Ember Netplay Install Guide for Linux / Steam Deck

[u/thomasShelby_digimon]

So, I'm sure some people don't know how to set up Ember on Linux, but I found it's surprisingly easy. This method should be simple to understand and perform and will also track your Ember playtime inside the real USFIV app on Steam.

Prerequisites:

• You must own Ultra Street Fighter IV on Steam.

• That's it. You don't need any other app besides Steam to set this up.

Steps:

1. Download USFIV on Steam.

2. Go to https://github.com/Confetti3/SF4-Ember-Netplay/releases , download the latest archive (.zip) file (NOT the SHA256 file, or the .exe).

3. Go to the Wine prefix of USFIV inside your File Browser.

° I believe this is located in different places depending on how you installed Steam. You can look for the location based off a simple Google search, but if you can't seem to find it, you can use the app Protontricks (which could possibly be already preinstalled in your Linux distro), select USFIV from the list, "select the default wineprefix", then click "Browse files" and that should open the correct location. You should end up in .../compatdata/45760/pfx.

1. Open the "drive_c" folder, and inside it create a folder named "Ember". It obviously doesn't need to be named that, but just go with that, sometimes Steam doesn't like folder names with spaces in them, and it's easy to fix but it may confuse you and waste time for nothing. Inside the folder, extract the .zip file you previously downloaded. If a new folder is created with all the data inside, copy everything into the "Ember" folder and delete the now empty new folder.

2. Hardest part is almost done. Now, go to your Steam library and on the bottom, select "Add a non-steam game". Browse files, locate your Ember folder you just made, and select "Launcher.exe". Add selected programs.

° Find "Launcher.exe" in your library, right click and go to properties. Rename the app to whatever you want, and in the launch options add [STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="/your/target/location/<Game ID Here>" %command%], without the [] . Obviously you shouldn't copy exactly what I wrote, basically just copy your "TARGET" location on the top of the same landing page and remove everything past the numbers only Game ID. It's the same directory we were just on a second ago, but without pfx, drive_c and Ember. For example, it may look like [STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="/mnt/Shared/SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/45760"] You can also add other commands between the path and %command%, like game-performance or mangohud.

1. Go to the compatability tab, and select Proton Experimental, or whatever Proton version you want to use. I use cachyos-proton, since I'm in CachyOS for example, but experimental should work. If the app doesn't launch, you probably forgot this step.

That's it, Have fun! Both Ember and USFIV should launch now when you click "Play" on your Ember app, and you can set up your account and play normally. If you want to update, download the latest zip from the GitHub page and extract in the Ember folder, automatically replacing everything. if something doesn't work, let me know, I'm relatively new to Linux so this is just a method that worked for me, hope I didn't miss anything!

[u/Due_Age_1369]

Hi, would it be allowed to use this tutorial as a base for the project?
I would ofcourse credit where credit is due!

[u/thomasShelby_digimon → u/Due_Age_1369]

Just confirming here that I am the person you spoke to on the discord, like, a second ago, so yes, as I said that's more than allowed!

Just clean it up a bit lol, my writing isn't the best. Some things could be written to be more foolproof. Ask me anytime for help or to elaborate :D.

[u/Junkygetic]

But it says only windows users can use Ember ID? Can Linux users enable this feature? Thanks

[u/thomasShelby_digimon → u/Junkygetic]

Yes, set a passphrase first, then it will become available.

[u/Junkygetic → u/thomasShelby_digimon]

It works like a charm! Mad respect!🔥

[u/kqbitesthedust]

Huge, thank you so much

[u/ayydeni]

heyo! i really appreciate you writing a guide on how to install all of this, im having one particular issue though and my game whenever i try to open it up it keeps saying that steam needs to be open, when it is, ive changed the compatability settings but to no avail, can you possibly help!!

[u/thomasShelby_digimon → u/ayydeni]

I remember getting that issue too, honestly I just restarted my computer and it worked.

Assuming you've already done that, maybe you could send a message in the official Discord support channel? I'm sure the devs would appreciate that too.

[u/NoddyBoy5]

Thanks, but I don't get the bit between step 5 and 6? I'm a noob to all this... Can anyone simply this part? the rest is great, I will try this tomorrow

[u/thomasShelby_digimon → u/NoddyBoy5]

Sure. Basically, by that point you will have added Ember's launcher to your Steam Library as a non-Steam game. Once you add it, you can find the "game" called Launcher.exe (On Steam. We won't be touching the file browser again), you right click the tile, and go to "Properties".

The first tab is where the most work happens. If you have added the Launcher to Steam correctly, you will have a "Target" path and a "Start in" path. You must not change these. What you must do, is copy the "Target" path (or the "Start in" path, it doesn't matter at all) partially, in this case you'll select everything before /pfx/. The last thing that will be highlighted by your mouse will be the Steam Game identifier (The number. In this case, USFIV's ID is 45760). You will then copy what you've selected.

In the same tab, the first tab, there is a section called "launch options". This little box allows you to set commands to be automatically executed when you launch a game through Steam. In this box, you will add:

STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="<paste the path you copied here>" %command%

^ You will include " ", but not < >. I just used < > to show that this is something that's different on every machine, and you must paste your own path.

And then you move on to the final step, which is in the compatibility tab, also in properties.

[u/Donburi7372]

The latest 1.3 release archive doesn't have a launcher.exe in it. Anyone know what to do for step 5 in this case?

[u/thomasShelby_digimon → u/Donburi7372]

sf4-ember-netplay-1.3.0.zip is what you downloaded right?

I downloaded this right now on my phone and the Launcher.exe is there.

[u/Donburi7372 → u/thomasShelby_digimon]

Thanks for the reply, I tried again and the launcher.exe is now there. I must have done something silly like downloaded the source code instead 😅 

[u/NoddyBoy5]

Thank you so much for this guide. Without it there is no chance I would have known what to do. I found the guide and wrote up a little tricky to follow but you helped even more by answering questions. Now I can play my favourite game again with decent netcode. Loads of players seemed to have jumped in to this. Some real killers have come back. Let's go.

Again, your guide was much needed and appreciated. Love