🎮 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

play = {
  # Configure monitors for automatic gamescope settings
  monitors = [{
    name = "DP-1";
    primary = true;
    width = 2560;
    height = 1440;
    refreshRate = 165;
    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} -tenfoot -bigpicture";
      extraOptions = {
        "steam" = true;
      };
    };
    
    lutris-gamescope = {
      enable = true;
      package = osConfig.play.lutris.package; # play.nix provides readonly packages
      extraOptions."force-windows-fullscreen" = true;
    };

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

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