I grew up watching the Ghostbusters Franchise and have been waiting many years for a video game based off the movie. If you haven't played it yet... you have to! Its amazing and extremely fun!

Not only is the game written and voice acted by the same characters in the movie, it is full of amazing New York environments with all the ghosts you can imagine!

But this is not a review, instead I'm going to walk you through installing and configuring Ghostbusters in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the retail version. Steam and downloaded versions may have 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
Wine version: 1.5.16 or 1.8

Installing Wine versions

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Tools
Click Manage Wine Versions


Note: For some games this could be trial-n-error if PlayOnLinux doesn't install a specific Wine version for you.

Select Wine 1.5.16 or 1.5.17
Click the Right arrow and it will automatically download


Note: Try using stable Wine 1.8 and 1.8-staging



Now it will appear on the right side under "Installed Wine Versions:"
Click the "X"


Go back to 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: Ghostbusters
Click Next


Configure Wine and Installing Libraries

Select all three:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.4.1

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

PlayOnLinux will begin the Wine configuration process


Wine Configuration

Application Tab
Windows Version should be "Windows 7"
Click Apply


Graphics Tab
Check "Emulate a virtual desktop"
Set the resolution something simple like 1024x768
Click Ok


Installing Libraries

Note: If you followed my Windows Packages in PlayOnLinux then this step will be quick and easy.

Select the standard Libraries:

• POL_Install-corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx10
• POL_Install_directx9
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_d3dx9_36
• POL_Install_d3dx9_40
• POL_Install_net3.0
• 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
Click Next

Wait while the Libraries install.
Some of the installations will take some time and may have some pop-ups with no indication of what they are doing. Just let it continue by itself.

Installing the Game

Choose a way to install
Select "CD-ROM : Ghostbusters"
Click Next


Select Install


Preparing to Install

Welcome
Click Next

Click "I accept the terms..."
Click Next

Type of Setup...
Select "Easy Installation"
Click Next

Wait while the installer copies files from the DVD
The game is total of 11 Gigabytes, so it will take 20-30 minutes to copy the files

Installation Complete
Click Finish

Do not click Play yet!!!
Click Exit


PlayOnLinux needs to finish its setup

PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Name your shortcut
Call it "Ghostbusters"
Click Next


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


There is still more PlayOnLinux configuration to do...
Click Configure


Select the Ghostbusters Virtual Drive
Select the Display Tab


Video Memory:the amount of memory your video card has
Multisampling: enabled
Everything else can stay at defaults

Note: Normally I recommend setting Direct Draw Renderer to "opengl" and Offscreen rendering mode to "fbo". If you have any problems, try settings those also.

Always restart Windows after making configuration changes
Select the Wine tab
Click "Windows reboot"
Close the configuration window



Launching Ghostbusters

Running Ghostbusters the first time
Select Ghostbusters
Click Run


Authentication
Click Next


Enter the key from the insert inside the Retail box
Click Activate


Activation Successful
Click Start


After it launches select Options to configure the display and controls


Remember we originally set to virtualize the desktop, so you will see a window at 1024x768 with a blue background.
I was able to reset the game graphics resolution to whatever I wanted and the virtual desktop would resize accordingly.

Do some tests by loading a game and playing. Once you are satisfied with the performance and graphics, go back to PlayOnLinux Wine configuration and uncheck the "emulate a virtual desktop"

Click Ok and restart Windows again.
If you see any strange graphical artifacts while playing, there may not be a way to fix it.
You can always try a different version of Wine


Note: If you have further problems with the resolution and desktop, just keep "virtual desktop" enabled. I have found in many games that they run fine in a "virtual desktop" and still look full screen. Just match the "virtual desktop" resolution to your desktop resolution or vice-versa


Screenshots: