Need Help Installing on Bazzite Linux

[Zebgog]

I'm new to linux, and trying to learn. I have installed the game through the Heroic App using my GOG account, but it only installs the stable version, and I don't see anywhere to choose the version to install the experimental version. I have been playing on the the latest experimental version through GOG on Windows and want to transfer my game saves over to Bazzite Linux. The saved game files won't load with an outdated version of Factorio. I have also downloaded the game (experimental version) through Factorio's website after manually connecting the games between the two accounts, but have no clue what to do with the tar.xz file, which seems to be a compressed file. Is there an equivalent to double clicking an exe file here? I couldn't find a post that walked through the steps with Bazzite, and didn't feel comfortable doing commands that could only apply to other distros. The Factorio wiki installation guide (https://wiki.factorio.com/Install_guide) is very light on details, and the language is foreign to me. Where exactly is ".local/share/applications/"? and how do you create "factorio.desktop" file? How do you make the file executable with "chmod +x Factorio.desktop"? How do I replace paths with my own? It seems so much considering everything else in how Bazzite works so far. Thank you for reading and for any help in advance.

[NineNine]

Just download the version you want to play from the factorio.com website. Unexpand /uncompress the file you downloaded, and then play by double clicking on /factorio/bin/x64/factorio. That's it.

Those instructions on the install wiki are to make a desktop shortcut, but I don't know what version of Linux/desktop manager it was written for. In my version of Linux (Mint), those instructions don't work for me. Every version of Linux handles graphical interfaces differently, so, you'll have to figure out how to make desktop shortcuts in your version of Linux (if you even want one). I'd start with just dragging and dropping to see if that works.

In terms of playing a saved game from a different game you'll just copy the save file from one place to another. They're in factorio/saves/. And yes, there's no guarantee that a save made with one version of the game is going to be able to played with a different version of the game. But, luckily, Wube lets you always be able to download whatever version of the game you want from their web site.

[Tertius]

I couldn't find a post that walked through the steps with Bazzite, and didn't feel comfortable doing commands that could only apply to other distros. The Factorio wiki installation guide (https://wiki.factorio.com/Install_guide) is very light on details, and the language is foreign to me. Where exactly is ".local/share/applications/"? and how do you create "factorio.desktop" file? How do you make the file executable with "chmod +x Factorio.desktop"? How do I replace paths with my own? It seems so much considering everything else in how Bazzite works so far.

I recommend you make yourself familiar with basic Linux concepts. What you're missing is actually barest minimum Linux knowledge. The things you mention is common and global for every Linux distribution. What can differ between distributions can be the package manager (for example apt or dnf), or simply the set of apps available to install, the window manager. Something like that on a high level. Directory names might differ, some file might be stored in one directory in one distribution, and the same file might be stored in a differently named directory on a different distribution. But the inner workings and the concepts are the same across every distribution. The Factorio wiki mentions things that are the same for every distribution.

If you're new to Linux and you don't want to dig into Linux concepts, I would not try to deal with manual Factorio installations. Use a Linux distribution that's supported by Steam, then install your games from Steam. Steam did much work to streamline Linux installs of the games they offer from their library, since games with all their graphics requirements are still something not unified across every Linux distribution.

[NineNine]

I couldn't find a post that walked through the steps with Bazzite, and didn't feel comfortable doing commands that could only apply to other distros. The Factorio wiki installation guide (https://wiki.factorio.com/Install_guide) is very light on details, and the language is foreign to me. Where exactly is ".local/share/applications/"? and how do you create "factorio.desktop" file? How do you make the file executable with "chmod +x Factorio.desktop"? How do I replace paths with my own? It seems so much considering everything else in how Bazzite works so far.

I recommend you make yourself familiar with basic Linux concepts. What you're missing is actually barest minimum Linux knowledge. The things you mention is common and global for every Linux distribution. What can differ between distributions can be the package manager (for example apt or dnf), or simply the set of apps available to install, the window manager. Something like that on a high level. Directory names might differ, some file might be stored in one directory in one distribution, and the same file might be stored in a differently named directory on a different distribution. But the inner workings and the concepts are the same across every distribution. The Factorio wiki mentions things that are the same for every distribution.

This is not a helpful attitude for somebody who is starting to use Linux. This is not helpful information for this person trying to play Factorio.

The Factorio wiki mentions things that are the same for every distribution.

That is false. Those instructions for creating a desktop shortcut do not work in my version of Linux.

Regardless, I don't know what that has to do with this question here. But there are no installation instructions for playing the game in Linux at all, in that wiki, either.

[Tertius]

This is not a helpful attitude for somebody who is starting to use Linux. This is not helpful information for this person trying to play Factorio.

Without a minimum of basic knowledge, you cannot successfully do advanced tasks on Linux. And installing a graphical game from tar.xz on any Linux system so that it's successfully and reliably running is an advanced task.

My helpful recommendation is to use Steam. Steam encapsulates these advanced tasks and doesn't need any knowledge.

[NineNine]

This is not a helpful attitude for somebody who is starting to use Linux. This is not helpful information for this person trying to play Factorio.

Without a minimum of basic knowledge, you cannot successfully do advanced tasks on Linux. And installing a graphical game from tar.xz on any Linux system so that it's successfully and reliably running is an advanced task.

My helpful recommendation is to use Steam. Steam encapsulates these advanced tasks and doesn't need any knowledge.

In Linux Mint, I clicked on the link for the Factorio game on Factorio.com in my browser. It downloaded to my desktop. I clicked on that file. I clicked "expand". I went into the /bin folder (for "binary"), and double clicked on factorio.

This is not "advanced tasks". This is quite simple.

[Tertius]

Bazzite Linux is an "immutable" Fedora based distribution. The concept of such an immutable distribution is to not install loose files for apps and not have all system libraries preinstalled in the OS but instead use packaged apps, for example with flatpack or snap. These packages include all dependent libraries on their own and run in separate OS sections such as containers. You're not supposed to download and extract loose files, chmod anything and create desktop shortcuts manually.

Because of this concept of complete packages Bazzite has Steam preinstalled, at least according to the Wikipedia article, and running Factorio from that should be one click from the Steam client. If you need to select a different Factorio version, for example the latest beta, that should be one click in the Steam client in the properties of the Factorio game.

[NineNine]

Bazzite Linux is an "immutable" Fedora based distribution. The concept of such an immutable distribution is to not install loose files for apps and not have all system libraries preinstalled in the OS but instead use packaged apps, for example with flatpack or snap. These packages include all dependent libraries on their own and run in separate OS sections such as containers. You're not supposed to download and extract loose files, chmod anything and create desktop shortcuts manually.

That's terrifying. I wish the users of Bazzite the best of luck.

[Zebgog]

Just download the version you want to play from the factorio.com website. Unexpand /uncompress the file you downloaded, and then play by double clicking on /factorio/bin/x64/factorio. That's it.

Those instructions on the install wiki are to make a desktop shortcut, but I don't know what version of Linux/desktop manager it was written for. In my version of Linux (Mint), those instructions don't work for me. Every version of Linux handles graphical interfaces differently, so, you'll have to figure out how to make desktop shortcuts in your version of Linux (if you even want one). I'd start with just dragging and dropping to see if that works.

In terms of playing a saved game from a different game you'll just copy the save file from one place to another. They're in factorio/saves/. And yes, there's no guarantee that a save made with one version of the game is going to be able to played with a different version of the game. But, luckily, Wube lets you always be able to download whatever version of the game you want from their web site.

That's actually really simple, and was able to get the game to run in the downloads folder of Bazzite just fine, with no actually installation process. The executable doesn't seem to have an extension type (like .zip or .exe, etc.) but the system recognised it as such hovering over the file. Guessing the Downloads folder isn't the best location to keep it, so I moved it to the games folder, next to the heroic folder there. I would like to create a separate shortcut icon away from steam, on my desktop, but entering a third party application in steam is probably the easy method.

I know Bazzite's atomic nature makes it different by putting containers around everything, different than other distributions that are not immutable. Understanding takes time, and eventually I will get a better grasp of the full implications as I learn. Documentation is rough to read, because of the foreign language and names used, and lack of dictionary or explanations of them. That's not what documentation is for, it's for referencing so we don't have to memorise everything, but not great for learning quickly.

Thanks for the responses, and pointing out the Factorio install guide was for making a shortcut only, and possibly outdated or possibly not relevant to my distro.

[angramania]

Where exactly is ".local/share/applications/"? and how do you create "factorio.desktop" file? How do you make the file executable with "chmod +x Factorio.desktop"? How do I replace paths with my own? It seems so much considering everything else in how Bazzite works so far. Thank you for reading and for any help in advance.

This instructions require opening terminal/console program and interacting with command line. Easy for most linux users but perhaps not for users of so called 'user-friendly' distributions like Bazzite. Bazzite use KDE Plasma and after 15 years of development it still lacks functionality that was present in KDE3.5 and Windows 95. Such a shame. Instead of having GUI for creating desktop files, they have own invention - links. Though It may be good enough for you. To create this desktop link open Dolphin file manager, find factorio executable, drag it to desktop and when a menu appears, select 'Link Here'.

The executable doesn't seem to have an extension type (like .zip or .exe, etc.) but the system recognised it as such hovering over the file.

Yeah, linux use file permissions to recognize executables instead of file extensions. Far superior method. If you open properties of any file, you will see triplets of Read(r), Write(w) and Execute(x) permissions for owner, group and other. Simple(windows NTFS have much more complex one) but powerful schema. Mentioned above CLI command "chmod +x" add executable permission to file.

[NineNine]

Just download the version you want to play from the factorio.com website. Unexpand /uncompress the file you downloaded, and then play by double clicking on /factorio/bin/x64/factorio. That's it.

Those instructions on the install wiki are to make a desktop shortcut, but I don't know what version of Linux/desktop manager it was written for. In my version of Linux (Mint), those instructions don't work for me. Every version of Linux handles graphical interfaces differently, so, you'll have to figure out how to make desktop shortcuts in your version of Linux (if you even want one). I'd start with just dragging and dropping to see if that works.

In terms of playing a saved game from a different game you'll just copy the save file from one place to another. They're in factorio/saves/. And yes, there's no guarantee that a save made with one version of the game is going to be able to played with a different version of the game. But, luckily, Wube lets you always be able to download whatever version of the game you want from their web site.

That's actually really simple, and was able to get the game to run in the downloads folder of Bazzite just fine, with no actually installation process. The executable doesn't seem to have an extension type (like .zip or .exe, etc.) but the system recognised it as such hovering over the file. Guessing the Downloads folder isn't the best location to keep it, so I moved it to the games folder, next to the heroic folder there. I would like to create a separate shortcut icon away from steam, on my desktop, but entering a third party application in steam is probably the easy method.

I know Bazzite's atomic nature makes it different by putting containers around everything, different than other distributions that are not immutable. Understanding takes time, and eventually I will get a better grasp of the full implications as I learn. Documentation is rough to read, because of the foreign language and names used, and lack of dictionary or explanations of them. That's not what documentation is for, it's for referencing so we don't have to memorise everything, but not great for learning quickly.

Thanks for the responses, and pointing out the Factorio install guide was for making a shortcut only, and possibly outdated or possibly not relevant to my distro.

Glad it worked out! I think it's great that Factorio is so easy to download and play everywhere.

[Zebgog]

This instructions require opening terminal/console program and interacting with command line. Easy for most linux users but perhaps not for users of so called 'user-friendly' distributions like Bazzite. Bazzite use KDE Plasma and after 15 years of development it still lacks functionality that was present in KDE3.5 and Windows 95. Such a shame. Instead of having GUI for creating desktop files, they have own invention - links. Though It may be good enough for you. To create this desktop link open Dolphin file manager, find factorio executable, drag it to desktop and when a menu appears, select 'Link Here'.

Yeah, linux use file permissions to recognize executables instead of file extensions. Far superior method. If you open properties of any file, you will see triplets of Read(r), Write(w) and Execute(x) permissions for owner, group and other. Simple(windows NTFS have much more complex one) but powerful schema. Mentioned above CLI command "chmod +x" add executable permission to file.

I really appreciate the explanations and suggestions, helps with understanding with what's happening so I can figure out things better. I tried the link method you explained and encountered a few problems, but I was able to make an empty file by right clicking the desktop -> create new -> empty file. Then opened it with Kate text editor, and pasted the info from the Factorio installation guide, and changed the two paths of the executable and icon image, (edit: and changed the file permission to executable in the properties) and it worked! The Icon image change immediately. and double clicking launched the game.

The problems I encountered was that the created linked file was placed on my secondary monitor, and I could not drag it to the primary monitor for some reason. It seemed to make another copy of the linked file. I also wasn't able to figure out how to add the icon picture to the linked file. I switched the primary monitor setting in the Display Configuration, so that the desktop screen would be my primary screen. Then I launched the game and it launched on the wrong monitor. My games were being launched on the "Secondary monitor" natively, and that explains why my panel bar was on the wrong monitor when I first booted Bazzite. I'm not sure how to fix this problem, because I think all my games will be launching on the wrong monitor. Games like Factorio is nice though, being able to switch monitors in the settings, but still not a good solution overall.

Glad it worked out! I think it's great that Factorio is so easy to download and play everywhere.

Thanks, it is really nice that Factorio doesn't leave hooks, as they said in their documentation.