Two Worlds II takes place 5 years later with an interesting ally. No longer can you fight Gandohar alone, Orcs have joined the battle to save Kyra from the tyrant.





Once again the action takes place in an open-world among many varied environments. Explore dungeons, cities, deserts, swamps and much more.

Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Two Worlds II in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Two Worlds II. 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

int 17 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.2
Wine: 1.7.22

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.22
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 1.7.22 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. Since Two Worlds II isn't made for Linux, we will download the Windows Steam instead.
click "Windows" under the green button


Navigate to your desktop
Click Save


Setup PlayOnLinux

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Click "install a non-listed program"


Click Next

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


Name you virtual drive: twoworlds2
No spaces
Click Next


Select all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.7.22
Click Next


Select 32-bit virtual drive
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


Install Libraries

Check the following libraries:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_dxfullsetup
• POL_Install_Physx
• POL_Install_tahoma
• POL_Install_vcrun2005
• POL_Install_vcrun2008
• POL_Install_vcrun2010

Click Next


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

More updating, extracting and installing

When Steam is done installing the login screen will pop up. You probably won't see any text because there is a font bug.
Click the "X" to close Steam login


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Steam.exe
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Two Worlds II
Click Next


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

More PlayOnLinux Configuration

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure
Select Steam virtual drive


General Tab
Arguments: -no-dwrite -no-cef-sandbox
This fixes the missing font and store problem
(This fixes the font problem)

Wine Version: 1.7.22
Note: click the + to download more versions of Wine. Click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine.



Display Tab
GLSL Support: disabled
Video Memory Size: size of memory on your video card


Close Configure

Launching Steam

Select Two Worlds II
Click Run


Note: Clicking Debug instead of Run will launch the game with a debug console so you can view errors and bugs.

Click "Login to existing account"


Login


Steam Overlay

Steam overlay has been known to cause problems launching games.
Click Steam menu
Click Settings


Select "In-game"
Uncheck "Enable Steam Commuinty In-Game"
Click OK


Installing Two Worlds

Find Two Worlds II in your library
Click Install


Click Next


Click "I Agree"


Uncheck "Create start menu shortcut to Two Worlds II"
Uncheck "Create desktop shortcut to Two Worlds II"
Click Next


Click Finish


Two Worlds II will automatically download
When its completed click Play


Select "Play Two Worlds II"
Click Play


There should be a pop-up in Steam with your serial number
Copy the serial number

Enter the serial number for Two Worlds II
(Because one DRM isn't enough)
Click OK


Click "Internet Activation"


Click Continue


Click OK


Optimization & Graphics Settings

Rule of Thumb:
High settings = More detail, lower frame rates
Low settings = Less detail, higher frame rates

Click Settings


Click Graphics


Adjust Resolution to match your Linux Desktop
Window Mode = Off
Anti Aliasing Mode = None
Anti-Aliasing Sample = 1 Sample

Further Adjust:

• Detail
• Motion blur
• Bloom
• Depth-of-view
• Anistrophy
• Draw Distance
• Grass Draw Distance

Shadows = OFF
Depth-Of-View = On or OFF
VSync = On or OFF
HD Video = On or OFF

Note: I was unable to change Anti-Aliasing settings. Some setting require restarting the game.
There is a problem with Wine and shadows, so turning off shadows is the only curren solution.

Click Accept to apply your changes


Conclusion:
Two Worlds II ran really well on my GeForce 550 Ti. Its unfortunate the shadows have to be turned off because otherwise you have this buggy feint moving shadow following your character around. Its very annoying. The game still looks graphically beautiful and even runs better with shadows off.

Gameplay Video:


Screenshots: