NIKKE on Linux - Complete Installation Guide

First of all, happy new year (maybe?)

Important Warning

Just letting you know ahead of time, your account can be banned! I’ve been playing since the initial post without any issues, but do this at your own risk!

My Configuration

• OS: Arch Linux (Wayland)
• Compositor: Hyprland
• CPU: i7 9700KF
• GPU: RX 7800 XT
• RAM: 32GB

IG Performance: Similar to Windows.

Note: You might have to do some tweaking if you’re using a different distro.

Requirements

• Steam
• DWPROTON or Proton GE (I’m using 10-27, but 10-25 and CachyOS Proton also work)
• Windows OR use a manual fix; (I'll explain later)
  • Note: If you choose Windows, it will only be the initial install; once you have them in your pendrive, you won’t need to use Windows to reinstall the game at all.

Installation Steps

1. Download the windows version on their official website
2. Run the installer with w/e program you’re familiar with. For example, Lutris, Heroic, Faugus, and so on. In my case, I used Heroic to install the game.
3. Just run the initial installer; it won’t download anything, because it’s missing some dependencies from Windows, but it will create a NIKKE folder under your prefix (if you already know where the folder is supposed to be placed in your prefix, you can skip this part)

Initial setup (Only for the first time)

Manual fix (recommended)

1. You can skip the Windows step entirely by following the steps available here: link (Credits to Dorin for finding the fix)

Windows (alternative)

1. Open Windows, and install the launcher. For reference, I installed the whole game (~22 GB), but you can try with just the initial client files…
2. Copy the whole NIKKE directory to a USB or upload it somewhere, idk.

• The folder is inside the c_drive.

Set Up Steam and Create the Wineprefix

1. Back to your Linux, add a game to Steam using one of the launcher executable files, specifically “NIKKE/Launcher/nikke_launcher.exe”
2. Go to properties on the game (in Steam) and set compatibility layer to Proton GE.
3. Launch it once to create the wineprefix.

*Note: you might need to start/cancel a few times, you can see the comments to understand why.*

Copy Game Files to the Wineprefix

1. Find your prefix:

   • If you’re using Steam directly, navigate to the wineprefix that Steam created:

     • It can be found in ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/
     • Non-steam games have a random 10-digit folder name. I recommend sorting by the latest modified to try and find the right folder.

   • If you aren’t using Steam, you will have to find it manually to update the files.

2. Inside of that folder, you will find the wineprefix. Drop the NIKKE folder (from Windows install) into the drive_c folder directly.

Configure Steam Launch Settings

1. Go back to the properties of the game you added in Steam and adjust where it will look for the executable:

• Set the path to the wineprefix steam created, where we just put the NIKKE folder in
• You can also update the “start in” folder, but this might not be necessary.
• Disable Steam overlay just in case

Launch the Game

1. Launch the game through Steam. It will open the launcher, log in like normal, and launch the game.

*Note: you might need to start/cancel a few times, you can see the comments to understand why.*

Congratz, you have NIKKE running under wine!

Known Issues & Troubleshooting

It’s not really plug-and-play, but it’s working for now.

Startup Issues

It’s quite annoying to start the launcher through Steam sometimes:

• Having to start/cancel 3-10 times before the game opens (timeout issue)
• Anti-Cheat complains on first launch, but restarting fixes it.

Minor Bugs

• The launcher will never remember your password. You have to re-enter it every time you launch the game.
• The game also sometimes forgets your server location. You have to select your region at launch when it forgets.
• Sometimes, an anti-cheat error pops up, and it can be mitigated by relaunching the game.
• When quitting the game, you will have to click on “STOP” on Steam.

Possible fixes

• DWPROTON seems to perform better and I don't have to restart as often as I had to with Proton GE.
• fix restart issue

Long-term Usage Update

For any1 wondering, I have been playing every single day, and it’s still working! No bans so far, and the anti-cheat isn’t complaining at all.