Games and controllers

OrielOS comes ready for games. You install Steam from the Store, or another store's own launcher with Run this app, and the pieces games rely on underneath are already part of the system.

Getting games

Get your games the way you would on Windows:

• Steam: install it from the Store (see Installing apps).
• Other stores: download the store's own launcher from its website, such as the Epic Games Launcher, GOG Galaxy, the EA app, Ubisoft Connect or Battle.net, and double-click it. Run this app installs it, and it appears in Start (see Windows programs). Some of these launchers are still being tested on OrielOS.

OrielOS doesn't preinstall any of them.

GE-Proton for Windows games in Steam

GE-Proton as Steam's default is in testing builds of OrielOS. It arrives on the stable channel with the next stable release; to try it now, switch to testing in Settings → Update.

Windows games run on OrielOS through Proton, a compatibility layer. OrielOS makes GE-Proton Steam's default: a community build of Valve's Proton that carries newer fixes, and plays many in-game videos and cutscenes that Valve's build can't.

• When you install Steam from the Store, OrielOS also installs GE-Proton for it, the next time it updates your apps (a few minutes after you start the computer, then about every six hours). It's about 570 MB, and it then updates with your other apps.
• The next time Steam is closed after that, OrielOS sets GE-Proton as Steam's default for Windows games, once. It doesn't change anything while Steam is open, because Steam saves its settings when it closes.
• If Steam already had a default you chose, OrielOS leaves it as it is.

Your own choices always win:

• For one game: in Steam, right-click the game, choose Properties → Compatibility, tick Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool and pick a version, such as Valve's Proton if a game misbehaves with GE-Proton.
• For every game: in Steam, open Settings → Compatibility and choose the tool under Default compatibility tool.

OrielOS sets the default only once, so it never undoes a choice you make later.

What OrielOS sets up for games

You don't need to change anything:

• NTSYNC. Windows games run through Proton use the kernel's own version of Windows' synchronisation objects, which makes many of them run more smoothly.
• Settings some games need. The system allows the large number of memory maps some games use, and doesn't slow down older games that use a CPU instruction pattern the kernel would otherwise penalise.
• Performance power mode. OrielOS starts in the Performance power mode, on mains power and on battery, and adds no power limits of its own. You can change it at any time from the battery and power icon in the system tray, and your choice is kept, also after updates. On a laptop, Performance means a shorter battery life and more fan noise.
• GameMode. Games and launchers that support it can ask the system for full performance while they run.
• Compressed memory swap (zram), as Fedora sets it up, so the computer stays responsive when memory runs low.
• umu-launcher, which OrielOS uses to run Windows programs with Proton.

Controllers

Controllers work in Steam and in other games without extra drivers.

• Xbox controllers work over a USB cable or Bluetooth.
• PlayStation 4 and 5 controllers (DualShock 4, DualSense and DualSense Edge) work over a USB cable or Bluetooth, with rumble, the light bar, motion sensors and the battery level.

To pair a controller over Bluetooth:

1. Open the Bluetooth settings: click the Bluetooth icon in the system tray, then Configure.
2. Put the controller in pairing mode:
   • DualSense or DualSense Edge: hold the Create button and the PS button until the light around the touchpad flashes quickly.
   • DualShock 4: hold Share and PS until the light bar flashes.
   • Xbox controller: hold the pair button on its top edge until the Xbox button flashes quickly.
3. Choose the controller in the list of devices, then Pair or Connect.

The touchpad on PlayStation controllers doesn't move the mouse pointer on the desktop, so resting a thumb on it changes nothing outside the game. Games still read it, and Steam can turn it into a mouse in its controller settings.

The controller's battery level shows in the battery widget in the system tray.

Mice, keyboards and lighting

Apps for gaming mice, keyboards and lighting come from the Store too: Solaar for Logitech devices, Piper for configurable gaming mice, and OpenRGB for RGB lighting. The parts that have to be in the system, so these apps can reach your devices, are already there. Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Accessory apps opens each one, or its page in the Store if it isn't installed.