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
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 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 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:
