The Steam Deck is my only gaming PC at this point, and in my transition from my full-size PC, I failed to realize that OpenTrack (despite being open source) has terrible Linux install support. Since other head tracking software is either Windows-only or is deprecated, I was at a loss when started using my wheel and pedals to play. Recently, I happened upon a Reddit post that I initially overlooked.
Mark made a script that you can run without needing root access so it should work on stock Decks. It essentially downloads and runs the Windows portable version of OpenTrack inside the game’s Proton container, as well as checks for and applies updates to OpenTrack on every launch. Once you have followed the steps, and added a launch command to Steam, OpenTrack should launch along with your game of choice.
I initially ran into a problem where OpenTrack would not launch. Steam would say it was launching an executable before the game lauch, but I got nothing. I submitted an issue tracker later that day, and Mark fixed the issue and it was working the next day.
Keep in mind that head tracking does eat up CPU resources and to temper your expectations. I decided to use arUco marker tracking over Neuralnet because of this. As an example, I play American Truck Simulator at 720p with mostly high settings and a locked 30 fps in desktop mode (I use the notebook vsync to force 30). The Steam Deck does get noticeably hotter, the fan is louder, and I get noticeably more stuttering with head tracking enabled vs. handheld mode. It’s not enough for me to have a problem with it, but ymmv.
I mainly wanted to make this post to express my appreciation and gratitude to Mark, and to help boost his SEO so more people from the Linux community can hopefully see this. I’m sure I’m not the only one who sim races/drives on Linux. I have linked a highlight from my Twitch stream last night if anyone is interested in seeing how it fairs (the bill of my hat cuts off the arUco marker at times and I plan to fix that soon).
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