Bioshock 2 takes place 8 years after the incidents of Bioshock 1. Your character was revived as a "Big Daddy" and now your mission is to protect "Little "Sisters". Tear through Splicers, turrets and even a new "Big Sisters". Take advantage of the new weapons, the environment, plasmids and Eve to survive!





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

Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Bioshock 2. Other versions may require additional steps. The retail version of Bioshock 2 can be activated on Steam in order to use the "patched out" Games For Windows Live version.

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: 4.2.5
Wine: 1.7.26

Wine Installation

Note: Versions of Wine older than 2.0.2 and Wine 2.12-staging no longer work with Steam

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.26

Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 1.7.26 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"
Note: It will automatically install Linux Steam. Since Bioshock 2 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: bioshock2
Click Next


Select all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.7.26
Click Next


Select "32 bits windows installation"
Click Next


Configure Wine

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_msxml3
  
• POL_Install_Physx
• POL_Install_registeredfonts
• POL_Install_tahoma
• POL_Install_vcrun2005

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: Bioshock 2
Click Next


Click Next

More PlayOnLinux Configuration

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Bioshock 2
Click Configure


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
Video Memory Size: size of memory on your video card


Miscellaneous Tab
Mouse warp override: force


Close Configure

Launching Steam

Select Steam
Click Run


Note: Click Debug to view errors and bugs

Click "Login to existing account"


Login


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


Go To your Library
Select Bioshock 2
Click Install


Click Next


Click "I Agree"


Click Finish


When Steam is done downloading Bioshock 2
Click Play


Click Play


Optimization

Click Options


Click Graphics Options


Select fullscreen resolution

Adjust:

• Shadow maps
• Post Processing
• Detail Shaders
• Reflections
• Distortion
• Global Lighting
• Graphics Quality
• Actor Detail

Critical - Texture detail must be on medium!

Click Apply


Conclusion:
Bioshock 2 would not initially work because of Games For Windows Live, but the Steam version has patched GFWL out! So now Bioshock will play in Linux with PlayOnLinux & Wine.
One downside is the Texture Quality. If you crank textures up to high, it will definitely crash with a memory leak error. This is known in Windows as well. The only way to play without crashing is with textures on Medium. It definitely doesn't display the beauty of Bioshock, but plays perfectly!
I will continue researching and testing Bioshock with newer versions of Wine to see if this leak is fixed.
Feel free to try using a newer version of 64-bit Wine or Staging version of Wine.

Screenshots: