I've put together Wine wrappers for the STALKER games, allowing them to be played on Linux almost like native games & with no Wine knowledge required.

Simply run the build script to create the wrapper. If the installer files are not alongside the wrapper build files then the path to them will need to be specified either by passing it as an argument to the build script with -respath="<path>" or by setting an environment variable named WINEWRAP_RESPATH containing it. You can change the path to build the wrapper in and the name of the wrapper directory with the -buildpath= and -dirname= arguments. The build path can also be set with the WINEWRAP_BUILDPATH environment variable.

The output will be a directory containing the game set up within a preconfigured Wine prefix, along with its own copy of Wine, extracted game icons, documentation, and start script(s). From there simply run the start script to play. The start script also includes options for creating a shortcut, configuring the wrapper etc.

(to uninstall simply delete the game directory and any shortcuts you created, and the game's user data directory in ~/.local/share if you don't want to keep your saves & settings)

User data is stored under ~/.local/share/stalker/ in subdirectories for each game (soc, cs, cop)

Full details are in the readme.txt and release notes. Here are the download links:

stalker_soc_wine.tar.xz
(41.7 kB, SHA256: d19ee384ef80e3d839cf5fccaade7c0eefebcf88ac2cf72d2b6881e30e8d0d93)

stalker_cs_wine.tar.xz
(42.2 kB, SHA256: 112e4812c9700cfdbc9efd46b4222f91fe676e564ce005ee0f9c267310813866)

stalker_cop_wine.tar.xz
(42.5 kB, SHA256: 5ede78993798dcde69c78a80d0b58b988b628eff745dbc53e9c57a457888f63b)

Last updated 2021/07/11

These wrappers all use Wine 6.0 (and DXVK for Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat). Wine and Winetricks will be downloaded automatically if not present; to avoid redownloading for other scripts the downloaded Wine package will be stored in ~/.cache/winewrap

Of course, these require the GOG versions of the games. If you have these games already on Steam (or retail versions) you can claim GOG versions here: https://www.gog.com/reclaim :)

More information is in the readme.txt and release notes in the respective archives. "Sun rays" may need to be disabled if using the open graphics drivers, otherwise the sky may glitch out. If anyone runs into any problems with these then post in this thread, Adamhm's Linux Wine Wrappers - News, FAQ &amp; Discussion and/or The "Judas&trade; does this run in Wine" thread v1.173.

For more of my Linux Wine wrappers check out post 3 in this thread: Adamhm's Linux Wine Wrappers - News, FAQ &amp; Discussion


Additional notes:

-You can enable DXVK's framerate display by setting the environment variable: DXVK_HUD=fps
If you want to create a shortcut to start the game with this set then use these arguments for the shortcut:

env DXVK_HUD=fps %command% play

- Additional packages may be necessary to enable Vulkan support on your system, e.g.: libvulkan1 and libvulkan1:i386
Users of the open graphics drivers may also need to install mesa-vulkan-drivers and mesa-vulkan-drivers:i386

Oh, this is nice of you :-) Thanks!

Dunno, not to offend you Adam, but it works flawless with PlayOnLinux..

Get current Staging version via "manage wine versions".
Start wine config, set CSMT to on.
Set correct amount of video memory in PoL settings.
Then get all d3dx9* libs installed via "components install" to solve issue with videocard detection.

Also, here is fsgame.ltx string that forces it to create user saves and stuff INSIDE stalker directory (_appdata_) instead of writing into your $home:
----
$app_data_root$ = true| false| _appdata_\
----

I don't even have wine installed in the system, because its a security risk and wine also messes with system menu.
PoL can work without system wine installed, just don't use "system" wine, use whatever installed via "manage wine versions".

, [url=https://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_judas_does_this_run_in_wine_thread_v1173/post39]I know :)

But this is a lot easier, more consistent and more convenient, especially for newer & less experienced (or just lazy :p ) users. Simply drop the files in one place, run the script & get a standalone GOG-style "Linux version" of the game. Video memory setting isn't required, or wasn't on any of the systems I tested on. d3dx9 isn't entirely needed either, but POL lacks separate install scripts for some of the specific libraries that are required. These intentionally put the savedata into $HOME/.local/share/stalker/<game> more like native Linux games rather than inside the prefix or game directory, or documents, or otherwise scattered around the system.

In addition these don't install Wine system wide; I'm not sure where you got that idea from... these are packaged like Wine wrapped games anywhere else, with the games using their own included/local versions of Wine. These also shouldn't interfere with the system menus either.

Interesting, just inspected the ingame logs and it looks like Stalker tries to guess maximum size and always cuts at 2GiB if there is equal or more VRAM present.

It does not start at all in dynamic setting(after required restart) and complains about video card not fullfilling requirements, unless d3dx9 are installed (radeon, r9 280, 2.3-staging). Possibly this is due to mesa-based drivers.

I can't confirm that symlink breaks, this is my shortcut string in PoL (4.2.10):
"/wait /unix '$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/./GOG Games/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat/Запустить S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat.lnk'"
and it works.

However there is brightness problem, because in-game settings do not affect game brightness at all.
What I do is, I run: "xgamma -gamma 1.5" (misery does not play well with my monitor, as the latter attempts to apply auto-contrast automatically what is already washed-out) before launching the game. I think this is connected with current wine, because previously I never needed that.

Installation of dx9 is already included in PoL. If you click on "d3dx9" it installs full package. If you click on "d3dx9_*", then it just enables those lib overrides, they need to be installed first via "d3dx9".

I have not looked up your awesome(no sarcasm) install script yet, the post above meant using wine without PoL, the raw wine runs specific binary each time wineserver is invoked, and this binary adds various wine-related (but totally useless) .desktop files into ~/.local/share/applications, essentially trashing the menu without opt-out.
PoL's non-system wine never does it, probably they patched it out.

Didn't know about permanently enabled vsync. This might be what causes massive sudden fps drops when lots of enemies are in my FoV.

Edit:
from your script
"export WINEDLLOVERRIDES=mscoree,mshtml,winemenubuilder.exe=d"

you probably know what I am talking about since you are disabling it ;-)

Small update on "forced-vsync" issue, the Misery mod seem to automatically replace few "xr" binaries ... and according to "rs_stats on", uncaps the vsync completely. I see 1300 fps in menu.

So this is one source for non-patched binaries.

This issue only occurs with Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat - CS needs native d3dx9_31 and d3dx9_37 while CoP needs d3dx9_31 and d3dx9_42 Have you tried running the shortcut again *after* selecting it in the configuration window? When it initially creates the shortcut it works fine and if you check the shortcut it looks like this (see for yourself by checking the shortcut script in ~/.PlayOnLinux/shortcuts )

POL_Wine start.exe /wait /unix "$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/./users/Public/Desktop/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl.lnk" "$@"

However after selecting it in the configuration window, it looks like this:

POL_Wine start.exe /wait /unix '$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/./users/Public/Desktop/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl.lnk' "$@"

... And no longer works. Trying to change it back through the configuration window doesn't work either.

This is with PlayOnLinux 4.2.10 It works fine here. It could well be a driver issue; I'm mainly using a 750Ti with proprietary drivers atm. When I get a chance I'll check on the other systems too (one with an RX480 & the other with Intel i3-6100's integrated graphics, both using open drivers). You misunderstand; I mean that separate installation scripts for the specific libraries that the games require are not included, i.e. there's no install script in POL for d3dx9_31 or d3dx9_37 so the only way to install those libraries is to install *all* of the d3dx9_## libraries.

(also POL's d3dx9 script is bugged - it doesn't add an override for d3dx9_41 - a typo in the script makes it add an override for d3dx9_42 twice instead) That would be because PlayOnLinux sets "WINEDLLOVERRIDES=winemenubuilder.exe=d" when it runs anything. I included this override in my scripts & as the default settings for the prefixes so they don't screw around with the system menus either :) AFAIK there's nothing special about POL's Wine builds. Possibly. I didn't have any problems with lots of enemies, but I guess it depends on the system specs and graphics driver. Setting UseGLSL to disabled felt like it helped improve framerates, but it also introduced graphical issues with Clear Sky at least so I left it disabled.

Well, I just picked "d3dx9" first, let it finish (it downloads and installs the redistributable), then clicked each next "d3dx9_*" (these only put override in config, no downloading and finish fast) and issue with "Video card insufficient" was solved.

Yes, the shortcut was created using automatic "add shortcut" after installation of GOG's CoP. I have been running it *inside* PoL (not running via Desktop shortcut! Maybe this issue affects PoL-generated .desktop files only?). After selecting and copy-pasting the exact line here, no issues. I clicked it over 100 times meanwhile.

Been using it with Debian Stable/Backports on HD5850 previously and the issue didn't exist there. It may very well be driver problem (R9 uses radeonsi instead of r600).

Interesting! I am now trying various staging versions for fps-reasons. I just load the savegame and take specific place/looking direction to compare fps. GLSL enabled here. Then again, I am running Misery mod - and its known to be somewhat a fps killer :)

Edit: so far I see this:
2.3-staging, 2.2-staging, 2.1-staging: I get 25-35 fps in specific spot.
2.0-staging, 1.9.23-staging: I get 35-45 fps in same specific spot.
Lets see what I get with prefetching disabled.

Prefetching seems to reduce "jitter" that from time to time (5sec/30sec) I get when moving around. No effect on fps.

GLSL option produce no difference fps-wise, but image looses all shadows:
http://imgur.com/a/NNh19

The POL scripts are all open so you can see exactly what they do:

https://www.playonlinux.com/en/app-517-POL_Install_d3dx9.html
https://www.playonlinux.com/en/app-1491-POL_Install_d3dx9_43.html

(More: https://www.playonlinux.com/en/supported_apps-100-0.html )

However there's no script for d3dx9_31 (needed by both Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat) or d3dx9_37 (Clear Sky). My scripts install these automatically using the redistributable included with the games, and I'm yet to encounter any "Video card insufficient" issues with only d3dx9_31 and 37 for CS, and 31 and 42 for CoP. Hmm, it still breaks here even running from POL directly (with the shortcut created the same way here). This behavior has occurred for a long time, too, over numerous system reinstalls with newer versions of Mint. Wonder what's different about your system that could cause this... Another thing to try is setting AlwaysOffscreen to disabled; however I found this also introduced graphics errors.

https://sendvid.com/tsqncch9

As you can see the game runs from link and I was using only PoL's d3dx9 packages (no winetricks or manual install).

Edit: checked library overloading settings in winecfg - it is correct that 41 is not overloaded due to bug in PoL script.

That's entirely possible, as I'm using the version from Ubuntu's repositories. It could be that the bug was fixed & Ubuntu's repositories are supplying an outdated version.

Speaking of outdated versions: I am back to 2.3-staging.
There is a massive lag and fps drop (feeled 4 fps) with 1.9.23 near Boiler anomaly in Zaton, especially when being inside and facing Skadovsk ship.

The 2.3 however lags far far less (around 20 fps) in this specific spot.

I downloaded & installed MISERY, and went straight to the boiler anomaly - doesn't seem to lag here. This is using Wine Staging 2.0 (via my wrapper), on a GTX 750Ti with the proprietary drivers, max graphics settings @ 1920x1200. When I get a chance I'll check on my system with the RX480+open drivers & see if it's any different there.