Two Worlds is a game infamous for compatibility issues, so it may be no surprise that it does not work 100% out of the box running under SteamOS on Deck. In this guide I will explain how to solve most problems encountered trying to run the game on Steam Deck. This guide will be updated in the future, hopefully once we figure out how to get proper pad support working.

While Two Worlds has no real "native" Linux port, there is a pre-configured Wine installation available, which in my experience is much easier to get running on Deck.
It is not perfect however. Although the game technically supports gamepad input, it will not recognise any controllers and defaults back to the Keyboard/Mouse UI. We will address this further down in the guide.

Installation of this branch is easy. Simply open the game's properties from your library on Steam, navigate down to the "Betas" menu and input "TW1LinuxBETA" as the private beta branch password. Select the "linuxbeta" branch and wait for the update to be installed

As stated previously, controller input does not currently work on Steam Deck, even though it is technically supported by the game natively. Even if you make the appropriate registry changes to enable gamepad input, the game will simply not detect a controller.

To get around this problem, we will be mapping the Deck's controls as keyboard and mouse inputs. While this may not be 100% ideal, I have set up a control layout attempting to make the gameplay and the installation process as smooth as possible.
To use my custom control layout, go to Two Worlds in your Steam library, then simply tap on the controller configurator button, then select your current layout. Scroll over to the Community Layouts tab and choose "Gilby's Deck to MKB", then press the X button to apply layout.

Fortunately, after years of updates to the game, Two Worlds performance is mostly quite stable. In many cases, the game will even run better through Linux than under Windows.
There are however, some tweaks you may wish to apply depending on your preferences for framerate/pacing and battery life.

Although in most cases while playing frame rate will not drop below 60, I recommend limiting the frame rate below this. Why, you may ask? There are 3 reasons.
Frame pacing, battery life, and thermal performance.

In some areas of the game, even with performance settings maxed out, the game cannot consistently maintain 60fps. Due to this, the time between rendered frames can become uneven, leading to a "juddery" look. This is the number one contributor to feelings of stutter and poor performance in-game. By limiting the framerate to 40, we allow the system more time to render each frame, allowing each image to be updated at a consistent time and presenting as smooth motion. Along with an overall increase in smoothness, we are permitting the system to use less resources, resulting in improved battery life and less fan spin-up during play.

"Balanced" mode (40fps, moderate battery life & thermal load, smoothest experience)

In your Deck's performance settings, enable
"Use per-game profile".
Set the Frame Limit to 40 FPS (40 Hz).
Enable TDP Limit and set it to 12 Watts.
Finally, enable "Manual GPU Clock" and set it to 1000MHz

In-game, set Anti-Aliasing to 2, leaving all other settings on maximum, except Draw Distance and Grass Draw Distance, which should be reduced slightly.


Maximum battery life (30fps, best battery life, least fan noise & thermal load)

In your Deck's performance settings, enable
"Use per-game profile".
Set the Frame Limit to 30 FPS (30 Hz).
Enable TDP Limit and set it to 8 Watts.
Finally, enable "Manual GPU Clock" and set it to 800MHz

In the game's options, make the following changes
set Resolution to 1152x720
Reduce Draw Distance, Textures Quality, and Grass Draw Distance by one third from maximum
set Anti-Aliasing to None.

If you have a Steam Deck OLED, I do not recommend setting your frame limit above 60.
As stated above, while the game will run at 60fps most of the time, most areas will likely struggle to run beyond this limit, and certainly will not hit a 90hz cap. Limiting the game to 60fps will provide you with a much more stable experience.