Released new version 1.1.1, using GE-Proton as the default environment.

src/ptlinux/__init__.py

@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ from .paths import AppPaths
 
 __all__ = ["AppPaths", "__version__"]
 
-__version__ = "1.1.0"
+__version__ = "1.1.1"

src/ptlinux/cli.py

@@ -861,11 +861,9 @@ def _source_game(
 
 
 def _load_or_default_settings(paths: AppPaths, *, persist: bool) -> Settings:
-	if paths.settings_file.is_file():
-		return load_settings(paths)
 	if persist:
 		return ensure_settings(paths)
-	return Settings()
+	return load_settings(paths)
 
 
 def _runner(paths: AppPaths, operation: str, dry_run: bool) -> CommandRunner:

src/ptlinux/diagnostics/native_logs.py

@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ def parse_native_log_lines(lines: Iterable[str]) -> NativeLogAnalysis:
 			):
 				analysis.out_of_memory_effect_paths.append(value)
 
-		if "Stage without new stage" in raw:
+		if "stage without new stage" in raw.casefold():
 			analysis.stage_without_new_stage = True
 			analysis.events.append(
 				LogEvent("stage_without_new_stage", line_number, raw, timestamp)

src/ptlinux/settings.py

@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ from .update_resolver import SUPPORTED_CHANNELS
 
 
 SETTINGS_SCHEMA = 1
+DEFAULT_GAME_RUNTIME = "ge-proton"
 _TITLE_FRAME_DEFAULT_MIGRATION_KEY = "title_frame_default_migrated"
+_GE_PROTON_DEFAULT_MIGRATION_KEY = "ge_proton_default_migrated"
 UI_SCALE_CHOICES = frozenset({"auto", "100", "125", "150", "175", "200"})
 _RETIRED_SETTINGS = frozenset(
 	{
@@ -43,7 +45,7 @@ class Settings:
 	game_crash_dump_upload_enabled: bool = False
 	borderless: bool = False
 	suppress_unresponsive_warnings: bool = True
-	runtime: str = "auto"
+	runtime: str = DEFAULT_GAME_RUNTIME
 	proton_sync: str = "auto"
 	proton_path: str | None = None
 	renderer: str = "auto"
@@ -188,7 +190,7 @@ def _settings_from_object(value: dict[str, object]) -> Settings:
 			"suppress_unresponsive_warnings",
 			True,
 		),
-		runtime=_string(value, "runtime", "auto"),
+		runtime=_string(value, "runtime", DEFAULT_GAME_RUNTIME),
 		proton_sync=_string(value, "proton_sync", "auto"),
 		proton_path=proton_path,
 		renderer=renderer,
@@ -201,6 +203,12 @@ def _settings_from_object(value: dict[str, object]) -> Settings:
 		update_channel=_string(value, "update_channel", "stable"),
 	)
 	_validate(settings)
+	# Move existing installations to the modern WoW64 profile once. Validate the
+	# saved runtime first so migration cannot hide malformed settings. New saves
+	# carry the marker, allowing users to choose another runtime afterwards.
+	# Keep the optional Proton path for PTR and future explicit legacy choices.
+	if not _boolean(value, _GE_PROTON_DEFAULT_MIGRATION_KEY, False):
+		return replace(settings, runtime=DEFAULT_GAME_RUNTIME)
 	return settings
 
 
@@ -237,6 +245,7 @@ def _settings_need_migration(value: dict[str, object]) -> bool:
 		value.get("schema") != SETTINGS_SCHEMA
 		or not _SETTINGS_FIELD_NAMES.issubset(value)
 		or value.get(_TITLE_FRAME_DEFAULT_MIGRATION_KEY) is not True
+		or value.get(_GE_PROTON_DEFAULT_MIGRATION_KEY) is not True
 		or bool(_RETIRED_SETTINGS.intersection(value))
 		or _legacy_renderer_assignment(value.get("proton_path")) is not None
 	)
@@ -279,6 +288,7 @@ def _write_settings(
 	payload.update(asdict(settings))
 	payload["schema"] = SETTINGS_SCHEMA
 	payload[_TITLE_FRAME_DEFAULT_MIGRATION_KEY] = True
+	payload[_GE_PROTON_DEFAULT_MIGRATION_KEY] = True
 	temporary = paths.settings_file.with_name(
 		f".{paths.settings_file.name}.{os.getpid()}.{threading.get_ident()}."
 		f"{secrets.token_hex(8)}.tmp"

src/ptlinux/ui/dialogs/settings_dialog.py

@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ from ..viewmodels.downloader import (
 
 
 RUNTIME_LABELS: dict[str, str] = {
-	"Automatic (recommended)": "auto",
-	"GE-Proton — Modern WoW64 via UMU": "ge-proton",
+	"GE-Proton — Modern WoW64 (recommended)": "ge-proton",
+	"Automatic": "auto",
 	"Proton 7 — Steam Runtime container": "proton7-container",
 	"Proton 7 — Direct": "proton7",
 	"UMU Launcher": "umu",
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ def open_settings_dialog(
 	rendering_card.columnconfigure(1, weight=1)
 	rendering_hint = ttk.Label(
 		rendering_card,
-		text="Automatic uses GE-Proton with modern WoW64 for Babel when UMU is available.",
+		text="GE-Proton with modern WoW64 is recommended for Babel. PTR Babel uses Proton 7.",
 		style="SettingsHint.TLabel",
 		wraplength=360,
 	)