Install guide

Steam Deck

Add Open Annihilation to Steam as a non-Steam game, with its own controller layout and artwork, and play it from Game Mode like any other game. Your Steam copy of Total Annihilation is found by itself.

  • LCD and OLED
  • SteamOS 3
  • Linux 64-bit PC package
  • About 15 minutes

ExperimentalSteam Deck support is experimental: it has been tried on one Deck so far. If something goes wrong, or works where this guide says it may not, tell us on Discord or in a GitHub issue, with the game's log.

1Switch to Desktop Mode

Press the STEAM button 1, choose Power, then Switch to Desktop 2. In Desktop Mode, STEAM and X together open the on-screen keyboard, and L2 or a press of the left trackpad is the right mouse button.

STEAM
Power
Suspend
Restart
Shut Down
Switch to Desktop
Cancel
YXBA···
Illustration

2Download and unzip it

In the browser, download the Linux 64-bit PC package. The ARM packages do not run on a Deck.

Open Annihilation 0.7.2 · Steam Deck2026-10-06

Release notes →

Linux 64-bit PC package RecommendedExperimental

Includes Steam Input layouts and library artwork. Add it to Steam as a non-Steam game and play from Game Mode.

open-annihilation-v0.7.2-linux-x86_64.zip
Download 14.8 MB
Your Steam copy of Total Annihilation is found on its own, on the Deck or an SD card. No Proton needed.
  1. In Dolphin, the file manager, make a folder called Applications in your home folder and move the zip there.
  2. Right-click the zip 1, choose Extract, then Extract archive here 2.

This makes a folder holding the game, open-annihilation, and the steam-deck folder. Keep it where it is: Steam's shortcut points at it.

Applications — Dolphin
Home›Applications
Places
Home
Desktop
Documents
Downloads
Applications
NameTypeSize
open-annihilation-v0.7.2-linux-x86_64.zipZip archive14.8 MB
Open with Ark
Open With…
Extract›
Extract archive here
Extract archive to…
Extract here, detect subfolder
Compress
Copy Location
Properties
Illustration

3Get the game data

Install Total Annihilation (app 298030, with Core Contingency and Battle Tactics) from your library as usual, on the Deck's storage or an SD card. Open Annihilation finds it 1 and plays the files Steam installed 2: you never start Total Annihilation itself or run it through Proton.

First startLooking for Total Annihilation…
  • Steam libraries, SD cards included~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Total AnnihilationFound
  • Heroic Games Launcher~/Games/Heroic/…—
  • Lutris and Wine prefixes~/Games/…—
  • Bottles~/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/…—
One copy found: it plays it, and says on the main menu where it found it.
Illustration

4Add it to Steam

  1. Open Steam on the desktop, choose Games, then Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library… 1.
  2. Click Browse… 2, go to the game's folder and choose open-annihilation 3; if it is not listed, set File type to All Files first. Then choose Add Selected Programs 4.

Or right-click open-annihilation in Dolphin and choose Add to Steam.

Steam–□✕
SteamViewFriendsGames
View Games Library
Activate a Product on Steam…
Redeem a Steam Wallet Code…
Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library…
Help
Add Non-Steam Game–□✕

Select the programs to add to your library

Firefox
Konsole
open-annihilation
Browse…Add Selected ProgramsCancel
Illustration

In Steam's library, right-click the new entry, named after the file, and choose Properties. Rename it Open Annihilation 1: Steam shares community layouts by this name. Leave Launch Options empty 2, and leave Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool off 3: Open Annihilation is a native Linux program, and Proton is for Windows programs.

Properties–□✕
Shortcut
Compatibility
Controller
Open Annihilation
"/home/deck/Applications/open-annihilation-v0.7.2-linux-x86_64/open-annihilation"
leave empty
Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool
Illustration

5Install the controller layouts

The steam-deck folder holds two Steam Input templates. Open Konsole, the terminal, from the application launcher (under System), and copy them to where Steam looks for templates:

Konsole
(deck@steamdeck ~)$ cd ~/Applications/open-annihilation-v0.7.2-linux-x86_64(deck@steamdeck ~)$ mkdir -p ~/.steam/steam/controller_base/templates(deck@steamdeck ~)$ cp steam-deck/*.vdf ~/.steam/steam/controller_base/templates/
Illustration

Steam reads the templates when it starts. Returning to Game Mode in step 7 restarts it.

6Add the artwork (optional)

The steam-deck/artwork folder holds Steam's library pictures, made from the Open Annihilation icon; none of them uses Total Annihilation's art. Without them Steam shows a plain tile. In Steam, still in Desktop Mode:

  • Library picture: right-click the game, Manage › Set custom artwork, portrait.png.
  • Banner and logo: on the game's page, right-click the banner: Set Custom Background with hero.png, then Set Custom Logo with logo.png.
  • Icon: in Properties, click the icon beside the name and choose icon.png.
portrait.pngManage › Set custom artwork
hero.pngBanner › Set Custom Background
logo.pngBanner › Set Custom Logo
icon.pngProperties › icon
ScreenshotThe artwork in the package, and where each picture goes.

7Play in Game Mode

  1. Double-click Return to Gaming Mode on the desktop.
  2. Select Open Annihilation in the library, under Non-Steam, and open its controller settings 1.
  3. Choose the current layout, then Templates, and pick Open Annihilation. Then choose Play 2.
STEAM
▶ PLAYNon-Steam
YXBA···
Illustration

In the template list, Templates 1 holds both of the game's layouts: pick Open Annihilation 2. The other, keyboard and mouse, sends only the mouse and keys.

STEAM
Open Annihilation Controller settings
TemplatesCommunityYour layouts
Open AnnihilationGamepad, trackpad pointer, grips for QUEUE, ADD, FORCE and groups
Open Annihilation: keyboard and mouseMouse and keys only
Gamepad with Mouse Trackpad
YXBA···
Illustration

At its first start the game looks for Total Annihilation where Steam, Heroic, Lutris and Bottles put it. One usable copy: it plays it, says on the main menu where it found it, and remembers it. Several, or none: it asks in its own folder chooser, which works with the D-pad and A, the trackpad pointer or a finger: pick a copy found, browse to a folder, or choose the 1997 demo. To name the folder yourself, put --game-dir "/home/deck/Games/Total Annihilation" in the game's Launch Options.

✓You're in, Commander

When the main menu appears, the game has found your files. Pick a campaign, a skirmish or a network game.

Open Annihilation main menu
Screenshot

Controls

With Steam Input on and the Open Annihilation template, the sticks and buttons reach the game as a gamepad's, the right trackpad is the mouse, and the four back grips work as the game's own: R4 QUEUE, L4 ADD, R5 FORCE and L5 groups.

InputDoes
Right trackpadThe pointer; press for a left click
R2, L2The left and right mouse buttons
R1The order ring at the pointer
L1The build ring of the selected builder
Left stick, left trackpadScroll the map; L3 centres
Right stickZoom; a flick left or right turns the build page
A, B, X, YClick, clear, stop, every unit of the type
D-padCommander, next unit, next report, SELECT ▾
View, MenuUnit info (hold for game keys), the in-game menu

The controller guide describes every input, the rings and the groups.

Open Annihilation settings: Controller
ScreenshotThe game's own Controller settings.

Frame rate, controls and the screen

  • The game starts with Maximum frame rate at the screen's rate, 60 on the LCD model and 90 on the OLED, and Control size at Larger. Both are ordinary settings, and Restore defaults brings the Deck's values back.
  • Leave Screen size at Desktop: in Game Mode the window opens at 1280×800, and Steam's pointer stops short of a larger window's edges.
  • For the touch controls, leave the touch screen on native touch in the controller settings, not the setting that turns touches into clicks.
  • Steam's keyboard opens by itself when the game wants text; STEAM and X open it by hand.
  • Start the game from Steam's library in Desktop Mode too: started from Dolphin, it gets no Open Annihilation layout.

Troubleshooting

The game does not start, or Dolphin opens it as a file
In Konsole, in the game's folder, run chmod +x open-annihilation once.
Steam does not start the game
In Properties, check that Target names open-annihilation in the game's folder, and that no compatibility tool is forced.
The templates are not listed
Check that both .vdf files are in ~/.steam/steam/controller_base/templates, then restart Steam, for example by switching to Desktop Mode and back. Failing that, use Steam's Gamepad with Mouse Trackpad and bind R4, R5, L4 and L5 to F13, F14, F15 and F16.
It asks for Total Annihilation although it is installed
The folder must hold totala1.hpi. Choose it in the game's folder chooser, or name it with --game-dir.
The pointer does not reach the right or lower edge
Set Screen size under Graphics back to Desktop and remove any --resolution from the launch options.
The controls act as a mouse and keys only
Start the game from Steam's library, not from Dolphin, and check that its controller settings use the Open Annihilation template.

Logs and reporting a problem

The logs are in ~/.local/share/open-annihilation/logs; in Dolphin, Ctrl+H shows the hidden .local folder. The lines starting open-annihilation: window: and open-annihilation: gamepad opened: say most of what is needed. When you report a problem, send the newest log, say which Deck you have (LCD or OLED) and which template the game uses, and what happened.

Updating and removing

  • To update, in Desktop Mode unzip the newer package into Applications beside the old one, then point the game's Target and Start In at the new folder, or add the new one to Steam and remove the old entry. Copy the newer templates as in step 5 too, and restart Steam. Your settings, saves and chosen folder are kept.
  • To remove, right-click the game in Steam, choose Manage › Remove non-Steam game from your library, and delete the game's folder and the two templates.

Other platforms

Something not as described? Discord · GitHub issues