Playing to AACW with GNU/Linux Ubuntu ! Jouer à AACW avec GNU/Linux Ubuntu !

[andatiep]

(english summary at the end)


Enfin ! J'ai finalement trouvé sur le réseau puis expérimenté sur mon poste les étapes à faire pour pouvoir jouer à AACW tout en étant débarrassé de l'ignoble système de ces perfides esclavagistes de chez Microsoft !
Je sais qu'on est pas encore des masses à être des abolitionnistes de ce type, mais je suis sûr que ça concernera de plus en plus de monde (à commencer par les néo-Linuxiens que je suis en train d'évangéliser à AACW... ).
Voici donc, le topo :

Configuration testée :
- Carte graphique : nVidia Corporation Geforce 9600 GT 512mb
- Système : Ubuntu 8.04 (mis à jour et après une post-installation de ce type : http://logitheque.eve-grenoble.org/doku.php/gnu-linux_ubuntu#post-installation_utilisee_a_l_ene)


Installation de Wine et DirectX :
- Suivre ce tutoriel (à l'exception des deux dernières étapes apparemment inutiles que sont l'installation de QuickTime et IE6) : http://howto.landure.fr/gnu-linux/installer-directx-9-0c-avec-wine/

Installation de AACW et du dernier patch :
- Cliquer bouton droit sur les fichiers .exe puis Propriété > Ouvrir avec et choisir wine (ou cliquer sur "utiliser une commande personnalisée" et écrire wine) puis sur ajouter.
- Lancer les installations comme sous MS/Windows
- Brûler un cierge

...et ça marche. J'ai même testé la démo de WIA qui marche aussi...

NB: Je n'ai effectué aucune autre config (du type de celle proposé sur la doc' communautaire d'ubuntu-fr : http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/wine_directx).


J'ai créé une page de doc' (http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/aacw) dans la rubrique Jeux du WIKi de la documentation francophone d'Ubuntu (http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/jeux), et bien sûr, j'en ai créé une sur le Wiki d'AACW (http://ageod.nsen.ch/aacwwiki/How_to_play_to_AACW_with_GNU/Linux_Ubuntu). Je voulais la placer dans la FAQ mais elle ne s'affiche plus, donc elle est visible à partir de là : http://ageod.nsen.ch/aacwwiki/Categorized_AACWWiki_index

A terme, je trouve que ce serait bien qu'Ageod fasse un script pour le projet PlayOnLinux (http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/playonlinux ) pour installer plus facilement les jeux ageod sous GNU/Linux avec Wine ...Moi je pas savoir faire, je pas développeur...

A long terme, l'idéal étant bien sûr un language python ou autre pour que tous les jeux d'Ageod tournent facilement sous les 3 systèmes (Windows, Linux, MAC), mais vu que ça marche maintenant sous Wine, je préfère largement voir venir en priorité d'autres opus de la saga (à quand ARCW : Ageod Russian Civil War - 1917-1921 ?)


AACW était ma dernière appli sous Windows ! J'ai plus à re-démarrer à chaque fois sous Windows pour jouer à AACW ! Vous imaginez pas mon bonheur !

Ce mois d'aout pourri devient radieux...


-----english summary--------


It is now possible to use GNU/Linux Ubuntu to play AACW.
It's working well on my computer with a Ubuntu 8.04 (updated after a post-installation like this one : http://logitheque.eve-grenoble.org/doku.php/gnu-linux_ubuntu#post-installation_utilisee_a_l_ene)

I did tested it successfully that way :

Installation of Wine & DirectX :
- Follow this steps (except the useless last ones about installing QuickTime & IE6) : http://howto.landure.fr/gnu-linux/installer-directx-9-0c-avec-wine/


Installation of AACW and last patch :
- Clic right-bottom on .exe files then Property > Open with and choose wine or write it in the field "use a custumized command" then clic on Add.
- Run the Windows installer as you were on that system.


I created a new AACWwiki page for this documentations here : http://ageod.nsen.ch/aacwwiki/How_to_play_to_AACW_with_GNU/Linux_Ubuntu

[Rafiki]

Excellent! This is definately something I'll be checking out tonight

[andatiep]

Excellent! This is definately something I'll be checking out tonight

Cool ! It will check if this how-to is working with other language system than French. And then it could be put it in english (and norvegian!) ubuntu user wikis as i did for http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/aacw


By the way, if it's you who care of the wiki (as you do for the forum, isn't it?) : i tried to link the page http://ageod.nsen.ch/aacwwiki/How_to...U/Linux_Ubuntu from the wiki FAQ page, put that page was not working at all. So i did a link from the categorized index page, but if you see it elsewhere move it...


PS: Again by the way : maybe Dokuwiki could be more userfriendly than Mediawiki (doc.ubuntu.org is a Dokuwiki for example and you can test it there simply). But never mind, anyway mediawiki is great also.

[berto]

Since I'm on a campaign here to retire our Windows systems (we have five Windows systems/instances and nine Linux systems/virtual machines/instances), this is very good to know.

Among other things, it suggests that if Wine can now run a demanding game like AACW, it can run a whole lot more, and there's less reason than ever to hold on to Windows.

Way cool!

[andatiep]

Since I'm on a campaign here to retire our Windows systems (we have five Windows systems/instances and nine Linux systems/virtual machines/instances), this is very good to know.

That's great. The Times They Are a-Changin' ...i had 10 Linux ubuntu installation a week last months in our university computer service. Thank you Vista (!). The games are really the last applications to stick on Windows. That's why Wine is a good project to follow, while waiting the game's developpers change at their rythm their favorite programming tools and languages.

Among other things, it suggests that if Wine can now run a demanding game like AACW, it can run a whole lot more, and there's less reason than ever to hold on to Windows.
Way cool!

Well, the list of appli' Wine can run grow up obviously. For our example, i already did try AACW on Ubuntu 7.10 with Wine 0.9 and it was not working. Now it is with Ubuntu 8.04 and Wine 1.1.2

I see you are AACW Tester. If you are also "ubunteros" or other Linux user, maybe we can start to form some kind of group of "Wine linux testers" each time Ageod issue a new game.

I still can not say it is working with NCP or BOAII because i only bought AACW and since the "school park", i was always told to first finish a war before starting another... but if you have already some other games, you could test it and update the Wiki.

After all, it would be nice to make the installation more easier by creating some scripts for the PlayOnLinux tool : a Wine userfriendly game installer project (see here : http://www.playonlinux.com) but it is personally out of my skills.

[berto]

I see you are AACW Tester. If you are also "ubunteros" or other Linux user, maybe we can start to form some kind of group of "Wine linux testers" each time Ageod issue a new game.

Together with the Magna Mundi team, I do serious modding work of Europa Universalis III, all in Linux. I've developed a C debugger for that game, and additionally code scripts in Perl & Python to automate various tasks--"Sorcery" the other team members call it.

I have offered to do similar Linux development for AACW, but there doesn't seem to be much need/interest.

My plate is full to overflowing right now, but sure, it would be cool to form/join a special interest group to support AACW etc. on Linux Wine.

I prefer OpenSUSE Linux for my servers, but yes we also have a couple of Ubuntu Linux systems here.

I still can not say it is working with NCP or BOAII because i only bought AACW and since the "school park", i was always told to first finish a war before starting another... but if you have already some other games, you could test it and update the Wiki.

I'm somewhat ashamed to say that I haven't purchased NCP yet. After years of buying games by the dozens that I never really played, my new life policy is to purchase only games I actually have time play. The interest is there, just now not the time. Hopefully by autumn.

After all, it would be nice to make the installation more easier by creating some scripts for the PlayOnLinux tool : a Wine userfriendly game installer project (see here : http://www.playonlinux.com) but it is personally out of my skills.

It's safe to say that I can tackle just about any AGEod/Linux programming project (see my sig, especially PIKT), but as always it's a question of time. leure:

[Rafiki]

By the way, if it's you who care of the wiki (as you do for the forum, isn't it?) : i tried to link the page http://ageod.nsen.ch/aacwwiki/How_to...U/Linux_Ubuntu from the wiki FAQ page, put that page was not working at all. So i did a link from the categorized index page, but if you see it elsewhere move it...

Yup that works OK

(And I don't think we can say that "How do I get AACW to run on Linux is a particularly frequently asked question yet, anyway )

PS: Again by the way : maybe Dokuwiki could be more userfriendly than Mediawiki (doc.ubuntu.org is a Dokuwiki for example and you can test it there simply). But never mind, anyway mediawiki is great also.

When I started setting up wikis, Mediawiki was well established and the best alternative. I've tested Docuwiki a bit since, without finding any large faults or advantages with it; in which ways do you find Docuwiki superior to Mediawiki?

(We might need to branch off this discussion if it gains speed; it's a subject close to my heart, and I liek to expand my knowledge in the area )

[andatiep]

It's safe to say that I can tackle just about any AGEod/Linux programming project (see my sig, especially PIKT), but as always it's a question of time. leure:

Yes... The Times They Are a-Changin' ...except Time ...

Merci. And let's wait for more others to split and share that bloody Time in pieces...

[andatiep]

Yup that works OK

(And I don't think we can say that "How do I get AACW to run on Linux is a particularly frequently asked question yet, anyway )

You're right ! I didn't remember at the moment what FAQ is in english. I had the French acronym in mind which is "FAQ: Foire Aux Questions", meaning "Questions' Fair". And of course in a fair we can find anythings ...including useless stuff ...and even unknow superior free technologies coming back from the futur... .

When I started setting up wikis, Mediawiki was well established and the best alternative. I've tested Docuwiki a bit since, without finding any large faults or advantages with it; in which ways do you find Docuwiki superior to Mediawiki?

(We might need to branch off this discussion if it gains speed; it's a subject close to my heart, and I liek to expand my knowledge in the area )

Well, well, well. Let's try to avoid the Troll (you have the bigest ones in Scandinavia, and we have only dwarf here in the Alps...mmmh actually dwarf in chief moved to Elysée now but it is an another story) :
Dokuwiki is not superior to Mediawiki. Mediawiki is our Mother Earth. Hugh ! We all come from Mediawiki !
- Dokuwiki is much easy to install (but you already did install Mediawiki so we don't care here).
- I just feel that Dokuwiki is easier to edit and to navigate in for people who are not use to it. But it is totally subjective since i'm using Dokuwiki at Work since more than a year...(that one : http://logitheque.eve-grenoble.org)
- I was wondering if Dokuwiki was not easier to custumize, especially to integrate more the Wikis (i put plural because other Ageod's games deserve also wikis...) to the Forums and to the official Websites.
But anyway, i stand with you for the Wiki ! Whatever is the background, that's really a complementary tool which was missing with the Forums.

[Rafiki]

Well, well, well. Let's try to avoid the Troll (you have the bigest ones in Scandinavia, and we have only dwarf here in the Alps...mmmh actually dwarf in chief moved to Elysée now but it is an another story) :
Dokuwiki is not superior to Mediawiki. Mediawiki is our Mother Earth. Hugh ! We all come from Mediawiki !

Not quite sure what you're saying here, but we try to keep this place pretty troll-free

- Dokuwiki is much easy to install (but you already did install Mediawiki so we don't care here).

I have only installed two Dokuwikis (which I barely used afterwards ), so I don't have that much experience to use for comparison, but Mediawiki is pretty straight-forward.

One thing with Mediawiki, though, is that there are a certain number of pages that need to be either written or disabled (e.g. copyright, "about" etc, since the default installation expects it to be there, but this has more to do with setting it up, rather than with the installation itself.

After pulling all "my" mediawiki installations into a single wikifarm, setting up new ones as well as doing upgrades has been downright easy

- I just feel that Dokuwiki is easier to edit and to navigate in for people who are not use to it. But it is totally subjective since i'm using Dokuwiki at Work since more than a year...(that one : http://logitheque.eve-grenoble.org)

I think that has much to do with habits. One thing that speaks for Meadiawiki (for me, at least) is the power of its templating engine. It is cumbersome and has syntax form another world, but when it works, it does some pretty nifty stuff.

The next Mediawiki release looks like it will integrate some AJAX functionality in its search functions; looking forward to see what it can work for AACWWiki

- I was wondering if Dokuwiki was not easier to custumize, especially to integrate more the Wikis (i put plural because other Ageod's games deserve also wikis...) to the Forums and to the official Websites.

Design and customizing the appearance of the wiki is a good point, especially since I'm not that much into web design myself (I'm first and foremost a sysadmin ).

As for wikis for the other AGEOD games; it's an idea that has been discussed, but it hasn't gained any particular momentum (yet). That doesn't mean it won't do so in the future, though

But anyway, i stand with you for the Wiki ! Whatever is the background, that's really a complementary tool which was missing with the Forums.

Indeed; it (still) has good potential

[Rafiki]

BTW, been looking at the Linux recipe, but haven't had much time to try it out (yet).

[Pocus]

Potentially, there are two big things to do: what slow people about scenario creation is: lack of comprehensive doc and lack of fool proof editor...

A sub-part of a scenario editor can be an event editor. It asks for a good knowledge of the scripting commands.

Aside that I don't see much things to do. Perhaps something along the lines of manipulating the .rgn files generated by the map editor.

[andatiep]

Potentially, there are two big things to do: what slow people about scenario creation is: lack of comprehensive doc and lack of fool proof editor...

A sub-part of a scenario editor can be an event editor. It asks for a good knowledge of the scripting commands.

Aside that I don't see much things to do. Perhaps something along the lines of manipulating the .rgn files generated by the map editor.

Hello Pocus, don't you mixt that thread with an another one in other forum ?
Key words here was around "running Ageod's games on Linux" or "Wiki documentation"...

Anyway that new good topic make me think a lot on.
I move it in a new thread to speak about. See you there ? => http://www.birth-of-america2.com/ageod/forums/showthread.php?t=10215

[Rafiki]

I'm pretty sure Pocus was referring to this comment by berto, in one of the above posts:

I have offered to do similar Linux development for AACW, but there doesn't seem to be much need/interest.

[berto]

Potentially, there are two big things to do: what slow people about scenario creation is: lack of comprehensive doc and lack of fool proof editor...

A sub-part of a scenario editor can be an event editor. It asks for a good knowledge of the scripting commands.

I have a keen interest in scripting languages and utilities. Developing scripting utilities benefits from having good, comprehensive docs, so that too might be of interest. Maybe by mid to late autumn I can begin looking into this.

[superBOB]

The game works better for me under Linux (Ubuntu) than on XP !

I'm using Wine 1.1.5 with the latest DirectX 9 and Nvidia.

[andatiep]

The game works better for me under Linux (Ubuntu) than on XP !

I'm using Wine 1.1.5 with the latest DirectX 9 and Nvidia.

Good to report the hardware which is working ! Can you just detail the NVIDIA model ?

Friends told me it is not working well with ATI card, but i still don't know which one.

Do you have also a little "blocked" pixel line on the screen while playing AACW with Ubuntu ?

[Citizen X]

I assume you have basic knowledge of Linux and Wine and Winetricks are installed. There are really enough tutorials on this.

Make a fresh directory for Wine. Open a terminal (console window) and type

env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw115 winecfg

That way you can have as many versions of the game installed as you wish.

A winecfg window will pop up. We use it to determine the path to the installation CD/DVD. Look up the "drives"-tab. If you don't find it already use "autodetect"

Back to the terminal navigate to your DVD drive

cd /media/cdrom0

or similar.

If your drive isn't found you most likely didn't mount your CD properly or didn't insert it

Try

sudo mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom0

or

su mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom0

leave root-level authority by

exit

or open another terminal

Anyway, back to installation.
In the directory of the CD drive find the correct setup file and type

env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw115 wine whichever-name-the-darn-file-has.exe

Say yes to "Create desktop icon?"

Cancel all possible DirectX or Dotnet installations that might appear
Instead use winetricks

env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw115 winetricks d3dx9

env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw115 winetricks directmusic

At least for me, despite all other tutorials that I found on AACW and Linux, it didn't work without the latter.

Now download the appropriate patch. Here it seems we want to install patch 115.
Back at the terminal navigate to your download directory
For me that is

cd $HOME/Downloads

Execute patch into the proper directory. DON'T be tempted to do it with the mouse by right-clicking it and chose "open with wine"
Do instead

env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw115 name-of-patch.exe

There you are


Not quite

Do first

env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw115 winecfg

At the Video-Preferences tab chose

"Emulate virtual desktop" and set the resolution to your desktop's resolution

If you like to have another install of AACW follow the above steps to the letter with the exception of altering the Wine directory.

Type something like

env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw116 winecfg

Where "$HOME" is the systemvariable for the current users homedirectory, starting the name of the directory with a period gives it the "hidden" state and the rest of the name is just the naming convention of my personal taste.

Now...
You will find that everything works perfectly (fingers crossed), only that your desktop icon got overwritten with the new one.

Simply copy/paste it ( I shall mercifully grant you to execute this undertaking using your mouse ) and rightclick one version of it to open the properties to alter its name and in the field where you identfy the executional directive simply alter the directory from (for our example here) aacw116 to aacw115

Of course, you could always use the terminal instead of clicking an icon

cd WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw115
env WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.wine-aacw116 wine aacw.exe

Now enjoy!

Thanks to Irrlicht who spared me lots of typing