Sacred 2 Gold has been improved in every way over the original Sacred. Better models, lighting, animation, skills and much more. At the same time it still "feels" like the original Sacred with the same Action RPG style of gameplay. Similar fighting styles, leveling up system, powerups and navigational styles. There are few additional aspects of the game to get us addicted for long nights of slaying minions.





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

Note: This guide applies to the GOG version of Sacred 2 Gold. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 17 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.5
Wine: 1.7.32

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.32
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 1.7.32 is installed and you can close this window

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: sacred2
Click Next


Check all three options:

• Use anothe version of wine
• Configure Wine
• Install some libraries

Click Next


Select Wine 1.7.32
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"
Desktop size: 1024x768
Click OK


Installing Packages (Libraries, DLL's, Components)

Check the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_gdiplus
  
• POL_Install_tahoma
• POL_Install_vcrun2008
• POL_Install_vcrun2010

Click Next


Note: All packages will download and install automatically

Installing Sacred 2 Gold

Click Browse


Select "setup_sacred2_gold_2.0.0.6.exe"
Click Open


Click Next

Check "Yes, I have read and accept the EULA"
Click Options
Uncheck "Create desktop icons"
Click Install


Physx will install at the end (two times)
Check "I accept the license agreement"
Click Next


Click Finish


You might get a few errors

Runtime Error
Click OK


Invalid Opcode
Click OK


Installed
Click Exit


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "sacred2.exe"
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Sacred 2 Gold
Click Next


PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select "Sacred 2 Gold"
Click Configure


General Tab
Wine version: 1.7.32

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

Launching Sacred 2 Gold

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select "Sacred 2 Gold"
Click Run


Note: Clicking Debug will show you the errors and bugs

Optimization

Click Options


Click Graphics


Select preset for Quality
Or manually adjust sliders:

• Shadow
• Render
• Ground
• Effect
• Grass

Note: Uncheck "PhysX Effects" because it will cause Sacred to run really slow!

Set the resolution to match your Linux desktop
Click Accept


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

Conclusion:
Sacred 2 Gold runs Great on my GeForce 550 Ti. It supports all resolutions and the mouse works great in the Wine virtual desktop. Quests and cooperative complete perfectly! Its a huge world in Sacred 2 Gold.

The only problem I have is that it crashes exactly one hour after starting the game. The only solution is to Press F7 to save your character or exit the game before one hour lapses. Then launch again and continue.

Gameplay Video:


Screenshots: