So you wanna do things the easy way? Pathetic... real Linux users would suffer for their gains.

Use the script I created, and it will automatically add all of the changes. Find it here [github.com]

shameful.

So you're a real Linux chad? Well mute your Discord Kitten, and follow along.

Finding your Proton Prefix - Manual Way

1. Goto your main Steam directory. Unless you have a secondary drive that you store games on, this directory should be located:
   
   cd /home/YOURUSERNAME/.steam/steam/
2. From here CD into the following folder.
   
   cd steamapps/compatdata/9480/pfx/

Finding your Proton Prefix - Automatic Way

1. Open a terminal, and use the 'find' command to find our path.
   
   find / -path "*/steamapps/compatdata/9480/pfx" -print -quit 2> /dev/null
2. After a few seconds, this will return the path to your Saints Row 2 Proton Prefix.

This will be the path you use later, so for this example my prefix path would be:

Installing Vulkan

1. Download DXVK from GitHub [github.com]
   
2. Once downloaded, extract the folder.
   
3. CD into the folder, and enter the 'x32' folder.
   
4. Copy 'd3d9.dll' and 'dxgi.dll' to your Saints Row 2 directory (Where the SR2_pc.exe is)
   
5. Go back to the folder you extracted previously, and CD into the folder with the shell script.
   
6. Run the shell script, specifying the prefix we found earlier.
   
   WINEPREFIX=/path/to/prefix/ ./setup_dxvk.sh install

Creating a custom config for Vulkan

1. CD into your Saints Row 2 game directory (Where the SR2_pc.exe is)
   
2. Create a new file and call it 'dxvk.conf'
   
3. Open it with a text editor and add
   
   dxgi.maxFrameLatency = 1
   d3d9.maxFrameLatency = 1
   dxgi.maxFrameRate = 60
   d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60
   Note: Make sure they are all on their own line.
   
4. Save and Exit.

Setting a custom resolution
This is the one time, it will be mandatory to install my script. I will not teach you how to do this manually.

1. Download the https://github.com/dontna/SaintsRow2-Proton-Fixer/blob/main/resolution_changer.sh shell script.
   
2. Once installed, give it execute permissions.
   
   chmod u+x resolution_changer.sh
3. Run the script passing in the arguments: [RESOLUTION_WIDTH] [RESOLUTION_HEIGHT] [PATH_TO_PREFIX] in that order.

This would set the in-game resolution to 1920x1080

The following example would set the resolution to 3440x1440

I haven't tested all possible resolutions but for any up to 3440x1440, this works perfectly.

Force the game to use Proton version 5.0-10

Once in game, if there are audio issues theres a fix below, goto: Setting > Display and change the "Dynamic Lighting" to "Simple" or "Off". This will improve performance massively.

If you experience a lot of crashing, play in Windowed mode. Also turning of HDR is something that helps people.

You may have some issues that need to be ironed out. If you downloaded and used my main script from earlier you can follow the steps in 'help.txt' to be able to fix these issues. To fix them manually follow these steps:

No Game Sound
This is an issue associated with running the game with an older Proton version.

1. Install Winetricks
   
2. In a Terminal write the following
   
   WINEPREFIX=/path/to/prefix/ winetricks --force xact

Nicely done chad. This won't 100% fix every issue and you will still get drops, however more times than not you'll be running at a playable framerate.

There are a few guides and tools that I need to give credit too. Without them, this guide would not be possible.

2022 Saints Row 2 PC Fix (Performance, Crashes) [Experimental] - This guide gave me the overview of what needed to be done to get the game running better. It was the first step in fixing the game for Proton. They also teach you how to install gentlemen of the row, which comes with even more stability improvements.

(MIRROR) Saints Row 2 Resolution Editor [www.saintsrowmods.com] - Whilst this tool didn't work for me personally, the error messages allowed me to figure out what the program was doing; allowing me to recreate the utility in my own script. The script may have not been created without this.