Linux Support

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Revision as of 22:14, 7 November 2020 by Spatula city (talk | contribs) (Update .deb to 8.2-2)
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Linux support in Flashpoint is currently experimental due to a lack of maintainers. This page describes the current state of our Linux support.

Release

These are experimental packages for specific Linux distros. If you don't see a package for your system here, please use the stand-alone package instead! If you can help update these packages, please visit the Discord server and join #development-chat. If you need assistance with installing or playing, visit us at #flashpoint-mac-linux-help.

  • Flashpoint Infinity 8.2-2 .deb (Debian / Ubuntu):

https://bluepload.unstable.life/flashpoint-infinity-8-2-2-amd64-deb.7z

  • PPA Repository - In Consideration.
  • AUR package currently not available - please use the stand-alone package instead

Debian Installation Procedure

  1. Download and extract the .7z file above into any folder - /Downloads is fine.
  2. It's recommended to run the .deb from the command line so the install progress is clear. From the folder where the .deb is: sudo apt install ./flashpoint-infinity_8.2-2_amd64.deb and it will install. The install can take a while as it has wine and php as dependencies. Graphical installer (from just double-clicking in the .deb) might not show much info as dependencies are being installed and so it might appear frozen.

First Run Procedure

After installation, start Flashpoint Infinity either from the command line as flashpoint-infinity or from your desktop environment (it should be listed in Games). At first run you'll get two popups: click 'Yes' on 'You must install the Upgrade on the home screen', and then 'yes' again to 'The Flashpoint folder is not set or is invalid. Do you want to choose a folder?'. Anywhere in your home directory is fine to install it (you need write access to it). Click 'yes' again to 'Is this correct?' if the directory is correct. You should see the download/extract progress, and then a prompt to restart.

When it comes back up after restart all (60k!) games should be visible. The first time playing a game through Wine, it does some configuration so it could take some time. Flash, HTML5, and Shockwave games run well generally. More about other platforms below.

Debian Update Procedure

If you are updating the Debian package from a previous version, first back up your favorites and save data if you'd like to keep them. Then run the .deb file same as above. Once the update is completed, open the launcher and click on Download, which will install the new Flashpoint folder. Once it restarts the update is complete and all features of this version should be available.

Notes about the Debian package

  • The 'Flashpoint folder' above can go anywhere the user can write to - home is a convenient place for it
  • It installs binaries into /usr/lib/flashpoint-infinity/, and /usr/bin/flashpoint-infinity links to the launcher
  • Extreme games are disabled by default in version 8.2-1 which was up from October 30, 2020 until November 7, 2020. To enable them or change other configuration options, edit config.json in the /usr/lib/flashpoint-infinity/ folder.
  • Debian source package: https://bluepload.unstable.life/flashpoint-infinity82-2debsrc.7z. The source lives as a branch 'debian' off of Launcher's /master (on one of Launcher's forks). This is the commit that is tagged "Infinity-8.2-2"


Latest Stand-Alone Package

Download: https://bluepload.unstable.life/flashpoint81infinitylinux.7z

  • This is the latest experimental stand-alone package of Flashpoint Infinity (8.1) for Linux, created on July 4, 2020. Currently everything is going through Wine.

Installation instructions:

  1. Download and extract the .7z file.
  2. Install PHP and the 32-bit version of Wine if you do not have them. See Wine installation instructions below.
  3. Change to the Launcher folder and run the flashpoint-launcher binary

Previous link

  1. Still needed if you want to make some of the platforms native

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eai0nFWe0XNc8WbsIg-koOzLc7jk_b_k/view?usp=sharing

Changelog:

2020-11-07

  • Updated .deb to Flashpoint 8.2-2 Infinity
  • Added native executables for Flash and HTML5
  • Replaced modified Flash Projectors with the unmodified ones
  • Fixed extreme games option being disabled in config.json

2020-10-23

  • Updated .deb to Flashpoint 8.2-1 Infinity

2020-07-04:

  • Updated to Flashpoint 8.1 Infinity
  • Updated to Flashpoint Launcher 9.0.2

2019-09-28:

  • Updated to Flashpoint 6.3
  • Bundled WIP Launcher with better Multi-Platform Support
    • Proper linux argument escaping (Supersonic RC works now, yay!)
    • SPR games automatically use port 22500 (Hacky, may be removed later)
    • Wine will always (and only) be used for running .exe files (even if use Wine is turned off in Config)
    • .bat files will always run their .sh equivalents (even if use Wine is turned on in Config)
    • Windows execs are mapped to native execs (if existing), so Windows game XMLs should work out the box. (See execs.json)
    • Can mark a platform as 'native' in Config, will force native execs to be used instead of Windows execs even if use Wine is turned on.
      • If no native execs are available (like Shockwave) then it will fallback to running the Windows exec with Wine.
  • Added native Basilisk support files
  • Updated SPR files
  • Updated router.php

2019-09-18:

  • Added new SPR version (see update-spr.sh) and Shockwave XMLs
  • Added interim Launcher hack to make Shockwave games that use SPR work properly
  • Made the save manager scripts use a valid interpreter (/bin/sh)
    • TODO: they still need further work/testing

2019-07-21 and prior:

  • Configure Flash games to run using the Windows player, flashplayer_32_sa.exe
    • The Linux flash player suffers from too many graphical glitches
    • Requires Wine to be installed and enabled to play
  • Updated JDK to version 8u212
    • startJava.sh instructions and script updated
    • Made startJava.sh executable
  • Added support for Authorware Platform
  • Adds Linux versions of the Save Manager scripts
  • Adds a "Flashpoint" shortcut (replacing the Windows version)
  • Adds Flashpoint 6.2 games
  • Removed the game logos, as in Flashpoint Infinity 6.2 for Windows
  • Removed the Wineprefix because it was not used

To-Do List

  • Test Unity 2.x and 3.x games
  • Fix startUnity.sh, since it modifies K-Meleon's config, which is no longer necessary
  • AMF support for games like Neon Rider for the community levels

Technologies

Currently, only Flashpoint Infinity is available for Linux. Like its Windows counterpart, it uses router.php as a proxy server. But unlike Windows, Linux provides native ways to set per-application proxy settings, so no equivalent to the Flashpoint Proxy library is used. On Linux, each application is simply told via environment variables to use localhost:22500 as a proxy server. For example, before Flashpoint Launcher opens the Flash projector, it sets the http_proxy environment variable to http://localhost:22500/.

The Flashpoint FAQ contains a list of all web game technologies ("Platforms") supported in the Windows version of Flashpoint. The Linux version currently supports a subset of these platforms. This is explained in detail below.

Supported Platforms

  • Flash: Supported through Wine by default. Although a Linux Flash Projector exists, it suffers from graphical glitches on many systems. If you'd like to try your luck with the native projector, then either turn off use Wine, or tick it as a 'Native Platform' on the Config page.
  • Shockwave: Supported through Wine.
  • HTML5: Supported natively through the Basilisk browser. To update Basilisk, download it from here and extract it such that the executable is located at FPSoftware/Basilisk-Portable/linux/basilisk. By default, Basilisk will store its configuration in the location defined by XDG_CONFIG_DIR, so Flashpoint uses a shell script to set the configuration location. A pre-configured copy of Basilisk, along with the shell script, is packaged and also available here. This text file describes Basilisk's configuration.
  • Java Applets: Supported natively using the JDK.
  • Unity Web Player: Supported through Wine. Unity 2.x and 3.x games may not work; this needs further testing.
  • PopCap Plugin: Supported through Wine.
  • Authorware Web Player: Supported through Wine.
  • GoBit Plugin: Supported through Wine.

Unsupported Platforms

  • Silverlight: In the past, Pipelight allowed Linux users to use Silverlight, but the repository is no longer available for most Linux distros. Moonlight was another option, but is also no longer available. Attempts to use Silverlight in K-Meleon using Wine have failed.
  • 3DVIA Player: A previous tester received this error, which crashed K-Meleon: Error: Access was denied while trying to open files in your profile directory. We need another tester to help us narrow this down.
  • 3D Groove GX: When the http_proxy variable is set, Groove Player downloads but fails to load the file. Maybe the registry method described here would work better, but this needs to be tested. Two of our testers received the following set of errors: 1 2 3
  • ActiveX: The most promising method so far was to install Internet Explorer 8 and each ActiveX plugin into the Wine prefix, but this needs considerable work.

Launcher Issues

A lot of work has been done to allow Flashpoint Launcher to support Linux, but there's a lot of room for improvement. This Trello post outlines some potential improvements.

Wine

Most games rely on technology only available on Windows. A lot of these however can be run through Wine. If there is no native executable, or you have the Native Platform option unticked for the game's platform then the launcher will run it through Wine.

You may choose to use the native versions, in which case tick the platform under Native Platforms in Config.

If you wish to play games that rely on Wine, be sure to install the 32-bit version of Wine. There are links below to distro specific install guides:

Pipelight

Some work has been done on getting Pipelight working with flashpoint. Currently the pipelight plugin itself is figured out and shockwave has been tested working, but every NPAPI plugin has it's quirks and they have to made into pipelight versions one at a time.

General Information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipelight

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pipelight

https://web.archive.org/web/20161120025536/fds-team.de/cms/articles/2013-08/pipelight-using-silverlight-in-linux-browsers.html

Download Links

Source: https://github.com/keithbowes/pipelight

All in one package with instructions: https://mega.nz/file/38ZWBYQK#l-Wro8amBZ72iziegOFVOLrU_N2QwYFZQfsZ3m3naG0

Problems Encountered

Unity gives "Failed to update Unity Web Player"

Next Version

WIP Changelog:

  • New Launcher features from Master
    • Splash Screen while loading (no half loaded XMLs when browsing anymore)
    • Search Overhaul
    • Background Services in Developer (Restart/stop/start the Router on the fly)
  • Removed 'Use Wine' option, effectively enabled by default, use 'Native Platforms' to use native execs instead.
  • Partial ActiveX support, requires heavy testing. ThwartPoker, Butterfly Escape, Big City Adventure, Astro Avengers 2 and HamsterBall do not work yet.
  • Updated startJava.sh to support multiple command-line parameters: replace "$1" with "$@" on line 8
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