You are the President of your own island, manage it any way you like... become a dictator, design the layout of your cities, fend off protests, build an army or build a tourist trap. Everything is up to you. Will you build a successful civilization or will it crumble?
Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Tropico 3 in Linux with PlayOnLinux.
Note: This guide applies to the GOG version of Tropico 3. Other versions may require additional steps.
Tips & Specs:
To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained
Mint 17.3 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.10
Wine: 1.8.5
Wine Installation
Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"
Look for the Wine Version: 1.8.5
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right
Click Next
Downloading Wine
Extracting
Downloading Gecko
Installed
Wine 1.8.5 is installed and you can close this window
PlayOnLinux Setup
Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install
Click "Install a non-listed program"
Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next
Name the virtual drive: tropico3
Click Next
Check all three options:
- Use another version of Wine
- Configure Wine
- Install some libraries
Select Wine 1.8.5
Click Next
Wine Configuration
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: 1920x1080
Click OK
PlayOnLinux Packages (DLL's, Libraries, Components)
Check the following:
- POL_Install_corefonts
- POL_Install_d3dx9
- POL_Install_tahoma
Note: All packages will automatically download and install
Click Browse
Select "setup_tropico3_gold_2.0.0.9.exe"
Click Open
Click Next again...
Click Options
Uncheck "Create desktop icons"
Check "Yes, I have read and accept EULA"
Click Install
Click Exit
PlayOnLinux Shortcut
Select "tropico3.exe"
Click Next
Name the shortcut: Tropico 3
Click Next
Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next
PlayOnLinux Configure
Back to PlayOnLinux
Select "Tropico 3"
Click Configure
General Tab
Wine version: 1.8.5
Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine. Click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine.
Display Tab
Video memory size: Enter the amount of memory your video card/chip uses
Close PlayOnLinux Configure
Launching Tropico 3
Select Tropico 3
Click Run
Note: Click Debug to see errors and bugs
Optimization
Click Options
Click Visuals Tab
Adjust:
- Display Resolution
- Screen Refresh Rate
- VSync
- Detail
- Anisotropy
- View Distance
- Terrain
- Shadows
- Scene Resolution
- Textures
- Water Quality
- Antialiasing
- Postprocessing
- Grass
Rule of Thumb:
High settings = More detail, lower frame rates
Low settings = Less detail, higher frame rates
Conclusion:
Tropico 3 ran fairly well on my Geforce GTX 950. I experienced some slowness when everything was cranked to high, so I lowered a few settings liks Antialiasing and Postprocessing and Shadows to get a better frame rate.
Gameplay Video:
Screenshots:
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