Tomb Raider goes way back to 1996 on the Sega Saturn, Playstation and PC. Several generations later and a few movies, now Lara Croft is stranded on an Island somewhere near the Bermuda Triangle.





Tomb Raider plays like a movie with stunning visual effects chilling action. Lara still does trick jumps, but now she can upgrade her weapons & tools, while trying to survive on this horrid island.

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

Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Tomb Raider. 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

int 17 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.2
Wine: 1.6.2

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.6.2
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 1.6.2 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. Since Tomb Raider isn't made for Linux, we will download the Windows Steam instead.
click "Windows" under the green button


Navigate to your desktop
Click Save


Setup PlayOnLinux

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Click "install a non-listed program"


Click Next

Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next


Name you virtual drive: tombraider
No spaces
Click Next


Select all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.6.2
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


Install Libraries

Check the following libraries:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_dxfullsetup
• POL_Install_xaudio
• POL_Install_xinput
• POL_Install_msvc90
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next


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

More updating, extracting and installing

When Steam is done installing the login screen will pop up. You probably won't see any text because there is a font bug.
Click the "X" to close Steam login


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Steam.exe
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Tomb Raider
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configuration

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure


Select Tomb Raider (Left Side)

General Tab
Arguments: -no-dwrite -no-cef-sandbox
This fixes the missing font and store problem


Note: -no-dwrite only works if you launch Steam from PlayOnLinux. Steam is automatically set to launch when Windows starts, which means if you do a "Windows Reboot" from the Wine tab -no-dwrite won't execute. Just close Steam and try again.

Display Tab
Direct Draw Renderer: opengl
Video Memory Size: size of memory on your video card
Offscreen rendering mode: fbo


Close Configure

Launching Steam

Select Steam
Click Run


Click "Login to existing account"

Steam Overlay

Steam overlay has been known to cause problems launching games.
Click Steam menu
Click Settings


Select "In-game"
Uncheck "Enable Steam Commuinty In-Game"
Click OK


Click On Library
Find Tomb Raider on the list
Click Install


Click Next

Click "I Agree"

Uncheck "Create a start menu shortcut..."
Uncheck "Create desktop shortcut to..."
Click Next

Click Finish

Wait for Tomb Raider to download (11GB)

Click Play


Click Options


Adjust Resolution to match your Linux Desktop
Note: Game will appear fullscreen

Adjust Quality, Motion Blur and Screen Effects

Click Advanced


Adjust Quality Presets or adjust all the setting to run smoothly on your computer
Click OK


Rule of thumb:
Higher settings = More detail, lower frame rates
Lower settings = Less detail, higher frame rates

In Game Options
Click Options


Click Graphics


Here you can also adjust the same graphics settings as the launcher.
If it crashes Tomb Raider, I suggest using the launcher instead.




Conclusion:
Tomb Raider ran almost perfectly on my GeForce 550 Ti. There are some moments when the mouse refuses to turn Lara all the way around, but if I simply click then the mouse works.
I also noticed some flickering vegetation. Thats about it, all of the weather, shaders, lighting and water effects work beautifully!

Screenshots: