Issue

If you've ever tried to play older games like Medal of Honor (2010) or even some newer titles like Tropico 6, you might have encountered errors such as "This application requires Microsoft Visual C++ to run" or "General protection fault", regardless of the Proton version you choose. The first error is fairly straightforward; it tells you that you need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ redistributables. The "General protection fault" error, in my experience, is usually caused by missing Nvidia PhysX files. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to install both of these dependencies. If you're ready, let's begin!

Important note before we begin: Since the Steam Deck creates individual prefixes for every game you install, you'll need to repeat these steps for each game that shows these errors.

Links to the downloadables

• Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
• NVIDIA PhysX System Software

Steps to follow

• Switch to "Desktop Mode" on your Steam Deck.
• Go to the folder where your game is installed, find the game's executable (for example: "game.exe"), and rename it to "game_.exe". Leave it in the same folder.
• Copy the respective installer/setup file (Microsoft Visual C++ or NVIDIA PhysX System Software) into the same folder, and rename the setup file to "game.exe" so that Steam will launch it when you hit the play button.
• Click the play button on Steam. This will run the setup file and install the necessary/missing files for this game only.
• After installation, delete the installer from your game folder and rename your original executable from "game_.exe" back to "game.exe".

If you're having a hard time finding where your game files are located, you can install Protontricks and check the prefix of your game there. Then, you just need to go to the compatdata folder and find the matching prefix. An example directory would look like this:

• home > .local > share > steam > steamapps > compatdata > 12345678910 > pfx > drive_c > program files x86 or in another folder, depending on how the game is structured

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