About
Resident Evil 2 is a survival horror game in which rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield fight to escape a Raccoon City overrun by zombies during a viral outbreak. A landmark of the genre, it uses fixed pre-rendered camera angles, tank controls, and a two-scenario 'Zapping System' that interlocks the two characters' stories. Originally a 1998 PlayStation hit, it was ported to Windows 9x; that classic PC version went unsold and unavailable for decades. This recipe targets that 1998 PC version overhauled by the community Seamless HD Project mod, not the separate 2019 remake.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- RE2Launcher.exe
- Options
- WINEDLLOVERRIDES="dinput.dll,ddraw.dll=n,b" %command%
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Pending not enough reports yet
⚙ Setup notes
Mod: The Seamless HD Project — a community full-game mod that overhauls the 1998 PC Resident Evil 2 with HD pre-rendered backgrounds and seamless room transitions, built on Gemini's Classic REbirth. Needs the base game (bring your own legally-owned classic 90s PC copy).
Patch on Windows first: the Seamless HD Project / Classic REbirth patcher uses Windows APIs and will NOT run under Linux/Proton. Once the game folder is fully patched it copies over and runs fine on Deck.
Install: On Deck, install the base via Heroic, patch on Windows (Classic REbirth then the Seamless HD Project), copy the patched folder over, add the ddraw override above, and run under Proton-GE so the FMVs play.
Config: Classic REbirth replaces ddraw.dll and opens its own config window at launch — set Color to RGB888 (required by Seamless HD), leave Legacy Framerate unchecked; F8 toggles resolutions.
Filenames: Linux is case-sensitive, so keep all file/folder names exact.
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: The Seamless HD Project is a free community mod that needs the base game — bring your own legally-owned classic 90s PC copy.
Patch on Windows: The patcher is Windows-only, so patch the folder on a Windows PC, then copy it to the Deck (it runs fine under Proton afterward).
Launcher: Classic REbirth replaces the launcher with ddraw.dll; the in-folder exe is RE2Launcher.exe on the GOG release but may differ on other classic releases — confirm yours.
Known-good base: Classic REbirth + the ddraw override + Proton-GE (for FMVs), Color set to RGB888.
Controller: Works through the launcher, but the 'aim' button rebind resets each launch, so rebind it once per session.
Not the remake: appid 883710 is the 2019 remake (a different, still-for-sale game) — this recipe is the classic 1998 version, which is not on Steam.
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.