WineX 3.3.2, KotOR Install - First Impressions
After getting home this afternoon I fired up the PC and began my tinkering to get SW:KotOR working with the latest release of WineX and Linux. Here are some first impressions.
System Config:
P4 2.8GHz, 1G RAM
PNY GeForce4 Ti 4400, 1920x1200 @ 24bpp
Hercules Fortissimo II
Gentoo Linux 2004.1
Installation:
The install went smoothly. No troubles. Installed the 1.03 patch with no problems (other then trying to find a place to download it).
First Run:
None of the KotOR shortcuts worked properly. They loaded the launcher app up correctly, but nothing worked beyond that. Running 'autoexec.exe' straight off the CD fixed this.
KotOR needs to be configured the first time it is run, so I ran the config and made a few changes based on the WineX release notes. I left everything else very simple -- I'll worry about getting the fancy stuff working later.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
At least, that is what I *should* have seen! None of the movies are playing correctly -- they are running, but you can't see them. It is easy enough to abort out of them (and then turn them off in the settings), but let's be honest... the FMVs rock. This was a disappointment which I hope to find a solution to.
Once started, the game ran as it should!
I have only run around my cabin on the Endar Spire at this point. Real game play will have to wait for another day.
The Ugly:
As noted in the release notes, KotOR "crashes" when it is closed. This means a few things are not cleaned up -- one being the video resolution. If you run KotOR at the natural resolution of you desktop this might not be a problem; unfortunately, KotOR does not support 1920x1200 so I have to exit X and restart it after exiting KotOR.
Final Notes:
Not a bad start. Given a dual boot system, it is still better to use Windows. Once the movies and exit crashing is fixed, it is ready for prime time!
I am currently working on getting WineX to "manage" KotOR. This would put KotOR in a window instead of running it full screen. My hope is that this will fix the resolution problem I have. Maybe even the movies!
