Shadows of the Empire was a catalyst for Lucasarts future games like Battlefront I & II, Dark Forces Outcast, Force Unleashed and many more. Play as Dash Rendar in a backstory between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Primarily a 3rd person shooter... but also includes some vehicular combat like a jetpack, swoop bike and snowspeeder.



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Shadows of the Empire in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the GOG version of Shadows of the Empire. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 18.2 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.12
Wine: 2.15-staging

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 2.15-staging
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 2.15-staging 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: shadowsempire
Click Next


Check all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 2.15-staging
Click Next


Wine Configuration

Applications Tab
Windows version: Windows XP
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 (DLL's, Libraries, Components)

Check the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next


Note: All packages should automatically download and install

Click Browse


Select "setup_sw_shadows_of_the_empire_2.2.0.11.exe"
Click Open


Click Next again...

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


Click OK on all errors
They will not affect the installation...


Click Exit


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "Shadows.exe"
Click Next


Name the shortcut: Shadows of the Empire
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configure

Select "Shadows of the Empire"
Click Configure


General Tab
Wine version: 2.15-staging


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 Configure

Select "Shadows of the Empire"
Click Run


Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Shadows of the Empire Configure

Display Device: DirectDraw HAL
3D Device: RGB Direct3D emulation
Display Mode: Set resolution for fullscreen

Create new player
Click Play


Conclusion:
At first I had a lot of problems with "stable" Wine 2.0.2 and setting the 3D Device to Wine, but after finally testing with "staging" version everything ran really well. I sometimes get a random crash but I was still able to play through several levels without issues on my GeForce GTX 1060.

Gameplay Video:


Screenshots: