Linux Port – Feedback, Known Issues, and FAQ

In BeamNG.drive 0.39 and 0.39.1, the openables/vehicle trigger markers no longer appear after changing the monitor in the graphics settings and restarting the game.

System: Fedora 44.20260731.0 Kinoite (KDE Plasma 6.7.3, Wayland), AMD Radeon RX 9070. The game is installed from Steam (Flatpak), but I launch the executable from outside Steam.

Reproduction steps:

1. Start with a clean game profile folder (I moved current/ to current.bak/).
2. Load any vehicle with openables. The trigger markers are visible and interactive.
3. Select a different monitor in the game's graphics settings. In my case the desired monitor is to the left of my primary one, both share the same resolution and refresh rate.
4. The triggers are still visible and interactive.
5. Restart the game.
6. Load the same vehicle. No triggers appear.

 

I notice that the Constellation Line Labels don't seem to work on Linux?

 

Also affects 0.39.2.

Meanwhile I've found a way for me to workaround this problem:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
BIN="$HOME/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/BeamNG.drive"
DATA="${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/Games/BeamNG"
if jq 'del(.GraphicDisplayDriver, .WindowPlacement)' "$DATA/BeamNG.drive/current/settings/settings.json" > "$DATA/BeamNG.drive/current/settings/settings.new.json" ; then
    mv "$DATA/BeamNG.drive/current/settings/settings.new.json" "$DATA/BeamNG.drive/current/settings/settings.json"
fi
"$BIN/BinLinux/BeamNG.drive.x64"

This script deletes two variables from one of BeamNG.drive's config files and then launches BeamNG.drive. You may need to adjust the paths to match your local system.

In addition I've created a KWin window rule to force BeamNG.drive to the desired window position:

Code:

[BeamNG.drive]
Description=BeamNG.drive
position=0,0
positionrule=2
wmclass=BeamNG.drive.x64 BeamNG.drive
wmclasscomplete=true
wmclassmatch=1

The end result is that BeamNG.drive launches on the screen I need it to be and all the triggers appear and are interactive.

 

Last night I fired Beam to see the new lighting stuff and oh boy, I was impressed about how good the update was, everything is running super smooth, with lower CPU and GPU usage (even on maxed graphics!).
Holy crap this is an excellent port! 50FPS 1% lows on Italy, with traffic! This is a dream! Today I set up my ring and noticed that my Logitech G29 wheel wasn't being detected, went to change the proton version (sometimes new proton screws up the G29 detection) and to my surprise, the game was running natively!

For now I figured out that launching the game directly (without using steam runtime) it detects my G29 wheel, although I have no FFB. Tried changing update settings (fast/full) and max polling rate (400hz/100hz) but no dice.

Workaround to launch the game without Steam Runtime (so that it detects the wheel) but keeping steam overlay, achievements, etc: in launch options add

./BinLinux/BeamNG.drive.x64 %command%

If anybody here has some tips on how to get FFB, it'd be much appreciated

Other stuff tested and confirmed working:
- HDR worked out of the box. This is on Gnome 50.3 on Mutter/Wayland
- DualSense controller (wired/USB) worked out of the box, although I seldomly felt the feedback of the triggers doing something, but was so subtle IDK if it's intended. Lightbar changed to beam's orange, haptics were working as well

System specs:
OS: Bazzite (gnome-stable)
Kernel: 7.1.3-ogc5.1.fc44.x86-64
Mesa 26.1.5

CPU: Ryzen 9 5900XT
GPU: AMD 9070XT
32GB DDR4 @3200

E: Thanks user98373294 that did the trick for me!

 

Couple of things I've noticed so far:

• Minimap is just a black circle in VR
• Lights don't work in VR. You can disable VR mode, then turn on vehicle lights and re-enable VR-mode and lights will work, but once you move your car, the light spots stay in place.
• HDR mode makes colors "blow out" with the native build (in desktop mode). HDR seems to work, when launching with GE-Proton and using
  Code:

  PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 DXVK_HDR=1 %command%

• Some inconsistency with level loading, where it seems to start with lower FPS (going down from 60 to about 20-30), but when I open a menu, it jumps back to 60 and then works normally, when closing the menu. I have noticed that the GPU clocks are lower than usual, when that happens. so it might be an AMD driver issue. I'm going to try to manually put the GPU in performance mode and see, if that helps.

Specs:
Fedora 44, KDE Plasma Wayland
Kernel: 7.1.5
Mesa: 26.1.5-1

CPU: AMD 5600X
GPU: Radeon 6800XT

 

I'm a complete noob to CachyOS Linux (came from Windows about 6 weeks ago) so this is a brand new CachyOS install and it just went on default stuff because 1: I hate the terminal, 2: I know nothing about the syntax and how to use said terminal either LOL.

Anyway - I had Beam running just fine during 0.38, surprisingly a lot better then my Win 11 Pro even. Using Native Linux installed via Steam.
With 0.39, even after the hotfixes, a whole slew of issues have come with it and its now unplayable.

Most noticable is a severe framestutter that seems impossible to get rid of. My monitor can use variable refresh rate but it doesn't matter what I try. If anything, vSync of any kind at all is actually making it even worse in certain circumstances, mostly when spawning in AI traffic.
Also, the DualSense controller, altho working flawlessly (also not using steam overlay for it) - but BeamNG is randomly just stopping to use button presses, particularly those that have a modifier (I use L2 as a modifier).
Rebinding said button combo usually make it work again, but interestingly enough, the button bindings never disappears from the settings, they just stop working randomly.

The new headlight system is absolutely horrid by the way. They provide absolutely no light at all, or just a very very faint small cone in front of the vehicles nose. This was WAY better in 0.38 and not even a mod that worked in 0.38 can fix this from my brief testing it.

I realize its probably a royal pain in the seat to try keeping up a linux version of BeamNG, seeing as linux itself comes in a bazillion versions so I'll put this here for additional info to whomever is working on these things.

I haven't actually tried beam with Proton yet as the patch notes said something about it being a Vulkan problem in general so I thought as Proton just translates DX11/12 to Vulkan, I reckon that wont make a difference. it will still be Vulkan?

The shiz I'm playing on:

OS: CachyOS x86_64
Kernel: Linux 7.1.5-1-cachyos
Display (SL23T-1 LED): 1920x1080 in 23", 60 Hz (secondary monitor, not the one Beam is on)
Display (Acer B277U): 2560x1440 in 27", 75 Hz (I have tried tuning this one down to 60 Hz @ 1080p to match the other one, but that makes no difference at all with the flickering and stutter in Beam)
DE: KDE Plasma 6.7.3
WM: KWin (Wayland)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X (16) @ 3.90 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Lite Hash Rate [Discrete]
Memory: 32 GiB
VideoRAM: 12 GiB

 

i hope this is allowed here

i mod on linux mint, and for the longest time, ctrl+R wouldnt reload any new files i added. i was forced to restart the game for it to see any new files.

well, with claude code, i got to the bottom of this issue with linux.

hopefully this helps the devs

and i made myself a little mod that fixes this. (attached with this post)
its a simple mod that adds back the full reload function capability on linux with a simple ctrl+R

so if you were modding on linux, and if you are forced to restart your game for any new files to appear, this "mod" / fix is for you

basically the "mod" pastes this so that the reload properly gets done.

 

0.39 works perfect on linux
perofrmance is noticeably better
good work devs!!

 

If anyone has FFB not working at all on the new update try the steam launch option

Code:

SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI=0 %command%

This fixed it for me on my G29

 

V-Sync seems to be a bit broken. It isn't properly locking onto the refresh rate and the FPS will sometimes go above that of my monitor, causing the game to feel very choppy for a little while until it decides its going to lock back on to the correct refresh rate.
Using the in game frame limiter set to the same refresh rate as my monitor while using v-sync causes screen tearing, but does keep the FPS in check thus stopping the choppy feel.
Just using the frame limiter without v-sync also causes screen tearing. So maybe the v-sync option isn't working while using the frame limiter?
I found a setting in Linux mints options to disable compositing for full screen windows, this improved the v-sync situation a lot, but the FPS will still occasionally go 5-20FPS above the refresh rate of the monitor for a few seconds, resulting in choppy stutter.
Disabling the frame limiter and v-sync results in several hundred FPS and this helps with the screen tearing, but it is still there if you thrash the camera around violently. It also generates a lot of fan noise, heat and more power consumption, so not ideal.

Overall the game runs great on the Linux port so far, but I haven't done much other that bash around in free roam with some traffic in various maps. There have been no crashes or graphical glitches apart from the v-sync issue.

Linux Mint 22.3 - Cinnamon 64-bit
Kernel 7.0.0-28-generic
Intel© Core™ i9-14900K × 24
NVIDIA RTX 5070 (12GB)
NVIDIA Driver Version 595.84
Vulkanv: 1.3.275
Native Steam version

 

I tried all sorts of vsync and limit framerate in game combinations to no avail. BeamNG would sometimes run smooth no matter the map (original or modmap) - but its quite boring without the AI traffic to be honest.
But that same AI Traffic is immediately causing the sync hic-ups and from time to time, it gets so bad it literally gives me a headache from the stroboscope effect.
These tests were made using native linux install of BeamNG without any mods at all and then I added a few select mods, mostly UI "apps" with better looking tacho meters, advanced driver camera and a better steering functionality.
None of that made any difference one way or the other though.
For the moment, I have a feeling it is a combination of me using a NVidia card (known to make things harder but there is no way I can afford to replace it with anything AMD). Its also noteworthy I think, that cachyOS does not have x11 at all so its wayland or nothing.
I'm not going to start messing with a new session/login/install for a single game - Way too much work and given I barely know what I'm doing in Linux as it is... I think I will just have to wait and see if future patches and fixes can bring back the stability I had with 0.38.
There is also this issue with Arc Linux based distros and the attacks on AUR to consider. YouTube people that says "check your packages" is of no help for a noob like me at all since I wouldnt know how to or what to look for so anything that is outside of the CachyOS updates, as in AUR packages, is for now out of the question as well.
Goverlay is something I liked to use with 0.38 to improve the watered down saturation, but with 0.39, Beam doesnt even get to the main menu if I put goverlay back into launch options (Steam) so something is definately off with 0.39 at least on my system.

 

u tried windowed/fullscreen changes?

 

Hello! I'm currently on version 0.39.2.1 (the latest). I am creating my car in free mode (Ardente Trackday). Map - West Coast, Highway. I don't include traffic. I have ultra settings, but changing them does not affect anything (except the minimum ones), since the CPU is the bottleneck in my system. Can you tell me if the system requirements have really increased so much? Then I should upgrade the hardware. For your information, I use Linux, I run the native build (Wayland) on Vulkan API. I am attaching a screenshot of the profiler graph and a capture file for about 15 seconds of driving on the highway. I also attach information about my hardware.

 

I think I'm using X11 and not wayland on Mint. I'm not a pro Linux user, but have been using Mint for about 6 years now. I have only had this PC for a few weeks now, so I'm still getting to know it.

On 0.38 the only way I found to stop the screen tearing reliably was to run the game in windowed mode, but in 0.39 it seemed to feel choppy in windowed mode.

The problem is not constant, and I can happily have traffic running and it will run smooth. its just on odd random occasions I notice it feels choppy and when I look at the FPS, its raised up higher than my refresh rate. it lasts for 5-10 seconds then will lock back on to it. It will then be fine for sometimes up to 30 minutes before doing it again.

The best settings I have found for 0.39 are to turn on "disable compositing for full screen windows" in Mints general settings. This supposedly allows the full screen window to skip the compositor and run at full speed, but ironically it says to turn this off if you have screen tearing. With this setting the games v-sync isn't fighting the compositors v-sync so it seems to be more reliable, but not perfect.
Then in game I disable the frame limiter, enable v-sync and run the game full screen. Sometimes I find toggling the v-sync option will knock it back in sync too.

I know there are so many configurations of Linux so finding a working solution is really hard. Though I will say Beamng is the only game I have that refuses to v-sync properly. No other game I play has had screen tearing issues that couldn't be resolved with setting adjustments.

I hope with time and updates these issues will get polished out as Its currently so close to being perfect. I'm so pleased they are working on the Linux port, and I'm really thankful for it.

 

Anyone manage to get this running on an Intel 125H? (or similar)

 

Yeh, I did. The Fullscreen has another issue to it now that you mention it. Back on Windows, I could use that as the game just minimized itself or went into a sort of paused state while I was doing things on the secondary monitor (like Discord or whatever).
That paused state does not work properly on cachyOS with the 0.39 version of Beam. It will kind of lock/freeze and I have to use alt-tab multiple times to unpause. The whole point of having dual monitor is to not have to use alt-tab, just move cursor and klick on whatever app you have active for it to become the "focused" one.
Occasionally though, alt.tab doesnt work either as of 0.39, instead Beams screen goes grey, hardlocks and eventually crashes out.
So its better to just stick with borderless windowed in my case. But with the severe FPS flickering going on, I dont even bother starting Beam at this point. Its literally unplayable. I'll wait for future patch updates as I cant really think of anything else to do unless I reinstall the entire game and try it as protonlayered install instead.
I also do clear cache frequently (from the in-game Help menu) as well as simply deleting the temp folder, verify files from the steam menu to Beam and nothing has solved the flickering so far.
I suppose this is to be expected with such a huge change 0.39 brought along so maybe I just need to be patiently waiting for that miracle hotfix

And yes, I also have this syncflickering issue with Beam only. Admittably, I dont have many games installed to begin with, but the others are: Palia, Everwind, Guild Wars 2, No Mans Sky and Soulframe (wich isnt even a steam game but rather launched as a non-steam app and still working beautifully).
Both Everwind and No Mans Sky are native Linux and work perfectly on this Wayland setup so its probably just something with Beams new game-engine that came with 0.39 not having been ironed out just yet.

 

nah
u mentioned to use wayland so just use XWayland for comaptibility and run as x11 window then