Star Wars The Force Unleashed is about Darth Vaders apprentice who goes rogue and escapes Vaders grasp. Harness the power of the dark side with lightsaber combos, force grip, force repulse, lightning, and more...



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Retail version of Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 17.3 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.10
Wine: 1.9.13-staging

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.9.13-staging
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 1.9.13-staging is installed and you can close this window

PlayOnLinux Setup

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Click "Install a non-listed program"


Click Next

Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"


Name the virtual drive: forceunleashed
Click Next


Check all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.9.13-staging
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, DLL's, Libraries)

Check the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next


Click Browse

Select "setup.exe"
Click Open


Click Next again...

Click OK


Click Next


Check "I accept the agreement"
Click Next


Click "Advanced Mode"
Click Next


Click Next


Uncheck "Automatically configure Windowsd Firewall for leaderboard tracking"
Click Next


Click Install


Click Exit


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "SWTFU2.exe"
Click Next


Name the shortcut: Force Unleashed
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configure

Select "Force Unleashed"
Click Configure


General Tab
Wine version: 1.9.13-staging


Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine. Click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine

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


Close Configure

Launching Force Unleashed

Select "Force Unleashed"
Click Run


Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Optimization

Click Options


Click Screen


Adjust:

• Resolution
• Fullscreen
• Antialiasing
• Brightness

Click Apply Changes


Click Graphics Details


Adjust:

• Dynamic Shadows
• Reflections
• Motion Blur
• HDR Rendering
• Depth-of-Focus
• Global Ambient Lighting
• High Detail Texture
• Anisotropic Filter
• View Distance

Rule of thumb:
High settings = More detail, lower frame rate
Low settings = Less detail, higher frame rate

Conclusion:
Star Wars The Force Unleashed ran surprisingly well on my GeForce 550 Ti. I was able to crank all the settings to high and the game graphics are stunning. I initially used Wine 1.8.3 and the game ran fine, but there were some missing assets. But Wine 1.9.13-staging fixed the problem. I would also experience random crashes when trying to save the game or make changes in the menu during game-play. This was far and few in-between.

Gameplay Video:


Screenshots: