Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a team-based FPS much like the Battlefield series. Conquer maps by taking bases in many new locations like Mygeeto, Utapau, Naboo, Hoth, Mustafar, Yavin, the Jedi Temple and the Death Star. Play as 5 different classes and even earn a chance to play as a Jedi hero or a Sith Lord.



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Battlefront 2 in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Retail (CD ROM) version of Battlefront 2. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 17 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.8
Wine: 1.7.46

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.46
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 1.7.46 is installed and you can close this window

Copy CD ROM Data

Create a Battlefront2 folder on the desktop
Enter CD1
Copy all data from CD1 to the Battlefront2 folder


Enter CD2 and copy the GameData folder to the Battlefront2 folder
Check "Apply this action to all files"
Click Merge


Enter CD3 through CD5 with the same "Merge" steps

PlayOnLinux Setup

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Click "Install a non-listed program"


Click Next

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


Name your virtual drive: battlefront2
Click Next


Check all three options

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.7.46
Click Next


Select "32 bits windows installation"
Click Next


Wine Configuration

Applications Tab
Windows version: Windows 7
Click Apply


Graphics Tab
Check "Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows"
Check "Emulate a virtual deskop"
Desktop size: 1024x768
Click OK


PlayOnLinux Packages (Components, Libraries, DLL's)

Check the following Packages:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next


Installing Battlefront 2

Click "Select another file"
Click Next


Click Browse

Navigate to the Battlefront2 folder on your desktop
Open GameData folder
Select "setup.exe"
Click Open


Click Next

Click Next


Enter Key
Click OK


Check "I accept the terms..."
Click Next


Check "No, I don't want to install xfire"
Click Next


Check "No, install GameSpy Arcade later"
Click Next


Click "Automatic"
Click Next


Desktop Shortcut
Click No


Installing


Uncheck "I would like to view the README file"
Uncheck "I would like to launch Star Wars Battlefront II"
Click Finish


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "BattlefrontII.exe"
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Battlefront II
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Battlefront II
Click Configure


General Tab
Wine version: 1.7.46


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

Launching Battlefront II

Select Battlefront II
Click Run


Note: Click Debug to see output of errors and bugs while playing

Optimization

Click Options


Click Video


Adjust:

• Brightness
• Contrast
• VSync
• Overall Quality (Presets)
• View Distance
• LOD Distance
• Resolution
• Antialiasing
• Texture Quality
• Water Quality
• Shadows
• Lighting Quality
• Light Bloom

Click Accept


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

Conclusion:
Battlefront 2 installed and played perfectly. Any level I loaded played and performed just as well as Windows on my GeForce 550 ti. I had everything set to high except view distance and LOD distance.

Ironically in Windows 7, Battlefront 2 would crash over and over. It turns out there is some audio bug with Realtek chips and it causes a crash when a level is loaded.
I was able to host the game in Linux and connect from the Windows client, but not the other way around.

Gameplay Video:



Screenshots: