reporting success on installing and, well, mostly playing EL on linux.

[GAlex]

specifications:
distro used: both Ubuntu 9.10 & KUbuntu 9.10
wine version: standard Ubuntu 9.10 repository
Direct X version: original Directx9.0c from Microsoft site

set win version to win2000 on wine;
copy mscoree.dll & streamci.dll from original win32 system32 dir to ~.wine/drive_c/windows/system32
added the following to the wine registry (by using text editor) under software section:

Code: Select all

[Software\\\\Wine\\\\DllOverrides] 1206264929
"d3d8"="builtin"
"d3d9"="builtin"
"d3dim"="native"
"d3drm"="native"
"d3dx8"="native"
"d3dx9_24"="native"
"d3dx9_25"="native"
"d3dx9_26"="native"
"d3dx9_27"="native"
"d3dx9_28"="native"
"d3dx9_29"="native"
"d3dx9_30"="native"
"d3dx9_31"="native"
"d3dx9_32"="native"
"d3dx9_33"="native"
"d3dx9_34"="native"
"d3dx9_35"="native"
"d3dx9_36"="native"
"d3dxof"="native"
"dciman32"="native"
"ddrawex"="native"
"devenum"="native"
"dinput"="builtin"
"dinput8"="builtin"
"dmband"="native"
"dmcompos"="native"
"dmime"="native"
"dmloader"="native"
"dmscript"="native"
"dmstyle"="native"
"dmsynth"="native"
"dmusic"="native"
"dmusic32"="native"
"dnsapi"="native"
"dplay"="native"
"dplayx"="native"
"dpnaddr"="native"
"dpnet"="native"
"dpnhpast"="native"
"dpnlobby"="native"
"dsound"="builtin"
"dswave"="native"
"dxdiagn"="native"
"mscoree"="native"
"msdmo"="native"
"qcap"="native"
"quartz"="native"
"streamci"="native"

installed directx :wine directx_XXXXX_redist.exe
and :wine dxsetup.exe

then installed EL and launched.

results:
load time from launch to pilot select menu: +30% ca.
load time in SP & MP mode : same than win32
FPS in SP full graphics : 3-7
FPS in MP full graphics : 2-5
FPS in SP lowest graphics : 5-9
FPS in MP lowest graphics : 3-7

processes running in backround:
cron.daily -> updatedb (same as searchindexer for win32);
full kde desktop and visual effects on 4 virtual desktop;
compiz;
plasma;
packages updater (~347MB of patches to download and install);
standard U/KU-buntu linux desktop demons and background processes.

hardware specs:
2006 MidTower-cased PC;
Processor: P6 3.2GH 32-bit single processor;
Mother board: unknown made in china FSB 677MHz;
RAM: 1GB ddr2 pc4200 533MHz;
Video Card: nVidia 7300GT 256Ram PCiExpress
Storage: Old 80GB Samsung P/IDE 5400Rpm HD with ext4;

bottlenecks:
on the fly transcoded executable;
directx function calls translated to opengl, mostly software-rendered, no full use of DRI

[verbosity]

Whoa! thats impressive, I think this is the first ever successful report of someone getting one of vice's games to run on linux

FPS in SP full graphics : 3-7
FPS in MP full graphics : 2-5
FPS in SP lowest graphics : 5-9
FPS in MP lowest graphics : 3-7

are these the actual figures? 3-7 fps would be difficult to play with, is there any chance this could be improved?

[SDWeimer]

Yep those are real (at least the mp ones are) Marvin, Dennymala and I were on when he logged in.

[GAlex]

indeed, the first issue is that no directx implementation is native on linux, so the workaround is wrapper libraries (d3d8 & d3d9) that are builtin in wine and "translates" the dx calls to opengl. but since there are differences between the two libraries, what is not implemented in opengl, has to be software rendered and can't make use of 3d acceleration of video card.

the second issue is the driver implementation, that in linux doesn't provide a dx layer.

obviously all the previous issues are due to the proprietary and copyrighted nature of directx. it has already been discussed that a rewritten dx-compatible library or a reverse-engineered version could have legal issues and thus this way is not feasible.

i wonder if with a more powerful hardware than mine, fps could double. in that case, with 10-15 fps, the game could be playable.

OR DarkBasic could provide an OpenGL layer, OR the game could make use of a more cross platform framework like Ogre or SDL+OpenGl: in that case, EL will run at the same speed under the 2 os.

anyway my attempt was not made in the spirit of playing EL under linux, but to prove the feasibility of running a DarkBasic/directx strictly windows based application in a standard linux box without too much tweaking.

a great success, indeed, and a great advance in linux technology in the way of compatibility and standardization.

and this also implies that EL could be playable also under macosx.

[cheops]

Well now I know where and what at least one of my clan members has been upto. Well done on apparently making a first.

[Maarschalk]

I'm impressed. very cool.

[warsign]

Nice work!

[tha_rami]

That is mighty impressive. I undertook the same quest a while back but failed miserably (gave up after three weeks), but this is awesome!

[Daedalao]

ReactOS next?

[Vice]

The fact that even the multiplayer systems worked correctly is pretty cool. Were you able to use the control systems for devices like joysticks and gamepads also?

[GAlex]

@vice: succesfully configured and used on the fly any standard HID game controls.
well, i've tried only mouse control, a trust gamepad, a very old logitech joystick (barely worth it's name) and a ps2 pad adapted to a USB port, but all these devices worked fine.
the only great pain was the FPS, for the reasons stated in my previous posts, but again, my hardware is quite old.

[BENERICK]

Way to go GAlex Im impresses as well, of course all that mumbo jumbo is still all greek to me.

[tha_rami]

I'll find myself a powerful PC and try out the installation as you recommend. Lets see what happens .