A2 under Linux

[Syf]

I miss playing Armada. I have Ubuntu for a primary OS these days (I still have a couple systems running Win 7 and kids have WinXP. I can't stand ME, Vista, Win8, Win 8.1, nor Win 10). Thus, no Armada gaming for me. I will still support those games until the day my dream of a replacement (multi-platform) is realized.

 

[CABAL]

I miss playing Armada. I have Ubuntu for a primary OS these days (I still have a couple systems running Win 7 and kids have WinXP. I can't stand ME, Vista, Win8, Win 8.1, nor Win 10). Thus, no Armada gaming for me. I will still support those games until the day my dream of a replacement (multi-platform) is realized.

Tomorrow, I will see if I can get A1 and 2 working in Wine and share the results. I feel like the last time I tried it was okay except for the BIK movies.

 

[Terra_Inc]

Tomorrow, I will see if I can get A1 and 2 working in Wine and share the results. I feel like the last time I tried it was okay except for the BIK movies.

I have A2 working pretty fine under wine. The bik movies don't work, yeah. It doesn't seem to accept keyboard input until the settings have been modified once per running game ( I think it was the scrolling rate). IMO it's a minor issue if you play normally. I also had some issues with the stock models glitching a bit graphically, though that could also be the fault of my graphics HW/SW. Modern models work just fine. I mostly play heavily modded A2 anyway. (*cough* Wastelands *cough*) Everything else seemed to work fine.

Also, due to the nature of wine, different versions on different systems might handle A2 differently. So take everything I said with a grain of salt. I can post my setup if it helps.

 

[CABAL]

Also give FO a shot Cabal if you feel like it. A1 and A2 are great for the campaign but for instant action and modding I would recommend FO any day. Many mods are now available for FO too and it's not too much work to convert older mods to FO.

I already know FO doesn't work, and won't for a while, if ever. Basically, FO and several other things (like the Morrowind Graphics Extender) exploit a security hole to get the game to load additional DLLs as it starts up. Something about Wine or Linux itself closes off that entrance.

I have A2 working pretty fine under wine. The bik movies don't work, yeah. It doesn't seem to accept keyboard input until the settings have been modified once per running game ( I think it was the scrolling rate). IMO it's a minor issue if you play normally. I also had some issues with the stock models glitching a bit graphically, though that could also be the fault of my graphics HW/SW. Modern models work just fine. I mostly play heavily modded A2 anyway. (*cough* Wastelands *cough*) Everything else seemed to work fine.

That's about how I remember it, but I don't think I had an input bug. Performance was pretty horrible, but my system was also much weaker then.

Also, due to the nature of wine, different versions on different systems might handle A2 differently. So take everything I said with a grain of salt.

I suspect that Wine compounds Windows specific hardware problems and Linux specific hardware problems. The only time I'd say that something is will absolutely run in Wine is if you're using a combo of the same program, Wine version, and Linux distro as someone who registered a platinum rating on WineHQ, assuming they rated it properly. Still, we can get a general idea by testing with as many systems as possible. In addition to my desktop, I also have an old laptop with Ubuntu 14.04. If it doesn't have Wine already, I'll add it.

I can post my setup if it helps.

Yes, please. As much info as you can get. Distro with version number, Wine version, any tweaks to Wine including DirectX installation, hardware, etc.

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Actually, is anyone aware of an open source 3D space rts at all? I don't think there is one.

Yes, actually. Spring is free and open source. Most of the games are Total Annihilation-likes.

 

[Terra_Inc]

Yes, please. As much info as you can get. Distro with version number, Wine version, any tweaks to Wine including DirectX installation, hardware, etc.

Alright, here's what I'm running:
Linux version: Ubuntu 15.04
Wine version: 1.6.2
The wine configuration is set to Win2000, but others seem to work as well. It's run in a virtual desktop with mouse capture enabled. Window Manager decoration and control are disabled. Otherwise, wine is untweaked.
I haven't installed A2 under Linux, I just copied over an install from my old Windows system.
CPU is a i3-2120, I'm using the integrated HD Graphics 2000 as I don't have a graphics card plugged in right now.

 

[CABAL]

Hmm. The installer keeps crashing on me. May need to install via Windows and copy to Linux.

Ubuntu 14.04
Wine version 1.6.2 (XP mode, usually)
DirectX 9.0c installed via Winetricks (winetricks d3dx9)

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz
4GB DDR2 RAM
Nvidia GeForce GT 630

Additionally, Wine's Program Files directory is set to a case-insensitive NTFS partition via lowntfs-3g. Wine itself is in my home folder on an ext4 volume with a symlink used for the Program Files folder to reach a location on the NTFS volume. This usually works, but Wine does get picky about a few games. Easily solvable with a second directory on the ext4 volume that reads as C:\Games. This isn't the problem (not the current one, anyway) because the installer crashes on startup, long before reaching the point where any of that would be relevant.