Steam on Linux & RPG Maker Series

[kyonides]

Steam on Linux & RPG Maker Series

This is intended only for the RGSS based (a Ruby DSL) editions of the RPG Maker Series.

RMMV already features native support for Linux.

Don't ask me about RMMZ, I've never purchased it.

 There have been very few cases where this has also happened to some people on Windows.

In such cases, you could simply skip all the Proton steps and go straight to the registry keys section.

When the day came that my PC crashed, I had to face a difficult situation. How would I recover from it?
Obviously, Steam always let you install your software at your request again and again.
This is quite a relief, right?

Yet, what happens when you reinstall RMXP or RMVX or even RMVX Ace?
Yes, guys, it can be mind numbing for it often tells you that  it cannot find the corresponding RTP on your  machine.

So what is the RTP?

It means Run Time Package, something that seemed to be quite convenient back in the 90's and 2000's. Think about slow internet connections, so slow that it would have been impossible for many people to use facetime or zoom.

Why does it matter?  

It does mainly because the engine will NOT get fully displayed on screen otherwise. It would simply tell you that it could not find it and close immediately after you click on the only button available there.

So how do you solve that issue?

The solution that worked in my case was to add a registry to Proton, Steam's custom version of the Wine emulator.

How do I add the registry there?

By installing winetricks and then protontricks on  Linux.

Then you can open the registry editor.

Code:

protontricks APPID regedit

Where do I get the APPID?

Inside any of your Maker's directories you can find a file called steam_appid.txt , just open it to copy it.
It is important because it will not let you open regedit otherwise.

It will take some time to get it open and populated with registry keys.
Once it is done processing them, import a new registry key.
The filename does not really matter as long as its file extension is reg as in file.reg

Keep it in a safe place just in case you ever need it again.  

Now let us talk about the file's actual contents: the registry keys!

NOTES:

USERNAME stands for your actual username in Linux, no matter which distro you have installed on your desktop or laptop.
If you have installed your engines in custom directories, you will need to modify the strings accordingly.
The "RPGVX" string used below twice might need to be replaced with "RPG Maker VX" like in my case, but this might still be optional.

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Enterbrain\RGSS\RTP]
"RPGXP"="Z:\\home\\USERNAME\\.local\\share\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\RPGXP\\rtp"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Enterbrain\RGSS\RTP]
"RPGXP"="Z:\\home\\USERNAMEkyonides\\.local\\share\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\RPGXP\\rtp"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Enterbrain\RGSS2\RTP]
"RPGVX"="Z:\\home\\USERNAME\\.local\\share\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\RPG Maker VX\\rtp"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Enterbrain\RGSS2\RTP]
"RPGVX"="Z:\\home\\USERNAME\\.local\\share\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\RPG Maker VX\\rtp"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Enterbrain\RGSS3\RTP]
"RPGVXAce"="Z:\\home\\USERNAME\\.local\\share\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\RPGVXAce\\rtp"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Enterbrain\RGSS3\RTP]
"RPGVXAce"="Z:\\home\\USERNAME\\.local\\share\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\RPGVXAce\\rtp"

Usually, this might not work right out of the box.  Why are you surprised?
Don't worry!  You might still need to reboot your  PC and then any of them might open without causing you any more issues.

Of course, there is a chance you might need to install the RTP's via Wine.
Or you could  purchase any of those engines while they are on sale on the official website.