I'm running on Linux mint 18.3
When I run the .desktop link, nothing happens.
When I type ./PillarsOfEternity in the install directory, I get the following output in my shell:

Found path: /home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity
Mono path[0] = '/home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity_Data/Managed'
Mono path[1] = '/home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity_Data/Mono'
Mono config path = '/home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity_Data/Mono/etc'

And that's all it does. I check in htop, no pillars of eternity processes are running, and no further output or events on my computer.

I have tried:
$ chmod +x start.sh
$ chmod +x game/PillarsOfEternity
$ ldd game/PillarsOfEternity (which returns the following list:

linux-vdso.so.1 => (0x00007ffce37bb000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f2bd7593000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007f2bd7376000)
librt.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/librt.so.1 (0x00007f2bd716e000)
libGLU.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGLU.so.1 (0x00007f2bd6eff000)
libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib/nvidia-384/libGL.so.1 (0x00007f2bd6bbd000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11.so.6 (0x00007f2bd6883000)
libXcursor.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXcursor.so.1 (0x00007f2bd6679000)
libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 (0x00007f2bd62f7000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 (0x00007f2bd5fee000)
libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00007f2bd5dd8000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007f2bd5a0e000)
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007f2bd7797000)
libnvidia-tls.so.384.130 => /usr/lib/nvidia-384/tls/libnvidia-tls.so.384.130 (0x00007f2bd580a000)
libnvidia-glcore.so.384.130 => /usr/lib/nvidia-384/libnvidia-glcore.so.384.130 (0x00007f2bd394e000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXext.so.6 (0x00007f2bd373c000)
libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb.so.1 (0x00007f2bd351a000)
libXrender.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXrender.so.1 (0x00007f2bd3310000)
libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXfixes.so.3 (0x00007f2bd310a000)
libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXau.so.6 (0x00007f2bd2f06000)
libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXdmcp.so.6 (0x00007f2bd2d00000)

I would greatly appreciate some assistance. Thank you

In start.sh

Add the line
export LD_PRELOAD=$LD_PRELOAD:./PillarsOfEternityII_Data/Plugins/x86_64/libSDL2-2.0.so
before cd game

Chances are that your issues are with the wayland libraries that have been causing problems for a lot of people

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Sorry, I should've specified that I'm having this issue with Pillars Of Eternity 1. I have the libSDL2-2.0.so library in my linux libraries, but not in the game libraries. I tried the PRELOAD method mentioned above, using that library, but the issue persists.

Do you know if these games are installed in a wine wrapper? If so, I may as well just download windows version and install in wine, but I don't want to do that if this is actually an optimized build for linux distros.

The linux versions are native.

Also this is frankly weird considering Ubuntu is what most devs target so you'd expect it to work out of the box :/

Sorry

See if there is something interesting in log file: ~/.config/unity3d/Obsidian Entertainment/Pillars of Eternity/Player.log

Hi idared,
I checked the location you suggested, there is no player log file, nor even an Obsidian Entertainment directory in the unity3d directory.

The only thing similar is a Player.log file in the unity3d directory which reads:
'
Player is already running

(Filename: Line: 439)
'

Note: There are other directories inside unity3d which have been created from other games on my PC, just nothing for PoE or Obsidian

Weird. And if you run dmesg | tail after the game crashes, is there something? Segfault perhaps?

Also, just for completness, if you start it from install directory as:
./start.sh
it also does nothing?

It says this, after both ./start.sh and ./game/PillarsOfEternity :
'
Running Pillars of Eternity
Set current directory to /home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game
Found path: /home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity
Mono path[0] = '/home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity_Data/Managed'
Mono path[1] = '/home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity_Data/Mono'
Mono config path = '/home/imtav/GOG Games/Pillars of Eternity/game/PillarsOfEternity_Data/Mono/etc'
'
The game never actually runs, so it doesn't seem to have a chance to crash. Also, of note, if I right-click and select 'uninstall' on the .desktop link it warns me that the game isn't even installed, and so just deletes the .desktop filebut leaves the install directory untouched. But if I try to do the same with any other gog game I have, it uninstalls properly.

I have manually deleted the install directory and reinstalled, and no changes.

Ok, so I figured it out!
I found I was having problems with a couple other games, and discovered the relation, they were all games built w/ unity3d. I did some digging, and became convinced that something running in the background was causing this issue. Lo and behold, after closing the Private Internet Access GTK+ app, everything ran smoothly from then on. Not sure how it caused a conflict, but it's fixed.

So for anyone discovering my thread with a similar issue. Disable all the GTK+ apps you have running in the background and see if that fixes your problem! I'm so relieved to have this battle over with. It was like a real life version of a cRPG boss fight ;-)

Thank you so much, I spent all afternoon trying to figure out why it wouldn't start and the tiny amount of information I could find online was no help. Definitely this is one of those oddities that I would not expect, but nonetheless here we are.

Thanks again.

Thank you so much for this hint/solution. It was driving me nuts.
and I didn't find any hint anywhere else on the internet about this problem.

Thanks
adsworth
It is always the last thing your try that fixes things, even if it's the first. :)

Heh...;) Usually for me, it's the half-dozen or more things I try before I find the one that actually works, that I find so tedious...!

Hello all, today, i`m updated my mint19.3 to 20 Ulyana, and after all find that PoE won`t start anymore. After reading this post i closed skypeforlinux, and game began to work again. Please test this, maybe some other app can prevent game to launch.