Frets On Fire is an attempt to create the Guitar Hero genre on PC. Play some of the greatest rock and heavy metal hits of the 90's on an animated fretboard with syncopated notes.
Download themes, download songs, play with a friend and even add your favorite songs with the editor.
Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Frets On Fire (FoFiX) in Linux with PlayOnLinux.
Tips & Specs:
To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained
Mint 17 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.7
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
Download Frets on Fire FoFiX
Go To: https://code.google.com/p/fofix/downloads/list
Download FoFiX-v3.121-Final-Setup-(py2.6-ogl3).exe
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: fretsonfire
Click Next
Check all three options:
- Use another version of Wine
- Configure Wine
- Install some libraries
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
PlayOnLinux Packages (Components, Libraries, DLL's)
Check the following packages:
- POL_Install_corefonts
- POL_Install_d3dx9
- POL_Install_tahoma
Note: All packages will require checking "I agree", will automatically download and install.
Installing Frets On Fire FoFiX
Click Browse
Select: FoFiX-v3.121-Final-Setup-(py2.6-ogl3).exe
Click Open
Click Next again
Click Next
Check "I accept the terms..."
Click Next
Click Next
Click Install
When Complete, Click Next
Uncheck "Run FoFiX v3.121 Final
Click Finish
PlayOnLinux Shortcut
Select "FoFiX.exe"
Click Next
Name your shortcut: Frets On Fire
Click Next
Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next
PlayOnLinux Configure
Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Frets on Fire
Click Configure
General Tab
Wine Version: 1.6.2
Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine, click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine.
Display Tab
Video memory size: Select the amount of memory your video card/chip uses
Close Configure
Downloading a Theme
Sign up at the fretsonfire.net forums to view themes
Browse a list of themes here:
http://www.fretsonfire.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=24976#Music_game_themes
Select a theme to view and/or download
Note: Many of the themes listed at fretsonfire.net are no longer available via at mediafire. You will have to search the theme's post for updated links to the download.
Download the theme
Extract folder to Frets On Fire Theme folder:
Code:
/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/fretsonfire/drive_c/Program Files/FoFix/dataRock Band theme:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/gwn2m22mfmu/BFMV RB.zip
Rock Band 2 Theme
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bxr4nKsR5zXzOFZVaGRmMGFvTzA/edit
Guitar Hero 3 theme:
http://www27.zippyshare.com/v/45547623/file.html
Downloading Songs
Songs are a bit harder to find because of copyright laws
Note: A lot of songs are listed at fretsonfire.net but are no longer available at mediafire. You will need to search the forums for updated links or search online.
Once you have a bunch of song folders
Create a folder: songs
Copy the songs folder to your Frets On Fire game directory
Note: When you setup Frets On Fire FoFiX the first time it will allow you to select your "Songs" directory and will automatically populate all of your songs.
Launching Frets On Fire
Select Frets on Fire
Click Run
Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs
Initial Setup
At first launch there is only a "light" theme with no graphics
Click Options
Click Display Settings>
Select the theme you downloaded
Adjust Resolution and fullscreen
Press Esc
Press Esc again
Frets On Fire will ask to restart
Press Enter
Note: Sometimes fonts in the menu can be misaligned depending on the resolution you use.
Conclusion:
Frets on Fire FoFiX ran perfectly in several versions of Wine. I was able to configure my Xbox USB guitar and play almost perfectly. Everything in-game syncopated just like in Windows.
I had a hard time finding songs and themes to download because the Fretsonfire.net forums are not kept up-to-date, but I had a previous folder full of Guitar Hero Songs and Rock Band songs I kept from 2009. You can also convert your own songs to .ogg and edit your own guitar notes in the Frets On Fire editor, then play it yourself.
Gameplay Video:
Screenshots:
Last edited:
