First Winter is an 80's pixelated horror game actually taking place in the 1980's during the Cold War. Every room is not what it seems... what happened on this submarine? Where do you go next? Solve puzzles and stop the missles from launching in this spooky jump-scare thriller.



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

Note: This guide applies to the itch.io version of First Winter. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 19.3 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.3.4
Wine: 5.0 64-bit
DXVK: 1.5.4

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"



Look for the Wine Version: 5.0
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right



Click Next

Downloading Wine



Installed



Click (amd64) Tab
Select 5.0
Click the arrow pointing to the right



Downloading Wine 64-bit



Installed



Wine 5.0 32-bit and 64-bit is installed, 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: firstwinter
Click Next



Check all three options:

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

Click Next



Select Wine 5.0
Click Next



Select "64 bits windows installation"
Click Next



Wine Configuration

Applications Tab
Windows version: Windows 7
Click Apply



Libraries Tab
Type each of the following then click Add:

• d3d9
• d3d10
• d3d10_1
• d3d10core
• d3d11
• dxgi

Select one at a time
Click Edit
Change to "Native (Windows)"

Click Apply



Graphics Tab
Check "Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows"
Click OK



PlayOnLinux Packages (DLLs, Libraries, Components)

Check each of the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx10
• POL_Install_d3dx11
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next



Note: All packages should automatically download and install

Do not click Browse
Click Cancel
First Winter does not have an installer



Installing First Winter

Download First Winter from itch.io
Go to: https://danthai.itch.io/first-winter
Save to your Desktop

Open with your Archive Manager
Click Extract



Navigate to the virtual drive's Program Files
Full Path:

Code:

/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/firstwinter/drive_c/Program Files

Click the New Folder button
Name it: firstwinter
Click Create
Click Extract



Click "Show The Files"



Installing DXVK

Go to: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases/tag/v1.5.4
Download dxvk-1.5.4.tar.gz
Save to your Desktop

Extract to your Desktop
Open x64 Folder

Copy all DLLs



Paste in the "firstwinter" game directory in Program Files
Full Path:

Code:

/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/firstwinter/drive_c/Program Files/firstwinter

PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure



Select "firstwinter" on the left column

General Tab
Click "Make a new shortcut from this virtual drive"



Select "FirstWinter.exe"
Click Next



Name the shortcut: First Winter
Click Next



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



Back to Configure
Select "First Winter" Shortcut in left column

General Tab
Wine version: 5.0



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

Running First Winter

Select First Winter
Click Run



Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Conclusion:
First Winter ran perfectly once DXVK was installed. This game is supposed to be pixelated to represent older gaming titles from the 80's. There is no save, so you have to finish the game in one sitting. I was able to play without any issues on my GeForce GTX 1060.

Gameplay Video:


!!! Warning, the video contains spoilers !!!


Screenshots: