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Mass Effect 2 Guide

Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, Jul 19, 2013.

  • by booman, Jul 19, 2013 at 1:49 PM
  • booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    Mass Effect combines role-playing and first person shooter elements within a fantasy sci-fi lore. The beginning seems simple enough, but as you continue with dialog and team members you will be immersed with decisions that will affect your character for the rest of the game. If your team-mates survive, they will appear in the next game with dialog linking to previous events.

    masseffectii43a.png

    If you have played any of the Mass Affect franshise, then I don't have to remind you of the beautiful graphical visuals and environments. Not to mention the models made perfectly without error.

    Wondering if Mass Effect 2 runs in a Linux enviornment, then that is why you are here.

    Follow this step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Mass Effect 2 in PlayOnLinux with Linux Mint.

    Note: This tutorial applies to the retail version only. The Steam and downloaded versions may require additional steps.

    Tips and Specs

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

    Mint 14 32-bit
    PlayOnLinux: 4.1.9
    Mint: 1.5.24

    Copy DVD Data Files

    Explanation:
    I had trouble installing Mass Effec 2 directly from the DVD's because PlayOnLinux would not find the 2nd disc.

    Create a new folder on your desktop called: MassEffect2

    Enter your Mass Effect 2 Disc1
    You should see an icon appear on the desktop where its mounted
    Double-click the icon to browse the directories.
    masseffectii01a.png

    Copy EVERYTHING off Disc1, paste into your new "MassEffect2" folder on the desktop

    Enter your Mass Effect 2 Disc2
    Note: it should appear as ME2_Disc2
    Open the Data folder in Disc2 and in your "MassEffect2" folder on the desktop
    masseffectii03a.png

    Copy the .rar folders
    • app.rar
    • data01.rar
    • data02.rar
    • data03.rar
    • dialog.rar
    • english.rar
    • maps.rar
    • other.rar
    Note: all the other files are already existing

    Paste all the listed .rar files into your Data folder in "MassEffec2" folder on the desktop
    masseffectii04a.png

    Note: This will take some time because its copying around 7 Gigabytes of data



    Installing Wine

    Lets download the version of Wine that will fix this problem.

    Click Tools
    Select "Manage Wine Versions"
    masseffectii24.png

    Look for the Wine Version: 1.5.24
    Note: Try using stable Wine 1.8 and 1.8-staging

    Select it
    Click the arrow pointing to the right
    masseffectii25.png

    Wine Download Wizard
    Click Next
    masseffectii26.png

    PlayOnLinux will automatically download it and save it in this directory:
    /home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86

    Note: username is where you put your login name

    Its a good idea to backup this directory to another computer because you won't have to keep downloading wine versions when you need them.
    masseffectii27.png

    Extracting
    masseffectii28.png

    Installed
    masseffectii29.png

    Wine 1.5.24 is installed and you can close this window

    Installation

    Open PlayOnLinux
    Click Install
    masseffectii05.png

    Search for Mass Effect 2
    Select "Mass Effect 2"
    Click Install
    masseffectii06.png

    Installation Wizard
    Click Next
    masseffectii07.png

    Wine auto-configuration

    Installation Method
    Select "Use a setup file in my computer"

    Note: Remember we copied all the data to one folder on the desktop.

    Click Next
    masseffectii09.png

    Installing DirectX 9

    Installing PhysiX

    Installing msxml3

    Select Setup file
    Click Browse
    masseffectii13.png

    Navigate to your Desktop and open the "MassEffec2" folder we created
    Select "Setup.exe"
    Click Open
    masseffectii14.png

    Setup selection confirmation
    Click Next
    masseffectii15.png

    Installing Mass Effect 2

    Select a language
    Click OK

    Mass Effect 2 Installer
    Click Next

    License Agreement
    Select "I agree the terms..."
    Click "I agree"

    Registration Code
    Enter the Registration Code from the insert inside the case
    Click Next

    Install Type
    Select "Express Install (recommended)"
    Click Install

    Installing...
    masseffectii22.png

    Possible Errors
    Sometimes I would get an error during the installation right at the end

    Click Close and let PlayOnLinux continue
    or
    Start the installation over again if PlayOnLinux errors too.
    masseffectii23.png

    After PlayOnLinux finishes don't launch Mass Effect yet because you will find that the DRM won't sync with the DVD.

    Configuring PlayOnLinux and Wine

    Click the Configure button
    Select Mass Effect 2 (either one)
    masseffectii30.png

    General Tab
    Wine version: 1.5.24
    masseffectii31.png

    Select the Wine Tab
    Click "Configure Wine"
    masseffectii32.png

    Wine Mono Installer will automatically pop up
    Click "Install"
    masseffectii33.png

    Wine Gecko will automatically pop up
    Click "Install"
    masseffectii34.png

    Wine Configuration


    Applications Tab
    Windows Version: Windows 7
    Click Apply
    masseffectii35.png

    Graphics Tab
    Check "Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows"
    Check "Emulate a virutal desktop"

    Enter an appropriate resolution for your virtual desktop.
    Example:
    • 1400x900
    • 1360x765
    Note: This is important because we will match your Linux desktop resolution to the same setting for fullscreen game-play.

    Click Ok
    masseffectii36.png

    Reboot Windows
    Wine Tab: Click the "Windows reboot" button
    Note: always reboot windows when making Wine or Display changes
    masseffectii37.png

    Imporant:Set your Linux Desktop to the same resolution as your Windows Virtual Desktop.
    When you are done playing Mass Effect 2, you can set it back to native.
    *Full-screen settings in-game never worked for me*

    Launching Mass Effect 2

    If you have problems with Linux automatically switching desktops while playing, I limited the desktops to only one. Roll your mouse over the "hot corner" and click the "X" on all the extra desktops.

    Go back to PlayOnLinux
    Select Mass Effect 2
    Click Run

    Mass Effect 2 should run in the virutal desktop with the same resolution as Linux Desktop and fit perfectly so it appears to be full screen.
    Select Extras
    masseffectii38a.png

    Setting Graphics
    Click Graphics
    masseffectii39a.png

    Depending on your video card, most of the settings should work fine in Wine 1.5.24

    Here are my settings for GeForce 550 Ti
    Windowed: fullscreen
    Windowed Mode: normal
    Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 16:9
    Resolution: 1360x765
    High Quality Bloom: On
    Film Grain: Off
    Motion Blur: On
    Dynamic Shadows: On
    Light Environemnt Shadows: On
    Number of Cinamatic Lights: 3
    Spherical Harmonic Lighting: On
    Anisotropic Filtering: 4x​

    Conclusion:
    Mass Effect ran very well for me after some testing and tweaking. Setting the screen resolution in Linux to match the virtual desktop resolution was the main setting that allowed it to run. Then removing extra desktops kept the mouse inside the window so it didn't automatically switch to the next desktop. I tested with other versions of Wine but I would either get a DVD error related to DRM or there were screen artifacts.

    Screenshots:
    masseffectii40a.png

    masseffectii41a.png

    masseffectii42a.png

    masseffectii44a.png

    masseffectii45a.png

    masseffectii46a.png
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2016

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Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, Jul 19, 2013.

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