Escape Velocity Nova in Linux!

I already posted this topic in the Escape Velocity Nova webboard, but I figured this also qualifies as development, so I figured it belongs here:

I GOT IT TO WORK! EV Nova in *nix!

Escape Velocity Nova now officially* (see disclaimer below) works in Linux, using Wine (I got tired of screwing around with Cedega with no successes). I'll give you some instructions after I give you some preliminary information:

I'm running Debian Etch. I'm using KDE, but I know this will work with Gnome, and I know this will work in *buntu, as well.

My system hardware is (rather old):

Pentium 4 Celeron M CPU: 1.4 GHz
256 MB of RAM (8 MB shared) (I would highly recommend something larger. 512MB-1GB is sufficient)
Intel Integrated Graphics/Chipset, above amount of shared RAM (i855 or the like, I think. I can't remember).
40 GB HD (Irrelevant. As long as you have the space for EV Nova and Wine, with some extra config files, you should be fine)
14" screen, native resolution of 1400x1050. (It's really high. That's the one redeeming value of this antiquated piece of crap. Even so, in Linux, I have to force the resolution with 915resolution, as the X server will default to 1280x1024, even if I edit xorg.conf, manually, and take out all instances of it, replacing it with 1440x1050. I think it has something to do with it being higher than my integrated graphics support by default.)
Intel Pro Wireless 2200BG NIC
Integrated Intel 10/100 NIC

Instructions:

Install Wine. For Debian users, 'apt-get install wine' (without quotes) is the way to do it. I highly recommend backporting Wine to Sid, to get the newest features. Wine, itself will also be more stable. Yes, I know it's from Unstable's repositories. It just works better, and is a more stable version of Wine. Anyway, it's what I did, but it also worked on the version of Wine in Etch's repositories. To backport Wine, follow these instructions (stolen from the dpkg bot on most IRC networks. /msg dpkg simple sid backports, or !simple sid backports in a #debian channel. I use freenode: irc.freenode.org

{...} 1) Add a deb-src line for sid to your sources.list. *(cutting in my input: 'deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian sid main contrib' without the quotes) 2) apt-get update 3) apt-get build-dep packagename; apt-get -b source packagename; 4) install the resultant debs.

For Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/other Ubuntu derivatives, 'sudo apt-get install wine' then enter the current user's password. If you want to backport on that, be my guest, but bear in mind that *buntu is taken from a snapshot of Debian Unstable every six months, so you're probably safest sticking with what's in your default repositories (assuming multiverse and universe are enabled).

For other distributions, check for instructions on your support pages (the Gentoo Wiki is awesome, if you have no solutions or other resources), or go to http://www.winehq.org

After installing Wine, run winecfg and get your affairs in order there, set it to WinXP, make sure you have a virtual desktop of 1024x768, and make sure you get your audio drivers set up. The audio steps I cannot provide, because they are unique to your hardware, and, in truth, I haven't figured it out yet. I've been too lazy to look for instructions, because it is not a priority for me, at the moment. If you don't configure your audio, then, obviously, you will have no sound.

Install Quicktime. Complete instructions for this are available at: http://wine-review.blogspot.com/2007/08/qu...-with-wine.html

Install EV Nova by running wine /<path to the directory that it's in>/<name of EV Nova installer file> For example, in my machine: 'wine /home/thorvald/app/EV_Nova_Installer.exe' (without the quotes, of course). Make sure that you do not create a quicklaunch shortcut during installation, as it may give an error. It is fine to create a desktop shortcut, but Wine may do that by default, anyway.

From there on, EV Nova should be in the Wine menu, like any other program.

After this, registration is a little iffy, and probably won't work. You can try. I recommend registering EV Nova on your Windows machine/partition (If you're dual-booting, install ntfstools), then copying EV Nova.exe to replace the installed one, if that works. It worked for me. Another solution is to zip/tar/rar/etc your game files and expand them to wherever you set wine to put the virtual C:\Program Files\ in a folder called EV Nova.

Voilŕ! You now have a working version of EV Nova in Linux! Follow the usual instructions for plug-ins/EVC&EVO TC packages. EV Nova in Linux is slightly slower than in Windows, but that's fine, because the Windows version is sped up, sometimes.

*Disclaimer: This may not work on all systems or all configurations. Take anything I say with a grain of salt, but understand that I got it to work, using this method. If you're having any trouble, take what I have to say with a shot of tequila, instead. You'll have more fun getting it to work; I guarantee it. Note for those using Beryl/Compiz: I can't promise this won't crash your window manager. In fact, it probably will. You might be best using a Gnome/KDE session instead (i.e. no beryl at all, not by changing the window decorator to metacity, etc). Feel free to contact me if you're a novice: AIM: TheBathrobeNinja MSN: Knightmare_Dude@hotmail.com Yahoo!: itisillegaltoshowernakedhere

Since I don’t see anything here that particularly relates to plug-in development, I suggest that anyone who wishes to discuss it use the topic on the EV Nova board.