Linux Port – Feedback, Known Issues, and FAQ

seems to work with the latest nvidia drivers again, thank you!
with my amd gpu I am also experiencing the Black frame flickering though

 

what launch options do I use to run the native linux version through steam?

 

Try launching without any, first. Just remember not to launch the .exe that comes with the installation. The Linux native version is in BinLinux folder inside BeamNG.drive and has to be added to Steam as a "Non-Steam-Game" from Steam menu Games -> Add A Non-Steam-Game to My Library or launched directly from the terminal.

On my rig, I have to specify SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 environment variable. Otherwise it will fail to create the game window. I'm Using Fedora 41, KDE Plasma 6.24 (Wayland), AMD 5800X3D, AMD Radeon 6800XT.

If launching from the terminal:

Code:

SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/BeamNG.drive/BinLinux/BeamNG.drive.x64

If you have added the native Linux version as a "Non-Steam game":

Code:

SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 %command%

 

Not sure if anyone else reported this but it'd be nice if BeamNG would prevent the screen from going to sleep when using a steering wheel.

 

Another problem is I cannot change the display resolution (or monitor). I use a 4k external monitor with my laptop but the fps is too low at 4k. BeamNG lists the display options but when I change it to a lower resolution and click the apply button it just resets to the highest value and does not change anything.

The only way I was able to get it to work at a lower resolution was to change the resolution and primary display in the desktop settings, then reopen the game.
--- Post updated ---
Also on the first load of a larger map (or first load after clearing the temp folder) the loading screen appears frozen while the "TextureCooker" is creating terrain caches.

 

I have encountered similar problems with saving the graphics settings, for example dynamic reflection setting to it's previous value as soon as the options are closed.

The frozen loading screen isn't new though right? that's always kinda how it has been, it takes a while and the loading screen starts updating once the texture cooking is finished

 

I did some testing regarding flicker:
For me it is generally enough to cap the refresh rate to under the display refresh rate. This kinda works with the ingame cap but MangoHUD works way better. Ingame I have to go 5-10 under the limit but on some occasions it will still pop up (car reset, menus ...), with MangoHUD 163 on 165 monitor is enough and doesn't happen anymore. As a side note disabling adaptive sync makes no difference.
System: GPU: 5700XT, Kernel Version: 6.12.7-arch1-1, mesa 1:24.3.2-1, sway 1:1.10-1, wlroots 0.18.2-1, xorg-xwayland 24.1.4-1

But since some people reporting issues with that I tested gamescope. Only got some weird grey screen but it works with ENABLE_GAMESCOPE_WSI=0. This didn't to anything but --force-compostion will disable direct scan-out and fixes all flicker for me no matter the fps (200+ on lowest).
The full command would be something like:
ENABLE_GAMESCOPE_WSI=0 gamescope --force-composition -- "/path/to/BeamNG.drive/BinLinux/BeamNG.drive.x64"

Steam launch options would be (when add as non-steam game):
ENABLE_GAMESCOPE_WSI=0 gamescope --force-composition -- %command%

Since you can set a resolution this might help with the display settings. like "gamescope -H 1440 --" will set gamescope to 1440p (-W for width e.g. -W 2560), -w/-h are for nested resolution (the game in case it doesn't play nice with -H/-W only). The default for gamescope is 720p.

[edit] I had some issues with camera movement which was fixed by using --force-grab-cusor (doesn't allow cursor to leave window), --mangoapp from gamescope uses a different config file so I just use mangohud command which may or may not need LD_PRELOAD="" for steam (something to do with overlay and stuttering occuring after a while). So my commands are:
ENABLE_GAMESCOPE_WSI=0 gamemoderun gamescope -H 1440 --force-composition --force-grab-cursor -- mangohud "/path/to/BeamNG.drive/BinLinux/BeamNG.drive.x64"
For non-Steam game:
ENABLE_GAMESCOPE_WSI=0 LD_PRELOAD="" gamemoderun gamescope -H 1440 --force-composition --force-grab-cursor -- mangohud %command%

Speaking of MangoHUD for people who want to use it for limiting fps, what I have in my config is

toggle_hud=Shift_L+F1
toggle_fps_limit=Shift_L+F2
reload_cfg=Shift_L+F3
toggle_logging=Shift_L+F4
upload_log=Shift_L+F5
fps_limit=0,73,163​

You need to overwrite the default keybinds (toggle_logging is Shift+F2 for example) if you want to use the default keys for something else, otherwise it won't work (but you can of course just use different keybinds).
The fps_limit can also be something like fps_limit=163,0 which would start with a limit of 163 and pressing Shift+F2 would disable it (it goes through the list).
To have a MangoHUD config specific for BeamNG.drive you can create a config file inf ~/.config/MangoHUD/ named after the executable (here it would be "BeamNG.drive.x64.conf")


As for mod names not being lower-case and not being detected, I had to install "perl-rename" because apparently the default rename can differ for distros. So it's "perl-rename 'y/A-Z/a-z/' *" to rename all files in current folder.

 

I configured monado correctly and it was working fine in xrgears. BeamNG also picked it up correctly. It just didn't render anything properly.

 

I've noticed that if multiple devices' axes share the same name, the inputs overlap and settings behave erroneously.



For instance, in this example I have two devices, xinput0 and xinput1, both of them have an axis called thumblx. In the "hardware" tab both of them properly operate independently; however if I try to bind one of them to an action --- the steering in the example, --- the UI gets confused and thinks it was bound to the other xinput device, while the game starts reading inputs from both devices' axes at the same time, as you can see by the Nine's steering in the background! This happens for the other axes as well, I've just disabled them for xinput1 while recording this.

I think it has to be some sort of name aliasing in the game's code.

Also on my steering wheel (the T150) the d-pad doesn't work at all, but other users have already reported the issue on the thread; I'm not sure about this one however.

P.S. port to libinput (?)

 

I also have some weird issues when playing the Linux version with a controller. The controls are weirdly set and not everything seems to be there. I dont have that problem with the Windows version via Proton however

 

Just wanted to share that the native version works much better than the Windows version running thru Proton. Framerates are around 20fps higher in any situation compared to Proton and Windows 11.
The Dpad on my steering wheel (T248, using TMFF2 driver) doesn't work, but it does on Proton. Some other people seem to have also reported this.

I am also getting that black screen flickering other users have reported when using Proton, I can mostly solve it by limiting my FPS to 100. Anthing over 100fps, the flickering gets bad. No flickering on native though.
My monitor is set to 165Hz 2560x1440p.
I've got a 6750XT and a 5800X3D. I'm running Zorin 17.2 rn.

 

In Dx11 or Vulkan mode? If unsure, add launch parameter

Code:

-gfx vk

in Steam's paratemeters of Beamng

 

I think the flickering issue is just an issue with the BeamNG Vulkan renderer under AMD GPUs, because I have the same issue if I run the proton version with the vulkan renderer instead of DX11. Also as an additional note according to one past user the propitiatory version of the AMD drivers don't have this flickering issue, sadly I'm unable to confirm that myself.

 

I consistently get this error when trying to load into johnson valley in native linux beamNG



Also, the website mentioned in the error does not exist

https://go.beamng.com/unresponsiveUIprocess

 

Hi, I'm trying to run linux native on fedora 41, but because my gpu si old (amd radeon r9 280X, released in 2013) vulkan doesn't want to load because sparseResidencyBuffer feature is missing. Is it really essential? Vulkan worked with wine and dxvk, so maybe it can be optional ?

 

The game crashes pretty frequently, and it's very annoying, and sometimes even locks up my whole computer. I'm able to trigger it almost on command by restarting certain missions, like "Lights, Camera, Action!" in WCUSA, and there doesn't seem to be any noticeable difference between these missions and other similar missions that don't crash.
If it matters, I use fullscreen
I'm still not sure if this is a Vulkan issue, or a Linux port issue, because the game crashes much less frequently under Wine (almost never), and I made sure to use Vulkan

And when it does inevitably crash, and I press "Close Program", the game still keeps running in the background and using up my RAM

 

Running Linux Mint here (was on Wilma, now is Xia) and have a Ryzen 7700/7800XT setup, running x11 and Mesa Drivers and have no AMD flickering on both Windows (Via Steam Proton, DX11 or Vulkan), nor Linux Native?

 

Yes the flickering is only an issue on Wayland (at least for me), works fine in an x11 environment. Have you tried with a Wayland environment?

 

config pc
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Ram 16 DDR3 Dual-chenel
Geforce GTX Nvidea 1060 6Gb
OS ubuntu 24
running beanmg drave running in no steam mode
my config is well accommodated for the version of beamng drave linux in ultra as the image says
Gameplay

 

another issue: i can't open anything more intensive than gridmap anymore, the game just crashes
its not an issue with anything in my userfolder because it still happens after i created a new userfolder
i also dont think its a vulkan issue because im able to use the windows version on vulkan perfectly fine

edit: stuff works fine now that i switched to window mode and turned down the settings, but that technically means the linux version runs worse than the windows one