insane lagg when launching games through heroic games launcher(flatpak) (and fix).

[EllesarDragon]

Very low fps in games launched through heroic games launcher, but games work well when launched through steam

(aplies to flatpak version of heroic games launcher only)
(note I also directly include the/a fix here, so this issue can be seen as half solved, half since optimally manually running fix when it happens isn't a perfect solution)

TLDR: to fix it run sudo flatpak update then it should work again, do it every time the problem returns.(note might require restart after running that before games work well)

when launching games through heroic games launcher people regularly get very low fps in those games, regularly less than 1 fps. even if those same games run fast when launched through steam.
I encountered that issue as well but there wasn't any info relating to it online, so I just ran games through steam even if installed through heroic games launcher.

however eventualy I came across this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1jazy10/comment/nhi94t3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

and confirmed it works indeed.

so the issue is, that in the flatpak version of heroic games launcher, it defaults to software rendering if there has been a system update and flatpak update wasn't run after this.
most likely due to flatpak only recognising and adapting to changes in the system packages it uses in flatpak update.

the insane lag and low fps is caused by flatpak switching to software rendering, this means it doesn't use the gpu, and doesn't even use the igpu, but renders on the cpu cores.

so this problem is already half fixed, as in the problem is found.
not fully however.

the reason I file it here as a bug report is for several reasons:

1. that one comment on reddit seemed to be the first place where a actual fix was found, all others either find nothing or suggest it must be a hardware issue(while the issue in question is a flatpak issue), by posting this bug raport other people who encounter the issue can more easily find the fix, since it is a very simple fix(even though you have to run it every time after a system update).
2. it would be great if the problem and fix would be added to the wiki or FAQ, if deemed apropriate. something like "if experiencing very low fps(or just complete lag) in games which should run better, and you are using the flatpak version of heroic games launcher, then running flatpak update should generally fix that issue"
3. while the problem originates from flatpak, it is also possible to add a fix in heroic games launcher if it happens a lot, a potential fix would be to detect very low fps(2 or lower) or to detect when flatpak switches to software rendering(cpu rendering), and if it does that, to then display a message in heroic games launcher that it detected that, and that command might fix it. or a button or switch in the advanced settings of a game or such to run that command.

ofcource I am not sure completely how common this issue is now that immutable distros get more popular, which should have this issue less as they should update all at each update anyway(though might encounter it as well).
but on a non immuteable distro generally if you just update your system packages without running that command(or another software which runs that command) then there should be a quite decent chance that you run into that issue.(in the flatpak version)

Add logs

system package update breaks flatpak.
flatpak reffers to wrong files/libraries.
launched games will fall back into software rendering mode.
running flatpak update fixes this.
games will run well again.
future system package updates can break it again.
same fix should fix it again.
note this is not a real log, more a systematic explaination of what happens as a log is required for a github issue.

Steps to reproduce

1. update the system using the system package manager. without running flatpak update after it.
2. flatpak should break
3. games should break resulting in very low fps
4. run flatpak update.
5. games should work well again
6. if not working well again, they should after a restart.

Expected behavior

games running with gpu or igpu rendering, or a warning when it detects cpu rendering, or a refference to the issue and command to fix it in the documentation of faq so people can easily fix it whenever they run into it.

Screenshots

No response

Heroic Version

Latest Stable (Flatpak)

System Information

• OS openSuse tumbleweed(other people had the same issue on other systems and distros).
  -hardware: BC-250(happens also on other hardware, this was just the first I tested it on).
  -only tested it on muteable distros.

Additional information

flatpak related bug.
recognised by user primairily due to very low fps in games.
while reported as a issue, I already included "the fix".
between quotes since there are more fixes, but this is one which can easily run when they encounter it.