The Witcher 2 PC reatail box on Steam linux

[falheim]

The Witcher 2 PC reatail box on Steam linux

Greetings,
I bought The Witcher 2 game when it was released, the PC box retail.

Now that The Witcher 2 is available on Steam Linux, I would like to play it on Ubuntu, but i guess my serial number isn't valid on Steam...
So my question is : What should i do to play with my retail box version on Linux ? I contacted the support but my answer was : "Buy a new The Witcher 2 on Steam", but i can't figure that's the truth... right ? I don't have to buy the same game a second time to play it on Linux ?!

 

[dragonbird]

@Gilrond ? Your specialist subject, I think?

falheim - it isn't officially supported, but there are some forum members here who've got the Windows version running in Linux, they should be able to advise.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

@falheim: Steam doesn't let you get their version for free if you bought another version before (like retail). Only GOG allows you to do that, since GOG is owned by the same company which develops the Witcher series - CD Projekt Red. Unfortunately GOG doesn't sell Linux games yet, but they will start doing it fairly soon (in a couple of months or so).

Until then, you can get the Windows version on GOG using this form: https://secure.gog.com/witcher/backup and then run it in Wine. It would be preferable anyway, since current Linux release of the Witcher 2 has performance issues, so Wine version with CSMT works much better so far. Developers are working on fixing it, but it will take time. So basically if you want to play Witcher 2 on Linux right now, it's like above - get the version on GOG and use Wine with CSMT patches. I use PlayOnLinux for managing that.

It's better to use GOG version because it's most up to date (probably more up to date than your retail disk), and also it's DRM-free which makes it using in Wine way easier (DRM often breaks Wine). Also, once GOG will start selling Linux games, Linux version of the Witcher 2 will just appear in your account there, so you won't need to pay again.

With the GOG version I found it useful to apply the .NET removal patch, since all that .NET stuff in the Witcher 2 doesn't work well in Wine.

Once you install it, don't forget to enable CSMT setting in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Wine/Direct3D/CSMT ="enabled"

 

[falheim]

Oh, that's a very good news that GOG shows interest to Linux. I hope there will be a possibility to choose between Windows and Linux version, cause i have my copy of The Witcher 2 on GOG. Anyway, thank you for theese informations !

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

i have my copy of The Witcher 2 on GOG.

Great then. Just take that copy, install in Wine with CSMT (in PlayOnLinux it's Wine 1.7.10-CSMT-a632585), enable CSMT like above and apply the .NET removal patch. I also forgot to mention that you need to install d3dx9_36 native override. PlayOnLinux makes it easy to do. Then you'll be set.

Oh, that's a very good news that GOG shows interest to Linux. I hope there will be a possibility to choose between Windows and Linux version

I think it will be even better. Linux version will simply be automatically added to your account in addition to your Windows version. Same way OS X version was added as well.

Anyway, thank you for theese informations !

Sure, no problem. There are also dedicated threads here about Linux gaming tips and news in case you need some additional info.