How to play Galactic Civilizations III on Linux

Galactic Civilizations III is a strategy game developed by Stardock for Windows PCs. It is a sequel to Galactic Civilizations II and was first released in 2015. There’s currently no native port for Linux, but it is easy to get it working on Linux with some tweaks. Here’s how.

Getting Galactic Civilizations III working on Linux

Galactic Civilizations III works on Linux with the help of Valve’s unique Proton technology, which is built into the Steam for Linux client. As a result, we’ll need to go over how to install the Steam for Linux client.

Install Steam

To start the installation of Steam for Linux, open up a terminal window. Open up a terminal window on the desktop and press Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Alternatively, use the app menu and search for “terminal” to open it.

When the terminal window is open, the installation of Steam can begin. Using the instructions below that corresponds with the Linux operating system you currently use.

Ubuntu

To set up the Steam for Linux client on your Linux PC, use the apt install command below.

sudo apt install steam

Debian

To get the latest Steam working on Debian, you’ll need to download the DEB package to your computer. Using the wget command below, grab the newest Steam DEB package.

wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb

After downloading the latest Steam DEB package to your computer, the installation can begin. Using the dpkg command below, install Steam on Debian.

sudo dpkg -i steam.deb

Now that Steam is installed on Debian use the apt-get install -f command below to correct any installation problems that may have occurred.

sudo apt-get install -f

Arch Linux

Steam is available for users on Arch Linux through the “multilib” software repository. To set it up, start by opening up the /etc/pacman.conf file. From there, locate the “#multilib” line, and remove the # symbol from it, as well as directly below it. Then, save the edits.

After exiting editing, use the pacman command to re-sync with the official Arch Linux servers. After that, use the second pacman command to install the latest release of Steam.

sudo pacman -S steam

Fedora/OpenSUSE

If you’re using Fedora and OpenSUSE, you’ll be able to install Steam out of the box from software sources included in their respective operating systems. However, the Flatpak release of Steam works much better on Flatpak. We suggest following those instructions instead.

Flatpak

To get Steam working via Flatpak, start by installing the “flatpak” package. To install the Flatpak package, use the package manager on your computer. If you’re having issues setting it up, please follow our guide on the subject.

After setting up the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC, use the two commands below to get the Steam app installed.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam

Install Galactic Civilizations III on Linux

Now that Steam is installed launch the app and log in with your user account credentials. After that, follow the step-by-step instructions below to get Galactic Civilizations III working on Linux.

Step 1: To start, click on the “Steam” menu and select the “Settings” button to access the Steam settings area. Once inside of the settings area, find the “Steam Play” button, and click on it.

In the Steam Play area, click on the “OK” button to apply the changes. “Enable Steam Play for supported titles” box, as well as the “Enable Steam Play for all other titles” button.

Step 2: After setting up Steam Play, find the “Store” button and click on it with the mouse. From there, find the search box, and type in “Galactic Civilizations III.” Press the Enter key to view the search results.

Look through the search results and click on “Galactic Civilizations III” to access the game’s Steam Storefront page. Once on the page, locate the green “add to cart” button to add it to your Steam account’s cart. Then, use the cart to purchase the game to your account.

Step 3: Click on the “Library” button to access your Steam library. Inside the Steam library area, locate Galactic Civilizations III and click on it with the mouse. Then, locate the blue “INSTALL” button to start downloading and installing the game on your computer. The download shouldn’t take long.

Step 4: When the download is complete, Galactic Civilizations III will be installed on your Linux PC. From here, the blue “INSTALL” button will become a green “PLAY” button.

Click on the “PLAY” button to start up the game. Keep in mind, the first time you start up Galactic Civilizations III, it could take some time as Proton needs to configure everything. Be patient.