Games

• Wine
• Steam
• DOSBox
• ScummVM
• OpenRCT2
• CorsixTH
• ioquake3
• DXX-Rebirth
• Minecraft
• SimCity 3000 Unlimited
• UT2004 (Atari DVD Release Version)

Wine

Install Wine to play (almost) any Windows game on Linux. For a compatibility list refer to ProtonDB.

Install Wine from the repositories:

pacman -S wine wine-gecko wine-mono winetricks

DXVK

DXVK is a Vulkan-based translation layer for Direct3D 9/10/11 which allows running 3D applications on Linux using Wine.

Install DXVK from AUR:

yay -S dxvk-bin

WINEPREFIX=your-prefix setup_dxvk install

WARNING: DXVK overrides the DirectX 10 and 11 DLLs, which may be considered cheating in online multiplayer games, and may get your account banned. Use at your own risk!

Install DXVK libraries into your Wine prefix:

setup_dxvk install

VKD3D-Proton

VKD3D-Proton aims to implement the full Direct3D 12 API on top of Vulkan.

Install VKD3D from AUR:

yay -S vkd3d-proton-bin

WINEPREFIX=your-prefix setup_vkd3d_proton install

WARNING: VKD3D-Proton overrides the DirectX 12 DLLs, which may be considered cheating in online multiplayer games, and may get your account banned. Use at your own risk!

Install VKD3D-Proton libraries into your Wine prefix:

setup_vkd3d_proton install

MIDI Playback

Some Windows games still use MIDI playback for music. In order for this to work in Wine, a sequencer has to be installed, e.g. fluidsynth:

NOTE: FluidSynth uses soundfonts to render MIDI music.

pacman -S fluidsynth soundfont-fluid

FluidSynth comes with a systemd user unit to run it in daemon mode. Edit the file /etc/conf.d/fluidsynth and uncomment the lines with the environment variables. Point the SOUND_FONT variable to a soundfont file in *.sf2 format (refer to DOSBox for a list of available soundfonts for installation). Furthermore, adjust the OTHER_OPTS variable to use the appropriate audio backend that you are using, e.g. set parameter -a pipewire if you're using PipeWire instead of PulseAudio:

# Mandatory parameters (uncomment and edit)
SOUND_FONT=/usr/share/soundfonts/FluidR3_GM.sf2

# Additional optional parameters (may be useful, see 'man fluidsynth' for further info)
OTHER_OPTS='-a pipewire -m alsa_seq -p FluidSynth\ GM -r 48000'

After you've set everything up, enable/start the systemd user unit with:

ATTENTION: Enable/start the unit as regular user, i.e. do not use sudo!

systemctl --user enable --now fluidsynth

Steam

The popular game distribution platform and library management client from Valve.

NOTE: activate the multilib repository in /etc/pacman.conf to install Steam/Proton.

pacman -S steam

Where are my game saves for Proton-enabled games?

Games that are running via Steam Proton on Linux all use their own Wine prefix. The location of game data is here:

~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/[game ID]/pfx

You can look up a game's ID by accessing its properties in the steam client:

1. Right-click on the game
2. Select "Properties..."
3. Go to "Updates"
4. Note down the "App ID"

Then navigate the directory structure in the drive_c/ subdirectory that replicates a Windows directory structure. Personal files are under the drive_c/users/steamuser/ directory.

DOSBox

Install DOSBox Staging for a more enhanced DOS gaming experience:

yay -S dosbox-staging

General MIDI/Soundfonts

The integrated FluidSynth MIDI sequencer has issues with some soundfont files, resulting in minor to major music playback issues in games. Timidity++ does not have these issues.

To install simply:

pacman -S timidity++

A list of available soundfonts to install from the AUR, sorted by votes:

Configure Timidity++ to use the soundfont of your choosing in its global config file /etc/timidity++/timidity.cfg:

soundfont /usr/share/soundfonts/FluidR3_GM.sf2

Set up timidity++ to run in daemon mode and start with user login:

systemctl --user enable --now timidity

You need to tell DOSBox which MIDI Port to send MIDI data to. Install the alsa-utils package and list the available MIDI ports with aconnect:

pacman -S alsa-utils
aconnect -o

The output might look something like this:

client 14: 'Midi Through' [type=Kernel]
    0 'Midi Through Port-0'
client 128: 'TiMidity' [type=User,pid=89573]
    0 'TiMidity port 0 '
    1 'TiMidity port 1 '
    2 'TiMidity port 2 '
    3 'TiMidity port 3 '

In the configuration file for DOSBox, pass the client ID of the sequencer and the port to use on the midiconfig setting. The mididevice needs to be default. The syntax is [client]:[port]:

[midi]
mpu401     = intelligent
mididevice = default
midiconfig = 128:0

Gravis UltraSound (GUS)

The Gravis UltraSound cards were technically advanced soundcards with sample-based music synthesis ("wavetable") and hardware-mixing. DOSBox can emulate a Gravis UltraSound card for games that support it.

To enable GUS emulation, set the following options in your DOSBox configuration file:

IMPORTANT: The ultradir references a directory within DOSBox, not your local filesystem!

gus      = true
gusbase  = 240
gusirq   = 5
gusdma   = 3
ultradir = C:\ULTRASND

Depending on where you mount your C: drive (e.g. ~/DOS), the ULTRASND directory needs to be placed inside it.

Installing GUS drivers

IMPORTANT: Make sure you turn on GUS emulation in DOSBox before starting the setup procedure!

Preparations

GUS emulation needs the original install disks for the Gravis UltraSound, which can be downloaded here.

Create an autoexec.bat at the root of DOSBox's C: drive:

touch ~/DOS/autoexec.bat

In DOSBox

Extract the contents into a directory and mount it as drive X: in DOSBox:

mount x ~/Downloads/GUS Install

Change directory to the GUS410 directory and start the installer:

X:
cd X:\GUS410
INSTALL.EXE

Setup procedure:

1. Choose Restore, NOT Install
2. When asked what to restore, provide the glob pattern *.*
3. Keep the default target drive letter
4. Keep the default target directory
5. Start the installation process

Back at the main menu:

1. Choose Install (since it is restored, the installation should be quick)
2. Keep the defaults for the drive and directory
   • If it can't find Windows, provide C:\ULTRASND\WINDOWS
3. When the installation completes successfully exit out
   • Don't run Express or Custom Setup

Change directory to the GUS411 directory and start the installer:

cd X:\GUS411
INSTALL.EXE

Repeat the installation steps above.

Testing

To test if setup was successful restart DOSBox, change into C:\ULTRASND and start MIDIDEMO.BAT.

If you hear music being played, the installation was successful.

Games with CD Audio

You can use CBAE to save some space with games that use CD audio tracks by compressing them.

cbae is a NodeJS package that is installed via npm. If you don't have NodeJS already installed:

pacman -S nodejs

Then install the cbae package globally:

npm i cbae --location=global

cbae takes .bin/.cue images as input and uses the information of the .cue file to determine what the CD audio tracks are.

To convert a .bin/.cue image:

cbae e KEEPER.cue -o ./ -enc OPUS:64 -p $(nproc)

This achives the following:

• e KEEPER.cue: encodes CD audio tracks of the image KEEPER.cue
• -o ./: outputs the resulting files into a sub-directory of the current directory, e.g.:

  KEEPER.bin
  KEEPER.cue        <-- input file
  KEEPER [e]        <-- sub-directory
  ├── KEEPER.cue                <-- new .cue file by cbae
  ├── KEEPER - Track 01.bin     <-- binary game data
  ├── KEEPER - Track 02.opus    <-- CD audio track
  ├── KEEPER - Track 03.opus
  ├── KEEPER - Track 04.opus
  ├── KEEPER - Track 05.opus
  ├── KEEPER - Track 06.opus
  └── KEEPER - Track 07.opus
  

• -enc OPUS:64: encodes audio tracks with Opus at 64 kbps (see cbae --help for available codecs)
• -p $(nproc): specifies how many CPU cores are used for encoding ($(nproc) assigns the maximum number of cores available)

Mount the newly created .cue file with DOSBox's imgmount command, e.g. as the D: drive:

imgmount d ~/DOSGAMES/KEEPER [e]/KEEPER.cue -t cdrom

ScummVM

Dabble in some adventure games of yore with ScummVM:

pacman -S scummvm

OpenRCT2

OpenRCT2 is an open-source re-implementation of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (RCT2), expanding the game with new features, fixing bugs and raising game limits.

NOTE: OpenRCT2 also supports RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 game files.

pacman -S openrct2 innoextract

For the development version install the AUR package:

yay -S openrct2-git

CorsixTH

CorsixTH aims to re-implement the game engine of Theme Hospital, and be able to load the original game data files.

yay -S corsix-th-git innoextract

ioquake3

ioquake3 is a free software first person shooter engine based on the Quake 3: Arena and Quake 3: Team Arena source code.

yay -S ioquake3

Copy the pak0.pk3 file from your copy of the game:

# single user
cp pak0.pk3 ~/.q3a/baseq3/

# system-wide
cp pak0.pk3 /opt/quake3/baseq3/

DXX-Rebirth

DXX-Rebirth is a source port of the Descent and Descent 2 Engines so you won’t need DOSBox to play the games. Additionally, it offers OpenGL graphics and effects, advanced Multiplayer, many improvements and new features.

yay -S d1x-rebirth d2x-rebirth innoextract

Copy the Descent 1 game files:

# single user
cp descent.(hog|pig) ~/.d1x-rebirth/

# system-wide
cp descent.(hog|pig) /usr/share/d1x-rebirth/

Copy the Descent 2 game files:

# single user
cp *.(ham|hog|pig|s11|s22) ~/.d2x-rebirth/

# system-wide
cp *.(ham|hog|pig|s11|s22) /usr/share/d2x-rebirth/

Minecraft

The official Minecraft Launcher package maintained by Microsoft:

yay -S minecraft-launcher

SimCity 3000 Unlimited

Widescreen hack

SimCity 3000 does only support a set amount of resolutions, widescreen resolutions are not natively supported. You can work around that by editing the main executable file in a hex editor.

Open the main executable file SC3U.exe in a hex editor and search for the following byte sequence:

8b 4c 24 04 8b 44 24 08 53

Overwrite the first four bytes with:

c2 08 00 90

Next search for the byte sequence:

8b 4c 24 04 8b 54 24 08 81 f9

Overwrite the first four bytes with:

c2 08 00 90

The game will now allow much higher resolutions. Keep in mind, however, that the interface will not scale with the resolution and on really high resolutions the UI of the game might be displayed really small and might get hard to read.

Scrolling speed fix

On modern systems, SimCity 3000 exhibits a scrolling bug in which the game scrolls way too fast.

To fix this, a mod can be installed, called cnc-ddraw. It limits the game's tickrate and adds a couple more neat features.

Download cnc-ddraw from the project's GitHub releases page. Drop the files ddraw.dll and ddraw.ini into the installation directory of the game, next to the SC3U.exe file. Then, start the game with the environment variable WINEDLLOVERRIDES=ddraw=n,b. If you have the game on Steam, this can be easily achieved by opening the game's settings and adding the following line to the launch options:

WINEDLLOVERRIDES=ddraw=n,b %command%

Shaders for upscaling

cnc-ddraw supports scaling with GLSL shaders. Download them from the libretro GitHub (Code → Download ZIP) and extract it into a sub-directory in the same folder as the ddraw.dll file you copied earlier, e.g. ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/SimCity 3000 Unlimited/Apps/Shaders.

Then edit ddraw.ini and set the following options (shortened, Ctrl-F the setting keys):

[ddraw]
shader=Shaders/interpolation/pixellate.glsl
renderer=opengl

UT2004 (Atari DVD Release Version)

Install from the DVD. Navigate to the location the DVD was mounted at and run:

sudo sh ./linux-installer.sh

Follow the installation steps.

After installation completes do not run the game immediately after install. Patch first!

Patch to latest version

The patch can be downloaded here: ⬇️ UT2004 Mega Pack Linux + LinuxPatch 3369.2 - utzone.de

Extract contents from the archive and copy them to the install location, overwriting all the files:

NOTE: If cp is asking for confirmation on every file, it is likely there is an alias to cp -i. Prepend a \ before the cp command to temporarily ignore this alias. Alternatively, unalias cp to undefine the alias.

tar -xf ut2004megapack-linux -C /tmp/
cp -R /tmp/UT2004MegaPack/* /usr/local/games/ut2004

Launch in 64-bit

By default, the ut2004 command will launch the 32-bit version of the game. To make it launch the 64-bit version, edit the start script /usr/local/games/ut2004/ut2004 and change line 49 from

	exec "./ut2004-bin" $*

to

	exec "./ut2004-bin-linux-amd64" $*

Missing libraries

The game tries to load quite some old libraries, e.g. it will complain about libSDL-1.2.so.0 or libstdc++.so.5 missing.

In the case of libSDL-1.2.so.0 simply install the SDL 1.2 compatability package:

pacman -S sdl12-compat

Then, remove the libSDL-1.2.so.0 the game came with and put a symbolic link to your system's libSDL-1.2.so.0

sudo rm /usr/local/games/ut2004/System/libSDL-1.2.so.0
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0 /usr/local/games/ut2004/System/libSDL-1.2.so.0 

To fix the error about libstdc++.so.5, an AUR package with the files is available:

yay -S libstdc++5

No sound

UT2004 expects there to be a /dev/dsp sound device to access the sound card directly. This goes back to OSS (Open Sound System) which has long been deprecated in favor of ALSA and contemporaries.

This can easily be fixed in one of two ways:

1. Further edit the start script of ut2004, prepending the execution of the game binary with padsp to route all audio through PulseAudio:

   	exec padsp "./ut2004-bin-linux-amd64" $*
   

2. Edit your user's UT2004 config file ~/.ut2004/System/UT2004.ini, go to the section [ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem] and change the value of UseDefaultDriver=True to UseDefaultDriver=False

Screen resolution

Some higher resolutions might not show up in the game's configuration screen. To set a resolution manually, edit your user's UT2004 config file, go to section [SDLDrv.SDLClient] and set the following parameters, e.g.:

ATTENTION: The config file contains two sections for various graphical settings, one for Windows and one for Linux. The one for Linux comes after the one for Windows.

[SDLDrv.SDLClient]
FullscreenViewportX=2560
FullscreenViewportY=1440

Proper wide-screen support

A mod is available that expands UT2004's wide-screen support: foxWSFix-UT2k4