Hey, sorry @kisak-valve, I do not have this information anymore because I wanted so much to play this game that I installed windows on that computer only to play !

All I can say : It was a Ubuntu 18.04, fully updated, with nvidia drivers version 396. Sorry :(

Problem confirmed. The Total War launch screen shows up, but the game exits after click in Play.
Sys info
steam-214950.log

With Proton 3.7.5-beta I could play the game. System info in the previous comment.

Thanks @juliotux , I can confirm it works.

I've tried playing the game with Proton beta and everything seems to work fine, except there is no sound.

Oh never mid, the sound works now.

So, @kisak-valve, this game should be re-tagged as Whitelist Request, no?

I (and others, judging by the SPCRs) experience a CTD when entering some battles from the campaign map, but only with high graphics settings. With 'low' settings, there's no CTD. Entirely reproducible for me, on the 1st 'intro' battle of the Rome grand campaign.

System: i7-4790K, GTX 1060 6GB (396.54.05), 16GB RAM

I can submit the steam-214950.log later, if that helps.

Did you check if it is a problem with DXVK running on Intel iGPU? This seems to be related to a bug in the Intel vulkan driver, which already has a patch done, but not delivered yet.

For me the game crashes when pressing F1. Other than that it seems to work fine.

Did you check if it is a problem with DXVK running on Intel iGPU? This seems to be related to a bug in the Intel vulkan driver, which already has a patch done, but not delivered yet.

I'll try to find time to reboot on the Intel iGPU and retest.

In the meantime, my current setup (and CTD woes):

steam-214950.log (gist)

System specs (gist)

For me the launcher doesn't work. It starts up but displays nothing but a white box. I would post the log file but it is about 100MB. Instead here are the errors that are repeated at the end of the file:

4549.070:0024:0025:fixme:hlsl_parser:hlsl_parse Check for valued return on void function.
4549.070:0024:0025:fixme:hlsl_parser:hlsl_parse Implicit conversion to the return type if needed, error out if conversion not possible.

4549.071:0024:0025:fixme:d3dcompiler:make_assignment Check for casts in the lhs.
4549.071:0024:0025:err:d3dcompiler:compile_shader HLSL shader parsing failed.

4570.200:0024:0025:fixme:hlsl_parser:hlsl_parse Array.
4570.200:0024:0025:fixme:d3dcompiler:make_assignment Check for casts in the lhs.
4570.200:0024:0025:err:d3dcompiler:compile_shader HLSL shader parsing failed.
4570.200:0024:0025:warn:debugstr:OutputDebugStringA "QGLShader::link: "Line 31: variable '_setPosition' not declared\n\nWarning: D3D shader compilation failed with \ndefault\n flags.\n Retrying with \navoid flow control\n.\n\nLine 31: variable '_setPosition' not declared\n\nWarning: D3D shader compilation failed with \navoid flow control\n flags.\n Re"...

If I point the run script at the Rome2.exe instead of the launcher the game starts and runs fine on ultra settings until I start switching between the campaign and battle maps at which point it crashes with the following error:

err: DxvkMemoryAllocator: Mapping memory failed with VK_ERROR_MEMORY_MAP_FAILED
err: DxvkMemoryAllocator: Mapping memory failed with VK_ERROR_MEMORY_MAP_FAILED
err: DxvkMemoryAllocator: Memory allocation failed
Size: 251658240
Alignment: 16
Mem flags: 0x7
Mem types: 0xf
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'dxvk::DxvkError'

Reducing the settings to high resolves the problem. It appears to be related to DXVK's issues with memory management in 32 bit applications. Using WineD3D the game does not crash but performs considerably worse while also exhibiting many rendering errors.

sysinfo

I re-tested and confirmed the regression. White launcher, but if you click in the spot where there is the play button, the game launches normally. #1414 also report the same problem.

When I logged in to steam this evening I received an update to the steam common re-distributable and gave the game another go.

The launcher now fails to render anything, instead hanging for about five minutes before crashing.

I again tried bypassing the launcher by pointing the run script at the Rome2.exe however it now also fails to render anything before crashing after about five minutes with the following error:

../common/pipes.cpp (770) : Assertion Failed: fatal stalled cross-thread pipe
../common/pipes.cpp (770) : Fatal assert failed: ../common/pipes.cpp, line 770. Application exiting.

According to the log file(attached below) the launcher failed with the same error.

steam-214950.log

Scratch my last comment. After rebooting my PC it's back to the white launcher.

There is still a white launcher, also the game is crashing in battles when using graphic settings of very high or above. When using VSync, game crashes instantly. Also there is a rendering issue in the in "game benchmark"

I also experience a white launcher window. Clicking where the "Play" button should be, starts rome2.exe shortly before it closes itself.

CA have released a new launcher which now works with proton 3.16.7. The only problem I still have is the memory issues at higher graphics settings.

New launcher & the game works BUT only after adding PROTON_USE_WINED3D launch option, graphics are a mess once actually into the game making it unplayable for me, using the latest Nvidia drivers 418.43.
steam-214950.log

With the new launcher, everything looks fine to me. No trick needed.

Hooray, Proton 4.2-1 has finally put to bed the 'CTD with settings too high' issue for me.

New test with Proton 4.2-9, no launch options used, the game is fully working, all Total War games I own are now playable on my Linux system, happy happy me. :) Thanks everyone for your efforts with Proton.

new system info | new OS MX Linux
https://gist.github.com/lucifertdark/584c14275612e8e3c4a8070d428d8a02

The new Qt launcher is great. But game still crashes on high graphic settings if you join battles. Proton log told me the issue:

wine: Call from 0x7b43d64d to unimplemented function d3dx11_42.dll.D3DX11LoadTextureFromTexture, aborting

I then did a dll override of d3dx11_42 and now the game works perfectly. But I have to say, random crashes still occur but only after some hours, had this on windows too. Atilla is Vulkan based btw and more a challenge. Rome 2 is too easy, you just blob and steam roll everything.

Hello,
Did you installed d3dx11_42 via winetricks and what override di you made - native, native,builtin etc.?

I downloaded the dll (dunno if I'm allowed to put it here) and put it under ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Total War Rome II/d3dx11_42.dll

15718.628:0073:0074:trace:loaddll:load_native_dll Loaded L"Z:\\home\\<deleted>\\.local\\share\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\Total War Rome II\\d3dx11_42.dll" at 0x3b0000: native

To configure proton with winecfg I used this script:

 #!/bin/bash

STEAMROOT="$HOME/.steam"
protVer=$1
gameID=$2

export PATH="$STEAMROOT/steam/steamapps/common/Proton $protVer/dist/bin/:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/bin:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/usr/bin:$PATH"
export WINEDEBUG="-all"
export WINEDLLPATH="$STEAMROOT/steam/steamapps/common/Proton $protVer/dist/lib64/wine:$STEAMROOT/steam/steamapps/common/Proton $protVer/dist/lib/wine"
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$STEAMROOT/steam/steamapps/common/Proton $protVer/dist/lib64:$STEAMROOT/steam/steamapps/common/Proton $protVer/dist/lib:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/pinned_libs_32:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/pinned_libs_64:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfakeroot:/lib/i386-linux-gnu:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu:/usr/local/lib:/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:/lib:/usr/lib:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/i686:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/sse2:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/i686/sse2:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/lib/i386-linux-gnu:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/lib:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/usr/lib:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/lib:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:$STEAMROOT/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/amd64/usr/lib:"
export WINEDLLOVERRIDES="d3d11=n;dxgi=n"

WINEPREFIX=$STEAMROOT/steam/steamapps/compatdata/$gameID/pfx/ wine winecfg

and called it with:
./protoncfg 4.2 214950

Thank you :)

Some comments on Proton 4.11:

• FPS is way up for me (~30fps before, now in the 40s)
• Benchmark lighting is still pretty funky/messed up - textures overly dark in spots
• Also on the lighting, the balls of fire aren't quite right looking
• Crashes to desktop when setting resolution (now set via preferences.script.txt)

Otherwise seems pretty good. Aside for the lighting issues and probably should have higher FPS, it runs pretty well.

System:

Arch Linux (5.2.3-arch1-1-ARCH), KDE (5.16.4, Frameworks 5.60)
Ryzen 2700x, GTX 1070 (430.34)

Hi,
same problems here. The game works at ~ 25 - 30 FPS in battles with black trees, lights and shadows does not work almost at all. I have noticed that inside video settings I'm not able to change the Shader Model version which is fixed to 3 (other options are not selectable).

System Info:

• Hardware: Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.67 GHz, 8 GB of RAM, AMD Radeon RX580 with 4 GB of Video RAM;
• Software: openSUSE Linux 15.0, kernel 4.12.14-lp150.12.70-default, desktop environment KDE 5.12.8 LTS (KDE Framework 5.45), Proton 4.11-3 included in Steam.

Hope this could be useful,

Best Regards
hawake

When I click 'play prologue' and it finishes loading, the game exits. Using proton experimental,

Here is the log https://gist.github.com/MavropaliasG/009ab6d2769ea82430e9d2d2595ff30f

My system https://gist.github.com/MavropaliasG/3e8b84b39d324cb7a5b8f155ed3ac7d8

my system by steam https://gist.github.com/MavropaliasG/48f5bb79362bb4deaf393cf7592b978f

@kisak-valve managed to get it to play when setting shadows to 'low'; that's what was required. However, the game just exits randomly when I click buttons in the campaign map. Any updates on work being done on this game?

I will attempt to play it later tonight, as I realized I haven't tried it in a while. At least before it did work well, except that the shadows/lighting in the benchmark were really off (seemed like the lighting was just missing in parts putting things in dark shadows). The fireballs were especially funky.

This is the console output when the game randomly exits when I press a button ingame. It happens in line 333 abnormal program termination

https://gist.github.com/MavropaliasG/db8f74aebc46159aecf1edc8fd825d77

It does that randomly, e.g. I would be playing for 10 min, then I click a button in-game (any button, not a specific one), and then the game immediately closes.

So things ran fine for me, for a bit at least. I was able to jump into a historical battle with everything on Ultra. It did crash after about 10 minutes. I tried 'The Nile' historical battle. The lighting was completely off, though, with the entire backside of the hill (ocean side) black/no light source making things rather difficult even without the crash later. This is on a GTX2080, ultra settings, and 460.39 drivers.

So things ran fine for me, for a bit at least. I was able to jump into a historical battle with everything on Ultra. It did crash after about 10 minutes. I tried 'The Nile' historical battle. The lighting was completely off, though, with the entire backside of the hill (ocean side) black/no light source making things rather difficult even without the crash later. This is on a GTX2080, ultra settings, and 460.39 drivers.

I've noticed a few things. That might be specific to my system though, https://gist.github.com/MavropaliasG/3e8b84b39d324cb7a5b8f155ed3ac7d8

1. Proton 4.11-13 and 4.2-9 do not crash BUT my laptop overheats and my entire PC suddenly shuts off after ~20 min of play. I've noticed the clouds in the campaign map make it very laggy (whenever I pan over a lot of clouds or fog of war). But apart from clouds it, my pc is really stressed whenever it's running, even in the lowest settings. That's only for the campaign map, I have not tried battles.

2. Proton experimental does not overheat my system, but maybe it is because the game randomly crashes when I click buttons in-game.

Using 6.3-4. Game crashes after ending a turn and your next turn is starting. Right before showing you the results of the previous turn.

7470.498:0208:020c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind eax=00000000 ebx=00000000 ecx=40010006 edx=006ce9b8 esi=006ce968 edi=006ce9b8
7470.498:0208:020c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind ebp=006ce4b8 esp=006ce4b0 eip=7b07f776 cs=0023 ds=002b fs=0063 gs=006b flags=00000202
7470.498:0208:020c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind calling handler at 7BC539E0 code=40010006 flags=2
7470.498:0208:020c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind handler at 7BC539E0 returned 1
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c0000005 flags=0 addr=D8A6A105 ip=d8a6a105 tid=0338
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  info[0]=00000001
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  info[1]=00000008
7472.325:0208:0338:warn:seh:dispatch_exception EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION exception (code=c0000005) raised
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  eax=00000004 ebx=00000000 ecx=00100000 edx=11014fac esi=117ff400 edi=00000040
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  ebp=d44c354c esp=08a2fcc0 cs=0023 ds=002b es=002b fs=0063 gs=006b flags=00010216
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 692611A0 code=c0000005 flags=0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 692611A0 returned 0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 6A631370 code=c0000005 flags=0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 6A631370 returned 0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 62523070 code=c0000005 flags=0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 62523070 returned 0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 7B00AD30 code=c0000005 flags=0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 7B00AD30 returned 0
7472.325:0208:0338:trace:seh:call_stack_handlers calling handler at 7BC62480 code=c0000005 flags=0
wine: Unhandled page fault on write access to 00000008 at address D8A6A105 (thread 0338), starting debugger...
7472.330:0208:0338:trace:seh:start_debugger Starting debugger L"winedbg --auto 520 1360"
ERROR: ld.so: object '/home/patrickc/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/gameoverlayrenderer.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64): ignored.
7472.386:03a4:03a8:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winedbg.exe" at 7EFA0000: builtin
7472.386:03a4:03a8:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\kernelbase.dll" at 7B000000: builtin
7472.386:03a4:03a8:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\kernel32.dll" at 7B600000: builtin
7472.387:03a4:03a8:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\ucrtbase.dll" at 70B40000: builtin
7472.387:03a4:03a8:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\dbghelp.dll" at 6FA80000: builtin
7472.387:03a4:03a8:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\sechost.dll" at 6BC00000: builtin
7472.387:03a4:03a8:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\advapi32.dll" at 61740000: builtin
7472.389:0208:0214:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=00c4fdfc edx=272a1598 esi=00000001 edi=00c4fd40
7472.389:0208:0218:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=00d5fdfc edx=2729a758 esi=00000001 edi=00d5fd40
7472.389:0208:0224:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=0108fdfc edx=27298298 esi=00000001 edi=0108fd40
7472.389:0208:0220:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=00f7fdfc edx=272a2600 esi=00000001 edi=00f7fd40
7472.389:0208:021c:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=00e6fdfc edx=27299b18 esi=00000001 edi=00e6fd40
7472.389:0208:0228:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=0119fdfc edx=27296a18 esi=00000001 edi=0119fd40
7472.389:0208:022c:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=012afdfc edx=2729d858 esi=00000001 edi=012afd40
7472.389:0208:0230:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=013bfdfc edx=27298ed8 esi=00000001 edi=013bfd40
7472.389:0208:0214:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: ebp=00c4fe58 esp=00c4fcfc eip=7bc0c67c cs=0023 ss=002b flags=00000246
7472.389:0208:023c:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=7bc1e5cb ebx=00000001 ecx=00000005 edx=ff676980 esi=00000001 edi=016efd40
7472.389:0208:0234:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=014cfdfc edx=272a0958 esi=00000001 edi=014cfd40
7472.389:0208:0238:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=015dfdfc edx=2729cc18 esi=00000001 edi=015dfd40
7472.389:0208:0240:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=017ffdfc edx=272a21d8 esi=00000001 edi=017ffd40
7472.389:0208:0218:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: ebp=00d5fe58 esp=00d5fcfc eip=7bc0c67c cs=0023 ss=002b flags=00000246
7472.389:0208:0244:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000001 ecx=0190fdfc edx=2729b398 esi=00000001 edi=0190fd40
7472.389:0208:0304:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: eax=00000000 ebx=00000002 ecx=00000000 edx=00000000 esi=00000002 edi=07b4fc20
7472.389:0208:0224:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: ebp=0108fe58 esp=0108fcfc eip=7bc0c67c cs=0023 ss=002b flags=00000246
7472.389:0208:0220:trace:seh:NtGetContextThread 0xfffffffe: ebp=00f7fe58 esp=00f7fcfc eip=7bc0c67c cs=0023 ss=002b flags=00000246

Running with the latest version of proton experimental. DXVK 1.9.3
While fighting a battle the game will crash while in the battle.

steam-214950.log

Notable part of log.

4236.423:0238:023c:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 7B00AE50 returned 0
4236.423:0238:023c:trace:seh:call_stack_handlers calling handler at 7B082110 code=40010006 flags=0
4236.423:0238:023c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind code=40010006 flags=2
4236.423:0238:023c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind eax=00000000 ebx=00000000 ecx=40010006 edx=00ace428 esi=00ace3d8 edi=00ace428
4236.423:0238:023c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind ebp=00acdf28 esp=00acdf20 eip=7b0820a6 cs=0023 ds=002b fs=0063 gs=006b flags=00000202
4236.423:0238:023c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind calling handler at 7BC58580 code=40010006 flags=2
4236.423:0238:023c:trace:seh:__regs_RtlUnwind handler at 7BC58580 returned 1
4237.170:0238:03d0:trace:seh:NtQueryInformationThread (0xfffffffe,12,0x2635fecc,4,(nil))
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c0000005 flags=0 addr=56CD0983 ip=56cd0983 tid=0258
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  info[0]=00000000
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  info[1]=000005f9
4577.690:0238:0258:warn:seh:dispatch_exception EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION exception (code=c0000005) raised
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  eax=00000001 ebx=000000bf ecx=00000000 edx=00acea38 esi=b5531740 edi=00acea00
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:dispatch_exception  ebp=02abfea0 esp=02abfe7c cs=0023 ds=002b es=002b fs=0063 gs=006b flags=00010202
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 6A6462F0 code=c0000005 flags=0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 6A6462F0 returned 0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 6F48BE70 code=c0000005 flags=0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 6F48BE70 returned 0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 6252D6F0 code=c0000005 flags=0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 6252D6F0 returned 0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers calling handler at 7B00AE50 code=c0000005 flags=0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_vectored_handlers handler at 7B00AE50 returned 0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_stack_handlers calling handler at 55C13E00 code=c0000005 flags=0
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_stack_handlers handler at 55C13E00 returned 1
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:call_stack_handlers calling handler at 7BC673C0 code=c0000005 flags=0

wine: Unhandled page fault on read access to 000005F9 at address 56CD0983 (thread 0258), starting debugger...
4577.690:0238:0258:trace:seh:start_debugger Starting debugger L"winedbg --auto 568 1176"
XIO:  fatal IO error 12 (Cannot allocate memory) on X server ":99.0"
      after 670 requests (670 known processed) with 1 events remaining.

gamemodeauto: dlopen failed - libgamemode.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
gamemodeauto: dlopen failed - libgamemode.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
4577.767:03dc:03e0:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winedbg.exe" at 7E9A0000: builtin
4577.768:03dc:03e0:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\kernelbase.dll" at 7B000000: builtin
4577.768:03dc:03e0:trace:loaddll:build_module Loaded L"C:\\windows\\system32\\kernel32.dll" at 7B600000: builtin
4586.180:003c:0040:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007FEF535D418B ip=00007FEF535D418B tid=0040
4586.180:005c:0060:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007F886FA5518B ip=00007F886FA5518B tid=0060
4586.180:0074:0078:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007F41DAFF118B ip=00007F41DAFF118B tid=0078
4586.180:00a0:00a4:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007F6D9F5A518B ip=00007F6D9F5A518B tid=00a4
4586.180:0030:0034:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007F3FFB0A618B ip=00007F3FFB0A618B tid=0034
4586.180:00b8:00bc:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007F541C8A218B ip=00007F541C8A218B tid=00bc
4586.180:00d8:00dc:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007FC2E9A5618B ip=00007FC2E9A5618B tid=00dc
4586.180:0100:0104:trace:seh:dispatch_exception code=c000013a flags=0 addr=00007F0410C6218B ip=00007F0410C6218B tid=0104
4586.180:003c:0040:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised
4586.180:005c:0060:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised
4586.180:0074:0078:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised
4586.180:00a0:00a4:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised
4586.180:0030:0034:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised
4586.180:00b8:00bc:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised
4586.180:00d8:00dc:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised
4586.180:0100:0104:warn:seh:dispatch_exception CONTROL_C_EXIT exception (code=c000013a) raised

Had an Exception access violation, was able to get a full wine dump with backtrace. See log

steam-214950.log

This appears to be an esync/fsync issue. I've found by disable esync & fsync, then using winetricks to installing d3dx11_42 and d3dcompiler_42 the game seems to run quite well.

@kisak-valve can confirm basically all of that behavior. Also the lighting and what not seems to be broken in the benchmark - heavy shadows everywhere, and the flaming balls look off vs Windows (both AMD and Nvidia). Performance is also worse from the benchmark. I have trouble hitting over 60 fps with a 6900xt and 5900x. Same when I had a 2080 super.

I've done some further testing and PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 in the launch options seems to have fixed all the campaign freezing. So it does seem like it's running into some sort of limit and that's causing the problem. Is there a way to fix that so it can run for everyone with esync enabled?

@bakgwailo try disabling esync and fsync. You can use proton-ge. I did a pull request to do this automatically. However, I found that, for me, protonfixes aren't applied without small modifications.

1. in the compatibility folder, find the proton-ge version you wish to use. Open the folder. ~/.steam/steam/compatibilitytools.d/GE-Proton7-54 (example)
2. copy the user_settings.sample.py file, rename it to user_settings.py
3. Open the user_settings.py file in a text editor, on the last line after the closing bracket }
4. type: import protonfixes
5. save
6. Open steam, go to rome 2 and select that version of proton-ge
7. If still having some issues, replace dxvk in both 32 bit and 64bit
8. .steam/steam/compatibilitytools.d/GE-Proton7-54/files/lib/wine/dxvk/
9. .steam/steam/compatibilitytools.d/GE-Proton7-54/files/lib64/wine/dxvk/
10. Use this build: https://github.com/patmann03/dxvk/releases/tag/v2.1

hopefully that works. I'm able to play without crashes

Lots of different recommendations around for this, is there an accepted way to make the game playable right now? Out of the box its performance isn't great and there's some kind of rendering issues where shadows are a black void, setting it to DX9 fixes that and then you're stuck at 30fps.

Edit;

Game thinks I have 2gb VRAM (I have 8) and some users report this could be the cause of the 30fps lock, so I tried forcing it via the games config file as others have suggested but that's not worked either, still locked at 30fps. Tried experimental/GE/etc as well.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/512#issuecomment-1866960082

The game is 32-bit, WINED3D will limit you to 2gb, DXVK limits to 3gb.

You need to install d3dx11_42 and d3dcompiler_42 via protontricks/winetricks then disable esync and fsync. For me, I can play with no crashes and can play mods.

Thanks for the tips, I'll give that a go when I get a chance and let you know if it worked

No dice, still locked at 30fps :/

Try using older proton (or proton-ge) versions. IIRC I used something like version 4 or 5 of proton.

Hi all, I have issue with invisible cursor in menu, I can move mouse and UI elements are highlighting, but without visible cursor it's difficult to do anything. I saw that people had similar issue with other total war games running in proton, for example https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/4674#issuecomment-835800128 or https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/7165#issuecomment-2461403091, but these never had any response. I found similar issue on reddit post - https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1l6czwc/invisible_cursor_in_total_war_warhammer_2/.

I tried already most relevant things from mentioned reddit post, but nothing works. For me this issue is existing in ROME 2 and proton version of Three Kingdoms.

My system information that can be helpful:
Kernel - 6.15.3-arch1-1
GPU - AMD Radeon 7800XT
DE - KDE Plasma 6.4.1

Latest mesa from arch repos
I tried Proton 9, 10 and latest Proton-GE 9 and 10
Issue exists on both wayland and x11

If any additional info is needed, please let me know.

Game needs WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY env var to perform as expected.

System:

• 7800X3D 8C/16T cpu
• 7900 XTX gpu
• Proton Experimental
• Arch Linux

Results:

Default, no env var:

WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=8 %command

WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=6 %command

Most Total War titles I play under Proton have this strange stutter, and I don't see it with any other games I have played. The Windows versions of Warhammer 3, Rome 2, and Thrones of Britannia all have the exact same problem. The stutter begins the second the game is launched, and it persists regardless of the frame rate. I have tried several things, changing Proton versions, and combing through the Arch & CachyOS wikis to try every work around I could find.

Using Proton version 7.0-6 makes it somewhat playable, the frame rate is almost double. The issue is that shadows don't work well, and switching it to DX9 introduces a lot of graphical bugs. There is also much less consistent frame rate. Even though the stuttering isn't at regular intervals anymore, the new benchmarks have stutters all over the place.

Here is a video showing the game play: YouTube

Here is an image of what my btop graphs look like immediately after closing Rome 2: imgur

This is the log generated with PROTON_LOG=1 in the steam launch options: Google Drive

Laptop system information:

OS: CachyOS
KERNEL: 6.17.9-2-cachyos
PLATFORM: Wayland
CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H @ 2.30GHz (integrated)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU (discrete)
GPU DRIVER: NVIDIA 580.105.08
RAM: 32 GB

Proton version I am primarily using: cachyos-10.0-20251126-native

Mesa package version: mesa 1:25.3.1-3

Notes:

Steam was installed through CachyOS Package Manager, version: 1.0.0.85-1

When tested in Windows 11 the stutter isn't present, of course I ran the latest NVIDIA drivers.

Game needs WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY env var to perform as expected.

I just tried this out - I went from FPS in the 30s on the benchmark to 87.4. I found that 3 was the best value for me (tried 2,3,4,6,12). Makes some sense given the age of the game and generally it was around 1-4 CPU cores back then. But, yeah, wow, big improvement. I'll also note that all of the shadow issues on latest Proton 9 are resolved for me and it looks like it should. @Leopard1907 thank you for that - owe you a pint if you are ever in the area.

Last issue with R2 now under Proton is that if I have it running on my dual monitors, if I click on the other monitor (browser or anything else), it force minimizes R2 which is super annoying. Anyone have any ideas on how to make it not do that? I've used gamescope before, but, would love any other methods.

Arch Linux
KDE 6.5.4/wayland
rx 6900 xt
Ryzen 5900x

@bakgwailo you could use gamescope for your window minimization issue.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/gamescope

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/512#issuecomment-3639363288

I have the exact same stuttering issue. Can play almost anything without real issue, but R2 stutters every 1-2 seconds regardless of graphical settings or env variables.

Current launch flags: PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1 WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=4 taskset -c 0-3 %command%. Using proton experimental as of 14 Jan 2026.

System information:

OS: Fedora 43
KERNEL: 6.18.4-200.fc43.x86_64
PLATFORM: Wayland
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU (discrete)
GPU DRIVER: NVIDIA 580.119.02
RAM: 16 GB

Replying to [#512 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/512#issuecomment-3639363288)

I had a strange issue with freezes/constant 1-5fps in the campaign map either straight after loading in or on quicksave/turn end. These lockups would result in 100% core 0 usage and consequently 0% gpu, causing the game to grind to a halt but not crash and remain interactive.
Moving the cursor to the second screen would "resolve" this deadlock and cause the game to resume at normal performance for a bit.

Trying different sync methods PROTON_NO_ESYNC, PROTON_NO_FSYNC, WINEFSYNC_FUTEX2 seemed to either do nothing or ostensibly "fix" this problem, but it comes back intermittently after playing for a while. Regardless of the launch flags (also tried WINE_SPINCOUNT=100 etc) the game pins most of its usage on core 0, using launch flags can change the behavior to become slightly more multithreaded but eventually the game will try to pin everything on core 0 again and stop yielding which causes a deadlock until cursor is moved to second monitor.

Something that modifies the behavior completely seems to be in the preferences.script.txt file the game generates in %appdata%. Setting explicit_thread_affinity false instead of default true has finally released core 0 from its torment. Looks like the OS is completely in charge of scheduling now. CPU load is distributed evenly on all cores (6C 12T), game plays as on windows or better without using any launch options. Using proton experimental as of 17th jan 26.

System Information:
OS: Arch Linux (flatpak Steam)
KERNEL: 6.18.3-zen1-1-zen
PLATFORM: KDE 6.5.4/Wayland
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6-Core
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6600M (radeonsi, navi23, LLVM 21.1.7, DRM 3.64, 6.18.3-zen1-1-zen)
GPU DRIVER: 4.6 Mesa 25.2.6 (git-3f12436d80)
RAM: 16 GB

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/512#issuecomment-3765639611

This unfortunately does not solve the stuttering I described here https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/512#issuecomment-3749119663. (all the SPINCOUNT, FUTEX2 and preferences.txt fixes)

Might be misunderstanding here, but, I removed all of my launch options from steam and just set explicit_thread_affinity to false in my Rome2 preferences.txt. With this I get 37 FPS. Before, using just the WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=3, which turned out to be the best in my 16/32 thread system, I get 87 fps. Adding the explicit_thread_affinity = false along with the WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=3 start flag and I see no differences.

So, not sure if I missed something here, but, I don't see the explicit_thread_affinity as really doing anything at all.

@Sporknife Yeah, I used gamescope for awhile for this very reason and it's just kind of a clunky workaround/hack. I really don't think this (and other Proton games) should auto-minimize when losing focus, or at least they should respect configurations telling them not to do that.