About
Empire Earth by Stainless Steel Studios (2001) is an epic real-time strategy game spanning 500,000 years of human history across 14 epochs, from the Prehistoric Age to the nano-technology future. The Steam release, "Empire Earth: Gold Edition" (app 254760), bundles the original game and "The Art of Conquest" expansion; the title was long unavailable on modern storefronts before its Steam re-release. On the Steam Deck it runs well under GE-Proton with a 60fps cap, making it an excellent couch RTS.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- Empire Earth.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Gold runs perfectly after tweaks
⚙ Setup notes
Getting Started
This recipe targets "Empire Earth: Gold Edition" on Steam (app 254760), the compilation
that bundles the original 2001 Empire Earth and "The Art of Conquest" expansion. The
title was long unavailable on modern storefronts but is purchasable on Steam today.
Install via Steam normally and force a Proton build under the game's Compatibility
settings. GE-Proton is the recommended runner; recent Proton Experimental / Proton 9
also run the game. ProtonDB community reports for app 254760 trend toward Gold-tier with
minor tweaks; treat this recipe as needs-test until verified on-device.
Which Executable Runs
The base game launches Empire Earth.exe. The expansion uses a separate executable,EE-AoC.exe, in the "Empire Earth - The Art of Conquest" subfolder; on Steam the
default Play button starts the base game's launcher. Run the base game once before the
expansion. Default install path is under Steam's common/Empire Earth Gold Edition.
Performance on Deck
Empire Earth is heavily single-threaded and CPU-bound, so it runs comfortably on Deck
hardware. Cap the framerate at 60fps via the Steam Deck's per-game performance overlay
(three-dot menu → Performance → Frame Limit = 60) and enable the system TDP limit to
keep the fan quiet and extend battery life.
Display & Resolution
The game was designed for 4:3 resolutions and does not natively support widescreen. On
the Deck's 16:10 screen, 1280x800 works with minor UI stretching; alternatively lock to
1024x768 via Options → Video and accept letterboxing. The community NeoEE patch and the
EE-modders community setup add higher-resolution support (up to 4K) plus a selectable
DirectX wrapper (dgVoodoo, DX7→DX12) that resolves minimap/rendering glitches on some
GPUs — apply these inside the Proton prefix if you want a sharper picture.
Framerate Cap & vsync
In-game vsync can cause microstutter under Proton. Disable in-game vsync and use the
Deck's system-level frame limiter instead (60fps cap as above).
Controls
Empire Earth is a mouse-and-keyboard RTS with no native controller support. Use a Steam
Input layout that maps the right trackpad to the mouse cursor and the left trackpad/grip
buttons to common hotkeys and camera controls; the community "RTS Trackpad" templates in
Steam Input are a good starting point.
Multiplayer / LAN
The original Sierra/GameSpy lobby servers are long defunct. The community NeoEE project
restores online lobby multiplayer for EE1 and Art of Conquest; LAN play also works for
local sessions. No official matchmaking remains.
The one thing to know
- Steam app ID is 254760 ("Empire Earth: Gold Edition" — includes The Art of Conquest).
- Base game runs Empire Earth.exe; the expansion uses EE-AoC.exe in its own subfolder.
- Single-threaded CPU load; cap at 60fps to avoid fan ramp-up and extend battery.
- 4:3 native aspect ratio, no native widescreen; slight UI stretching at 1280x800.
Community NeoEE / EE-modders setup adds hi-res (up to 4K) and a DirectX wrapper.
- Mouse/keyboard RTS with no controller support; needs a Steam Input trackpad layout.
- Original Sierra/GameSpy lobbies are offline; NeoEE restores online play, LAN also works.
- GE-Proton preferred over stock Proton for best compatibility.
- status = needs-test: ProtonDB tier and on-Deck behavior not yet personally verified.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.