Today you will find a lot of Lego action games out there. Lego Batman, Lego Lord of the Rings, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Harry Potter and more. There is very little competition for these cute, entertaining puzzle platform games, but it all started with Star Wars.

You can play through the entire Star Wars franchise in the Lego game with a few extra twists and comedic cut-scenes.

I was able to run it in Linux as well with very few issues.



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Lego Star Wars in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Retail version of Lego Star Wars. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs

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

Mint 14 32-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.1
Wine: 1.5.25

Installing Wine with PlayOnLinux

Installing different versions of Wine is necessary for running different games because one Wine doesn't work for them all. PlayOnLinux makes it possible to download, install and test your game in all the versions of Wine until you find the right one for your speicific game.

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Tools
Click "Manage Wine Versions"

Wine versions manager
Note: Try using stable Wine 1.8 and 1.8-staging

Select 1.5.25
Click the right-arrow


Wine wizard
Click Next


Downloading...


Extracting


Complete


Thats it! Try downloading other stable versions like 1.6.2

Setting up PlayOnLinux and Wine

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


We are going to do a manual installation because the script could not be found in the search.

Note: Scripts are always recommended, but if it doesn't work or isn't found, manual install is the next best thing because it allows you to learn some of the inner-workings of PlayOnLinux and how to troubleshoot your games.

Click "Install a non-listed program"


Click Next


Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next


Name your virtual drive: legostarwars
No spaces (ignore the name in the screenshot)
Click Next


Select all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.5.25
Click Next


Configuring Wine


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

Applications Tab
Windows Version: WindowsXP
Click Apply


Graphics Tab
Check: Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows
Check: Emulate a virtual desktop
Desktop size: 1024x768
Click Ok


Installing Libraries

Check all of these Libraries for installation:

• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_vcrun6

Click Next
d3dx9 and vcrun6 should automatically download and install
Later I'll show you how to install Direct X from the game Disk.

Installing Lego Star Wars

Click Browse


Navigate to your Lego Star Wars Disk
Select: setup.exe
Click Open


Click Next


InstallShield Wizard
Click Next

License agreement
Check: I accept the terms of the license agreement
Click Next

Destination folder
Click Next

Begin installation
Click Install

Direct X Shader Model 3 & Nvidia Graphics
Click Next

Uncheck "I would like to view the README file"
Uncheck "I would like a desktop shortcut"
Click Finish


Uncheck "I would like to launch LEGO Star Wars"
Click Finish

PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select: LegoStarwars.exe
Click Next


Name shortcut: Lego Star Wars
Click Next


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


Configuring PlayOnLinux

In PlayOnLinux click Configure


Select legostarwars virtual drive

Display Tab
Direct Draw Renderer: opengl
Video Memory Size: The amount of memory on your video card
Offscreen rendering mode: fbo


Wine Tab
Click "Windows reboot"


Installing DirectX from the Disk

Note: There is a chance LEGO Star Wars might not play because the library d3dx9 wasn't enough, so you can also install Direct X from the game Disk

Miscellaneous Tab
Click "Run a .exe file in this virtual drive"


Navigate to your LEGO Star Wars Disk
Select dxsetup.exe
Click Open


Direct X setup
Check "I accept the agreement"
Click Next


Runtime Install
Click Next


Installing Components


Restart Computer
Click Finish


Wine Tab (again)
Click "Windows reboot"


Launching Lego Star Wars

In PlayOnLinux
Select "Lego Star Wars"
Click Run


Bugs:
The main problem I noticed was playing cooperative. Any time I initiated the second player there was problem with both character synchronizing because the both did exactly the same thing. Both attacked at the same time and both move exactly the same. So this cause some problems because sometimes the other character would die because he was falling off a ledge or waking into danger. Actually it was quite comical, but cooperative is completely useless because I couldn't control the player induvidually. Playing in single player with the A.I. controlled character worked fine.

Conclusion:
I was able to play LEGO Star Wars with high resolutions and settings on high with my GeForce 550 Ti and fullscreen with Wine's virtual desktop. I was even able to play with my Logitec PS2-like controller in Linux.

Screenshots: