How-to: Playing Oblivion on Linux with Wine!

This is my first How-to here at Wine-Review. Some tips on what I can improve would be nice!

Oblivion is a single-player game that takes place in Tamriel's capital province, Cyrodiil. You are given the task of finding the hidden heir to a throne that sits empty, the previous emperor having been killed by an unknown assassin. With no true Emperor, the gates to Oblivion (the equivalent of hell in the world of Tamriel) open, and demons begin to invade Cyrodiil and attack its people and towns. It's up to you to find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.

Oblivion features a groundbreaking new AI system, called Radiant AI, which gives non-player characters (NPCs) the ability to make their own choices based on the world around them. They'll decide where to eat or who to talk to and what they'll say. They'll sleep, go to church, and even steal items, all based on their individual characteristics. Full facial animations and lip-synching, combined with full speech for all dialog, allows NPCs to come to life like never before.

This test was done in a clean wine prefix and the game was played in a Virtual Desktop.

System Specs:
Operating System: Ubuntu 8.04
Wine version: 1.0-rc2 with 3DMark patch applied.
Video Card: Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB
CPU: Intel E6550 2,333 GHZ
Memory: 2 gb RAM

Installation
First off, you have to cd to your dvd directory in a terminal, in my case it look like this:

david@david-desktop:~$ cd /media/cdrom0

and then you start the installation program by typing "wine setup.exe", in my case it look like this:

david@david-desktop:/media/cdrom0$ wine setup.exe



Patching
After you have installed the game, then you will probably want to upgrade Oblivion to the latest version:

Get the official patch here

Download the patch, and install it by typing the following in a terminal:

Wine patchname.exe



After the game has been patched, you probably want to play!

Important! The game will crash if you don't have installed DirectX 9.0C.You can find Twickline's awesome guide here.

Playing the game
To start the game, cd to the game directory via the terminal, and start the game with:



wine Oblivion.exe

Performance boosters
If you want to enhance performance, the you can add WINEDEBUG=-all before ”wine Oblivion.exe”, ”WINEDEBUG=-all” means that the Wine Debugger will be shut off.

Compiz can be quite the performance killer. Since I use Gnome, i replace Compiz by typing ”Metacity –replace” in a terminal before i play. Then i simply turn Compiz on again by starting a new terminal and typing ”Compiz”.

You can change some settings in Wine's regedit to enhance performance. This is how my settings look like:




You can read more about regedit on this page: http://wiki.winehq.org/UsefulRegistryKeys

And last but not least, here is an awesome Oblivion Tweak guide: http://www.tweakguides.com/Oblivion_1.html

Video
And finally, here is a video when I play Oblivion. (the performance is a lot lower because of the screencast program)

How-to: Playing Psychonauts on Linux with Wine!

”Psychonauts is based on the exploits of Raz, a young boy gifted with psychic abilities who escapes the circus to try to sneak into a summer camp for those with similar powers in order to become a "Psychonaut". He finds that there is a sinister plot occurring at the camp that only he can stop from happening. The game is centered on the widely strange and imaginative minds of various characters that Raz enters as a Psychonaut-in-training in order to help them overcome their fears or memories of their past in order to gain their help and progress in the game. Raz gains use of several psychic abilities during the game that are used for both attacking foes and solving puzzles.” Source

I decided to test Psychonauts because I felt bad that I bought the game a year ago for about 3 Euro, and I had not touched it since then.

Testing
This test was done in a clean wine prefix and the game was played in a Virtual Desktop. The testing was done with a genuine European copy (It's already patched to the latest version of the game).

System Specs:
Operating System: Ubuntu 8.04
Wine version: 1.0-rc2 with 3DMark patch applied.
Video Card: Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB
CPU: Intel E6550 2,333 GHZ
Memory: 2 gb RAM

Installation
First off, you have to cd to your dvd directory in a terminal, in my case it look like this:

david@david-desktop:~$ cd /media/cdrom0

and then you start the installation program by typing "wine setup.exe", in my case it look like this:

david@david-desktop:/media/cdrom0$ wine setup.exe



Important! The game needs DirectX 9.0C in order to run.You can find Twickline's awesome guide here.

Playing the game
To start the game, you can either direct cd to the game directory via the terminal, and start the game by typing "wine Psychonauts.exe", or you can just start it from your startmenu
(Program -> Wine -> Programs -> Double Fine Productions -> Psychonauts -> Psychonauts)



Performance boosters
If you want to enhance performance, the you can add WINEDEBUG=-all before ”wine Psychonauts.exe”, ”WINEDEBUG=-all” means that the Wine Debugger will be shut off.

Compiz can be quite the performance killer. Since I use Gnome, I replace Compiz by typing ”Metacity –replace” in a terminal before I play. Then I simply turn Compiz on again by starting a new terminal and typing ”Compiz”.

You can change some settings in Wine's regedit (type ”regedit” in a terminal) to enhance performance. This is how my settings look like:



You can read more about regedit on this page: http://wiki.winehq.org/UsefulRegistryKeys

Problems
Some textures in the game are flickering, but it's kinda rare.

Moving around the camera with the mouse can sometimes be tricky, but maybe that is a problem with the game itself instead of Wine?

Video
And finally, here is a video when I play Psychonauts. (the performance is a lot lower because of the screencast program)

How-to: Playing GTA 2 on Linux with Wine!

”In 1999, Rockstar Games and Rockstar North (then known as DMA Design) furthered the groundbreaking gameplay concepts established just two years prior in the original Grand Theft Auto - with the release of GTA2. GTA2 expanded on the top-down, open-ended crime world gameplay formula with a host of new features including the advent of multiple rival gangs – seven, to be exact, including the Yakuza, Scientists, Looneys, Rednecks, Zaibatsu, the Russian Mob and Hare Krishnas. Earn your respect with each gang. Reap the benefits with all manner of shady work-for-hire gigs contracted your way. And climb your way to the top of the criminal pile. ” Source

Rockstar has been kind and released the game for free at http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/

Testing
This test was done in a clean wine prefix and the game was played in a Virtual Desktop.

System Specs
Linux distribution: Ubuntu 8.04
Wine version: 1.0-rc2 with 3DMark patch applied.
Video Card: Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB
CPU: Intel E6550 2,333 GHZ
Memory: 2 gb RAM

Installation
Download the Grand Theft Auto 2 installer from http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/ and unpack the ZIP. Start the installation by typing “wine GTA2.exe” in a terminal.
david@david-desktop:~$ wine GTA2.exe



Playing the game
Before you start the game, there are two things you will need. First of, you will need DirectX 6.1 or higher, Twickline has made an guide about DirectX 9.0C, so the easiest thing to do is just to install 9.0C. The second thing you need to do is to get a copy of DPLAYX.dll from here. Place the dll in you GTA folder.

After you have installed the game and made sure that you have both of the things mentioned above, than you can start playing the game, by either typing “wine gta2.se” in a terminal from the games folder, or by launching the game from the start menu.





Performance boosters
If you want to enhance performance, the you can add WINEDEBUG=-all before ”wine gta2.exe”, ”WINEDEBUG=-all” means that the Wine Debugger will be shut off.

Compiz can be quite the performance killer. Since I use Gnome, I replace Compiz by typing ”Metacity –replace” in a terminal before I play. Then I simply turn Compiz on again by starting a new terminal and typing ”Compiz”.

You can change some settings in Wine's regedit (type ”regedit” in a terminal) to enhance performance. This is how my settings look like:



You can read more about regedit on this page: http://wiki.winehq.org/UsefulRegistryKeys

What was not tested
I did not try internet play.

Video
And finally, here is a video when I play Grand Theft Auto 2. (the performance is a lot lower because of the screencast program)

How-to: Playing Crashday on Linux with Wine!

”Stunt racing game, developed by independent German studio Moon Byte. Crashday puts you in the world of stunts, dents and adrenaline: whether you prefer to smash your vehicle into pieces with breath-taking stunts or better still prefer to race against your enemies in on custom highspeed race tracks -- maybe you also just want to show your fellow man what a serious head-on collision can be like... The integrated track editor of Crashday builds the basis for all driving areas in the game. You build maps independent of any physical limits and it's up to you to decide whether you put jumps, loops, tunnels or houses onto the track. ” Source

Testing
This test was done in a clean wine prefix and the game was played in a Virtual Desktop

System Specs
Linux distribution: Ubuntu 8.04
Wine version: 1.0-rc2 with 3DMark patch applied.
Video Card: Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB
CPU: Intel E6550 2,333 GHZ
Memory: 2 gb RAM

Installation
Insert the Crashday cd in your drive, and cd to your disc drive in a terminal.

david@david-desktop:~$ cd /media/cdrom0

And then you start the installation program by typing "wine setup.exe", in my case it look like this:

david@david-desktop:/media/cdrom0$ wine setup.exe



Patching
Download the 1.1 patch from here. Unzip the patch and place it in your home folder and start patching by typing the following in a terminal:

david@david-desktop: wine Crashday_patch_1.1_MC2.2.exe



Playing the game
After you have installed the game and patched the game (which I really recommend), you can either start the game through the start menu or by typing ”wine Crashday.exe” from the game folder in a terminal.





Performance boosters
If you want to enhance performance, the you can add WINEDEBUG=-all before ”wine crashday.exe”, ”WINEDEBUG=-all” means that the Wine Debugger will be shut off.

Compiz can be quite the performance killer.

You can change some settings in Wine's regedit (type ”regedit” in a terminal) to enhance performance. This is how my settings look like:



You can read more about regedit on this page: http://wiki.winehq.org/UsefulRegistryKeys

Problems
Weird backlights on some cars and some other graphical glitches (I have tried backbuffer, pbuffer and fbo). I have also tried Low, Medium and High settings in-game with the same result.

Video
And finally, here is a video when I play Crashday. (the performance is a lot lower because of the screencast program)

Wine 0.9.57!

Wine 0.9.57 was released today, with the following main changes:

• Support for multiple OpenGL pixel formats.
• Improved support for color profiles.
• Many window management fixes.
• Better fullscreen support.
• Lots of bug fixes.

Binary packages are in the process of being built and it may take a few days for them to appear, but the source is available now. You can find out more about this release in the announcement. Check out our download page for packages for your distribution.

How-to: Heroes of Might and Magic 5 in Wine

Heroes of Might and Magic 5 is a strategy game released by UbiSoft (R.I.P 3DO).

First of all, insert the disc/mount the iso and start a terminal and go to the disc directory:

cd /media/cdrom (in my case)

Then you start the install program by writing:

Wine Setup.exe

The game requires D3dx9_25.dll to run (place in .wine/drive_c/windows/system32 and you might have to add it as native via winecfg)

The intro move will crash Heroes 5, therefore you must remove the two first Item blocks from the file Video/intro.xml.

Then you should be ready to run the program by directing to the games directory, and run:

wine H5_Game.exe in the terminal!



Notes:
To run the game in higher resolutions, you must edit the registry.
To do this, you must start "Regedit" via the terminal.
The go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Wine -> Direct3D and the following string value:

Name: VideoMemorySize Data: 640 (in my case, you might have more or less)

How-to: Trackmania United on Wine!

Trackmania United is a fun game with cars/themes from the previous Trackmania games, gathered in one game.

First of all, insert the disc/mount the iso and start a terminal and go to the disc directory:

cd /media/cdrom (in my case)

Then you start the install program by writing:

Wine TmUnitedSetup.exe

After you have installed the game, you must find a no-dvd patch/crack (I'm obviously not going to direct you to one). The game also requires D3dx9_30.dll + D3dx9_30.dll to run (place in .wine/drive_c/windows/system32 and add them as natives via winecfg)

Then you should be ready to run the program by directing to the games directory, and run:

wine TmUnitedLauncher.exe in the terminal!

Benchmark:
Very High Settings @ 1024 x 768 (virtual window) on following system
Ubuntu 7.10
Wine 0.9.56 with 3D Mark patch
Core 2 Duo 2,33 ghz, 8800 GTS with 169.09 drivers, 2 gb RAM.

Average FPS: 30 fps



Notes:
Some more advanced settings will only work if you have installed the 3DMark patch.
Bloom will only result in white lines on the screen.
Motion Blur doesn't work.

How-to: Wine + 3DMark patch

With the 3D Mark patch, the games will recognize your systems pixelshader and Directx levels, allowing you to play more games, and turn up the graphical settings on many games.

What you need:
3d Mark patch and the Wine source

Patching:
Extract the source files and patch the source by first going to the directory you extracted the source.

cd /path/to/wine/source/directory

When you are in that directory, you use the following command to patch the source.

patch -p1 < /path/to/patch/file

Now it should be patched! Then you simply must compile Wine (not going to talk about that here).

Got problems with black textures?
Open up a terminal and write "regedit" to start Windows Regedit. Go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Wine -> Direct3D (may not exist, then it's just to create) and change/create the following value:

Name: OffscreenRenderingMode Data: fbo

That should do it!