Castlevainia Lords of Shadow Guide

Gabriel is on a quest to defeat the Titan Bosses with his combat cross, 50 combos and special moves. Slaying minions such as werewolves, vampires, trolls and gian spiders is not going to stop him from his ultimate goal: Lords of Shadow

Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Castlevainia Lords of Shadow in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Castlevainia Lords of Shadow. 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 18.2 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.12
Wine: 2.0.3

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"

Look for the Wine Version: 2.0.3
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right

Click Next

Downloading Wine

Extracting

Downloading Gecko

Installed

Wine 2.0.3 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: castlevlordsofshadow
No spaces
Click Next

Check all three options:

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

Click Next

Select Wine 2.0.3
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_d3dx10
• POL_Install_d3dx11
• POL_Install_Physx
• 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

Click the "X" to close Steam login

PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Steam.exe
Click Next

Name your shortcut: castlvlordsofshadow
Click Next

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

PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure

General Tab
Arguments: -no-dwrite -no-cef-sandbox
This fixes any missing font problems and the Store problem (Windows needs to be set as Windows XP)

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 Castlevainia Lords of Shadow
Click Run

Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Click "Login to existing account"

Login

Find Castlevainia Lords of Shadow in your Library
Click Install

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

Click Finish
Wait for Castlevainia to download

Click Play

Optimization

Click Configuration

Click Video

Adjust:

• Gamma
• Subtitles
• Mode
• Resolution

Click Advanced

Adjust:

• Shadows
• Vertical Sync
• Antialiasing
• Anisotropic
• Ambient Occlusion

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

Conclusion:
I had a hard time with Castlevainia Lords of Shadow because the game ran smooth and looked beautiful graphically, but there is a bug with the keyboard input that causes a lag/cache over time. This eventually forces your character to start moving by himself into danger, across the map and you have no control over him. This is a bug in Windows as well. The only resolution is to use an Xbox controller which I don't have.

Gameplay Video:

Screenshots:

 

Such an amazing game! Hopefully the need for a Xbox controller will be fixed somehow in the future...

Thanks for all the work put into these guides. Really appreciated!

 

No problem! I was able to play with the keyboard, but I think an Xbox controller will make it much easier. I just don't have one. I plan to pick one up because other games require a controller for couch co-op like Gauntlet.

 

Excellent title, actually runs very well in wine and good screens too

 

Did you experience the keyboard ghost?
My character would just walk right into danger all by himself.
I did a bit of research and this happens in Windows as well. The only solution is to use an Xbox controller

 

Did you experience the keyboard ghost?

My character would just walk right into danger all by himself.

I did a bit of research and this happens in Windows as well.

The only solution is to use an Xbox controller

?

In my case works ok in gameplay test

However i use similar to emulator controls, this controls appears in min 4:40

 

I finally finished Castlevania with an Xbox controller!
Really fun game! It can be fairly difficult at times and confusing, but it was definitely worth playing!