Open General on Linux with Wine

[Llewen]

***UPDATED Oct. 22, 2024***

Open General working with all the bells and whistles including weather effects, audio and video playback, on a multi-monitor setup.

Linux Distro: Debian 13 trixie
Desktop: KDE Plasma wayland
Application Launcher: Lutris
Wine Version: 8.26
Architecture: 32 bit
Hardware Wrinkles: multiple monitors

The first problem was that I have a multiple monitor setup and the app wasn't opening on the correct monitor. My two monitors have different resolutions, both monitors are identical but the second one sits a bit further away from me so I have it on a lower resolution to make it easier to work with and read--old eyes. The app was opening as if it was in full screen mode on the primary monitor, but it was opening on the secondary monitor, which meant it was opening in a resolution that rendered much of the game window off the screen. When I tried to move the game window it would deform.

The simple solution to this is alt-f3. That is the default kwin shortcut for the "Window Operations Menu". When you bring that up you can set the window settings for Open General, or any app, to anything you want. I found that the "Screen" option, "0", was what I was looking for. That opened the game on my main screen without messing around with any of the other game windows. You can find those settings under "More Actions", "Configure Special Application Settings".

Getting video playback working:

This was a significant problem in previous versions of wine/Debian/wayland, and involved installing third party codecs, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. With Debian 32 bit codecs are once again needed to get the in game video fully operational.

First off, Open General is a 32 bit application, so you should already have multiarch enabled in your distro, if you don't, see the following Debian FAQ.

https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch/HOWTO

You will probably want to install a 3rd party kernel. Those are necessary for certain options, such as fsync, to work in Lutris. At a minimum you will need to install the kernel from backports. I use the xanmod kernel.

https://xanmod.org/

You will need in install the following Debian packages or their equivalent, depending on your distro. You can run the following command on Debian:

sudo apt install ffmpeg:i386 gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad:i386 gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly:i386

You will want to install lutris and winetricks if you haven't already:

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sudo apt install lutris winetricks

Then you will want to install several packages from backports. You will find the instructions to set up backports here:

https://backports.debian.org/Instructions/

Once you have done that and run "sudo apt update", you can use the following command:

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apt install -t bookworm-backports firmware-linux firmware-linux-nonfree firmware-misc-nonfree linux-image-amd64 linux-headers-amd64 linux-libc-dev

You will also need to install the drivers for your specific hardware. The following is a possible list of packages. Note that with Linux the list of drivers you need to install can be counter-intuitive and you may need to install drivers for hardware that you may feel doesn't match the list of the hardware in your system:

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firmware-amd-graphics firmware-nvidia-graphics firmware-intel-graphics firmware-intel-misc firmware-iwlwifi firmware-mediatek firmware-realtek

You should run Open General using the default system wine available from Debian. You will need to set your wine prefix to run in Windows 7 mode or later.

You may also need to install a number of dlls/apps using winetricks. The following is a list of winetrick "verbs" that I have installed in the prefix I use to run Open General:

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d3dx9 msxml3 msxml4 msxml6 vcrun2005 vcrun2010 vcrun2012 vcrun2013

Note that I am currently unsure as to which of those verbs specifically are necessary for Open General to run successfully with full video support.

ADDENDUM: I have found that there are a couple of packages that improve the function of just about any application running under wine, you can install them on Debian using the following command:

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sudo apt install wine32-preloader wine64-preloader

Lastly you will want to install 32 bit codecs. You can find those here. What you will want to do is setup Open General in Lutris with your wine prefix and the Debian system version of wine, then click on the Open General shortcut you created in Lutris, go to the bottom of the Lutris window and find the up arrow next to the wine symbol, click on that, choose "Run EXE inside Wine prefix".

Click on that and run the codec installer that way. That will ensure that your codecs are properly installed into your wine prefix.

[Llewen]

It appears that the audio in the intro video to Open General is not working. Not sure why that doesn't work, it is working in the campaign videos. Suffice to say that you may need to mess around with Shark007's settings to get that working, and if you do, please post here with the solution so I can add it to the op.

[Llewen]

Updated the OP.

[lvjtn]

just a quck question. do we really need to add all those 32bit i386 packages? i've checked my laptop, and adding wine would require more than 1gb disk space, which sounds a bit ridiculous. as it works on my desktop pc, i don't mind, but in the future, it can be intersting to use only wine64 packages for opengen

[Llewen]

Open General is 32 bit is it not? If it is, then yes, you need those 32 bit packages. If it isn't, then you don't. I just assumed it was because most games of this vintage are. But seeing as Luis is compiling it, it's entirely possible it isn't...

And yes, 1GB seems like a lot until you realize you are essentially adding an entire OS.

[lvjtn]

Open General is 32 bit is it not?

yes, it is, i just wondered whether the x64 libs in linux had backward compatibility, as ubuntu planed to drop the entire i386 support, but it seems it's necessary for running wine, and at least the ubuntu 20.04 lts supports the i386 packages

[Llewen]

Open General is 32 bit is it not?

yes, it is, i just wondered whether the x64 libs in linux had backward compatibility, as ubuntu planed to drop the entire i386 support, but it seems it's necessary for running wine, and at least the ubuntu 20.04 lts supports the i386 packages

That's one reason why I have no plans to ever switch to Ubuntu. I use Debian which gives me access to all of the goodies Ubuntu offers, but still provides support for important things like 32 bit libraries.

[Llewen]

Once again taking a stab at getting the video replay working properly on wine. Will report back.

[Llewen]

Video playback is working properly, I have updated the OP.

[Llewen]

UPDATE:

I have yet to get video playback working properly under Debian bookworm, which is now full wayland. I have also added a note to the OP, I have discovered two packages that improve the running of just about any application under wine. So much so that I'm surprised it took me so long to find good information on them. You can install them on Debian using the following command:

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sudo apt install wine32-preloader wine64-preloader

[Llewen]

I have finally managed to get Open General working with full video support on Debian 12. I have updated the instructions in the OP.

[Ramon]

Hi all!
I gave up on windows as my laptop can't run Windows 11 and I refused to give up on my good 15 years old 17" laptop that works perfectly.
I gave a try to a Debian Linux and I can't be more happy. I'm just a coupe of weeks on Linux and I feel super comfortable!
All thanks to the AI that can explain and guide you step by step to solve any problem or install anything you need.
What a change from the old times when I get frustrated not finding any solution to my drivers or dependencies problems!
The only program that I missed was our loved Open General.
Following this thread and with Gemini I manage to install wine and OG in an instant.
The only think I have to add is when configuring wine (winecfg)
Go to the "Graphics" tab. and Check the box for "Emulate a virtual desktop." And set your actual Monitor resolution.
The only thing that is not working is that that seems not to be able to access internet to download the maps.
I have no idea ho to solve that.
Anyway, here you have the steps I follow.

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sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update 
sudo apt install wine wine32 winetricks
winecfg
# Go to the "Graphics" tab. and Check the box for "Emulate a virtual desktop." 
sudo apt install wine32-preloader wine64-preloader
# Now for "verbs": the libraries, dlls, dependencies etc.. Not sure what are important/necessary and what can cause some problem
#You can play installing /uninstalling until you find the ones you need.
#These are what I installed as Gemini recommended to me (and I think can be useful in the future)
winetricks d3dx9 devenum msxml3 msxml4 msxml6 vcrun2005 vcrun2010 vcrun2012 vcrun2013
# and that's it just run the installer and them the game
wine InstallOpenGeneral.exe 
wine ~/.wine/drive_c/OG/OpenGen.exe

[Llewen]

The only thing that is not working is that that seems not to be able to access internet to download the maps.

I had the same problem. I was unable to fix it. In the end I downloaded the map pack from the downloads and installed them that way.

edit: Welcome to the Dark Side. I switched my entire household to Linux at the end of 2018. Linux isn't perfect, and there were some struggles, but I would never, in a million years, want to go back to Windows.

Just a couple of ironies that I have discovered running Linux. I have at various time hosted games on a home server as well as a website, and more—all kinds of stuff that would be extremely difficult to do or would not work as well on Windows.

Extremely Short List of Linux Ironies:

• Old Windows programs often run better on Linux under wine than old Linus programs do. ie. If you find yourself trying to run an old native LInux game on Linux, and it ain't working, try running a Windows version of that game under wine, it probably will run just fine.
• Old Windows programs/games will often run better on Linux under wine than they will on Windows.

[Ramon]

I had the same problem. I was unable to fix it. In the end I downloaded the map pack from the downloads and installed them that way.

I know it sound stupid but, where you can I find that map pack?
I have found the Mapx database: https://www.open-general.com/mapx.php
That said contain the description.

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You can download all map description (mapx) files and a csv catalogue as a single zip package. 

But where are the actual maps? the images I mean.

[randowe]

But where are the actual maps? the images I mean.

You can download the complete map pack from the Polish OG site. It's the second download from the top: https://opengeneral.pl/opengen.html

Although my newest 2 or 3 maps are missing I think, judging by the date of the file.

[Ramon]

You can download the complete map pack from the Polish OG site. It's the second download from the top: https://opengeneral.pl/opengen.html

That was fantastic!
Thank yo so much! ,Dziękuję

[Llewen]

Extremely Short List of Linux Ironies:

• Old Windows programs often run better on Linux under wine than old Linus programs do. ie. If you find yourself trying to run an old native LInux game on Linux, and it ain't working, try running a Windows version of that game under wine, it probably will run just fine.
• Old Windows programs/games will often run better on Linux under wine than they will on Windows.

It's worth noting that Open General isn't really an "old game". It's a new recreation of an old game. It is easier to get it running on Windows than it is on Linux.

[Llewen]

I have updated the OP with instructions that apply to Debian 13 trixie. Unfortunately they are not fully tested. Please post here if you run into any issues and we will try to sort them out. I do have Open General working with all the bells and whistles but I am using a version of Shark007 codecs that are no longer available for download. I'm hopeful the ones I linked to will work.