You are the President of your own island, manage it any way you like... become a dictator, design the layout of your cities, fend off protests, build an army or build a tourist trap. Everything is up to you. Will you build a successful civilization or will it crumble?



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Tropico 3 in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the GOG version of Tropico 3. 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: 1.8.5

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.8.5
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 1.8.5 is installed and you can close this window

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: tropico3
Click Next


Check all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.8.5
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: 1920x1080
Click OK


PlayOnLinux Packages (DLL's, Libraries, Components)

Check the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next


Note: All packages will automatically download and install

Click Browse

Select "setup_tropico3_gold_2.0.0.9.exe"
Click Open


Click Next again...

Click Options
Uncheck "Create desktop icons"
Check "Yes, I have read and accept EULA"
Click Install


Click Exit


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "tropico3.exe"
Click Next


Name the shortcut: Tropico 3
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select "Tropico 3"
Click Configure


General Tab
Wine version: 1.8.5


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 PlayOnLinux Configure

Launching Tropico 3

Select Tropico 3
Click Run


Note: Click Debug to see errors and bugs

Optimization

Click Options


Click Visuals Tab
Adjust:

• Display Resolution
• Screen Refresh Rate
• VSync
• Detail
• Anisotropy
• View Distance
• Terrain
• Shadows
• Scene Resolution
• Textures
• Water Quality
• Antialiasing
• Postprocessing
• Grass

Click OK to apply


Rule of Thumb:
High settings = More detail, lower frame rates
Low settings = Less detail, higher frame rates

Conclusion:
Tropico 3 ran fairly well on my Geforce GTX 950. I experienced some slowness when everything was cranked to high, so I lowered a few settings liks Antialiasing and Postprocessing and Shadows to get a better frame rate.

Gameplay Video:



Screenshots: