I'm running nobara currently as my distro, but these issues persist after trying Pop!_OS and several other distros with help from forums etc. Be it pure WINE, Proton, or Lutris installs across multiple distros and drivers, the game will work perfectly for the first run. Afterwards, the game will immediately crash after character selection.
I'm at an in-between level of experience with Linux, so I'm not inept but far from a guru. I suspect the issues might be caused by the recent half integration of DX11. As far as that goes, let me explain - this game is old and ran on DX9 up until 2023. I'm not sure if that weird hybrid combo kills compatibility or not.
There is an intall that almost works here. It would be a lot of work to get this to work on my current Fedora based install vs. what it is meant for, but the install methods should be the same. The issue is that with that install textures are garbage and most are just jet black.
I can provide specs etc. If there is some kind of known bug on Proton that will prevent me from launching on Steam that can be fixed with Protontrix please let me know.
I know that I'm likely to be the only one to post about this issue here, ever, but I don't know a better place to ask than here! Also, the game is free on steam if someone can get it going correctly.
I'm at a loss. I have to completely wipe an install to get it working again which is a pain because my UI gets reset.
Minor correction, Steam Deck is arch based.
The only thing specific to Steam Deck in the guide is the Discover Store. This "app store" is actually a part of KDE, which is the desktop Steam Deck uses, when one switches to desktop mode.
The Discover Store is a way to install flatpaks, which are a universal application format that runs on all linux distributions.
On Febora flatpaks should be enabled by default. You might have to enable the flathub repository, which is the main hub for finding and installing applications.
Read more here : https://www.flatpak.org/setup/Fedora
The application "protontricks" which the guide uses to set up the game, can be found here : https://flathub.org/en-GB/apps/com.github.Matoking.protontricks
The guide might be a bit long, but only because it is rather verbose.
Take a read through, it might solve your problem. Go ahead when you have read it through, I am sure you can do it :)