It's most likely about missing d3dx9 functionality:
1506640.382:0008:0009:fixme:d3dx:ID3DXFontImpl_DrawTextA iface 0x1e8d80, sprite (nil), string "{ Start New Server }", count -1, rect (0,119)-(1018,155), format 0x5, color 0xff19c819 stub!
@nsivov Nice catch. protontricks 480 d3dx9 made it work. :)
d3dx9 no longer helps with proton 5.0-2
steam-480.log
The patches to correctly fix the missing text are included in Proton 5.13-6. This game should no longer require any workarounds to see the text.
proton 5.13-6x1 2021-02proton 5.0-2x1 2020-02
Compatibility Report
System Information
I confirm:
steam-480.log
Symptoms
Text is missing. You can get into the game sometimes if you randomly hit keys, but it is not a pleasant experience.
Reproduction
steam steam://install/480.steam steam://run/480.