Re: Working games under VirtualBox (Linux host - Windows guest)
Posted: 6. Mar 2011, 05:51
I just wanted to report my attempts on d3d for C&C Generals. I was basically able to get Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour to work. I ended up using wine3d instead of the adapted version for VB, so I didn't install the 3d acceleration in the GA. I enabled 3D acceleration in the machine's config and then installed wine3d in safe mode.
The game took half an hour to load, so don't think it has hanged if you see the splash screen for a long time. The first time the game loads takes longer too. In general it takes really long even after the first time due to the poor wrapping of opengl that wine3d does, compared to really having d3d. The game is not playable, obviously. wine3d as is gives 4fps in cstrike as opposed to 60 for opengl. This low performance also evidences in Zero Hour. I did not try to get into a real game, but I'm sure it works. The problem is performance, not functionality since after all, the map that is loaded as the background when one turns the game on uses the game engine already. I did not try to get in the game without the background running to see how the optiones worked, but there's an option for the shortcut that allows that. Would be worth the try to see if the menus work properly at least.
My set up is a laptopt, with an NVIDIA 9700m GT in the host. My CPU is a core2duo at 2ghz. I wonder if someone with a more powerful setup will be able to rise the fps enough to get the game running decently.
I heard some people had issues with installing the game because of the cd in some forums. I have a .reg file with a few lines inside that allows to run the game by copying the folder from an installed version of the game and then inserting the lines in the registry. There is no need to copy the options folder to My documents. I copy the contents of the .reg file below, just create a txt file, make it .reg and paste the lines below. Of course the paths have to be updated and you also need to input the serial number in the 8th and 17th line.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Generals]
"Language"="english"
"InstallPath"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\"
"MapPackVersion"=dword:00010000
"Version"=dword:00010000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Generals\ergc]
@="2139471294371294714"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour]
"Language"="english"
"UserDataLeafName"="Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data"
"Version"=dword:00010004
"MapPackVersion"=dword:00010000
"InstallPath"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\"
"Proxy"=""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour\ergc]
@="DF1354U89SDFJK251"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\big]
"a"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\EnglishZH.big"
"MRUList"="hgfedcba"
"b"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\PatchZH.big"
"c"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\GensecZH.big"
"d"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\gensec.big"
"e"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\INI.big"
"f"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\shaders.big"
"g"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\Window.big"
"h"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\SpeechEnglish.big"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs]
"D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\generals.exe"=dword:00000001
"D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\generals.exe"=dword:00000001
The game took half an hour to load, so don't think it has hanged if you see the splash screen for a long time. The first time the game loads takes longer too. In general it takes really long even after the first time due to the poor wrapping of opengl that wine3d does, compared to really having d3d. The game is not playable, obviously. wine3d as is gives 4fps in cstrike as opposed to 60 for opengl. This low performance also evidences in Zero Hour. I did not try to get into a real game, but I'm sure it works. The problem is performance, not functionality since after all, the map that is loaded as the background when one turns the game on uses the game engine already. I did not try to get in the game without the background running to see how the optiones worked, but there's an option for the shortcut that allows that. Would be worth the try to see if the menus work properly at least.
My set up is a laptopt, with an NVIDIA 9700m GT in the host. My CPU is a core2duo at 2ghz. I wonder if someone with a more powerful setup will be able to rise the fps enough to get the game running decently.
I heard some people had issues with installing the game because of the cd in some forums. I have a .reg file with a few lines inside that allows to run the game by copying the folder from an installed version of the game and then inserting the lines in the registry. There is no need to copy the options folder to My documents. I copy the contents of the .reg file below, just create a txt file, make it .reg and paste the lines below. Of course the paths have to be updated and you also need to input the serial number in the 8th and 17th line.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Generals]
"Language"="english"
"InstallPath"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\"
"MapPackVersion"=dword:00010000
"Version"=dword:00010000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Generals\ergc]
@="2139471294371294714"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour]
"Language"="english"
"UserDataLeafName"="Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data"
"Version"=dword:00010004
"MapPackVersion"=dword:00010000
"InstallPath"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\"
"Proxy"=""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour\ergc]
@="DF1354U89SDFJK251"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\big]
"a"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\EnglishZH.big"
"MRUList"="hgfedcba"
"b"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\PatchZH.big"
"c"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\GensecZH.big"
"d"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\gensec.big"
"e"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\INI.big"
"f"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\shaders.big"
"g"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\Window.big"
"h"="D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\SpeechEnglish.big"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs]
"D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\\generals.exe"=dword:00000001
"D:\\Games\\CCTFD\\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\\generals.exe"=dword:00000001