Halo: PC (Linux)

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This article is about the Real World.

With recent versions of wine it has been possible to get Halo: Combat evolved (PC version) working on other operating systems such as linux, with only minor problems, listed below. The following guide will explain how to install and run Halo on Ubuntu linux 7.04 feisty, but the process should be fairly similar on other distribution

[edit] Step one: Install Wine: Wine is not an emulator (WINE)

Follow the instructions at Winehq.org to installing the latest version, though some have reported regressions with 0.9.39 (The current version) So 0.9.38 offers the best experience. To get it find the section: older .deb packages at the bottom of the Ubuntu section, and download the 0.9.38 deb file. Install it by double clicking on it.

Press alt-F2, and in the box type winecfg. After a lot of hard drive grinding a gui will come up, however there is no need to play with the settings as Halo works mostly out of the box!

Before proceeding with the installing of Halo make sure you have 3D hardware acceleration activated.

[edit] Step two: Install Halo

The installer will not run without mfc42.dll, so download the file from here and extract the file to your /home/<yourname>/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32 directory

Insert your Halo cd, and unless you installed by using the add/remove program, right click on setup.exe and click Properties. Click on Open with, and click +ADD. Click Use a custom command, and type "wine" (without quote marks) and then okay. Make sure wine is selected, and click okay. You can now double click on any .exe files to run them.

Double click on Setup.exe in the cd directory.

Then run the installer as you would on Windows, but don't select Express install, as that will cause problems. The installer may have several error messages, but these can be safely ignored, the game will install correctly. Click restart at the end of the installer (it won't actually restart your system)

[edit] Step three: Tweaking

Browse to the Halo directory, (usually /home/<name>/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Halo: Combat evolved/) and double click on haloupdate.exe to update the game to the latest version. (1.08)

Previously (Version 1.07), you would need to install a no-cd crack. However, bungie's recent patch has removed the need for a cd on both PC and CE versions. So, you no longer need the no-cd patch. The 1.07 no-cd crack can still be found here if you are having problems with 1.08.

The game should have placed a shortcut on your desktop, if not right click and select Create launcher. Name the launcher Halo: Combat evolved (or whatever) and in the command type env WINEPREFIX="/home/chris/.wine" wine "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe"

Right click you shortcut, and click Launcher. In the command box type -novideo -vidmode 1024,768,60 -use11 after the quote marks. This disables company videos, preventing a possible crash, sets the resolution you want (change as applicable) and tells it to run as a 1.1 shader card, which provides the least bugs.

[edit] Step four: Playing

You can now play both Halo Campaign and Multiplayer mode.

[edit] Known bugs

Flashlight currently does not work. Also, radar may disappear for periods of time, then finally appear in later gameplay. Cause of this is not known.

When using sound, on any sound system (OSS not known), the game will lag due to a bug in the dsound/winealsa driver. Using the -nosound command argument will remove sound, but will increase gameplay performance 10x.

The -window argument will not work as Halo exits claiming it requires 32 bit video for this mode to run, due to the fact that X11 uses 24 bit (same thing in reality). It's also better to run in fullscreen, as Halo seems to lag on the menu due to the cursor sprite and the audio.

With ATI cards people have been known to have different experiences, such as the flashlight working, but the screen going black at random moments.

Any problems ask here. There are several active threads regarding Halo there now.

Like any program with 3D rendering, performance is generally decreased greatly by running a dual-head configuration with only one graphics card. Only running one monitor while you play Halo will greatly improve your performance.