Take the role as Commander Shepard again in the third installment of Mass Effect. Defend planet Earth of annihiliation from the evil Reapers once again. Play an over-the-shoulder team-based action RPG where you develop your character, level up, interactive dialog and even import your Mass Effect 1 or 2 saved character.



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Mass Effect 3 in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Origin version of Mass Effect 3. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 17.2 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.9
Wine: 1.7.51-staging

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.55-staging
Note: Try using stable Wine 1.8 and 1.8-staging

Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 1.7.55-staging is installed and you can close this window

Download OriginSetup.exe

Go to: download.dm.origin.com/origin/live/OriginSetup.exe
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: masseffect3
Click Next


Check all three options:

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

Click Next


Select "Wine 1.7.55-staging"
Click Next


Select "32 bits windows installation"
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"
Click OK


Installing Packages (Libraries, Components, DLL's)

Check the following packages:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma
• POL_Install_vcrun2008
• POL_Install_vcrun2010
• POL_Install_vcrun2012

Click Next


Note: All packages will automatically download and install

Installing Origin Client

Click Browse

Navigate to your Desktop
Select OriginSetup.exe
Click Open


Click Next Again

Preparing...

Uncheck all options:
Click Install


Installing...


Check "I have read and accept..."
Click OK


At this point the client will try to launch, but will crash...

Killing Origin Process

Alt+Tab to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure


Wine Tab
Click "Kill Processes"


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Origin.exe
Click Next


Name the shortcut: Mass Effect 3
Click Next


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


Back to Configure

General Tab
Wine version: 1.7.55-staging


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 Configure

Origin Directory Permissions

If you launch Origin it will crash every time
This is because of the In Game Overlay
We have to do this manually by renaming some files
But, the Origin folder is locked

Go to the Origin Directory
Path: /home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/Origin/Drive_C/Program Files/
Right click
Select Properties


Click Dropdown next to "Owner"
Select "Create and delete files"
Click "Apply Permissions to Enclosed Files"
Click Close


Rename:
igoproxy.exe
igoproxy64.exe

To:
igoproxy-old.exe
igoproxy64-old.exe


Launching Origin

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Origin
Click Run


Note: Click Debug to see errors and bugs

Login to Origin


Select Mass Effect 3
Click Download


When Mass Effect 3 is finished downloading, Origin may crash
Click Exit Origin


Mass Effect 3 Shortcuts

Select Origin
Click Configure
Click "Make a new shortcut from this virtual drive"


Select "MassEffect3.exe"
Click Next


Name shortcut: Mass Effect 3
Click Next


Select "MassEffect3Config.exe"
Click Next


Name shortcut: Mass Effect 3 Config
Click Next


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


Launching Mass Effect 3

Select Origin
Click Run


Login Again


Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Mass Effect 3 or Config
Click Run


Optimization:

Launch Mass Effect 3 Config
Click Video


Adjust:

• Windowed
• Windows Mode
• Aspect Ration
• Resolution
• Anti-Aliasing
• Motion Blur
• Dynamic Shadows
• Number Of Cinematic Lights
• Use Spherical Harmonic Lighting
• Anisotropic Filtering

Save Changes
Click Mass Effect 3
Click "Save Settings"


Conclusion:
Mass Effect 3 runs pretty well on my GeForce 550 Ti. Some of the cutscenes stutter and the characters lips do not always animate, but in game looks beautiful and frame rates are decent.
Make sure to check "Remember password" in Origin, then you can launch Mass Effect alone and it will automatically log into Origin and launch the game.

I did experience Origin crashing randomly and it will kick you out of the game. But I would easily kill the game, launch Origin and continue playing. The crashing is because of Origin not Mass Effect 3. Sadly any problems you experience is probably going to be related to the Origin client. Mass Effect 3 runs just fine regardless.

Note: Don't bother with the Demo, it refuses to completed the "connecting to EA servers"

Screenshots: