SuperTux, the classic 2D jump and run game, released the second Beta of version 0.7.0 yesterday.

SuperTux 0.7.0 is the next major release of this free open-source Super Mario inspired game. The Beta 1 was released a month ago as the first development version for testing.

It introduced many exciting new features, include completely overhauled world map, redesigned character Tux, multiple player mode, new creep forward, new enemies and NPCs, Linux Flatpak package, revived Android support, and many other changes.

The second Beta does not include so much exciting new features, but focuses on bug-fixes, editor improvements, and other minor new features.

The Level Editor now always start in tile mode. Additional to arrow keys, it now supports using WASD keyboard keys to scrolling, and Ctrl+H to show or hide triggers.

The editor now highlights the current tool in toolbox, updates toolbar when switching to tile/object from menu, and does no longer refresh layers after any change.

It also implemented new node circle graphics, made EditorComment a draggable, added open editor workaround for macOS, and fixed various bugs.

Besides improvements to the level editor, the new Beta improved multiplayer option by replacing “Add player” option with “Add player (keyboard)” and “Add player (controller)”.

It as well added floating Tux Dolls, deeply rooted song from Servalot, and re-added world select backgrounds in worldmaps..

The oldbomb fuse time changed from 5s to 2s. Goldbomb does no longer drop coins when not glinted. And, Bullets can now bounce on slopes, and moves faster than Tux in water.

Other changes include:

• Option to allow ignoring the hardcoded player limit.
• Ctrl+Alt+g to toggle ghost mode.
• Allow building without networking support.
• Enable OpenGL support for Flatpak package.
• And many bug-fixes and other changes.

How to Get SuperTux 0.7.0 Beta 2

For more about the new Beta, as well as the official installers (under Assets section), go to the Github release page via the link below:

Linux user on AMD/Intel platform may select download the AppImage package, add executable permission, and run to launch the game.

As the package name says, it requires glibc >= 2.38. For Ubuntu, it means you need 24.04 LTS and higher, and make sure the libfuse2 library is installed via the command below in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt install libfuse2

For choice, select download the Flatpak package, then run command below in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to install:

flatpak install drag-and-drop-flatpak-package-into-terminal

Tips: run sudo apt install flatpak to install the daemon if your don’t have Flatpak support in Ubuntu.

If the app icon is not visible, either log out and back in to apply path environment change, or run the command below instead to start it from terminal:

flatpak run org.supertux.SuperTuxNightly

(Optionally) To uninstall the package, use command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.supertux.SuperTuxNightly

NVIDIA GeForce Now added official Linux support yesterday via Flatpak package! Here’s the step by step guide shows you how to manually install or remove it in Ubuntu and other Linux.

GeForce Now is NVIDIA’s cloud gaming service streams high-end PC games to laptops, phones, and TVs, allowing for better gaming experience without requiring high-end hardware.

The support for Linux (so far beta) requires Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Xorg for NVIDIA GPUs and Wayland for AMD/Intel GPUs. However, as the installer is an universal Flatpak package, it can be installed in most Linux Distributions!

Besides system requirement, it also requires dual-core Intel/AMD CPU, 4 GB memory, and a GPU with H.264 and H.265 (HEVC) video codecs support, as well as 580.126.07+ driver for NVIDIA GPUs and Mesa 24.2.8+ for Intel/AMD GPUs.

And, it requires 25 Mbps internet connection for 60 FPS gaming performance on 1920×1080 screen resolution, or 45 Mbps for 4K resolutions (3840×2160) at 120 FPS. See this page for more about the Linux OS requirements.

By default, you may download the installer from NVIDIA website. Then, add executable permission from file properties dialog, and finally click Run to start installing it.

While, below will show you how to add the remote repository and install the Flatpak package manually.

Install GeForce Now Flatpak Package

1. For Debian and Ubuntu based distributions, first open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install Flatpak daemon:

sudo apt install flatpak

Other Linux may follow the official setup guide to enable Flatpak support.

2. Next, run command to add the GeForceNOW remote repository:

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists GeForceNOW https://international.download.nvidia.com/GFNLinux/flatpak/geforcenow.flatpakrepo

In my case, I also need to add the Flathub repository for runtime dependencies:

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

If you want to install GeForce Now for all users in your Linux Distribution, then skip --user in the both commands above.

3. After added the flatpak repositories, finally run the command below to install the package:

flatpak install --user GeForceNOW com.nvidia.geforcenow

Also, skip --user option if you added the repositories without it.

After installed the package, search for and install it from either start menu or Gnome overview depends on your desktop environment (Log out and back in if app icon is not visible).

And, run the command below regularly to check updates:

flatpak update com.nvidia.geforcenow

Uninstall GeForce Now

To uninstall the package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.nvidia.geforcenow

Here, skip --delete-data if you want to keep the personal app data which is stored in .var/app/ directory.

Then, remove the remote repository by running command:

flatpak remote-delete GeForceNOW

Finally run flatpak uninstall --unused to remove useless run-times.

Need to run Windows only applications or games in your Linux Desktop? Here are some free open-source software to do the job!

Many Linux users have their computers dual-boot with a Windows system, so they can use Linux for daily work and boot Windows regularly for gaming or other purposes.

If you keep Windows on your computer because of only few applications or games, then you may try running them in Linux through Wine or Proton etc compatibility layers. And, below are the software that may help!

1. Wine

Wine is a popular 32 years old software for running Windows apps and games in Linux and FreeBSD, which also works in macOS, Android, and Haiku. It’s so popular that most Linux include it in system repositories, and Valve has a fork “Proton” based on it for running Windows games on steam for Linux.

To use Wine, simply right-click on the EXE file and select load with “Wine WIndows Program Loader”, then it will start the installer wizard and install the Windows app on your Linux and create an app shortcut for it.

However, there are a significant number of apps/games that do NOT work out-of-the-box through Wine. You need to configure the Windows version, DLL libraries, drivers, and even install patches for certain apps to work properly. See this page for the list of apps compatible with Wine.

To install Wine, either open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the version (usually old) from system repository:

sudo apt install wine

Or, go to Wine website for the latest version. And, here’s a step by step guide shows how to install it in Ubuntu.

Tips: if Wine is not the thing you’re looking for, then you may run wine uninstaller in terminal to launch the dialog for uninstalling programs, or simply delete the entire .wine folder in user home (press Ctrl+H to view/hide) to get rid of the leftovers.

2. Valve Proton for Steam

For the Windows games that run in steam, valve proton is the best and simplest choice.

While wine is a general-purpose compatibility layer, proton is made with pre-configured patches, DXVK to convert Direct3D call to Vulkan, and others better for gaming support.

In my case, the game runs great out-of-the-box in steam for Linux, but NOT when runs on its own launcher through wine.

To enable proton for Steam on Linux, simply go to Settings -> Compatibility, enable steam play and choose a proton version.

3. Bottles

For apps/games that neither work out-of-the-box through wine nor support running in steam, there are some alternatives that can help.

Bottles is one of them, that supports running Windows apps or games through wine, Proton GE (custom version of Valve Proton), Wine GE (custom version of Wine), and other variants with patches and improvements. See this page about the Bottles’ runners.

Bottles runs each program in its own run-times. After selected the “correct” runner, the game runs great in my case with default configurations. Though, user can easily choose a different DXVK / VKD3D versions, enable discrete graphics card, and install more run-times, such as .NET frameworks, powershell, Microsoft Visual C++ 2005/2010, and so on.

To install Bottles, search for and install it from Linux Mint Software Manager, Fedora Workstation GNOME Software, or run the 2 commands below one by one in Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install flatpak

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.usebottles.bottles.flatpakref

Log out and back in if the app icon is not visible. And, other Linux may see this page for the Bottles Flatpak package.

4. Lutris

Lutris is a free open-source game manager for Linux, which features community-submitted installer scripts for thousands of games and launchers.

If the game you’re going to try out is available in the Lutris database, then it most probably works out-of-the-box without any configuration. Just search and install, then it will automate the process of dependencies, wine configurations, and others to make it ready for use.

Besides Windows only games, Lutris also supports managing your games from GOG, Steam, and Epic Games Store. As well, it Dolphin, DOSBox, PCSX2, PPSSPP, and a few dozens of other game emulators.

To Install Lutris, either search and install from Linux Mint Software Manager, Fedora Workstation GNOME Software, or run the 2 commands below in Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install flatpak

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/net.lutris.Lutris.flatpakref

While other Linux may see this page for the Lutris package in Flathub.org.

5. Heroic

Heroic is an alternative to Lutris that supports both Wine GE and Proton GE runners, which however features terrible UI in my own opinion.

It just works after properly selected the runner, though it has few downsides. It does not auto-detect the game icon. I have to manually set game album covers, or all the games will look same with the default cover.

And, after installed a game using the .exe installer wizard, Heroic does not automatically update the launcher. It will always launch the installer again and again instead of starting the game.

On the good side, it supports installing different versions of Wine GE and Proton GE, in case for games that do not work properly with the latest runners.

Heroic is also available to install in Linux through Flatpak package.

While Linux Mint and Fedora can install it from Software Manager or GNOME Software, Debian/Ubuntu users may run the 2 commands below one by one to install:

sudo apt install flatpak

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl.flatpakref

6. Faugus Launcher

Faugus Launcher is simple and lightweight app for running Windows games using UMU-Launcher.

I like this app, as it has a clean and simply user interface, and it supports custom version of Proton GE and Proton EM, as well as umu-launcher.

It also provides a simple settings page with advanced features, such as MangoHud (on-screen fps), GameMode (tweak system for better performance), and other miscellaneous.

The only issue is that my game refused to run through Faugus Launcher, even set with same runner to Lutris and Bottles.

To install Faugus Launcher, see the Github source page.

Summary

In this post, I introduced 6 software for running Windows apps or games in Linux desktop.

While wine is a general-purpose compatibility layer which is not so friendly for beginners to set up, Valve Proton is the great choice for Steam games on Linux.

There are few others that come with custom versions of Wine and Proton with pre-configured patches, DXVK, and other improvements for better gaming support! Lutris in my case is the one that works out-of-the-box, while Bottles has a modern UI and works once selected the ‘correct’ runner.