Point2Play_beginners_guide-1.1-1.txt

Point2Play_beginners_guide-1.1-1.txt (text/plain), 18.94 KB, created by Narada Sage on 2003-06-18 05:26:13 UTC

TransGaming Point2Play Beginners Guide
June 16, 2003


This document applies to using version 1.1 of Point2Play as released with
WineX 3.1


===================
System Requirements
===================

Point2Play itself has very low system requirements that are almost not worth mentioning.
The real requirements are imposed by the games themselves and WineX which is used to run them.
As a result, the real requirements of the system depend totally on the version of WineX 
which is being used.

Presently the requirements for WineX 3.1 are:
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
- 1-2 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.


=========================
How To Install Point2Play
=========================

Point2Play is available in a variety of pre-built binary packages designed to
suit your Linux distribution.

First select the package that is right for you:

rpm - RedHat Package Management (RedHat Linux, Mandrake Linux, etc)

To install the Point2Play rpm package open a console/terminal window and execute
the following command as 'root':

  # rpm  -ivh  Point2Play-[version].rpm

deb - Debian Package (Debian GNU/Linux, Corel/Xandros Linux, Lindows, etc)

To install the Point2Play deb package open a console/terminal window and execute
the following command as 'root':

  # dpkg  -i  Point2Play_[version].deb

tgz - Tar GZipped Package (Slackware Linux, etc)

To install the Point2play tgz package open a console/terminal window and
execute the following commands as 'root':

  # cd /
  # tar -xvzf  Point2Play-[version].tgz


===================
Starting Point2Play
===================

You can start Point2Play from the start menu of your window
manager: start -> WineX -> Point2Play.

You may also start Point2Play from the command line. Open a terminal
and type 'Point2Play &'.


========================================
Configuring Your Computer For Point2Play
========================================

Point2Play is simply a graphical front end for TransGaming's core WineX technology
which enables you to run Windows applications on Linux. To facilitate setting
your computer up Point2Play can help you determine if your setup is sufficient
for gaming using WineX.

The easiest way to determine if your system is setup correctly is to choose the
"System Tests" tab. Once you click this tab, you will be presented with 4 tests.
These tests are: "Test CD/DVD drive", "Test for hardware 3D acceleration", 
"Test sound support", and "Test If POSIX Threads (pthreads) Are Required". 
These will test your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM setup, your 3D graphics-card setup, your sound setup,
and whether we detect you need pthreads or not on your distribution (and if so if
your distribution's pthreads implementation is good enough to support WineX or not) - all 
the essential portions of your computer to run games.

If you are unsure if your computer is setup correctly it is suggested that you run
all of these tests and verify that each of them passes. If, for some reason,
one or more of these tests fail, please refer to, and follow the instructions in,
the "TransGaming WineX Beginners Guide" section titled "Configuring Your Computer
for WineX", which is available for download from the Downloads section of the 
transgaming.com website.


==============================================
Installing and Managing WineX using Point2Play
==============================================

If you wish to use Point2Play to install and run games, you will need to download
a version of WineX from TransGaming. This is accomplished by choosing the "WineX"
tab.  With this tab you can manage all of the WineX releases you have installed.

The first thing you need to do is setup your TransGamer account details. After clicking
on the "Setup TransGamer Account" button you will be presented with a popup dialog with
fields to enter your TransGamer username and password. These are the same username and
password you use for logging into TransGaming's web site. Additionally, if web
access from your machine to the internet needs to go through an http proxy,
you can provide the host and port number to reach the proxy. Note that if you
do need to use the "Http Proxy" then you must click the checkbox to enable it's use.

Once you have configured your TransGamer account you can download a version of
WineX.  Generally you will want to download the latest version of WineX
by pushing the "Get Latest WineX" button. You can also download any of the other
versions of WineX made available for Point2Play by pushing "Install Other WineX Version"
and picking the version you want from the list in the popup dialog.

Once you have downloaded a version (or versions) of WineX, you can manage them
on the same tab.  You can mark one of the versions as the default version by selecting
an installed WineX and clicking the "Set as Default" button.  The default version 
is the version of WineX used to run every game, unless overridden in the individual 
game configuration.  The latest version should be the one set to default generally.  

To remove a version of WineX, click on the version you want to remove
from the list of installed versions, and click on the "Remove Installed
Version" button. You should not need to remove previously installed
versions of WineX unless you are short on disk space.  If you remove
the default WineX version, P2P will automatically set another of
your installed versions as default (if there are any). Please check to
be sure if that is the version you wanted as default, and if adjust if
necessary.


==================================
Installing a Game Using Point2Play
==================================

If you already have games already installed on your computer, through
WineX, you can make all these games accessible though Point2Play by
following the instructions in the section entitled "Converting existing
.transgaming directories to Point2Play".

To install a new game there are 3 steps to follow:

1) Make sure the program you wish to install is on your computer and
   accessible. This means either inserting the CD-ROM into the drive
   or copying/downloading a demo's setup files onto your computer.

2) Install the file by choosing the "Install" button from the "Main"
   tab.  In the resulting popup you will need to supply the path to
   the install program, and the program title to install the game's icons
   under.  First, let's get the path to the installer: click on the Browse
   button. This will popup a dialog in order to find the setup program
   (usually 'setup.exe' or 'install.exe' on your CD-ROM).
   When you have found the installer you want, click on it and select OK.
   You will also need to enter a Program Title.  All software icons
   installed by the installer will be accessible through this title.
   Push OK, and the installer should start up.
   
   After the installer process completes, icons will be created in Point2Play
   only - no icons will be created on your desktop.

   If the installer has problems starting, you can try:
    * Select the "Rundir" option. Some installers (notably SimCity 4)
      This makes the installer think the cwd (current working directory) is 
      the same dir as the installer, without physically changing the actual 
      unix cwd.
    * Select the "Big EXE" option. Some demos are distributed as a single
      large packed .exe (such as the Dungeon Siege demo) and require this
      option to be selected.

3) You're done. Take a break. That was hard work wasn't it?


=========================================
Installing a Game Update Using Point2Play
=========================================

Some games require a patch to run properly.  Point2Play is
capabable of easily patching installed games.

1) Ensure that the patch is available on your computer.  If the patch
   comes in a compressed file format be sure to uncompress it before
   continuing.

2) Click the "Install" button on the "Main" tab.  Browse to the
   location of patch executable, select it and click okay.

3) Make sure that the Program Title of the game you wish to patch
   is selected. If this step isn't followed the patch won't apply
   properly.

4) Click continue.

The patch should install as normal.


===============================
Running a Game using Point2Play
===============================

As you started up Point2Play for the first time you no doubt
wondered why everything was blank on the "Main" tab! Well
this is where all the games that you have installed are listed.
Highlight a game, push the "Play" button and you're off to the races.

If you'd like to tweak some operational parameters for the
game, such as passing a flag to the application, highlight the
game, select configure and configure away.


===================================
Configuring a Game Using Point2Play
===================================
Each game, when installed, is set up with a number of default options which
govern how the game runs.  You normally shouldn't need to touch these options,
but if you wish, or need to configure them, you can do so by highlighting the game
on the main tab, and pushing the Configure button.  Select the game you want to
configure in the treeview on the left, and you can tweak the operational parameters
for that game.

The options that can be configured are as follows:
 * Managed - whether the windows created by WineX are managed by the underlying
   system window manager. By having this off window decorations will not
   match your system's, and you might have issues with multiple desktops, etc.

 * Desktop
   Desktop mode creates a virtual console at the size specified within which the
   game executes. If set to No the game will run fullscreen
   
 * Use XVidMode
   Enables mode switches, like dynamic resolution changes, limited to resolutions
   supported by the X Server
 
 * DXGrab
   Restricts the mouse from leaving the boundries of the window. Having this off 
   can confuse some games.

 * Use MMap
   Use the mmap() command for sound playback. Can improve performance.

 * Full Duplex
   Allows sound to be recorded and played back at the same time.
   
 * Winver
   Specifies what version of Windows the game will think it is running on.
 
 * Debugging Options
   This is where you can plug in some debug channels to open for this game. There
   are some default values already in the drop down box. You should not need this
   option unless directed to use it by TransGaming support staff.
   
 * Command Line
   If you have any commandline arguments that should be passed to the game, put them in 
   here.
 
 * Anisotropic Filtering
   A technique which improves the look of textures 
   when viewed from an angle. While the visual improvement can be obvious in 
   some cases, the speed penalty paid for this is considerable (up to 50% 
   reduction in FPS)

 * Vertex Shaders
   Vertex shaders are often used to add complex-to-compute graphical routines 
   that are often optional. While our implementation of vertex shaders is 
   hardware accelerated when the underlying OpenGL driver supports it, it may 
   be implemented in software emulation on some cards.  Unfortunately, it is
   impossible for WineX to determine whether or not the underlying
   implementation uses software or hardware.  When this flag is set to on,
   WineX tells applications that hardware vertex shader support is available.
   With the flag set to off, some applications may rely on their own optimized
   software fallbacks.

 * Clip Space Fix
   The Clip Space Fix option allows WineX to better emulate the differences in
   the graphical depth component (z) between D3D and OpenGL. If you are running
   in 16-bits per pixel mode, you should leave this option as on. In 24-bit
   mode, or when using applications which make use of vertex shaders, you
   should choose off instead. This flag will most likely be controlled
   automatically in future releases.

 * Big EXE
   This option is required for executables of a "large" size. Typically this is only
   for demo installers who come packaged up in one large executable. Should not be required
   for games themselves.
   
 * Working Directory
   Set the working directory that the game will be started up in

 * WineX Version to Use
   You can select to use another version of WineX installed into Point2Play instead of the 
   default one.  Sometimes regressions are introduced into newer versions of WineX that breaks
   support for a game (heaven forbid!)  With this option you choose on a game by game basis what
   version of WineX to use, the default or another one.


====================================
Uninstalling a Game using Point2Play
====================================

>From the "Main" tab again. Hilite the game and push the "Remove"
button and presto wizzo the game uninstalls.


==========================================================
Converting existing .transgaming directories to Point2Play
==========================================================

To convert an existing .transgaming directory to use for Point2Play follow these steps
while making appropriate substitutions for the version of WineX you are converting:

1) mv $HOME/.transgaming $HOME/.point2play/WineX-Pre3

2) Edit the .point2play/WineX-Pre3/config file and change the line that reads:
   "Path" = "${HOME}/.transgaming/c_drive/"
   to read:
   "Path" = "${HOME}/.point2play/WineX-Pre3/c_drive/"

3) Start Point2Play and use the add/remove icon feature to add icons for your old
   games into Point2Play.  See the section on adding and removing icons in Point2Play for
   more detail.


=======================================
Adding and Removing Icons in Point2Play
=======================================

Some game installers add icons that you don't want to Point2Play, or do not add icons
that you do want.  Point2Play has the ability to add and remove icons from its icon lists.

To remove an icon:

1) Highlight the icon and game title you wish to remove.
2) Select tools, icons, remove.
3) If you are sure say yes.

To add an icon:

1) Highlight the "Program Title" where you wish to add the icon.
2) Select tools, icons, add.
3) Type in a display name for the icon.
4) Enter the full path for the game executable or click on the "Browse" button and browse
   to the game executable.
5) Enter the full path for the icon you wish to use or click on the "Browse" button and
   browse to the icon.
6) Set your working directory in the final box. If you are unsure what to put here enter
   the directory that the game executable is in.
7) Click OK

You're Done!  Your icon should appear in the list on the right side of the main tab.


===================
Commandline Options
===================
Point2Play has a number of commandline options you can use to enable some
"hidden" functionality for convenience. These switches are given when
starting up the application on the commandline, for example: Point2Play --help
prints the help screen

-help / --help:
  Print the help screen for commandline arguments

-nobg:
  No background image when running Point2Play

-notheme:
  Use desktop GTK theme rather than the TransGaming theme

-resizable:
  Make the main Point2Play window resizable

-run:game_group:program_tite
  Runs a game that has been installed under P2P directly from the commandline
  without bringing up the P2P GUI.  This is especially useful when creating
  launcher icons for these games in your windowmanager.  Game_group and
  program_title needs to be replaced with the game group you installed the game
  into, and the individual program title icon that should be executed.
  (this is case sensitive)

  For example: Point2Play -run:WinAmp3:Winamp

  Be sure to escape spaces and ampersands in titles with a \,
  and surround the -run: option with single quotes, otherwise
  the parameter could get mangled by the shell:

  For example: Point2Play '-run:Black\ and\ white:Black\ \&\ White'


============================
Known Issues/TroubleShooting
============================


CD-ROM/DVD Drive Setup
----------------------

In order for Point2Play to be able to mount or unmount your CD-ROM, 
you must have sufficient permission for the unix device. If you do
not have sufficient permission to do this, Point2Play will be unable
to mount your CD-ROM or DVDs and fail with an error.

For Point2Play to not fail, you will need to modify your system's
configuration in order to give permission to mount and unmount CDs
for the user id that is executing Point2Play. If you don't wish to do
this, you can either: mount or unmount the CDs manually from a shell
like you normally do, or set your system to use a system such as
supermount that allows disks to be mounted or unmounted automatically.
(some newer distros use supermount by default)

Here are a set of general instruction which can be used to provide
sufficient permissions if you do not wish to setup something like
supermount. Be aware that doing this could pose a SECURITY RISK
 if your machine is not located in a secure environment.

As root, load /etc/fstab into your favourite editor.
Locate a line that appears to be for your CDROM, like this one:

 /dev/scd0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660 iocharset=iso8859-15,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0

Each entry is divided into a number of fields, divided by 1 or more spaces,
telling Linux how to handle mounting that particular device.  What you want is the 
4th one, fs_mntops, which give mount options associated with the file system.
Add "user" to the comma seperated list of options, like this:

 /dev/scd0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660 user,iocharset=iso8859-15,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0

This will allow any user on your system to mount and unmount that CDROM drive.
(If you had the CDROM already mounted, you may need to unmount it as root before
it will allow you to mount/unmount it as a user)


Pthreads
--------
By default Point2Play and WineX should be able to detect automatically whether
your Linux distro requires you to use pthreads or not. If no installer or game seems
to be working for you, it is possible this detection scheme isn't working on your distro.
You can try forcing pthreads to be on or off, therefore not relying on the autodetection
scheme. Edit ~/.point2playrc, and add (or modify) a pthreads_forced line under the
[transgaming] header, like this:
  pthreads_forced=on     Force pthreads usage on
  pthreads_forced=off    Force pthreads usage off


Other Issues
-----------
Please refer to the WineX Beginner's Guide and Release Notes pertaining to the version
of WineX you are using. They contain more general troubleshooting tips related to issues with WineX
vs. Point2Play.  You can find them available for download from TransGaming's download prepackaged
section.