Caedis

One popular myth I hear often usually revolves around a sliver of old truth. “Linux can’t play games.” This sliver of truth was derived from the day’s not too long ago when playing commercially available mainstream games wasn’t an option to Linux users. Granted there were some exceptions to this rule, like EVE Online, and Doom 3. But this myth has kept many unwitting gamers stuck on windows for all the wrong reasons. Allow me to lift the veil on modern Linux gaming.


Linux, and more specifically Ubuntu Linux, has come a long way in a short period of time. Many game developers and freelance Open Source coders are making major strides in gaming tech for us Linux gamers, opening the door on a hidden market that seemed impossible to get into. Much of this success can be attributed to the many developers and supporters of the Wine Project a compatibility environment for Linux that allows Windows programs to run seamlessly in Linux. Wine is actually an acronym that, ironically enough, stands for “Wine Is Not an Emulator.” This is true of it when you launch a program in Wine. It actually runs the program like any other Linux program and as you can see in the many screen shots on the Wine AppDB, the programs are indistinguishable from their Windows installed counterparts. The applications to Linux gaming are limitless with this technology.




So how do I get wine Working?


Go to your "Synaptic Package Manager" under System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager

Then head over to the repositories section:


Add one of the following apt lines to your repositories list based on which version of Ubuntu you have installed:

For Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04):
For Ubuntu Intrepid (8.10):

For Ubuntu Hardy (8.04):


Next Download Scott Riche's GPG key here by right clicking and hitting save as... (He is the maintainer of the Ubuntu Wine Repositories)
You'll need to pay careful attention to where the .gpg file is saved as you'll need to navigate to it.

Next you need to actually import the .gpg key file you just downloaded. You've most likely saved the .gpg to your home directory so just navigate to it by clicking "File System" then clicking home > your user name > then the .gpg file.


You'll notice the red highlighted area in the picture above, that line is added if you correctly imported the key (minus the red highlighting I added)

At this point you can hit close on everything, even Synaptic itself.

Open a Terminal ( Accessories > Terminal )

Update your sources list
Then install Wine!
The beauty of this is that Wine will self update and wont require you to do any fancy compiling every time it's updated. You'll be updated to the latest build any time it's pushed out.

Now, the fancy part that you may need to do in order to make some games run.

Still in the terminal type the following to get Winetricks

This next part I must caution anyone using is restricted only to people who own copies of any version of Windows, as it relies on software that is copyrighted by Microsoft. So if you legally own ANY version of Windows your fine.

And once that's installed
You'll have to set through a long line of windows EULA'S where you sell your soul to Microsoft forever and agree that you have a License of Windows basically. Accept them and just click next and Finish. don't mess with any of the settings as the defaults work fine for all of them. Even the install paths.

After that, for most game you can just install them like you normally do in Windows, using the CD's and standard installers.


If you don't use Ubuntu Linux you can see specific Wine instructions here.

I have the following games running on Ultra High settings at ~60+FPS

• Fallout 3
• Spore
• Left 4 Dead
• Counter Strike: Source
• Half-Life 2
• Garry's Mod
• The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
• World of Warcraft
• Guild Wars
• City of Heroes
• Starcraft

TIP: Pulse audio wrapper
I learned about this recently from a freind.

If you are having the common issue that you can't listen to music or watch videos with sound while a WINE game is running append "padsp" before wine calls to wrap the wine program in a pulse audio wrapper. This let's it play nice with other Linux apps. I have no clue why this isn't implemented by default in Wine, but it works, and it works GREAT.

This is how I launch steam so all my steam apps are in the wrapper:

• Benchmarks

All benchmarks pertain to my Sig Rig. This is the first set of benchmarks I'll be posting. Once I have my dual terrabyte array I'll install windows on my old (Current) 300GB hard drive and run benchmarks of a few popular Windows games that have benchmarking software built in. (Like Source games and a few others)

For directions on how to install and use this benchmark, click here

A word on GPU Manufacturers
While great strides have been made on the GPU drivers side most Linux Gamers agree that at this time ATi is lackluster in comparison to Nvidia's support. I personally know a few friends that attempted to install Ubuntu using the same methods I described above and were experiencing crashes and artifacts sporadically while playing games that my Lower powered Nvidia GPU had no issues with. ATi has made their drivers open source but that doesn't help when no one is there to develop them. Whereas one can easily download the Nvidia drivers directly from their site and quickly install them without problems. So at this time if you have the option, avoid ATi for Linux gaming as you'll be getting less than positive results.

Links:

• My Handy Ubuntu Setup Script that does most of this in 2 clicks.
• How-to: Nvidia Overclocking in Linux

FAQ:
I didn't use fullscreen pics simply because I would have been accused of getting windows screenshots. When the game is fullscreen you cant tell it's running on Linux, however if I put them to windowed mode you can see the Linux desktop.



Original excerpts from this thread located on my blog at Caedis.net

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How-to: Linux Gaming Explained | How-to: Nvidia Overclocking in Linux | How-to: Linux Temps and System Monitors
How-to: Demystifying the Nvidia Driver

AIpha

Very nice, +1

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I'm part of the <false percentage here> that listens to rap.

heelsparky0501

Cool, i never knew about this, this WAS one of the reasons why i never ran linux

hmmmmmm...

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thiussat

Nice first post.

But, let me be fair. Not all games will run seamlessly in WINE. Yes, it's true that many games will run and that some games will even run faster in WINE than they do on native Windows, but if you are trying to say that all Windows games can be easily played in WINE, then you are being misleading.

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Secure Your Network With Tomato Linux Vs. Windows Security Think You Can Brute Force Long Passwords? Linux File Permissions HOWTO Secure Ubuntu With AppArmor

"I can't bring myself to try Linux Mint because they keep naming the OS after ex-girlfriends or women I've had bad run ins with. Cassandra was a sexual harassing shift manager. And Felicia was a stalker who knew how to turn a good day into a hellish experience in 0-60." -- Anub1s from BBR forums

losttsol

Remarkably close to spam, but ???? Looks like one of those video encoder come-ons. And of course being OCN, we want FPS comparison benches.

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OJX

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Firefox + Aero ∎ XP Theme DL
Steam ∎ My Rig

Caedis

"If you need to check if a program works, or you are having issues with a game in particular head over to the Wine AppDB and do a search for the game. Most have how-to's. If anyone still cant figure out how to get a game going feel free to reply here or PM me."

While I understand your concern that I'm being misleading I do state at the end that ATi has issues and if you are having problems with a game to contact me. I don't think anyone reading this would miss that point I was trying to make. It's not perfect, if it was i wouldn't have disclaimers at the bottom.

Glad to know a post that took 2-3 hours to pull together with graphics and step-by-step instructions is considered spam.



All in all I guess this is how OCN says "Welcome to the forums!"

And thank you AIpha. I hope theres more people like you on this forum than the other 2 well wishers I've already met on my first post.

__________________
How-to: Linux Gaming Explained | How-to: Nvidia Overclocking in Linux | How-to: Linux Temps and System Monitors
How-to: Demystifying the Nvidia Driver

NrGx

Good post mate. I don't use linux, but a healthy guide none-the-less.

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Q9550 @ 4.0GHz

Error 404

I will admit it looks similar to some of the DVD ripper, video encoder, etc. ads we get here (except for the whole free/Linuz/WINE part...).

It taught me several useful things about WINE/My Ubuntu (8.10) install. Great guide (and excellent first post)!

+:Thumb:

~Error

Edit: You've got an E6600 listed as an "E660" in your rig, and you should consider adding some benchmarks (FPS), just to show the difference between WINE and native windows.

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I'm not terribly active at the moment...I'm caught up in school and such, so you have my advance apology if I don't respond to a post/PM the way I usually do.

Project: Sruth de athrú - An un-decided and slow-moving techstation project.

Caedis

Thanks!

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Posted from my Blackberry

__________________
How-to: Linux Gaming Explained | How-to: Nvidia Overclocking in Linux | How-to: Linux Temps and System Monitors
How-to: Demystifying the Nvidia Driver