Comprehensive Linux Install Guide (JKA Steam)

[Aidan Skyward]

So, I don't know how many people here run Linux, but I just spent the better part of the last 2 days scouring the Interwebs trying to get JKA to run. So here's a comprehensive guide to getting it to work from Steam. It's way easier if you're installing from CD, so if you can do that I really recommend it.

IMPORTANT NOTES: I'm running Arch-based Manjaro, so my package manager is pacman. Replace any instance of pacman with your package manager of choice (i.e. apt-get, emerge, etc.). Additionally, if you're running Ubuntu or a Ubuntu derivative (Mint, Xubuntu, etc.) you can probably disregard the driver sections. Speaking of, for any of this to even be remotely applicable, you need to be using non-free/proprietary drivers for your graphics card.

So, now that that's all out of the way, let's dive in. The first thing you're gonna want to do is grab PlayOnLinux.

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sudo pacman -S playonlinux

Now use PlayOnLinux to install Steam, not JKA. Make sure it installs Windows fonts! When it reaches the end of the Steam installation, do not run it. If you do it'll update Steam and then hang on the installing screen, and if you cancel out it'll tell you that Steam failed to install and won't let you run it from PoL. Now run Steam from PlayOnLinux, let it update, and download JKA.

Now to grab drivers. For JKA you'll need lib32-openal (this is the MOST important!), lib32-ncurses, lib32-zlib and lib32-mpg123.

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sudo pacman -S lib32-openal lib32-ncurses lib32-zlib lib32-mpg123

Download the RPMod Windows Installer client and install with Wine into the appropriate directory (it'll be something like ~/PlayOnLinux/steam/drive_c/Program Files/steam/steamapps/common/Jedi\ Academy/).

This is where it forks for AMD users and nVidia users. Make sure you know which brand you're using!

nVidia:

Open your preferred terminal (or make a .sh file) and run:

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__GL_ExtensionStringVersion=17700 wine /path/to/JKA/GameData/jamp.exe -no-dwrite +set fs_game rpmod

Finally, run

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winecfg

Go to Libraries, add gameoverlayrenderer.dll and do Edit -> Disable. This will turn off the Steam overlay, which will crash Wine if you press any key on your keyboard. As far as I can tell they're not working too hard on a solution for this.

AMD:

Download this and put it in your GameData directory, then:

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wine /path/to/JKA/GameData/jamp.exe -no-dwrite +set fs_game rpmod

Log in to Steam as usual and play JKA!

ETA: If you have performance issues, try:

• Single-core mode
  

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  __GL_ExtensionStringVersion=17700 taskset -c wine 0 /path/to/JKA/GameData/jamp.exe -no-dwrite +set fs_game rpmod

• Disable Compiz, KWin, Unity, etc.
• In-game: /m_filter 1
• Disable Catalyst AI in AMD Control Center
• If wine is crashing when you press `, LCTRL, or another special key (not just any key on your keyboard), add
  

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  setxbkmap -layout us

  to your .sh file before you start the game, and
  

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  setxbkmap -layout {your country ID}

  on the line after you start the game.
• If you're having bad screen tearing problems, try putting this in your .sh file (before the game startup line):
  

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  export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK=1

  Or this in your Steam launch options:
  

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  __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK=1 %command%

  Then, disable VSync or you'll have really bad stuttering.

[Soh Raun]

Thanks for sharing your experience running JKA/RPMod on Linux. Did you try the RPMod installer with Wine? and/or the RPMod Launcher? I would happily get feedback for either or both of them.

Also, you mentioned using the RPMod Mac client, but this one doesn't include the DLLs for Windows (uix86.dll / cgamex86.dll), did you copy them manually? if you didn't, you might be missing some RPMod features in game.

As for OpenJK, I haven't tried it myself yet, so I don't know how it works with existing mods such as RPMod... if you have any success, or if you need pure Linux versions of the uix86/cgamex86 shared libraries, let me know.

[Aidan Skyward]

I didn't, I'll have to grab those manually. Thanks for mentioning them! I'll get back to you on running the RPMod installer through Wine, it should work pretty readily. I'll be back at my desktop Monday, and I'll give OpenJK a trial run then, as well.

[Aidan Skyward]

Updated for some corrections, OpenJK would be better deployed on a CD install (but if you merge the directories it seems to play well with RPMod). Also, the RPMod installer works fine but for some reason the launcher won't open. Not sure quite why that is.