Improve CSS performance under WINE

[PK|NssB]

Hi all,

For those interested in running CS:S under WINE, it is always best to try and run Steam/CSS under its own XServer session. Below you'll find a bash script which will automatically launch steam in its own X session without the need for a window manager. For me this had a dramatic effect on my fps....

Anyway, copy paste this code to a text file....

#!/bin/sh
#uncomment if launching from console session
#sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
#KDE use this instead
#sudo /etc/init.d/kdm stop

# Launches a new X session on display 3. If you don't have an Nvidia card
# take out the "& nvidia-settings --load-config-only" part
X :3 -ac -terminate & nvidia-settings --load-config-only

# Goto game dir (modify as needed)
cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Games/Steam/"

# Forces the system to have a break for 2 seconds, X doesn't launch
instantly
sleep 2

#Launches game
DISPLAY=:3 WINEDEBUG=-all wine steam -applaunch 240

Save as launcher.sh
Chmod +x launcher.sh (make executable)

Now before running this script (sh launcher.sh OR ./launcher.sh), you should make X Server sessions available to 'anybody' and not just console.....
To do this, launch a terminal...
And type sudo nano /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config
You want to edit the line allowed users=console and have it read
allowed user=anybody
Save it and proceed to launch your script as above.

NB: Be sure to modify your script where appropriate. i.e relevant game paths.


Any questions, gimme a shout.


NssB

[PK|Deep Blue]

Might have to try this when I get home today :smokin:

[PK|Soleft]

what I can run css better on linux than windows? To play with I mean, not for server...

[PK|Cerro]

what I can run css better on linux than windows? To play with I mean, not for server...

maybe not better but certainly its possible to run it at an equal level of performance...

[PK|Soleft]

maybe not better but certainly its possible to run it at an equal level of performance...

I'm going to make a partition soon. If it can run it at equal level of performance that's really good.

The typical scenario with Windows Xp
Fresh install, fresh CSS, etc. Reg is amazing, FPS always higher than 100 with more than 10 people on. I'm pulling shots out of my ass, I didn't know were possible. Something happens to windows xp after a few months, reg goes bad, when more than 6 people join my fps drops to 50. With Wine, I hope to avoid this cluttering of Windows Xp apps, viruses and memory leaks.

[PK|Cerro]

Try Wubi - lets you install Ubuntu through Windows, which saves setting up a dual boot (which can be a hard drive numbering headache if your motherboard/grub/ubuntu don't all agree on which drive is what...)

Wubi comes as part of the image for Ubuntu 8

[PK|NssB]

Wubi is an excellent way to learn the Ubuntu/Linux way. However installing Ubuntu to a separate partition is made very easy by the Ubuntu Installer.
But as Cerro said, if you have some sort of complex raid setup with a myriad of partitions/drives/what not else's, it could get a little tricky.

Whatever you decide to do, if you have any questions/problems.......let us know here and we can try and help out where possible.

Personal experience: I have an Ubuntu only setup(Windows is dust). I run a standalone XServer session when launching steam/css. I get comparable performance to my windows setup. The only thing I feel I am missing is the in-game overlay for steam friends. I don't mind so much though, cuz I can do without the distractions :D


NssB

[PK|Deep Blue]

You must be doing something very weird with your windows for it to drop FPS etc, can't remember how old my windows install is, but its deffo older than what you manage. True its my gaming machine and I install next to nothing on it, but I do use it day in day out!

I found Wine and Ubuntu to be rather clunky, fiddly and for what? Sometimes steam loads, other times it doesn't!

If i were you, I'd install windows and then ghost it as atleast that way you'd be able to start from fresh in far less time than it would take to install windows from scratch!

[PK|NssB]

Dex is just a Windows wh0re and is clearly unwilling to work for his FPS :P
Frankly, I'm tired of plug and pray, a congested system and rebooting every other hour, when I can work/learn a little on a robust OS and get exactly what I want.

CSS/Steam/WINE aint perfect.......but its certainly more than adequate.



NssB

[PK|Soleft]

Okay NssB, I'm going to do a lot of reading on this subject, before I do I need to ask you some questions:
1. Do you currently or have you ever run CS:S on any Linux platform?
2. If I just install CS:S on this Linux platform, will it forever run aswell as it did on fresh install?
3. I'm doing this primarly for reg. Will my reg improve by moving onto Linux.
4. Why is there so little information about CS:S on Linux? Could you give me some links to read up on perhaps?

Thanks for all your help!

[PK|Elite]

During the coming weeks. I should be installing Linux on the PS3.. See how css runs on WINE on that :p

[PK|Cerro]

1. Do you currently or have you ever run CS:S on any Linux platform? Yes
2. If I just install CS:S on this Linux platform, will it forever run aswell as it did on fresh install? Hmmm, forever is a long time! But if you don't add apps which eat up memory or cpu which are always running then yes, it should do.
3. I'm doing this primarly for reg. Will my reg improve by moving onto Linux. Debatable and probably more phsycological than anything, there is nothing to say it will or won't.
4. Why is there so little information about CS:S on Linux? Could you give me some links to read up on perhaps?
Look up WineAppDB and look for CSS... the vast majority of CSS players will be Windows based.

[PK|NssB]

Hi Soleft,

Cerro has pretty much answered your questions. Let me add my 2 shillings tho:

Default
Okay NssB, I'm going to do a lot of reading on this subject, before I do I need to ask you some questions:
1. Do you currently or have you ever run CS:S on any Linux platform?
2. If I just install CS:S on this Linux platform, will it forever run aswell as it did on fresh install?
3. I'm doing this primarly for reg. Will my reg improve by moving onto Linux.
4. Why is there so little information about CS:S on Linux? Could you give me some links to read up on perhaps?

1. I currently run CS:S on Ubuntu 8.04 under WINE
2. Cerro is correct. To add, with linux....You will find that you will have fewer running processes day to day as you must explicitly state which apps you wish to have launch at boot time. Also, unlike windows, you can launch steam without the need for a window manager (see start of this thread). In short, as long as YOU do not bog down your system with SHIT, it will run just as well 6 months from first install. Windows will do exactly the same, albeit Windows just loves to take care of things for you and ultimately that means processes running you did not know existed.
3. Reg is a 3 way thing. Client-You/Server/Client-Rest. In order for reg to be 'spot on', each clients rates must be tailored to the spec of the client machine. The client rates must not exceed client machine capability. i.e Can your machine physically cope with 100 tick? Same is said for the server. Assuming everyones machine can cope with their rates, and the server can cope with its rates and client connection load......and then assuming the network capacity can cope with all of that, you should find that reg is pretty 'spot on'. So, to answer your question, if your machine can handle the rates, then it wont matter much at all which OS you use. Granted, there is a performance hit using WINE for CS:S, but this seems to only affect my frame rate.
4. Again Cerro is right, gaming on Linux is somewhat of a foreign concept. In order to get a Windows based game running in Linux you have to work a bit for it. Wine AppDB is defo the place to go for up to date info and feedback from the gaming/linux community.

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=3731


My personal view is, if you want a largely fault free and complete CSS experience, stick to Windows. (God I hated writing that!). That is the OS the game was developed for and the driver support is native also. I use Linux mainly because its the only OS I have installed and I'll keep working at improving it until its every bit as good as Windows.


NssB out.

[PK|Soleft]

What do you think of this?

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/

[PK|Cerro]

Cross-over isn't as good as Wine... Wine is the best bit of kit you can get for running Windows stuff on Linux. The other newer alternative is to use a Virtual Desktop/Server as they can run DX - not tried it myself so I don't know how good performance is compared to Wine.

Cross-over and Cedega you pay for, Wine you don't and Wine is still better than the both of them!

[PK|NssB]

I agree with Cerro on Crossover, its not as well supported as WINE is, and does not have the extensive community testing that WINE has had and is currently getting.

The other newer alternative is to use a Virtual Desktop/Server as they can run DX - not tried it myself so I don't know how good performance is compared to Wine.

Unlike WINE/Cedega/Crossover....Virtual Desktops will be of virtually no use from a gaming perspective. Every last piece of your hardware is emulated and as such bears a massive performance hit. The 3 apps mentioned above are on the whole, alternatives to the Windows API. DirectX can be installed on WINE by the way. As with most things, just requires a wee bit of effort. It should be noted though, that its unknown whether there is any advantage of running DX on WINE over native OpenGL.



NssB

[PK|Cerro]

No I didn't think a virtual desktop would get great performance, would still be interested in seeing it in action though.

Although it doesn't stop the mac freaks shouting "I can run windows and games though my mac". What they fail to mention is how shite the performance is...

[Pedro]

Cross-over on Mac runs very well. Surprisingly well from my point of view (although I didn't really try anything special other than Photoshop, illustrator and the rest of the suite)

Virtual desktops on Macs is complete and utter bull. It is terrible, barely anything works apart from web browsing, which is kinda pointless.

[PK|NssB]

o I didn't think a virtual desktop would get great performance, would still be interested in seeing it in action though.


Thats just it, you wont see anything in action. 3D Acceleration is 'experimental' to say the very MOST about Virtual Desktops (VMWare Workstation). There is a slim chance you could get some older games running, but anything modern will either trash your host, your guest and more than likely both.........leaving restart as your only option.

If however you want the latest on community efforts, I advise you follow this thread...

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=84344


I played last night for a while on my LINUX ONLY box(with WINE).......had a nice 70-80 fps at 1280x1024 res. Rates ran fine at 66 tick, not tried 100 tick yet. And this is running the latest NVidia drivers (173.14.05).

I have a fairly modest machine as well, AMD 64 3500+, 1 Gig 'o' RAM, 2x6600GT in SLI (2x128MB).........so really, this is far beyond my expectations. I hope that with a superior card, I'll be able to crank up the settings and back to DX9 :D



NssB

[PK|Soleft]

Virtual desktops were an absolute nightmare. I wanted to run a mac game called EV Nova. So I had to get a virtual Mac desktop, a massive pain. Finally got it running...at 10fps.

[PK|NssB]

Virtual desktops were an absolute nightmare. I wanted to run a mac game called EV Nova. So I had to get a virtual Mac desktop, a massive pain. Finally got it running...at 10fps.

Reg must have been awsome O.o

[PK|Soleft]

I've created my perfect OS, nothing but usb hacks, cs, teamspeak, and then I made a norton ghost image of it. I'm all ready to play!

[PK|ReUsed]

put ventrillo on it too >:

[PK|Cerro]

lol soleft - why not just go the whole hog and learn to do SMS, package up all your favorite apps so you can just hit F12 on boot to restore to image then pick the packages you want!

Spare no cost for CSS :P

[PK|Soleft]

What is this sms you speak of?

[PK|Cerro]

I was joking dude...

System Management Services - people make careers out of it. Good stuff though.