----------- WineX 3.1 ----------- Release Notes, June 17, 2003. Overview ======== TransGaming is pleased to announce the release of WineX 3.1, dubbed "Magrathea", giving our users access to more Windows games in Linux, with greater ease. TransGamers can now download WineX in RPM, Debian and TGZ formats from the downloads section of TransGaming's website: http://www.transgaming.com/ With WineX 3.1, TransGamers can enjoy such games as Morrowind and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as well as the many graphical and speed improvements visible in games such as Battlefield 1942. Also available for TransGamers is a new release of Point2Play, version 1.1, which incorporates many changes suggested by TransGamers to enhance integration with desktop themes and to simplify game play experience. Enjoy! New Features ============ WineX 3.1 --------- WineX 3.1 now brings users: * Support for additional games that include Morrowind and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City * Additional speed improvements and graphical modifications, with Battlefield 1942 graphic features reflecting these changes. All previously missing graphics features in Battlefield 1942 are present * Overall performance in most Direct3D games has been enhanced by 10 to 15% (and higher in some cases) * Support for the installers of many newer games, including those often used by many Microsoft titles * Improved detection of distributions that use newer glibc versions but are not capable of running some games due to glibc limitations * i810 and other mono only sound cards, playing in game mono sounds, should no longer freeze Point2Play 1.1 new features include: * the ability to manage multiple versions of WineX * the option to use TransGaming's theme or work with existing desktops themes * the advantage of being fully resizable * the choice of starting games from the command line System Requirements =================== Operating System ---------------- Core requirements are: - Linux Kernel 2.2 or higher. Stock Kernels recommended over RedHat 7.x/8.x/9.x kernels - XFree86 4.0 or higher (4.1 and above recommended) - glibc 2.2 or higher - working hardware accelerated OpenGL video card CPU Type and Speed ------------------ Recommended minimum hardware is - 500 MHz or faster Pentium or Athlon CPU - 64MB of memory; 128 MB or higher recommended - 1 to 2 GB free hard disk space for games - Linux-supported 3D graphics card with 16MB of video RAM is required. nVidia GeForce-class GPU recommended. ATI Radeon 8500 or higher with working ATI FireGL drivers should work, but will not perform as well for the moment Please note individual requirements may be higher for certain games. Known Issues and Comments ========================= ATI FireGL drivers ------------------ TransGaming has seen some instability with ATI cards using FireGL and/or DRI running WineX. Games of note with issues are Battlefield 1942, Grand Theft Auto - Vice City and Sacrifice. Since this is the first release where the official OpenGL drivers for ATI graphics cards work with WineX, there are still a number of issues that have yet to be resolved. We welcome all reports and your votes in the polls. Battlefield 1942 ---------------- * The game must be patched to at least version 1.3 in order to fix problems that will prevent it from starting the game engine properly. * The [d3dgl] 'ClipSpaceFix' option needs to be disabled to run the game. This has been configured by default in the config file. * We recommend the use of 22 kHz sound for best performance, especially with the movies and cutscenes. 44 kHz sound is known to cause serious performance degradation. * Use of 24-bit color is recommended if shadow effects are enabled. * After quitting a multiplayer session, the game may indicate that it is unable to join another game with the message, "Please insert either Battlefield 1942 CD". There is no workaround for this other than restarting the game. * The animated background of the main menu does not work. * Occasionally when finishing a senario the game will freeze. This is due to a fundamental interaction with WineX. The only solution is to restart the game. A fix for this will be in the next release. Dungeon Siege ------------- * The installer now works properly. * Do not hit the 'ESC' key during game play, as it will cause the game to freeze. * Some setups may experience deadlocks before the main menu. Running with any debug channels on generally works as a remedy. * Some setups may experience crashes in the main menu. * The water does not flow in the game. * Multiplayer support is not yet available due to the use of DirectPlay 8 in the game. Sim City 4 ---------- * To install the game, you must insert and mount the CD-ROM, and use the following command line: $ winex3 -use-dos-cwd f:/ -- f:/autorun.exe If the installer asks you to install a new version of DCOM, say 'no'. * The game has small graphical glitches when scrolling with the hardware renderer. Use of the software renderer is recommended. Black & White ------------- * The mouse wheel is not working at this point in time. Users can zoom by holding both the left and right mouse button at the same time and moving the mouse towards or away as needed. Zooming can also be accomplished using the ctrl key and the up/down arrows. Rebinding the control for the mouse wheel in game should restore the functionality. * When clicking the mouse button, the cursor may jump to a new location momentarily. * Playing in low texture mode will lead to crashing. You may not be able to get back to the configuration screen to return to normal detail. Grand Theft Auto 3 ------------------ * The opening videos for Grand Theft Auto 3 work quite slowly under WineX. The movies may be skipped by pressing the space bar twice. EverQuest --------- * When connecting to a world in EverQuest, the load bar at the bottom is supposed to fill with blue. It does not do this. * The setting in Options - Display (in game) Far Clip Plane should be at least 10% otherwise fog will, incorrectly, envelop you. Baldur's Gate 2 --------------- * The "Software Mirror BLT" option under the "2D 16 bit Color Depth" should be enabled if the character sprites appear garbled. * In desktop mode, the X cursor is sometime visible on top of the game cursor. * During the opening scene in the dungeon, occasionally the game will not advance after the sewer gollum has talked. Simply restart. Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault ------------------------------ * A defect in the game software, which should be fixed in the latest Spearhead expansion patch, causes the game to crash under WineX. The WineX team has provided a workaround described in the "New Configuration Options" section above. Both Point2Play and the WineX3 start script are set up so that this game will work out of the box. Morrowind: Elder Scrolls III ---------------------------- * Pixel Shaders, used for water effects, are not yet available. * Sound sometimes stutters. Using "MMap" = "Y" can often help but this may not be a universal solution. Grand Theft Auto Vice City -------------------------- * Occasionally textures may display incorrectly.