version works without problems. The crashbug is also gone, and I do have the latest .16 launcher (if memory serves).
After system restart, I need to do that again to make it work.

So the problem seems to be somewhere between steam and the launcher.

By the way, I also tried the clean installs and deleting everything stellaris related, but that did not help.

I am looking forwards to any good solution since, with my now 6 weeks of using linux, I am not that savvy on how to solve such problems.

Thanks

 

[AndrewT]

No need to bump; I saw your post, I just didn't have anything useful to offer you. If as you say this is an issue with Steam or the launcher, or both, I couldn't come up with any way forward. We can't lodge this as a game bug as you are on an unsupported distro.

Why this game only (so far as I know) sometimes downloads the Windows version of the game is beyond me. I'd refer you to Steam support (since it is they who make that detection) but IMO the odds of them being very helpful are pretty low! But you could try I guess; they may at least be able to say "aha, your game lacks this tag in our download servers" or something like that.

 

[Modin676]

No need to bump; I saw your post, I just didn't have anything useful to offer you. If as you say this is an issue with Steam or the launcher, or both, I couldn't come up with any way forward. We can't lodge this as a game bug as you are on an unsupported distro.

Why this game only (so far as I know) sometimes downloads the Windows version of the game is beyond me. I'd refer you to Steam support (since it is they who make that detection) but IMO the odds of them being very helpful are pretty low! But you could try I guess; they may at least be able to say "aha, your game lacks this tag in our download servers" or something like that.

Dear Andrew, I did not mean to bump, just wanted to make sure that since the thread was a little older, I do not write into a void and thought this might be helpful to know. Maybe, since you mentioned that it might be a tag on the server side, it might be a good idea to tackle this from user and developer side. First of all, thank you for your feedback. I will see to it that valve gets a report from me. Reading that some distros are supported - which are those? Not that I want to distro hop. I know it is difficult since every distro might have different versions of steam, mesa and what have you.

So again, thank a lot for your feedback since it is good to know that such problems are on the radar, and again sorry if my reply appeared to be rude - if so, this was not intended in any way.

And lastly, thanks to the paradox team - stellaris and cities skylines are favorites of mine, and I am looking forward to have them running bugfree on my end.

PS: When stellaris is running, it is running now without crashing in native version. For cities skylines, I have to revisit since last time, it was stuck on the loading screen when loading into a new map, just as a side note.
PPS: Have some nice holidays.

PPPS: Can I find that Tag you spoke of in a configfile on my end? If so, where can I find it ? Then I could adjust it myself if you could tell me what needs to be there.

 

[AndrewT]

That tag would be in the Steam system online, I'd think, not on the downloaded file as such. There's be no point in it being on your machine, as the problem has already occurred by then!

 

[Modin676]

Thanks. Then I shall have to make a github account since steam support only says, well if you have a proton problem, which I do not have (sort of i have, but I should not), add a commit to the valve-proton git. A little not satisfying from steam support, but then again, you warned me. Lets see what I can manage there. Do you have contacts to the steam team to adress this topic? As a developer, I would think that they would rather more listen to your input than mine.

Thanks again for your feedback and open ear, and should we not talk before, have some nice holidays.