Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Guide

I've always been a fan of First Person Shooters with an emphasis on military operations. The original Ghost Recon was truly original because it combined First Person Shooter with Real-Time Strategy. You can command your teams to move, attack, flank, hold and defend all the while you are aiming down the scope at enemies.

GRAW entered the gaming industry right after all of the new lighting and physics effects were implemented due to the advances in video processing. Though it ran slow on modest computers, GRAW was extremely beautiful: reflections, highlights and amazing smoke & explosion effects.
It also includes almost all the features of the original Ghost Recon along with a bunch of new features because its based in the future.

I didn't have any problems running it in Mint 13 and was actually quite pleased with the graphical results and frame rate performance.

This guide will walk you step-by-step installing and configuring GRAW to run in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This tutorial is meant for the retail version of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, downloaded versions may require additional steps



Tips & Specs

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

Mint 13 32-bit
PlayOnLinux ver: 4.0.14
Default Wine ver: 1.5.16

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Manual Installation

I originally searched for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, but it only found the original Ghost Recon
Select "Install a non-listed program"
Click Install


Click Next


Select Install a program in a new virtual drive
Click Next


I named my Virtual Drive: GRAW
Click Next


Check Configure Wine
Check Install some libraries
Click Next


Note: I didn't check "Use another version of Wine" because I already had Wine 1.4.1 installed, but you can install any version of Wine with PlayOnLinux using Tools, Wine Versions.

Note: If you are running a 64-bit system, PlayOnLinux will prompt if you want to use a 64-bit or 32-bit virtual drive.
ALWAYS SELECT THE 32-bit VIRTUAL DRIVE

Wine Configuration
When Wine Configuration launches, I usually check the Desktop option and use the default resolution. You don't have to do this, but it helps when the game crashes or locks up.



Installing Libraries
Installing libraries is the same as installing Windows Packages or DLL's & Components


Check the following:

• POL_Install-corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_d3dx9_36
• POL_Install_d3dx9_40
• POL_Install_net1.0 (do not use with Wine 1.5 and newer)
• POL_Install_net2.0 (do not use with Wine 1.5 and newer)
• POL_Install_net3.0 (do not use with Wine 1.5 and newer)
• POL_Install_vc2005
• POL_Install_tahoma

Note: You probably don't need all of these packages, but its a good idea to install them anyways. Also, if you followed my previous tutorials these will install seamlessly

Note: Some of the Net Framework Libraries may take some time... be patient and wait for it to finish.

Installing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Optical Media and Installing GRAW
PlayOnLinux will ask for CD-ROM or another file
Select CD-ROM for the Retail GRAW (CD-ROM or DVD)
Click Next


Setup Language
Click Next

Preparing
InstallShield
Click Next

License agreement
Select "I accept the terms..."
Click Next

Install Folder
Click Next

Click Install
Installing


Shortcut
I select "No" because I use PlayOnLinux shortcut to launch the game


Registration
Click "Never register"
Click Ok

AGIEA PhysX and DirectX 9.0c

Note: AGEIA PhysX is a software that communicates with a special physics card. If you don't have one, no problem. It will install anyways.

Click OK

Language
Click OK

License
Click "I Agree"

Installing PhysX
Click Close

DirectX 9.0c
Click Yes

Note: GRAW will not run without the DirectX 9.0c I hoped that the d3dx9 Libraries would have installed the correct DirectX, but apparently it doesn't

DirectX Setup
Select "I accept the agreement"
Click Next
Click Next
Installing

Restart Computer (this will only restart Wine not Linux)
Click Finish

Installation Done

Click Finish

Finish Setting up PlayOnLinux
Choose a shortcut for PlayOnLinux
Select GRAW.exe
Click Next


Name it: GRAW
Click Next


I don't want to make another shortcut
Click Next


In order to restart Windows after the installation, Click Configure
Make sure the GRAW Virtual Drive is highlighted
Select the Wine tab
Click Windows reboot


Select Display tab
Video Memory Size: How much memory your video card has
Offscreen rendering mode: fbo


All of the rest can be defaults
Select the Wine tab again
Click Windows Reboot


Launching GRAW

Its a good idea to launch Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter at least once before applying the patches.

Note: GRAW didn't always launch the first time. Usually it will freeze after the GRAW logo appears. Force it to close and launch again.

Patching GRAW

If it launched and played just fine, then you are ready for patching. I will show you how to patch 1.30 only because the 1.35 patch is exactly the same.
Download patch 1.30

Save it to your desktop

Go Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure
Select the Miscellaneous Tab
Click "Run a .exe file in this virtual drive"


Navigate to your desktop and select the 1.30 patch
Click Open

Set Language
Click OK

Setup Wizard
Click Next

License
Click "I accept the agreement".
Click Next
Click Next

Installation location
Click Next

If you are patching the Retail Version, select "I own the DVD..."
Click Next
Click Install

Patch Complete
Click Finish

Go ahead and install the next patch with the same method

Launch GRAW

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter does not support widescreen resolutions
You can go to the options and crank up the resolution, but if you want fullscreen, it helps to set your resolution in Linux first to match what you set in the game.


Screenshots: