Battle the Kilrathi in open space, fight in skirmishes or full-scale fleet battles and complete missions for the Terran Confederation to save Earth.





Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Downloaded version of Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 17 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.4
Wine: 1.6.2

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.6.2
Note: Try using stable Wine 1.8 and 1.8-staging

Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 1.6.2 is installed and you can close this window

Download Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn

Go to: http://www.gamershell.com/download_87172.shtml
Or other mirrors: Darkest Dawn
Click Download


Navigate to your Desktop
Click Save


Note: You will need to extract the game files to your desktop

PlayOnLinux Setup

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Click "install a non-listed program"


Click Next

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


Name your virtual drive: wingcommander
Click Next


Check all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.6.2
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


Installing Packages (Libraries, Components, DLL's)

Check the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_dotnet20
• POL_Install_gdiplus
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next

Note: All libraries will automatically download and install

Installing Wing Commander

Click Browse


Navigate to your Desktop
Select darkest-dawn-setup.exe"
Click Open


Click Next

Click Next


Click Next


Check "I agree to these terms..."
click Next


Click Install


Installing...


Leave "Install OpenAL" checked
Click Finish


Open AL Installation
Click OK


Complete
Click OK

PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "wcsaga_sse2.exe"
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Wing Commander Saga
Click Next


Click Next

PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Wing Commander Saga
Click Configure


General Tab
Wine Version: 1.6.2
Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine
Note: Click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine


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


Wing Commander Resolution

Wine Tab
Click Registry Editor


Go To: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Volition/WingCommanderSaga


Right-click and select: New, String Value


Name it: VideocardFs2open

Double-click VideocardFs2open

Value data: OGL -(1920x1080)x32bit
Click OK


Note: Enter the resolution to match your Linux desktop

The entry should appear like this


Close the Registry

Wine Tab
Click Windows Reboot


Close Configure

Launching Wing Commander Saga

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Wing Commander Saga
Click Run


Note: Click debug to see console errors and bugs

Click Options


Click detail


Adjust Model, Nebula, textures, particles, impact effects, shield effects, stars, lighting, planets, weapon extras
Click Accept


Conclusion:
Wing Commander Saga: Darkest Dawn runs great in PlayOnLinux with my GeForece 550 Ti. Once you get past setting the fullscreen resolution in the registry, everything looks beautiful. I'm also pleased with the mouse integration. Very professional for a free game.

Screenshots: