Crysis 2 Guide

There is no better place for violent alien occupancy than New York its self. In Crysis 2 you play as a Naval soldier called Alcatraz, but as your ship is captized and destroyed you find yourself on a beach at the feet of Prophet.

Prophets days are done and he is handing all responsibilities over to you.

Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Crysis 2 in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Crysis 2. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs

To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained

Mint 14 32-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.1
Wine: 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer

Wine Install

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"

Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right

Click Next

PlayOnLinux will automatically download it and save it in this directory:
/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86

Note: username is where you put your login name. Its a good idea to backup this directory to another computer because you won't have to keep downloading wine versions when you need them.

Downloading Wine

Extracting

Downloading Gecko

Installed

Wine 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer is installed and you can close this window


Downloading Steam

Go To: http://www.steampowered.com
Click Install Steam

Do not click "Install Steam Now"
It will automatically install Linux Steam. Since Crysis 2 isn't made for Linux, we will download the Windows Steam instead.
click "Windows" under the green button

Navigate to your desktop
Click Save

Setup PlayOnLinux

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install

Click "install a non-listed program"

Click Next

Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next

Name your virtual drive: steam
No spaces
Click Next

Select all three options:

• Use another version of Wine
• Configure Wine
• Install some libraries

Click Next

Select Wine 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer
Click Next

Note: If you have a 64-bit distro, PlayOnLinux will ask if you want a 64-bit or 32-bit virtual drive.
Always select 32-bit

Configure Wine

Applications Tab
Windows Version: Windows 7
Click Apply

Graphics Tab
Check: Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows
Check: Emulate a virtual desktop
Desktop size: 1024x768
Click Ok

Install Libraries (Windows Packages)

Check the following libraries:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_registeredfonts
• POL_Install_tahoma
• POL_Install_vcrun2008

Each Library will automatically download and install its-self
Click Next

Installing Steam

Click Browse

Navigate to your desktop
Select: SteamInstall.msi
Click Open

Click Next

Click Next

Check: I accept the license...
Click Next

Click Next

Click Next

Click Install

Click Finish

Updating Steam

More updating, extracting and installing

When Steam is done installing the login screen will pop up. You probably won't see any text because there is a font bug.
Click the "X" to close Steam login

PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Steam.exe
Click Next

Name your shortcut: Steam
Click Next

Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next

More PlayOnLinux Configuration

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure
Select Steam virtual drive

General Tab
Arguments: -no-dwrite -no-cef-sandbox
This fixes the missing font and store problem

Note: -no-dwrite only works if you launch Steam from PlayOnLinux. Steam is automatically set to launch when Windows starts, which means if you do a "Windows Reboot" from the Wine tab -no-dwrite won't execute. Just close Steam and try again.

Display Tab
Direct Draw Renderer: opengl
Video Memory Size: size of memory on your video card
Offscreen rendering mode: fbo

Wine Tab
Click "Windows reboot"
Close Steam because it will automatically launch when Windows reboots and won't execute -no-dwrite.

Close Configure

Install Crysis 2

Select Steam
Click Run

Steam Overlay
Some games will not work with Steam Overlay
Click Steam Menu
Click Settings

Select "In-Game" on the left
Uncheck "Enable Steam Community In-Game"
Click OK

Select Crysis 2 in your game library
click Install

Click Next

Click "I agree"

Click Next

Click Finish

Crysis 2 will start downloading

Note: Crysis 2 is a 13.4 Gigabtye game. It may take a while to download depending on your internet speed.

Launching Crysis 2

When its finished downloading you will see a "Play" button
Click Play

Steam will attempt to install DirectX and Microsoft VC Redist, but we have previously installed
them.

Video Card Error
My GeForce GTX 550 Ti is apparently not recognized by the software, but it still runs just fine. Click OK

Press Enter

Create an account or just press "Skip" to go to the main menu

Click Options

Click Graphics

The system automatically set my Graphics options to high
But if you click "System Spec"
High actually seems like "low" because there is:

• High
• Very High
• Extreme
• Ultra

Only experiment with these settings if you have a card better than the GeForce GTX 550 Ti.

Adjust the resolution for smoother gameplay on your system
Click Apply

Advanced Graphics

Again everything was automatically set to "High" but when you click the menu's it is the lowest setting.
Only experiment with these settings if your graphics card can handle it.
Disabling motion blur or setting to "low" can reduce eye fatigue and may even improve performance.
Click Apply

Conclusion:
At first Crysis 2 was plauge with crashing just like Crysis 1. I had a feeling it was a memory leak but was not getting the same errors... So after trying several versions of Wine, I decided to try the "doublebuffer" version of 1.6-rc4 and it really improved the crashing problem. I could easily progress to the next checkpoint or even several before crashing again.

Unfortunately I was unable to play Crysis 2 without crashing at all. This is a side affect of CryEngine 3 and Wine.

If you want to play Crysis 2, this is your only option for now...

Also, you might notice some texture or surface errors in game. Wine 1.7 will fix them, but then you will have a LOT more crashing issues. And you will probably notice there are no casted shadows. Yet another DirectX problem that Crysis 1 had too.

Besides those problems Crysis 2 ran fairly well and I had a lot of fun sneaking around killing soldiers and climbing structures. There are a lot of strategic options for taking down enemies or sneaking by un-noticed.

Screenshots:

 

High Res Screenshots

 

This game is incredibly beautiful Do you think my hardware can handle it (see my signature) ?

 

There is a chance, I would start with a lower resolution: 1024x768 then bump up to 1365x768 or even 1440x900
Notice all the settings showed "high" but it was the lowest setting because there is "Very High" "Extreme" and "Ultra"
On top of that it is running in Wine so you will sacrifice CPU processing.
Also notice there are no casted shadows on the ground or other surfaces. Not sure why, but that helps performance too.

If you really really want to play Crysis 2, buy it and try it out. I recommend Crysis 1 first.
Its the same engine (practically) and if it runs, then Crysis 2 should run.

 

Great job booman!
What is doublebuffer?

 

Oh, and are you using the recommended Mint drivers or did you use NVida's?

 

I always use Nvidia drivers. Open source drivers aren't quite "there" yet.

Doublebuffering has something to do with managing memory with Dot Net Framework. It can improve performance in Graphics heavy programs: Doublebuffering

 

Crysis 2 is still playing for me. I finally got past the Keep and the Church. Major plot-turning cut-scenes after that. So I won't ruin it, but be away gamers... I had some problems with locking up and reloading. I had to start a whole chapter back to get through the Keep chapter. Be patient and keep trying!
I may actually play this all the way to the end.

 

I made it all the way to the Dark Heart chapter. Fighting aliens now.
The whole Genre really reminds me of Half-Life. Levels are linear but very large, so you can choose how to get to the other side where the objective is, but you can't choose other objectives. So its basically linear.

I'm not doing any more screenshots cause I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

 

I seem to have found another trouble area in Crysis 2.
I'm at the Corporate Collapse chapter and its crashing again.
Originally the first time I got to this chapter, it ran fine until I swam into the parking garage. Now if I load any game or even re-start the chapter it crashes.
Oh CryEngine 3.... why can't we get along?