Setting up Plutonium on the Steam Deck (and Linux) (LAN only)

techboy04gaming

With the Steam Decks release, this allows more users on Linux platforms with the use of SteamOS which is an Arch Linux distro. With that, there are currently some restrictions to playing games on the device such as games that contain an Anti Cheat that doesnt really focus on Linux side of things. Plutonium is no exception.

For awhile however, Plutonium was able to be run no problem on the original (LCD) models until some dingus cheated and triggered the anti cheat, thus banning every Steam Deck with this model. This is due to each device having the same HWID. The OLED models fix this issue it seemed. But that doesnt mean you cant play the client! Well sorta, you cant play online but you CAN play on LAN mode. So heres a lil guide on how to do so.

Requirements:

A Steam Deck, this was made with Original model in mind but OLED might work too.
The game you want on Steam.
Some basic knowledge on how to navigate the file explorer. Google IS free if you are confused on how to do something.

Benefits

Be able to play Plutonium on a handheld
The ability to play offline!
Take advantage of Plutoniums updates

First, launch in Desktop mode

Method 1 - Lutris Script (Recommended)

I personally highly recommend this one as the folder structure is simple to navigate to incase you were to add scripts or mods or do anything in the Plutonium folder.

Download Lutris, you can get this in many ways, on Steam Deck, you can through the Discover app.
Upon opening Lutris, click on Add Game, then Search for Game
Search for Call of Duty Black Ops II
- Do this regardless of what game you intend to play.
- Alternatively you can directly download it here.
Install the Plutonium script
Wait for the install to complete, this may take awhile.
Once the script installs, you should be able to see Black Ops II on the Lutris home page.

Updating launcher directly

Open the folder where Plutonium is installed. /home/deck/Games/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/drive_c/Plutonium/ And look for Plutonium.exe
Add it as a non steam, either right click it and select Add to Steam, or add it via Steam client.
Right click the newly added Plutonium.exe on Steam, and in the Launch Options, put in -update-only
Run it once so it updates everything needed.

Adding a Game and a Mode

Find the plutonium-bootstrapper.exe file
- You can do this by going into /home/deck/Games/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/drive_c/users/deck/AppData/Local/Plutonium/bin/ and find the plutonium-bootstrapper-win32.exe and add it to Steam similar to what you did to Plutonum.exe before.
In the Start in box, make sure the path is /home/deck/Games/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/drive_c/users/deck/AppData/Local/Plutonium
In the launch options, youll need to enter some params. A template would be something like <gamemode> <gamepath> +name <name> -lan
- <gamemode>
  - t6zm - Bo2 Zombies
  - t6mp - Bo2 Multiplayer
  - t5sp - Bo1 Zombies
  - t5mp - Bo1 Multiplayer
  - t4sp - WaW Zombies
  - t4mp - WaW Multiplayer
  - iw5mp - MW3 Multiplayer
- <gamepath>
  - Where your selected game is installed, if you dont know, on Steam, right click the game of choice, click Browse Local Files, and the path will pop up, you can use Copy Path if needed.
  - Make sure you also include commas between the path.
- <name>
  - Put a name, any name really.
- Example: t6zm "/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Call of Duty Black Ops II/" +name Deck -lan
  - This will launch Black Ops 2 Zombies where Black Ops 2 is installed which here is the Steam Decks internal storage
Test it, launch the game. If it directly launches the game with no issue, then congrats!

Method 2 - Steam Proton

Ive tried this method in the past but as time goes by I realize that this doesnt work out personally.

Download Plutonium.exe
Add Plutonium.exe as a non Steam game and run it with Proton. I used 8.0
Once the launcher gets installed and everything, the launcher will open up like normal
If youre impatient (understandable) you CAN stop here but you wont be able to access the game offline and will have to keep selecting LAN mode every time.

If you wanna continue:

Close the launcher.
In the file explorer (or Dolphin thats called on SteamOS), find where Plutonium is installed at. My knowledge for this is limited and im unsure if there is an easier way to open it so youll have to search around. Find the Plutonium folder, should have files like bin in it. Remember this and from now on I will refer it as <root path in this guide.
Find where plutonium-bootstrapper-win32.exe is located. Should be in <root path>/bin/plutonium-bootsrapper-win32.exe
Add it as non steam.
In the Start in box, make sure the path is <root path>
In the launch options, youll need to enter some params. A template would be something like <gamemode> <gamepath> +name <name> -lan
- <gamemode>
  - t6zm - Bo2 Zombies
  - t6mp - Bo2 Multiplayer
  - t5sp - Bo1 Zombies
  - t5mp - Bo1 Multiplayer
  - t4sp - WaW Zombies
  - t4mp - WaW Multiplayer
  - iw5mp - MW3 Multiplayer
- <gamepath>
  - Where your selected game is installed, if you dont know, on Steam, right click the game of choice, click Browse Local Files, and the path will pop up, you can use Copy Path if needed.
  - Make sure you also include commas between the path.
- <name>
  - Put a name, any name really.
- Example: t6zm "/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Call of Duty Black Ops II/" +name Deck -lan
  - This will launch Black Ops 2 Zombies where Black Ops 2 is installed which here is the Steam Decks internal storage
Set Steam Compatibility to Proton 8.0 or any other Proton that works.

NOTE Im actually unsure if the <gamepath> in this method uses the SteamOS path or uses Wines path. I will add a section here if I find out how to find the Wine path but a simple google search wouldnt hurt.

Lastly, we need the updater

Open the folder where Plutonium.exe is at and add as non steam. Or if you kept your shortcut of plutonium.exe earlier, use that.
Right click Plutonium.exe on Steam, and in the Launch Options, put in -update-only

BONUS - Personalizing your shortcuts.

If you wanna add some, pizzaz to your shortcuts. Simply get the unique art from SteamDB! Im going to go over an easier way that will involve downloading Decky Loader to the Deck.

Install Decky Loader via decky.xyz, follow the instructions there, im gonna assume you completed it from now on.
In the Plugins Store, find SteamDB and download it.
Once its loaded, press Back button on the shortcut to open the quick menu, you might have to reopen it for the option to appear.
Select Change Artwork
In Search for a game, look up the game and mode you want, something like Plutonium Black Ops II - Zombies or just Plutonium Launcher
Pick all the artwork and stuff you want made by the community (they are really good).

Plutonium