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Crysis 2 Guide

Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, Sep 10, 2013.

  • by booman, Sep 10, 2013 at 1:37 PM
  • booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    There is no better place for violent alien occupancy than New York its self. In Crysis 2 you play as a Naval soldier called Alcatraz, but as your ship is captized and destroyed you find yourself on a beach at the feet of Prophet.

    crysis57a.png

    Prophets days are done and he is handing all responsibilities over to you.

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

    Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Crysis 2. Other versions may require additional steps.

    Tips & Specs

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

    Mint 14 32-bit
    PlayOnLinux: 4.2.1
    Wine: 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer

    Wine Install

    Launch PlayOnLinux
    Click Tools
    Select "Manage Wine Versions"
    wine01.png

    Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer
    Select it
    Click the arrow pointing to the right
    wine02.png

    Click Next

    PlayOnLinux will automatically download it and save it in this directory:
    /home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86

    Note: username is where you put your login name. Its a good idea to backup this directory to another computer because you won't have to keep downloading wine versions when you need them.

    Downloading Wine
    wine04.png

    Extracting

    Downloading Gecko
    wine05.png

    Installed
    wine06.png

    Wine 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer is installed and you can close this window


    Downloading Steam

    Go To: http://www.steampowered.com
    Click Install Steam
    crysis01.png

    Do not click "Install Steam Now"
    It will automatically install Linux Steam. Since Crysis 2 isn't made for Linux, we will download the Windows Steam instead.
    click "Windows" under the green button
    crysis02.png

    Navigate to your desktop
    Click Save
    crysis03.png


    Setup PlayOnLinux

    Launch PlayOnLinux
    Click Install
    crysis04.png

    Click "install a non-listed program"
    crysis05.png

    Click Next

    Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
    Click Next
    crysis07.png

    Name your virtual drive: steam
    No spaces
    Click Next
    crysis08.png

    Select all three options:
    • Use another version of Wine
    • Configure Wine
    • Install some libraries
    Click Next
    crysis09.png

    Select Wine 1.7.8-d3d_doublebuffer
    Click Next
    crysis10.png

    Note: If you have a 64-bit distro, PlayOnLinux will ask if you want a 64-bit or 32-bit virtual drive.
    Always select 32-bit

    Configure Wine

    Applications Tab
    Windows Version: Windows 7
    Click Apply
    crysis11.png

    Graphics Tab
    Check: Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows
    Check: Emulate a virtual desktop
    Desktop size: 1024x768
    Click Ok
    crysis12.png

    Install Libraries (Windows Packages)

    Check the following libraries:
    • POL_Install_corefonts
    • POL_Install_d3dx9
    • POL_Install_registeredfonts
    • POL_Install_tahoma
    • POL_Install_vcrun2008
    Each Library will automatically download and install its-self
    Click Next
    crysis13.png

    Installing Steam

    Click Browse
    crysis15.png

    Navigate to your desktop
    Select: SteamInstall.msi
    Click Open
    crysis16.png

    Click Next

    Click Next

    Check: I accept the license...
    Click Next

    Click Next

    Click Next

    Click Install

    Click Finish

    Updating Steam
    crysis24.png

    More updating, extracting and installing
    crysis25.png

    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
    crysis31.png

    Name your shortcut: Steam
    Click Next

    Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
    Click Next
    crysis33.png

    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
    crysis34.png

    Note: -no-dwrite only works if you launch Steam from PlayOnLinux. Steam is automatically set to launch when Windows starts, which means if you do a "Windows Reboot" from the Wine tab -no-dwrite won't execute. Just close Steam and try again.

    Display Tab
    Direct Draw Renderer: opengl
    Video Memory Size: size of memory on your video card
    Offscreen rendering mode: fbo
    crysis35.png

    Wine Tab
    Click "Windows reboot"
    Close Steam because it will automatically launch when Windows reboots and won't execute -no-dwrite.
    crysis36.png

    Close Configure

    Install Crysis 2

    Select Steam
    Click Run
    crysis38.png

    Steam Overlay
    Some games will not work with Steam Overlay
    Click Steam Menu
    Click Settings

    Select "In-Game" on the left
    Uncheck "Enable Steam Community In-Game"
    Click OK
    steam37.png

    Select Crysis 2 in your game library
    click Install

    Click Next

    Click "I agree"

    Click Next

    Click Finish

    Crysis 2 will start downloading

    Note: Crysis 2 is a 13.4 Gigabtye game. It may take a while to download depending on your internet speed.

    Launching Crysis 2

    When its finished downloading you will see a "Play" button
    Click Play
    crysis44.png

    Steam will attempt to install DirectX and Microsoft VC Redist, but we have previously installed
    them.
    crysis45.png

    Video Card Error
    My GeForce GTX 550 Ti is apparently not recognized by the software, but it still runs just fine. Click OK
    crysis47.png

    Press Enter

    Create an account or just press "Skip" to go to the main menu
    crysis48.png

    Click Options

    Click Graphics

    The system automatically set my Graphics options to high
    But if you click "System Spec"
    High actually seems like "low" because there is:
    • High
    • Very High
    • Extreme
    • Ultra
    Only experiment with these settings if you have a card better than the GeForce GTX 550 Ti.

    Adjust the resolution for smoother gameplay on your system
    Click Apply
    crysis51.png

    Advanced Graphics

    Again everything was automatically set to "High" but when you click the menu's it is the lowest setting.
    Only experiment with these settings if your graphics card can handle it.
    Disabling motion blur or setting to "low" can reduce eye fatigue and may even improve performance.
    Click Apply
    crysis53.png

    Conclusion:
    At first Crysis 2 was plauge with crashing just like Crysis 1. I had a feeling it was a memory leak but was not getting the same errors... So after trying several versions of Wine, I decided to try the "doublebuffer" version of 1.6-rc4 and it really improved the crashing problem. I could easily progress to the next checkpoint or even several before crashing again.

    Unfortunately I was unable to play Crysis 2 without crashing at all. This is a side affect of CryEngine 3 and Wine.

    If you want to play Crysis 2, this is your only option for now...

    Also, you might notice some texture or surface errors in game. Wine 1.7 will fix them, but then you will have a LOT more crashing issues. And you will probably notice there are no casted shadows. Yet another DirectX problem that Crysis 1 had too.

    Besides those problems Crysis 2 ran fairly well and I had a lot of fun sneaking around killing soldiers and climbing structures. There are a lot of strategic options for taking down enemies or sneaking by un-noticed.

    Screenshots:
    crysis54a.png

    crysis55a.png

    crysis56a.png

    crysis58a.png

    crysis59a.png

    crysis60a.png

    crysis61a.png
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2016
    danrok likes this.

Comments

Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, Sep 10, 2013.

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How Does Crysis 2 perform on your system?

  1. Perfectly

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. Crashes Sometimes

    100.0%
  3. Crashes and Graphical Artifacts

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  4. Always Crashes

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Can't Play At All

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. booman
    High Res Screenshots
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    crysis62.png crysis63.png

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    crysis72.png crysis73.png

    crysis75.png crysis78.png

    crysis74.png crysis79.png

    crysis80.png crysis81.png

    crysis86.png crysis87.png

    crysis88.png crysis89.png
  2. dem
    This game is incredibly beautiful :eek: Do you think my hardware can handle it (see my signature) ?
  3. booman
    There is a chance, I would start with a lower resolution: 1024x768 then bump up to 1365x768 or even 1440x900
    Notice all the settings showed "high" but it was the lowest setting because there is "Very High" "Extreme" and "Ultra"
    On top of that it is running in Wine so you will sacrifice CPU processing.
    Also notice there are no casted shadows on the ground or other surfaces. Not sure why, but that helps performance too.

    If you really really want to play Crysis 2, buy it and try it out. I recommend Crysis 1 first.
    Its the same engine (practically) and if it runs, then Crysis 2 should run.
  4. rolandttg
    Great job booman!
    What is doublebuffer?
  5. rolandttg
    Oh, and are you using the recommended Mint drivers or did you use NVida's?
  6. booman
    I always use Nvidia drivers. Open source drivers aren't quite "there" yet.

    Doublebuffering has something to do with managing memory with Dot Net Framework. It can improve performance in Graphics heavy programs: Doublebuffering
  7. booman
    Crysis 2 is still playing for me. I finally got past the Keep and the Church. Major plot-turning cut-scenes after that. So I won't ruin it, but be away gamers... I had some problems with locking up and reloading. I had to start a whole chapter back to get through the Keep chapter. Be patient and keep trying!
    I may actually play this all the way to the end.
  8. booman
    I made it all the way to the Dark Heart chapter. Fighting aliens now.
    The whole Genre really reminds me of Half-Life. Levels are linear but very large, so you can choose how to get to the other side where the objective is, but you can't choose other objectives. So its basically linear.

    I'm not doing any more screenshots cause I don't want to ruin it for anyone.
  9. booman
    I seem to have found another trouble area in Crysis 2.
    I'm at the Corporate Collapse chapter and its crashing again.
    Originally the first time I got to this chapter, it ran fine until I swam into the parking garage. Now if I load any game or even re-start the chapter it crashes.
    Oh CryEngine 3.... why can't we get along?

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