🎮 play.nix

A NixOS flake for gaming on Wayland with Gamescope integration and declarative configuration.

Features

Gamescope Integration: Intelligent wrapper with monitor-aware defaults (HDR, VRR, resolution)
Application Wrappers: Create custom game launchers that run through Gamescope
AMD GPU Support: LACT daemon and performance optimizations
Gaming Stack: Steam with Proton-CachyOS, Lutris, Gamemode, and process scheduling

Installation

Add to your flake.nix:

{
  inputs = {
    play-nix.url = "github:TophC7/play.nix";
    # chaotic.url = "github:chaotic-cx/nyx/nyxpkgs-unstable"; # Not needed, but useful
  };

  outputs = { play-nix, chaotic, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.yourhostname = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      modules = [
        play-nix.nixosModules.play
        # chaotic.nixosModules.default
      ];
    };
  };
}

Configuration

NixOS Configuration

play = {
  amd.enable = true;           # AMD GPU optimization
  steam.enable = true;         # Steam with Proton-CachyOS
  lutris.enable = true;        # Lutris game manager
  gamemode.enable = true;      # Performance optimization
  ananicy.enable = true;       # Process scheduling
};

Home Manager Configuration

{
  config,
  osConfig, # This config only works with home-manager as a nixos module
  lib,
  pkgs,
  inputs, # Ensure inputs is available to your home-manager configuration
  ...
}:
{
  imports = [
    inputs.play.homeManagerModules.play
  ];

  play = {
    # Configure monitors for automatic gamescope settings
    monitors = [
      {
        name = "DP-1";
        primary = true;
        width = 2560;
        height = 1440;
        refreshRate = 144;
        hdr = true;
        vrr = true;
      }
    ];

    # Enable gamescope wrapper
    gamescoperun.enable = true;

    # Create application wrappers
    wrappers = {
      # If you wish to override the "steam" command/bin, remove "-gamescope"
      # Overriding the executables makes it so already existing .desktop launchers use the new wrapper
      steam-gamescope = {
        enable = true;
        # Note: Special case for steam, this is the pkg you should use
        # Also sas of 06/25, steam does not open in normal "desktop mode" with gamescope
        # You can however exit big picture mode once already open to access the normal ui
        command = "${lib.getExe osConfig.programs.steam.package} -bigpicture -tenfoot";
        extraOptions = {
          "steam" = true; # equivalent to --steam flag
        };
        environment = {
          STEAM_FORCE_DESKTOPUI_SCALING = 1;
          STEAM_GAMEPADUI = 1;
        };
      };

      lutris-gamescope = {
        enable = true;
        package = osConfig.play.lutris.package; # play.nix provides readonly packages
        extraOptions = {
          "force-windows-fullscreen" = true;
        };
        environment = {
          LUTRIS_SKIP_INIT = 1;
        };
      };

      heroic-gamescope = {
        enable = true;
        package = pkgs.heroic;
        extraOptions."fsr-upscaling" = true;
      };
    };
  };

  # Recomendation: Override desktop entries to use gamescope wrappers
  xdg.desktopEntries = {
    steam = lib.mkDefault {
      name = "Steam";
      comment = "Steam Big Picture (Gamescope Session)";
      exec = "${lib.getExe config.play.wrappers.steam-gamescope.wrappedPackage}";
      icon = "steam";
      type = "Application";
      terminal = false;
      categories = [ "Game" ];
      mimeType = [
        "x-scheme-handler/steam"
        "x-scheme-handler/steamlink"
      ];
      settings = {
        StartupNotify = "true";
        StartupWMClass = "Steam";
        PrefersNonDefaultGPU = "true";
        X-KDE-RunOnDiscreteGpu = "true";
        Keywords = "gaming;";
      };
      actions = {
        client = {
          name = "Steam Client (No Gamescope)";
          exec = "${lib.getExe osConfig.programs.steam.package}";
        };
        steamdeck = {
          name = "Steam Deck (Gamescope)";
          exec = "${lib.getExe config.play.wrappers.steam-gamescope.wrappedPackage} -steamdeck";
        };
      };
    };

    heroic = {
      name = "Heroic (Gamescope)";
      exec = "${lib.getExe config.play.wrappers.heroic-gamescope.wrappedPackage}";
      icon = "com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl";
      type = "Application";
      categories = [ "Game" ];
    };
  };
}

Usage

# Basic usage
gamescoperun heroic

# With custom options
gamescoperun -x "--fsr-upscaling-sharpness 5" heroic

# Legacy environment variable support
GAMESCOPE_EXTRA_OPTS="--steam" gamescoperun steam

The gamescoperun script automatically configures resolution, refresh rate, HDR, and VRR based on your primary monitor settings.

Requirements

NixOS with Home Manager
Chaotic Nix (for latest Gamescope)
Wayland desktop environment

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

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