(Solved) Dota 2 horrible Vulkan!

[Sparro0w]

Good afternoon everyone ( 12:21 PM GMT 3+ Brazil )

I recently decided to install Dota 2 on my Kubuntu 21.04 distro.

The in-game rendering API I'm currently using is Vulkan. The problem is that the game gets a horrible stutter when it starts a game, after about 10 seconds it disappears, but when it enters a Team Fight the stutter returns "Simply when some effect didn't appear in the game". Is some form of correction or Dota 2 not so optimized on Vulkan? With the release of Zorin OS 16 Core, I also ran some tests, and I get the same result. I'm currently running on the strongest pc I have at the moment, and on it the current distro is Zorin OS 16 Core. Kubuntu I left for other matters.

 

[f33dm3bits]

I've never played it so no idea, but did you enable Vulkan DLC support for Dota 2? See step 5 and 7?

What Is Vulkan And How To Enable It On Dota 2

We explain, in simple words, what the Vulkan API is, where it comes from, how you can enable Vulkan support on Valve's Dota 2 and why you'd want to do that.

www.geekcosmos.com

Also there seems to be plenty of issues open on github for Dota-2-vulkan, maybe your issue is listed there if not you can create an issue?

Issues · ValveSoftware/Dota-2-Vulkan

Tracker for issues specific to the Vulkan version of Dota 2 on Windows, Linux, and macOS - Issues · ValveSoftware/Dota-2-Vulkan

github.com

You could als try running it through Proton instead of running it native and then use Direct3D11 or 12 if Dota 2 supports it, I use Direct3D12 when I play Serious Sam 4.

 

[Sparro0w]

I've never played it so no idea, but did you enable DLC support for Dota 2? See step 5 and 7?

What Is Vulkan And How To Enable It On Dota 2

We explain, in simple words, what the Vulkan API is, where it comes from, how you can enable Vulkan support on Valve's Dota 2 and why you'd want to do that.

www.geekcosmos.com

Also there seems to be plenty of issues open on github for Dota-2-vulkan, maybe your issue is listed there if not you can create an issue?

Issues · ValveSoftware/Dota-2-Vulkan

Tracker for issues specific to the Vulkan version of Dota 2 on Windows, Linux, and macOS - Issues · ValveSoftware/Dota-2-Vulkan

github.com

You could als try running it through Proton instead of running it native and then use DX11 or DX12, I use DX12 when I play Serious Sam 4.

I'll read both links you gave me, so I'll respond. I can also try the proton.

 

[Sparro0w]

I've never played it so no idea, but did you enable Vulkan DLC support for Dota 2? See step 5 and 7?

What Is Vulkan And How To Enable It On Dota 2

We explain, in simple words, what the Vulkan API is, where it comes from, how you can enable Vulkan support on Valve's Dota 2 and why you'd want to do that.

www.geekcosmos.com

Also there seems to be plenty of issues open on github for Dota-2-vulkan, maybe your issue is listed there if not you can create an issue?

Issues · ValveSoftware/Dota-2-Vulkan

Tracker for issues specific to the Vulkan version of Dota 2 on Windows, Linux, and macOS - Issues · ValveSoftware/Dota-2-Vulkan

github.com

You could als try running it through Proton instead of running it native and then use Direct3D11 or 12 if Dota 2 supports it, I use Direct3D12 when I play Serious Sam 4.

After some time trying some alternatives:

• I tried to set Vulkan support in-game, in properties, and it doesn't exist. This option is only for Dota 2 running on Windows.
• Tried to add some startup commands in order to try to run Dota 2 native, with no success.
• It looks like the OpenGL API is even worse on Dota 2, or at least on AMD cards. The game opens but when you enter the game, the screen freezes and goes black with the game's sound running in the background, you can exit just by opening the system monitor and killing the process.
• After a few more tweaks and with no success in native DOta 2, I tried to run it on Proton 6.3.5, and I was unsuccessful. I didn't give up and tried with ProtonGE in the last stable version and got success.
• I hope that with the release of the Steam Deck, native Linux games become a reality. The truth is that many native games run well, but sometimes Proton gives us a better result.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Do you need an account to play the game, I can try installing it on my system to see how it runs if an account is not needed? But you have it working to satisfaction now? Yes it will be interesting to see what kind of effect the Steam Deck has on Linux gaming.

 

[TheProf]

After some time trying some alternatives:

• I tried to set Vulkan support in-game, in properties, and it doesn't exist. This option is only for Dota 2 running on Windows.
• Tried to add some startup commands in order to try to run Dota 2 native, with no success.
• It looks like the OpenGL API is even worse on Dota 2, or at least on AMD cards. The game opens but when you enter the game, the screen freezes and goes black with the game's sound running in the background, you can exit just by opening the system monitor and killing the process.
• After a few more tweaks and with no success in native DOta 2, I tried to run it on Proton 6.3.5, and I was unsuccessful. I didn't give up and tried with ProtonGE in the last stable version and got success.
• I hope that with the release of the Steam Deck, native Linux games become a reality. The truth is that many native games run well, but sometimes Proton gives us a better result.

Based on what I've read, just because the game is native on Linux, doesnt necessarily mean it will work better. I think in the future, Proton will definitely be the way to go for gaming, at least from what I've read.

With steam deck, it will use proton to run steam games. And just an FYI, proton in itself is native to linux, it just takes the calls that windows apps make and translates them into APIs that linux has access to. It is not really an emulation layer.

Proton also provides things like cross platform support, which would be more difficult to do with a native linux game... In other words there are a lot of advantages to using Proton it seems.

 

[f33dm3bits]

I just installed Dota 2 and launched and it runs just fine as far as I can tell, no stuttering and also launched with Vulkan. I didn't actually play because I don't know how the game works, also I saw an option for Opengl instead of Vulkan. Have you tried that?

 

[TheProf]

Just tried as well, worked right out of the box from Steam. I did have some minor stuttering in the intro video, but in game, works really well. I am also using Vulkan.

 

[Sparro0w]

As you said above, the game is running perfectly.

One thing I don't understand... Some users report gameplay stutters "including me", others run perfectly... Maybe my RX 480 8GB isn't enough to run a game on a Linux system?

Or maybe I installed the wrong Mesa 3D, and the Xanmod 5.13 kernel is unstable?

So far I've been able to run on ProtonGE at 130fps without stuttering. But with Vulkan I was not successful. They stutter from time to time.

Maybe I haven't installed my open source drivers correctly?

 

[f33dm3bits]

Maybe I haven't installed my open source drivers correctly?

I'm running stock kernel with Vulkan RADV and I by use Proton testing by default and if that doesn't work I use ProtonGE. Under Ubuntu I would think these are the Vulkan RADV drivers.

mesa-vulkan-drivers - Mesa Vulkan graphics drivers

 

[f33dm3bits]

One thing I don't understand... Some users report gameplay stutters "including me", others run perfectly... Maybe my RX 480 8GB isn't enough to run a game on a Linux system?

Your graphics card meets the minimum requirement and the game was launched in 2013 so it shouldn't be a problem.

OS: Ubuntu 12.04 or newer
Processor: Dual core from Intel or AMD at 2.8 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA Geforce 8600/9600GT (Driver v331), AMD HD 2xxx-4xxx (Driver mesa 10.5.9), AMD HD 5xxx+ (Driver mesa 10.5.9 or Catalyst 15.7), Intel HD 3000 (Driver mesa 10.6)
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 15 GB available space
Sound Card: OpenAL Compatible Sound Car

 

[Sparro0w]

Your graphics card meets the minimum requirement and the game was launched in 2013 so it shouldn't be a problem.

Not a problem, with proton I'm running on Ultra at 130 fps... And Dota honestly doesn't require that much... actually my card runs on ultra but I don't play on ultra all the time. I prefer to leave the graphics low to have a better view of the game... normally in Competitive it does that. I'm trying to run the game on Vulkan without the stutters

I'm reading some articles, soon I'll be here again bringing more results.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Not a problem, with proton I'm running on Ultra at 130 fps... And Dota honestly doesn't require that much...

Fps isn't everything.

 

[Sparro0w]

Fps isn't everything.

I managed to solve the stuttering problem using the Vulkan API.

As I'm a new Linux user, coming from Windows I've always disabled shader download for OpenGL and Vulkan inside Steam.

Enabling this option and putting Download in the background, it seems that everything works normal, except for crashes lasting 5 seconds every time I start the game. I looked up about it and it looks like it's normal and there's no solution.

Result: At least now I can run the game natively running on Vulkan, that's what I've always wanted to do.

NOTE
​

"There are reports from gamers that even with shaders for Vulkan and OpenGL, Dota 2 can stutter in its first 20 minutes after the first installation of the native Linux game. This is normal, and depends on your Hardware, these symptoms are not present on AMD RX 500 Series, RX 5000 and 6000 Series cards."

__________________________________________________________________________________

My problem was finally fixed. This topic can be closed.

Thanks to everyone who gave me attention and help.

 

[TheProf]

Glad you got it working!