12/11/2024 Major Update For The BeamMP Launcher
A mere 6 hours after creating this post a major update dropped for the BeamMP launcher providing full native support for Linux, but only for the uncompiled version.
BeamMP now hosts an official Linux guide
For Steam Deck users
Before doing this you need to enter desktop mode, this can be done by holding the power button and selecting “Switch to Desktop”.
For read/write access, run sudo steamos-readonly disable in the terminal. You first need to set a user password, do this by running the passwd, I’m not sure how SteamOS handles users, this could be a login password so DON’T FORGET IT! It’s worth mentioning that any changes to the file system will be wiped in the next SteamOS update, this is of little concern as once the launcher is compiled you don’t need the building tools (until the next major BeamMP update).
The general guide starts here
First you need to clone and set up the vcpkg dependency manager. Open the terminal and type these commands
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
cd vcpkg && ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh --disableMetrics
Then run this command
export VCPKG_ROOT="~/vcpkg"
export PATH=$VCPKG_ROOT:$PATH
Now navigate back to the home folder
cd ~
Next up, we need to install some dependencies
Run ONLY the command for your distro or derivative.
Debian sudo apt install build-essential cmake git
Fedora sudo dnf groupinstall @development-tools git cmake
Arch sudo pacman -S base-devel git cmake
openSUSE sudo zypper in -t pattern devel-basis
Void sudo xbps-install -Rs base-devel git cmake
SteamOS sudo pacman -S base-devel git cmake linux-api-headers glibc libconfig
With all that done, we get to the fun stuff where you see lots of test fly up the terminal window like a real cool developer.
Using the terminal clone the BeamMP launcher repo
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/BeamMP/BeamMP-Launcher.git
Navigate into the directory
cd BeamMP-Launcher
Then run this script
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release . -B bin -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="~/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake" -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-linux
If (in game) you get the bug launcher-can-only-connect-to-a-server-once then omit
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release from the above command, this will download the debug version that doesn’t contain this bug
If all done correctly you should now see the glorious sight of mesmerizing text flying high up the terminal windows. If you installed the above mentioned packages and you get an error, then I don’t know what you’re missing. Double check the commands you’re using before requesting help here.
At last the final command (make sure terminal is in the BeamMP-Launcher directory).
cmake --build bin --parallel --config Release
One cool wall of text later and congratulations! you’ve successfully compiled the BeamMP launcher. It is located in ~/BeamMP-Launcher/bin/
This launcher can be run from anywhere and the folder of cache that it creates (also used for mods) is located at ~/.local/share/BeamNG.drive/
I hope this helps. Enjoy!
This was initially a support query and so the earliest comments will not necessarily reflect this post. I preserved post #12 because several posts already link to it.