About
The Suffering is a 2004 psychological-horror action game by Surreal Software, played from a switchable first/third-person view. You play Torque, a death-row inmate at the haunted Abbott State Penitentiary on Carnate Island, who survives a supernatural breakout and battles grotesque creatures themed around methods of execution. Creature designs were contributed by Stan Winston Studio, and the game was praised for its atmosphere, gore, and morality-driven multiple endings. It spawned a 2005 sequel, Ties That Bind; the PC version never reached Steam and the retail disc relies on SafeDisc DRM that fails on modern systems.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- Suffering.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
⚙ Setup notes
Game: 2004 Surreal Software horror action game (Midway). Never released on Steam; a freeware build was published in 2008 and Warner Bros. later put it on GOG (2017) — bring your own copy.
Proton: Runs under GE-Proton (confirmed playable on Linux via Lutris).
DRM: Use the freeware or GOG build. The original retail disc uses SafeDisc DRM, which fails under modern Windows/Wine.
Display: Recommend the community AiO/widescreen patch for native widescreen + FOV + HUD/FMV correction; it also marks the exe Windows-version/high-DPI aware.
Fix: Cap framerate to ~59fps to avoid the high-FPS sped-up audio/dialogue bug. The community AiO patch ships its own 59 FPS limiter; otherwise cap via MangoHud/driver V-sync.
Controller: No native gamepad support — bind a Steam Input keyboard/mouse layout (gyro + right-stick mouse) for full controller play on Deck. Community confirms a Steam Input layout plays the whole game fine.
Install: Normal install (GOG/freeware) then run Suffering.exe. Enable DirectPlay so the installer/runtime doesn't error.
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: Use the 2008 freeware or GOG build — the retail disc's SafeDisc DRM is broken on modern systems.
Steam: Never on Steam (steam_appid stays empty).
Controller: No native controller support — use a Steam Input keyboard/mouse layout (counts as the gamepad path).
Display: Apply the community AiO/widescreen patch for resolution/FOV, and cap to 60fps to fix high-FPS audio.
Binary: Main exe is Suffering.exe in the install folder.
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.