Run arma 2 on Linux

[lt.white 10]

Ive tried to run arma 2 on linux the game boots up but the screens dont show its just blurr. Cant click on anything cant read anything. How do i get it to work on linux and how do i install direct 10x

[ModeZt 0]

ehm.. sounds really funny.

how did you install the game on linux?

..there might be some workaround with WINE or Cedega that might do the trick, but oficially arma2 requires WIndows XP or Vista to run.

[Cpt.Goose 10]

no point in installing DX10 if your thinking for Arma 2, It doesn't use it at all.

[echo1 0]

ehm.. sounds really funny.

how did you install the game on linux?

..there might be some workaround with WINE or Cedega that might do the trick,

You answered your own question.

but oficially arma2 requires WIndows XP or Vista to run.

I think you are completely missing the point of what WINE is there for.

How do i get it to work on linux and how do i install direct 10x

You don't install DX10. For one, ArmA 2 is mainly DX9, it just supports DX10 features, there are people playing it quite happily in XP who don't have any XP features.

For the time being, I'd ask your question here where it is likely to get some replies. I haven't tried it on WINE yet, still setting up Arch on my new desktop, and am having trouble making it recognize my sound card :(

[_narcolepsy_ 10]

suggest you try the latest version of wine, and let us all know if this happens :

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=10054

[ModeZt 0]

You answered your own question.

I just hate the way topic-starter made his post. A mix of missing information and foolishness. Messing with WINE requires basic knowledge of the subject, and that doesn't link up with the fact that he wants to install dx10.

I think you are completely missing the point of what WINE is there for.

Enlighten me pls. What i want to say is that BIS is not developing with WINE compatibility in mind. And i don't blame them for it.

[blackettle 10]

I have an idea... install Windows and the problem is solved.

Thank you thank you. No applause necessary.

[echo1 0]

Enlighten me pls. What i want to say is that BIS is not developing with WINE compatibility in mind. And i don't blame them for it.

WINE is a compatibility layer, not some kind of software platform. Some developers make software for Linux, some don't. The whole point of WINE is to allow you to run software that isn't designed for Linux on Linux. It's continuously improved in order to allow more complex and obscure software to work on it. What I'm saying is that all the work gets done on the WINE dev's end of things, not the developers of the software. If the game devs wanted Linux support, they'd implement it themselves, and there would be no need for WINE. It wouldn't make sense for them to adopt a half-assed approach whereby they make a few subtle changes to the codebase and put a sticker on the back saying "May work on Linux if you hack around with it for a while".

I have an idea... install Windows and the problem is solved.

Thank you thank you. No applause necessary.

There's something to be said for the long-lost art of successful trolling, all you new people just don't have what it takes to be funny or engaging anymore... It kinda makes me sad really :icon_rolleyes:

Edited July 23, 2009 by echo1

[blackettle 10]

It's almost saddening to see how the quality of trolling on this forum has decreased so much over the past few months :roll_eyes:

Does it sadden you more than hearing about someone trying to run a DirectX API game on a Windows emulator?

[echo1 0]

It's been done. Hell, I did it this afternoon, albeit not with ArmA2, with excellent results. To be honest, Linux is a bit of a hacker's OS. You get what many would consider to be a better system than Windows, but you have to play around with it to get it working. Many people (myself included) like to try and get stuff working even if there's a better way of doing it (for example, rebooting into Windows and running the game properly.) Some people don't like to play with their food like this, and I'm not going to engage in fanboy wankery by going against that. But if someone wants to try and getting something working on it, I'd encourage and help them as much as i can. I'm going to assume that the OP is not mentally deficient, and therefore assume your 'solution' has probably already been considered. If he still wants to get ArmA 2 working on WINE, it's obviously just for the sake of it. You can't just piss on someone's knowledge because they don't fully understand the process either, everyone starts out as a n00b, it's all a learning process.

Edited July 23, 2009 by echo1

[blackettle 10]

Well I assume he actually wants play the game, rather than try to get it to work on a Windows emulator. Therefore I suggested and stick by my suggestion to install Windows.

Thanks for the info about GNU/Linux.

[ModeZt 0]

WINE is a compatibility layer, ...and so on..

that's all cool and it works with some programs. but when it comes to complicated software like games it requires lots of testing and tweaking eather from software developer or from WINE developers. i doubt that WINE guys will look into the reasons of arma2 not working correct.

GNU/Linux.

RMS style :p

Edited July 23, 2009 by ModeZt

[echo1 0]

that's all cool and it works with some programs. but when it comes to complicated software like games it requires lots of testing and tweaking eather from software developer or from WINE developers. i doubt that WINE guys will look into the reasons of arma2 not working correct.

That depends. It could be possible that whatever's causing ArmA 2 to fail could be causing other games to fail as well. If that's the case then the problem is likely to be fixed at some point. If it's a more ArmA 2 specific issue, then yes, it may never be completely fixed.

I must try the original ArmA out with WINE and see if it works :)

[The Kentucky Kid 0]

Interesting to see if it would actually run, even if it does the performance would probably be very bad considering it doesn't even run right on windows with no additional software emulation overhead.

[Vandrel 10]

You can use VMWare to run Windows in Linux and then work with ArmA2 through that.

[echo1 0]

Nope. Although VMware has limited DX9 support, it's actually emulating a graphics chipset using your CPU. Unless they've drastically altered their software since the last time I used it, it doesnt like the virtualized OS have access to the host computer's hardware, which is what would be needed to play a game.

[Vandrel 10]

When was the last time you used it? I use it every day at work for our simulations

[nomdeplume 0]

Interesting to see if it would actually run, even if it does the performance would probably be very bad considering it doesn't even run right on windows with no additional software emulation overhead.

Just to nitpick: WINE Is Not an Emulator. Seriously, that's what the acronym stands for. It's an implementation of Win32 and DirectX APIs, not an emulation layer. An emulator translates calls from one API to a different one, or in extreme cases it translates machine-code instructions to different instructions on another type of hardware. WINE is not translating anything, "merely" implementing the API.

Of course, it's incomplete, and the documentation may not be entirely accurate with respect to the actual behaviour of the Win32 API.

Some games actually run better on Linux using WINE than they do on Windows natively, due to differences in the task scheduler and so on. This is similar to how some games run better under Vista or Windows 7 than they do under XP, or vice versa. No hard and fast rules, simply that some particular details of low-level OS functionality seems to suit some games more than others.

[blackettle 10]

RMS style :p

What does that acronym mean?

[nomdeplume 0]

What does that acronym mean?

Richard M. Stallman is the originator of GNU software (and in some ways the father of the "open source" movement, at least the modern version of it) and used to be quite insistent about people referring to Linux as GNU/Linux. Don't know if he still is.

The reasoning is that Linux is just an OS kernel, which is lovely and all but useless without a userland with which to actually do things. Pretty much all the Linux distributions use GNU tools for the userland. GNU itself stands for GNU's Not UNIX, a free reimplementation of common UNIX tools like command shells, compilers, a C library, etc.

[blackettle 10]

Just to nitpick: WINE Is Not an Emulator. Seriously, that's what the acronym stands for. It's an implementation of Win32 and DirectX APIs, not an emulation layer. An emulator translates calls from one API to a different one, or in extreme cases it translates machine-code instructions to different instructions on another type of hardware. WINE is not translating anything, "merely" implementing the API.

Of course, it's incomplete, and the documentation may not be entirely accurate with respect to the actual behaviour of the Win32 API.

Thanks for the heads up on what WINE is or isn't. Nevertheless, I personally would not try to run ARMA2 on it.

I have never used WINE. I did use VMWare once or twice in its infancy. It was nothing more than a novelty at the time as performance was less than stellar.

Peace and love to all until I see you in my scope. Have a nice rest.

---------- Post added at 02:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:39 PM ----------

Richard M. Stallman is the originator of GNU software (and in some ways the father of the "open source" movement, at least the modern version of it) and used to be quite insistent about people referring to Linux as GNU/Linux. Don't know if he still is.

The reasoning is that Linux is just an OS kernel, which is lovely and all but useless without a userland with which to actually do things. Pretty much all the Linux distributions use GNU tools for the userland. GNU itself stands for GNU's Not UNIX, a free reimplementation of common UNIX tools like command shells, compilers, a C library, etc.

I see. I was not familiar with the name of the originator of the GNU software project. However, I must agree with him and therefore I will refer to the system as GNU/Linux.

In the context of an embedded system I bet the kernel can actually be quite useful all by itself.

[echo1 0]

When was the last time you used it? I use it every day at work for our simulations

A few months ago. It was version 6.5.1 as far as I remember. What sort of simulations are you running? It's quite possible that what you're running isnt very graphics intensive. I'm pretty sure a game would fry it though.