Need help with GC2 on Linux

from GalCiv2 Forums

So I finally did get GalCiv2 working, and then decided I wanted to install Linux.  I could reboot my computer in Windows, but frankly in the few hours I've used Linux, I'd rather not use Windows ever again if I can help it.

I downloaded Wine, but when I try to run GC2, the most I get is a black square on the screen (e.g. neither game nor launcher ever comes up).  I get a ton of errors when trying to run, things like, my screen resolution is 1122368x0, and needs to be at least 1240x1024, or something, or I'm using 0 bit color and should be using 32 bit, or I don't have DirectX9.0c, etc.

Keep in mind I know relatively little about Linux.  Is there a way I can make GC2 work on Linux, or should I just play it in Windows?

9,004 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

if you know little in linux then I would advise to give up on trying to make it work

though if you have the patience and will to get a few days of trial error and searching through the internet for clues then go for it !

google is your friend and "wine galciv2" returns a few interesting results already

http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=4493

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I have gotten GC2:TA to run at least far enough to make changes in the options menu at least using Codeweaver's Crossover Games package under Fedora 8 on my computer. On the other hand, it was really sluggish, and threw a couple of really troubling error messages: The game apparently couldn't detect Crossover's DirectX drivers correctly, and thought that my display was set to MAX_LONG x 1 resolution (!).

Given how slow it is to simply start the game and load to the menus (and to switch from screen to screen within the menus after that), I don't anticipate pushing forward with GC2 under Linux until I have upgraded my pathetic Athlon XP2500+, 1 Gig DDR RAM, Radeon 9600 system up to something a little more modern.

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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

No CPU or video card or memory upgrade will make a difference.

Until WINE and the others can deal correctly with D3D and DX9, IT WON'T WORK!

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I am happy to report that I am, in fact, able to run Galactic Civilizations II under Linux in WINE, using Codeweavers Crossover Games suite.

 

There are some graphics and I/O issues, and the whole experience is not one to make me want to give up GC2 under XP, of course, but it does run (in fact, it runs faster than I expected it would, although, like I said, still not as well as under native Windows).

Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Wine can be really useful for getting various Windows utilitities to run under Linux, but for games I definitely recommend just setting up a dual boot system. There are more good games native to Linux than existed even a year ago, but I have *not* had good luck running anything that uses 3-D Graphics with Windows under Wine, even with porting in XP DLL for Wine to use directly.

Maybe someday, maybe even someday soon, but for the moment, it's not like dual booting is all that difficult.

Which doewsn't mean I don't want GC III to use OpenGL and run native on Linux!

Jonnan

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Oh, yeah, I dual boot now, using my BIOS as a boot manager (I just change the boot drive order in the BIOS setup screen) so I don't have to deal with GRUB or XP's sad old NT-based bootloader utility. But once Codeweavers did their free Crossover suite giveaway, I just had to try to get GC2 running under Linux (especially when I was told it couldn't be done).