Wiki/wiki-rtd/docs/wiki_experiments/steam-lutris-launch/steam-lutris-launch.md

Launching Lutris & Steam Games from RetroDECK

This is a experiment made by the user murkl

Prerequisites

Information:

This experiment requires the flatpak-spawn permission, which breaks the sandbox environment that RetroDECK operates in. Therefore, we do not recommend attempting this unless you are confident in your understanding of the process and its implications.

Flatpak Spawn Permission

You can enable it by running this command in the terminal.

flatpak override --user --talk-name=org.freedesktop.Flatpak net.retrodeck.retrodeck

Folder structure

Type	Folder	Comment
Windows Roms Folder	retrodeck/roms/windows/

How-to Make .desktop files

Make an empty file with the <gamename>.desktop.

Example:

Ultima I.desktop and put it into the retrodeck/roms/windows/ folder.

How-to: Launch Lutris Games

Step 1: Create an empty desktop file

First, create the .desktop file as mentioned above with the game name and put it in the retrodeck/roms/windows/ folder.

Step 2: Get Identifier and Internal ID

1. Open Lutris.
2. In Lutris, Right Click the game -> Configure and make a note of your Internal ID under Identifier.
3. Make a note of the Identifier as well.

Example: Ultima I

Internal ID: 2

Identifier: ultima-i

Step 3: Populate the .desktop file

Open the .desktop file and populate it.

The files are different if you have the native version of Lutris installed or the Flatpak version.

Step 3a: Lutris (Native)

This for Lutris that is installed natively.

Copy this:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=NAMEHERE
Icon=lutris_IDENTIFIERHERE
Exec=env LUTRIS_SKIP_INIT=1 flatpak-spawn --host lutris lutris:rungameid/INTERNALIDHERE
Categories=Game

Change the values of:

• Name= NAMEHERE
• Icon= lutris_IDENTIFIERHERE
• Exec= rungameid/INTERNALIDHERE

Example: Ultima 1

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Ultima I
Icon=lutris_ultima-i
Exec=env LUTRIS_SKIP_INIT=1 flatpak-spawn --host lutris lutris:rungameid/2
Categories=Game

Step 3b: Lutris (Flatpak)

This for Lutris that is installed via Flatpak.

Copy this:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=NAMEHERE
Icon=lutris_IDENTIFIERHERE
Exec=env LUTRIS_SKIP_INIT=1 flatpak-spawn --host flatpak run net.lutris.Lutris lutris:rungameid/INTERNALIDHERE
Categories=Game

Change the values of:

• Name= NAMEHERE
• Icon= lutris_IDENTIFIERHERE
• Exec= rungameid/INTERNALIDHERE

Example: Ultima 1

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Ultima I
Icon=lutris_ultima-i
Exec=env LUTRIS_SKIP_INIT=1 flatpak-spawn --host flatpak run net.lutris.Lutris lutris:rungameid/2
Categories=Game

How-to: Launch Steam Games

Step 1: Create an empty desktop file

First, create the .desktop file as mentioned above with the game name and put it in the retrodeck/roms/windows/ folder.

Step 2: Get the Steam AppID

1. Open Steam.
2. In Steam, go to Library -> Right Click the game -> Properties -> Updates.
3. Make a note of the AppID.

Example: ASTLIBRA Revision

App ID: 1718570

Step 3: Populate the .desktop file

Open the .desktop file and populate it.

The files are different if you have the native version of Steam installed or the Flatpak version.

Step 3a: Steam (Native)

This for Steam that is installed natively.

Copy this:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=G NAMEHERE
Icon=steam_icon_APPIDHERE
Exec=flatpak-spawn --host steam -silent steam://rungameid/APPIDHERE
Categories=Game

Change the values of:

• Name= NAMEHERE
• Icon= steam_APPIDHERE
• Exec= rungameid/APPIDHERE

Example: ASTLIBRA Revision

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=ASTLIBRA Revision
Icon=steam_icon_1718570
Exec=flatpak-spawn --host steam steam://rungameid/1718570
Categories=Game

Step 3b: Steam (Flatpak)

This for Steam that is installed via Flatpak.

Copy this:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=G NAMEHERE
Icon=steam_icon_APPIDHERE
Exec=flatpak-spawn --host flatpak run com.valvesoftware.Steam -silent steam://rungameid/APPIDHERE
Categories=Game

Change the values of:

• Name= NAMEHERE
• Icon= steam_APPIDHERE
• Exec= rungameid/APPIDHERE

Example: ASTLIBRA Revision

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=ASTLIBRA Revision
Icon=steam_icon_1718570
Exec=flatpak-spawn --host flatpak run com.valvesoftware.Steam -silent steam://rungameid/1718570
Categories=Game

The Last Step: Launch the Games via RetroDECK & Scrape

After the .desktop files have been created and everything is working as expected, RetroDECK will recognize the .desktop file the next time you start it. The games will appear under the Windows tab in ES-DE. If you have named the games correctly, there is a good chance that the scraper will identify them.