Grand Theft Auto 2 is a classic 3rd person shooter from 1999 where you basically play sandbox style driving any vehicle and killing anyone you want. You can accept missions or go completely postal... just watch out for the police.



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

Note: Make sure to search online for the free version (at your own risk) of Grand Theft Auto 2 ahead of time. Save it to your Desktop, extract if necessary.

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 32-bit

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

Note: Grand Theft Auto doesn't necessarily need 64-bit Wine, but it is helpful for future games.

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: gta2
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 "32 bits windows installation"
Click Next



Wine Configuration

Applications Tab
Windows version: Windows XP
Click Apply



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



PlayOnLinux Packages (Components, DLLs, Libraries)

Check the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next



Note: All packages should download and install automatically

Click Browse



Select "GTA2.exe"
Click Open



Click Next again...

Follow InstallShield Wizard

When its completed
Uncheck "Launch GTA2 Manager"
Click Finish



PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "gta2.exe"
Click Next



Name the shortcut: Grand Theft Auto 2
Click Next



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



PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select "Grand Theft Auto 2"
Click Configure



General Tab
Wine version: 5.0



Display Tab
Video memory size: Enter the amount of memory your video card uses



Close Configure

Launching Grand Theft Auto 2

Select "Grand Theft Auto 2"
Click Run



Note: Click debug to see bugs and errors

Conclusion:
The game may run extremely fast, so make sure to check the "Frame Limiter" box. This will make it run properly.
You can also change the controls in a config file, otherwise stick with the default directional arrows and control key.
I tried a widescreen fix by thirteenag and it seemed to work. You basically download the file and extract to the game directory, then make changes to the GTA2.WidescreenFix.ini

I had to launch the game a few times for it to appear in full-screen 1920x1080, but it worked.

I was even able to host a game through the Manager and join on another computer for multi-player.

Screenshots: