Nation Red is an arena zombie shooter. Power-ups, level-up, select skills and mow down those minions... That's about it. There is an online and local co-op feature too.



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

Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Nation Red. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

Try SteamPlay before using this guide as Valve now uses a fork of Wine called Proton and should run most Windows games.

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

Note: Wine versions older than 2.0.2 and 2.12-staging no longer work with Steam.

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

Downloading Steam

Go To: http://www.steampowered.com
Click Install Steam


Do not click "Install Steam Now"
It will automatically install Linux Steam
Select Windows Steam instead
click "Windows" under the green button


Navigate to your desktop
Click Save


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: nationred
No spaces
Click Next


Select all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.8.5
Click Next


Select "32 bits windows installation"
Click Next


Configure Wine

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 (Libraries, Components, DLL's)

Check the following libraries:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_dsound
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next


Note: All packages will automatically download and install

Installing Steam

Click Browse

Navigate to your desktop
Select: SteamSetup.exe
Click Open


Click Next

Click Next

Check: I accept the license...
Click Next

Click Next

Click Next

Click Install

Click Finish

Updating Steam

Steam may not have any fonts due to dwrite functionality
Click the "X" to close Steam login


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Steam.exe
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Nation Red
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure


General Tab
Fix the no fonts and no store symptoms...
Arguments: -no-dwrite -no-cef-sandbox


Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine. Click the down-arrow to select other versions of wine

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


Close Configure

Launching Steam

Select Nation Red
Click Run


Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Click "Login to existing account"


Login


Find Nation Red in your Library
Click Install


Uncheck "Create desktop shortcut"
Uncheck "Create start menu shortcut"
Click Next


Click Finish


Click Play


Optimization

Click Options


Adjust:

• Video Mode
• Fullscreen
• Anti-aliasing
• Brightness
• Aspect Ratio
• Sync Every Frame
• Image Motion Blur
• HDR

Conclusion:
Nation Red ran well in-game, but during the menu there is a lot of frame lag making it hard to navigate. I also had some issues with sound effects. You can hear some sounds but not others at random times. Otherwise, I was able to play co-op with keyboard/mouse and my old Logitech dual-shock controller.

One thing I definitely liked about Nation Red is the small download and no loading times.

Gameplay Video:


Screenshots: