Dear Esther is the most graphically beautiful game made in the source engine.
Who is the narrator?
Who is your character on this remote island?
How can such a beautiful place exist?

Explore an abandoned island and cave systems with poetic narration and admire the exquisite landscapes.



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

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

Tips & Specs:

Try SteamPlay before using this guide as Valve now uses a fork of Wine called Proton and should run most Windows games.

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

Mint 18.3 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.12
Wine: 2.0.3

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 2.0.3
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 2.0.3 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
Select Windows Steam instead
click "Windows" under the green button


Navigate to your desktop
Click Save


PlayOnLinux Setup

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: dearesther
No spaces
Click Next


Check all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 2.0.3
Click Next


Select "32 bits windows installation"
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Packages (Libraries, Components, DLL's)

Check the following libraries:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next


Note: All packages will automatically download and install

Installing Steam

Click Browse


Navigate to your desktop
Select: SteamSetup.exe
Click Open


Click Next

Click Next

Check: I accept the license...
Click Next

Click Next

Click Next

Click Install

Click Finish

Updating Steam

Click the "X" to close Steam login


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Steam.exe
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Dear Esther
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure


General Tab
Arguments: -no-dwrite -no-cef-sandbox
This fixes any missing font problems and the Store problem (Windows needs to be set as Windows XP)


Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine. Click the down-arrow to select other versions of wine

Display Tab
Video Memory Size: Select the size of Memory your video card/chip uses


Close Configure

Launching Steam

Select Dear Esther
Click Run


Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Click "Login to existing account"


Login


Go to your Steam Library
Find Dear Esther
Click Install


Uncheck "Create desktop shortcut"
Uncheck "Create start menu shortcut"
Click Next


Click Finish
Wait for Dear Esther to download


Click Play

Optimization

Click Options


Click Video


Adjust:

• Brightness
• Aspect Ratio
• Resolution
• Display Mode
• Laptop Power Savings
• Detail Foliage
• Detail Foliage Draw Distance
• Field of view

Click Apply


Note: Click Advanced for more settings

Rule of thumb:
High settings = More detail, lower frame rates
Low settings = Less detail, higher frame rates

Conclusion:
Initially I tested the native Linux version from Humble Bundle and there were always dependencies missing. I spent over an hour trying to find the right libraries, install them or link to newer one's and it was too confusing. Some of these older libraries are no longer supported and are very difficult to setup. So I decided to try it in PlayOnLinux and it worked perfectly in a 32-bit virtual drive. No problems and great performance.

Gameplay Video:


Screenshots: