Running the Raven launcher on Linux

There are two downloads and they contain exactly the same launcher. Pick
whichever suits you. If you have no idea, take the first one.


OPTION A: the .tar.gz  (fewest steps)

1. Download the .tar.gz file.

2. Right click it and choose Extract Here. You will get a folder. Put that
   folder somewhere you will find it again, for example inside your Home
   folder.

3. Open the folder and double click IchaLaunch-linux-x86_64.

That is all. This version needs no permission fiddling, because the archive
remembers that the file is a program.


OPTION B: the .AppImage  (one file, shows up in your menu)

1. Download the .AppImage file.

2. Right click it, choose Properties, open the Permissions tab, and tick
   "Allow executing file as program". Some systems call it "Is executable".
   Linux will not open a downloaded file until you do this once.

3. Double click it. If your desktop offers to add it to your applications
   menu, say yes.

The AppImage needs FUSE, which nearly every desktop already has. If it stops
with "Cannot mount AppImage, please check your FUSE setup", it will not fall
back on its own. Either install your distribution's fuse package (fuse3 on
most, libfuse2 on a few), run it from a terminal as

    ./Raven_Launcher-<version>-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run

or simply use the .tar.gz instead.


IF IT WILL NOT START

Open a terminal in that folder and run one of these, then press Enter:

    ./IchaLaunch-linux-x86_64
    ./Raven_Launcher-<version>-x86_64.AppImage

Whatever it prints is the useful part. Paste that, and say which Linux you
are on, and it is usually obvious straight away. Three lines have known
meanings:

* "version 'GLIBC_2.33' not found" means the system is too old. It needs
  Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 39, or anything newer than those.

* "libGL.so.1: cannot open shared object file" means the Mesa graphics
  libraries are missing, which only happens on very bare installs.

* "failed to map segment from shared object" means /tmp does not allow
  programs to run there. Start it with TMPDIR pointing at a folder that
  does, for example: TMPDIR=/var/tmp ./IchaLaunch-linux-x86_64


A FEW THINGS WORTH KNOWING

* The launcher itself is a normal Linux program. It does not need Wine or
  Proton to start. Those are only used for the game, and the launcher
  fetches umu-launcher for that by itself.

* Updates: the launcher checks for new versions on its own. If it says there
  is no update for your package, download the new one from the same place
  you got this one and replace the old file. Your game folder and your
  addons are not touched.

* On a Steam Deck or a Steam Machine, do all of this in Desktop Mode. Once
  it runs, right click it and choose Add to Steam if you want it in Game
  Mode.
