Frets On Fire is an attempt to create the Guitar Hero genre on PC. Play some of the greatest rock and heavy metal hits of the 90's on an animated fretboard with syncopated notes.
Download themes, download songs, play with a friend and even add your favorite songs with the editor.



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Frets On Fire (FoFiX) in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Tips & Specs:

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

Mint 17 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.7
Wine: 1.6.2

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.6.2
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 1.6.2 is installed and you can close this window

Download Frets on Fire FoFiX

Go To: https://code.google.com/p/fofix/downloads/list
Download FoFiX-v3.121-Final-Setup-(py2.6-ogl3).exe


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: fretsonfire
Click Next


Check all three options:

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

Click Next


Select Wine 1.6.2
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 desktop"
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


Note: All packages will require checking "I agree", will automatically download and install.

Installing Frets On Fire FoFiX

Click Browse


Select: FoFiX-v3.121-Final-Setup-(py2.6-ogl3).exe
Click Open


Click Next again

Click Next

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

Click Next

Click Install

When Complete, Click Next

Uncheck "Run FoFiX v3.121 Final
Click Finish


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "FoFiX.exe"
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Frets On Fire
Click Next


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


PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Select Frets on Fire
Click Configure


General Tab
Wine Version: 1.6.2


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 amount of memory your video card/chip uses


Close Configure

Downloading a Theme

Sign up at the fretsonfire.net forums to view themes

Browse a list of themes here:
http://www.fretsonfire.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=24976#Music_game_themes


Select a theme to view and/or download


Note: Many of the themes listed at fretsonfire.net are no longer available via at mediafire. You will have to search the theme's post for updated links to the download.

Download the theme
Extract folder to Frets On Fire Theme folder:

Code:

/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/fretsonfire/drive_c/Program Files/FoFix/data

Rock Band theme:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/gwn2m22mfmu/BFMV RB.zip

Rock Band 2 Theme
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bxr4nKsR5zXzOFZVaGRmMGFvTzA/edit

Guitar Hero 3 theme:
http://www27.zippyshare.com/v/45547623/file.html

Downloading Songs

Songs are a bit harder to find because of copyright laws

Note: A lot of songs are listed at fretsonfire.net but are no longer available at mediafire. You will need to search the forums for updated links or search online.

Once you have a bunch of song folders
Create a folder: songs
Copy the songs folder to your Frets On Fire game directory



Note: When you setup Frets On Fire FoFiX the first time it will allow you to select your "Songs" directory and will automatically populate all of your songs.

Launching Frets On Fire

Select Frets on Fire
Click Run


Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Initial Setup

At first launch there is only a "light" theme with no graphics
Click Options


Click Display Settings>


Select the theme you downloaded
Adjust Resolution and fullscreen
Press Esc
Press Esc again
Frets On Fire will ask to restart
Press Enter

Note: Sometimes fonts in the menu can be misaligned depending on the resolution you use.

Conclusion:
Frets on Fire FoFiX ran perfectly in several versions of Wine. I was able to configure my Xbox USB guitar and play almost perfectly. Everything in-game syncopated just like in Windows.
I had a hard time finding songs and themes to download because the Fretsonfire.net forums are not kept up-to-date, but I had a previous folder full of Guitar Hero Songs and Rock Band songs I kept from 2009. You can also convert your own songs to .ogg and edit your own guitar notes in the Frets On Fire editor, then play it yourself.

Gameplay Video:


Screenshots: