I have been testing PC games in Linux for over 3 years now. Each week I post a new step-by-step guide on how to install, configure and optimize the PC game in Linux. There are even a few native guides as well: List of Tested Games in Linux Some games have ran perfectly on the first try, others require some extra libraries, some need patched versions of Wine and very few do not run at all. Testing games requires a lot of patience and repetition. Those troublesome games need to be installed 5 or 6 times in order to trial-n-error and get different results. The process can be quite frustrating, but in the long run no one else has to spend those hours testing. Just follow the guide and play your game. As a result, I've really learned a lot about Windows and Linux equally With PlayOnLinux you can utilize Wine with an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface. Wine can select different versions of Windows: Windows 2.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 3.1 Windows NT 3.51 Windows NT 4.0 Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows ME Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows 2003 Windows Vista Windows 2008 Windows 7 Windows 2008 R2 Windows 8 Windows 8.1 Windows 10 It is really amazing how Wine is compatible with so many versions of Windows. I've read many times that Wine is more backwards compatible with programs than Windows is. PlayOnLinux can install Libraries (DLL): core fonts d3dx9 d3dx10 d3dx11 dotnet 1.0 dotnet 2.0 dotnet 3.0 dotnet 4.0 gdiplus vcrun 2005 vcrun 2006 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 Internet Explorer 6 & 8 Windows Media Player 9 & 10 XNA 31 & 40 And many many more... These libraries are extremely important for certain games and clients to install and run properly. Wine also has a lot of "work arounds" to install games, apply patches and run them in compatibility modes. You can even mount games directly from a folder on your desktop. In the process of my testing I do a lot of research. I reference a lot of different websites to find out how someone successfully ran a game: WineHQ's PlayOnLinux Forums Reddit Softpedia Youtube.com Linux Mint Forums Codeweavers Ask Ubuntu Google Every time I test a game and mess with libraries, patches and configuration files, I actually gain more Windows knowledge. Some games are known to be problematic in Windows. So I will experience the same problems in PlayOnLinux/Wine and have to fix it with the same solutions as Windows gamers. I have even experimented with running game mods: C&C Renegade X Angels Fall First: Planetstorm The Ball Steam Racers The Haunted Morrowind Rebirth Black Mesa Diablo II Multi Res Game Mods require some extra configuration and patching in order to work correctly. Just as you would need to edit config files in Windows, you have to perform the same changes in Linux. Another aspect of Linux & Windows gaming is hosting game servers. 8 years ago I found that hosting a Local Game Server would require a copy of Windows Server and is very expensive. So I researched and found that a lot of game servers run on Linux. You have to find the Linux compatible binaries to launch the game server. This is when I started to learn about Linux. Hosting games on a Linux server allowed the processing load to be reduced on my Windows PC's. Some older game can still be hosted right on the gaming PC, but high quality games really strain the CPU and results in "lag" for incoming connections. This isn't a simple task. Each gaming computer has to be patched to the same version as the server. Some libraries or packages are necessary to host games in Linux. Sometimes the game files are required as well. Today I find that some games run fine in Linux or Wine and can connect to Windows. Even online MMO's will play happy with Windows and Linux. Some games can be hosted in Wine or Linux and Windows can connect to it. Knowledge of Windows really helps your gaming experience even in Linux when running PC games. If you plan to play PC games in Linux, expect to learn a lot about the inner workings of Linux and Windows.
