Skip to main content

Unreal2 on Modern Linux

Unreal 2: The Awakening was not a popular game. It launched on February 3rd, 2003 with only a single-player mode when on-line multiplayer demonstrated in Unreal Tournament was the  the hot new thing. Although a one-game multiplayer mode was added, Unreal2 just never caught on. It does offer a good story-mode single, player experience and a pretty attractive female sidekick.

Unreal2 also has no native Linux binaries and must be run with some version of WINE. The current version of Unreal2 offered by GOG.com can be run using WINE, PlayOnLinux or Crossover. Install it into a Win7 bottle.

Before You Start
Before you launch the game the first time, delete all of the *.con files you find in the /Music sub-directory. These are containers for the looping music that is played in the background and for whatever reason, they are not supported in the game. If you leave them in place, you can open the configuration menus, but launching the game will fail. You can download .mp3 version of the cinematic music here.

If you are experiencing problems with the mouse, open U2XMP.ini and change  reducemouselag=True to =False.

Xpanded Mutli Player
The GOG installer offers the option of installing the Expanded Multiplayer Community version. HOWEVER, it cannot be installed in the same bottle. GOG claims they are working on it, but . . .

I rarely look at the options available to install a GOG game, but in this case it's worth a look. If you un-tick the box to install Unreal2, you can then tick the box to install XMP, the late-to-the-party multiplayer option.

You need to delete the same .con files as above and you need to install the fixunreal2.reg file as well to enable umod functionality, but there's still more to fix.

If you XMP and search for a list of game servers, it can't find any because Atari took down their Master Server. There's a possible fix mentioned at the GOG Forums for Unreal Tournament.

If you are experiencing problems with the mouse, open U2XMP.ini and change  reducemouselag=True to =False.

UMOD Files
GOG has disabled the ability to install umod, or "Unreal Module", files in both Unreal2 and XMP, but this is easily fixed. There is a Registry edit to restore the umod functionality, but it works only with the Unreal2 install directory being D:\\Unreal2\\, so you will need to edit it to reflect the GOG installation directory of C:\\GOG Games\Unreal 2- The Awakening Special Edition\.

Here are the contents of the modified file. You should save it as fixunreal2.reg and, just to Keep Windows happy, run it through the Unix2DOS utility to replace the UNIX line feed with the carriage return + line feed that Windows expects. To install a registry key from a file like this, use the "run command" function to run regedit.exe in the Unreal2 bottle. Then import the file into regedit, just as you would do with Windows.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.u2mod]
@="Unreal2.Module"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.un2]
@="Unreal2.Map"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Map]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Map\Shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Map\Shell\edit]
@="&Edit this Unreal II level"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Map\Shell\edit\command]
@="C:\\GOG Games\Unreal 2- The Awakening Special Edition\\System\\UnrealEd.exe \"%1\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Module]
@="Unreal II Module"
"DefaultIcon"="C:\\GOG Games\Unreal 2- The Awakening Special Edition\\Help\\Unreal2.ico"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Module\Shell]
@="Open"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Module\Shell\Open]
@="Install this Unreal II Module"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unreal2.Module\Shell\Open\command]
@="C:\\GOG Games\Unreal 2- The Awakening Special Edition\\System\\Setup.exe install \"%1\""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Infogrames]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Infogrames\Unreal II]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Infogrames\Unreal II\1.00.000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{626F32D6-007C-41D5-8157-9509AB1428BE}]
"UninstallString"="RunDll32 C:\\PROGRA~1\\GEMEIN~1\\INSTAL~1\\engine\\6\\INTEL3~1\\Ctor.dll,LaunchSetup \"C:\\Programme\\InstallShield Install
"DisplayName"="Unreal II"
"LogFile"="C:\\Programme\\InstallShield Installation Information\\{626F32D6-007C-41D5-8157-9509AB1428BE}\\setup.ilg"
"InstallLanguage"="7"
"InstallLocation"="D:\\GOG Games\Unreal 2- The Awakening Special Edition\"
"DisplayIcon"="C:\\GOG Games\Unreal 2- The Awakening Special Edition\\Help\\Unreal2.ico"
"TITLEBAR"="Unreal II: The Awakening"





RESOURCES

Unreal 2 - The Forgotten Game?

Does it run in WINE?

Beyond Unreal

XMP Download

Solar base single-player map

Good Old Games

Unreal II Expanded Multiplayer Community

Unreal Wiki Documentation of the Unreal Editor

Linux Releases on GOG

The "Judas™ does this run in Wine" thread v1.173

Adult Character Skins

Unreal II Original Soundtrack Remix

Extended Multi-Player (XMP) Final Release: Official Download

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DOS4GW.EXE Version 2.01a and Alternative DOS Extenders

DOS4GW.EXE The Tenberry DOS extender DOS4GW.EXE was used by many early DOS games. I still enjoy playing many of these games and DOS4GW.EXE is usable with DOSBox , so they can be played on Linux. However, the version of DOS4GW.EXE that was included with the game was whatever was current at the time. The most recent version that includes many bugfixes that possibly affected the games when used with DOSBox have been fixed in the latest version, 2.01a. It's not free at US$49, but you can downloaded it here . Simply substitute it for whatever version of DOS4GW.EXE your game provided and enjoy the bug-fixed goodness. Tenberry also makes a "high-performance" "pro" version of DOS4GW.EXE, but it costs $300. I think that they could sell quite a few of these to hobby users (since, you know, DOS is dead) for US$5. Open Souce to the Rescue There are better performing, free and Open Source alternatives available and worth a look. DPMI Explained Let's unders

Return to Castle Wolfenstein for Modern Linux

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first-person shooter originally released on November 19, 2001. The game, like many other classic games, is available at GOG.com and costs only US$5.99. iortcw for Linux Don't bother with old and crusty Linux binaries offered by idsoft; they are problematic and it's painful to use them on a modern Linux. Fortunately for us, there are more modern GPL-licensed Linux binaries available for 32- and 64-bit systems as well as high resolution textures packages. The project at GitHub provides source code that can also be compiled for MS Windows using MinGW. iortcw for Windows and Mac You can download pre-compiled binaries for 32- and 64-bit Linux, MS Windows and Mac from here . Let's put our files in /usr/local/games/rtcw . As root, extract the downloaded .ZIP file for your architecture to  /usr/local/games/rtcw . All we are missing are the game data files. I purchased them from GOG.com. The game installer downloaded from GOG.com can be

Unreal Tournament GOTY/UT99 for Modern Linux

Released on November 16, 1999, Unreal Tournament (also known as UT99) is an arena first-person shooter for Multiplayer on-line competition or you can play against bots off-line. It features several game types, with more details provided at Wikipedia . The game was re-released on February 25, 2000 as Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition (GOTY) which included the three bonus packs released previously and additional mods, or game modifiers that had become popular. It is the GOTY version that is available from STEAM or  GOG.com . The GOG version for Windows installs in Linux and plays well using WINE , PlayOnLinux or Codeweaver's Crossover . There is a Linux binary available in two versions, one for the original game and one for the GOTY edition . Also provided at that site is the Official Bonus Pack with a Linux installer. All these Linux installers are created with makeself . There are some issues using such a crusty old Linux binary. Let's see why getting a Lin