Linux Support

Linux support in Flashpoint is currently experimental due to a lack of maintainers. This page describes the current state of our Linux support. If you need assistance with installing or playing, visit us at flashpoint-help.

As it stands, Flashpoint for Linux supports Flash, HTML5, Shockwave and Java, with Unity only being supported on the Docker version. The exceptions are content that uses the Chromium browser, and Shockwave content that plays in-browser. If you want support for the other platforms that are Windows-exclusive, there are a few options to get the Windows version of Flashpoint running on Linux:

• Download the Windows version of Flashpoint and run it in a Windows virtual machine. This is the recommended non-native option.
• Run the Windows version of Flashpoint with Wine. This works well on some computers, but does not work consistently.

Otherwise, follow any of the instructions below.

Automated Installation

Notes

This build is recommended for use on the Steam Deck, and on distros with an immutable rootfs. If you do not fit this criteria, it is recommended that you follow the manual installation instructions instead.

QEMU and PHP are bundled in an included Junest Arch proot Appimage.

Current Issues

QEMU with the default -display none crashes upon launch, but displays fine allowing the GTK window to appear. The install script accounts for this.

If running on the Steam Deck Game Mode session, mouse is locked to QEMU size and Flash games in Wine only render black. It is recommended to use desktop mode on the Deck.

HTML5/Unity/browser games that use FPSecure/Basilisk are a hit and miss for compatibility. This is down to the browser interaction with Wine.

Instructions

1. Download this archive file to a memorable folder.
2. Change directory to the folder it was moved to.

3. $ tar xvf fp121linux.tar.gz

4. Run install_flashpoint.sh within a terminal session to see the progress.

You will end up with a Flashpoint folder. Run start-flashpoint.sh within to start the Launcher.

Manual Installation

Dependencies

First, install Flashpoint's dependencies.

Dependency package names on various distros
Library/command name	PulseAudio1	X112	GTK3	NSS	PHP	Wine	bash
Debian-likea	pulseaudio	xserver-xorg-core	libgtk-3-0	libnss3	php	wine	bash
Fedora-like	pulseaudio	xorg-x11-server-Xorg	gtk3	nss	php	wine	bash
Arch-likeb	pulseaudio	xorg-server	gtk3	nss	php	wine	bash

a: E.g. ChromeOS Terminal, MX Linux, all Ubuntu-likes | b: E.g. Manjaro, EndeavourOS

Note: Chances are that Wine and PHP will be the only packages that you'll need to install, as most distributions come with the rest of the packages already pre-installed.

There are also some packages that aren't required, but can enhance your experience:

Optional dependencies
Library/command name	GTK23	LibXt3
Debian-like	libgtk2.0-0	libxt6
Fedora-like	gtk2	libXt
Arch-like	gtk2	libxt

1: PipeWire can also be used in place of PulseAudio by installing the pipewire-pulse package on Ubuntu-like and Arch-like distros, or pipewire-pulseaudio on Fedora-like distros. For Debian-like distros, see this link.

2: X11 can also be used within Wayland by installing the xwayland package on Debian-like and Ubuntu-like distros, xorg-x11-server-Xwayland on Fedora-like distros, or xorg-xwayland on Arch-like distros.

3: Required for native Flash support. To support versions <27, the 32-bit version of this package must be installed instead.

To install them, use your distro's package manager:

Distro	Package manager install command
Debian-like	sudo apt-get install {PACKAGE}
Fedora-like	sudo dnf install {PACKAGE}
Fedora-like (old)	sudo yum install {PACKAGE}
Arch-like	sudo pacman -S {PACKAGE}

Setup

Make sure you have at least 4 GB of free space, and that you have p7zip installed to be able to extract from 7z files.

Installation

1. Download this archive file.
2. Extract the contents of the file to an empty folder that your user has read & write permissions for. This can be done graphically, or in the terminal by entering the following in the directory the file is in:

   $ 7zr x fp12_linux_290823.7z -oFlashpoint

3. Open the folder you extracted Flashpoint to, then run start-flashpoint.sh to open the launcher.

After the installation is complete, you should not move any files in the Flashpoint folder at all. Moving the wrong file/folder could break the entire program until it is moved back.

A README document is provided that has most of the instructions shown in this section, as well as some additional notes.

Docker Version

This version is outdated and support for it may be dropped soon.

Dependencies

First, install Flashpoint's dependencies.

Dependency package names on various distros
Library/command name	Docker	PulseAudio1	X112	XHost	NSS	PHP	bash
Debian-likea	(see this page)	pulseaudio	xserver-xorg-core	x11-xserver-utils	libnss3	php	bash
Ubuntu-likeb	(see this page)	pulseaudio	xserver-xorg-core	x11-xserver-utils	libnss3	php	bash
Fedora-like	(see this page)	pulseaudio	xorg-x11-server-Xorg	xhost	nss	php	bash
Arch-likec	docker	pulseaudio	xorg-server	xorg-xhost	nss	php	bash

a: E.g. ChromeOS Terminal, MX Linux | b: E.g. Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Zorin OS | c: E.g. Manjaro, EndeavourOS

Note: Chances are that Docker and PHP will be the only packages that you'll need to install, as most distributions come with the rest of the packages already pre-installed.

1: PipeWire can also be used in place of PulseAudio by installing the pipewire-pulse package on Ubuntu-like and Arch-like distros, or pipewire-pulseaudio on Fedora-like distros. For Debian-like distros, see this link.

2: X11 can also be used within Wayland by installing the xwayland package on Debian-like and Ubuntu-like distros, xorg-x11-server-Xwayland on Fedora-like distros, or xorg-xwayland on Arch-like distros.

Setup

Before you start, you need to configure Docker to be managed by a non-root user. Once finished, you may have to relog if the permissions aren't applied properly when trying to run Docker commands as a non-root user.

If you don't want to add your user to the docker group as above (e.g., for security: doing this allows all programs on your computer to have unrestricted administrator access to everything at all times) then there is an alternative, it just takes a bit more work.

Optional: Configuring non-root Flashpoint

Start by creating a wrapper script for Docker that will automatically use sudo when you are not invoking Docker as root. Name it docker, make it executable and place it on your $PATH:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
export PATH="${PATH/$(dirname "$0"):/}"
askpass=()
if [[ -n "${SUDO_ASKPASS:-}" ]]; then
    askpass+=("-A")
fi
if [[ "$OSTYPE" != darwin* ]] && [[ "$EUID" != 0 ]]; then
    exec sudo "${askpass[@]}" -E -- "$0" "$@"
fi
exec docker "$@"

Then you need to create an askpass script for sudo. Create a script that will print your sudo password to stdout. For example, your script could retrieve the password from a password manager like pass, which will force authentication through a graphical dialog before retrieving it. Technically you could just hardcode your password in the script, but this would defeat the point of trying to be more secure in the first place.

Now, you can simply export the SUDO_ASKPASS environment variable to the path of your askpass script (make sure it is executable), make sure that your docker wrapper is on $PATH, and invoke ./flashpoint as normal once you get to that step below.

Nvidia GPUs

If you have an Nvidia GPU and use a distro that isn't Arch-like, you will need to add Nvidia's repository and install the nvidia-docker2 package. Follow the "Setting up NVIDIA Container Toolkit" instructions under the heading corresponding to your distro here.

If you use an Arch-like distro, install either nvidia-container-toolkit or nvidia-docker from the AUR if you did or didn't already install Docker respectively.

In both cases, you may have to restart the Docker service or reboot your computer to apply the toolkit.

Installation

Download the latest Docker Flashpoint package if you haven't already and extract it somewhere.

Go to the place where you extracted it, and pull the docker images by running ./pull.sh. They'll take ~3.5 GB.

Finally, run the ./flashpoint executable script to start the launcher.

Config files can be found in ./LinuxConf/ and ./FPSoftware/FSPConfigs/.

Save data is stored in ./SaveData. Java save data isn't persistent, because there's no standardized location for it.

Troubleshooting

proxy.sh: "Permission denied" error

Depending on your system's permissions, the proxy.sh script may throw a "permission denied" error in the launcher logs when launching a game, causing it to fail to start. To fix this, follow these steps:

1. Close the Flashpoint launcher.
2. Open ./LinuxConf/proxy.sh in a text editor.
3. Change /var/lock/flashpoint-networking.lock to /tmp/flashpoint-networking.lock and save the file.
4. Relaunch Flashpoint.

cgroup subsystem devices not found: unknown

This error occurs most frequently on Pop!_OS 22.04, due to an outdated version of the Nvidia container runtime being packaged in the default repositories. If this applies to you, follow these steps:

1. Close the Flashpoint launcher and stop the Docker service.
2. Remove your current nvidia-docker2 package, then remove its dependencies and configuration files by typing sudo apt-get autoremove --purge in the terminal.
3. Create a text file in /etc/apt/preferences.d with the following contents:

Package: *
Pin: origin nvidia.github.io
Pin-Priority: 1002

Then save the file, update the package index using sudo apt-get update, reinstall the package, start the Docker service again, and relaunch Flashpoint.

Docker Fix for Firewalld Users

Users of Firewalld may run into issues with Docker when launching games. In this case, follow these steps:

1. Run sudo systemctl status docker and look for the location of Docker's service file in the output. It is usually /usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service.
2. Open the file in a text editor with root privileges and change the following line from:

   ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd -H fd://

   to:

   ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --ip-tables=false

3. Restart the Docker service by running sudo systemctl restart docker.
4. Run Flashpoint and install the content of your choosing, then close the launcher when finished.
5. Open the Docker service file again and revert the previous change to the line, then restart the Docker service again.
6. Relaunch Flashpoint and run the installed content again. It should now work.

Optional Enhancements

Wayland Support

This does not apply to the manual version, which already has this enhancement applied.

The Flashpoint launcher is based on a version of Electron that has experimental support for running through Wayland instead of X11/Xwayland. If you use a Wayland compositor, like Mutter or Kwin, then you can enable this feature by opening the script used to run the launcher in a text editor and changing the following line from:

"./Launcher/flashpoint-launcher"

to:

"./Launcher/flashpoint-launcher" --ozone-platform-hint=auto

After making this change, the launcher should now open through Wayland when running the script. This only affects the launcher; content that runs in X11/Xwayland will continue to do so.

If you are following the Wine installation instructions below, you will have to make your own script and give it execute permissions to do this.

Using Wine

Alternatively, you can attempt to run the Windows version of Flashpoint using Wine, which is a Windows compatibility layer. There are several advantages to doing this, like being able to run more up-to-date versions of Flashpoint that have only been made for Windows. However, it is not guaranteed that Wine will work properly, as the experience varies greatly depending on the hardware, choice of distribution, and packages you have installed. For this to work, you currently need to install either the development or staging versions of Wine running a completely fresh prefix. How to install them depends on the distro, so consult WineHQ's download page for instructions on yours. Additionally, you will also need the qemu-system-x86 and php packages installed for Flashpoint to work post-install.

As of now, you can install the latest Windows version of Flashpoint Infinity by running the installer through Wine. To be able to run the installer, you need to install a recent version of the .NET framework via Wine Mono, which should be provided upon creating a new Wine prefix or installed as a package on most distros. The process for installing Flashpoint this way is similar to how it is on Windows, except you may have to change the installation path to a location that can be written to, like your home folder. An example of a proper installation path would be Z:\home\$name\Flashpoint, where you replace $name with your username. You may get an error upon finishing the installation; this is expected behavior. Quit the installer and kill it from your process manager if needed, and most of the files (including all of the ones that are needed for Flashpoint to work) should be where you installed them.

At this point, you can try to run the Windows version of the launcher through Wine, but it's recommended that you download the native Linux launcher as a 7z file and replace everything in the Launcher folder with the files that are extracted from it. You may need to install the p7zip package to be able to extract the contents of the file. Once done, open ./Data/services.json in a text editor and change the following line from:

"filename": "qemu-system-i386.exe",

to:

"filename": "qemu-system-i386",

This will start your installed QEMU program instead of attempting to run the bundled EXE file. You can then run ./Launcher/flashpoint-launcher and set the "Flashpoint Path" in the launcher's config to .., then click "Save and Restart" on the bottom of the page. If everything has been done correctly, you should now have a working Flashpoint install! Note that not all platforms will work when installing Flashpoint this way, as Wine is not a perfect simulation of a typical Windows environment.

If you are having issues running Flashpoint with Wine, you can instead try using various other "flavors" such as Wine GE, which has extra patches applied that aren't in mainline Wine. Users of Arch-based distros can install Wine GE as a package from the AUR, however no binary is provided, so the package must be compiled.

Technologies (Docker)

Flashpoint Infinity, like its Windows counterpart, 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/ in the docker container.

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 (Docker)

• 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 tick it as a 'Native Platform' on the Config page.
• Shockwave: Supported through Wine.
• HTML5: Supported natively through the Basilisk browser.
• Java Applets: Supported natively using the Oracle JDK.
• Unity Web Player: Supported through Pipelight.

Using the standalone projector (Docker)

If you would like to run your own .swf file that is not packaged for Flashpoint, you can use the built-in Flash projector that is shipped with Flashpoint. Locate the Windows executable FPSoftware/Flash/flashplayer_32_sa.exe in the Flashpoint distribution you installed, and execute it with wine (you will have to install it separately, since Flashpoint on Linux invokes Wine through Docker). Make sure you have a 32-bit Wine installation. Pass the .swf file as a second argument to wine, after the .exe.

It's probably possible to use the native projector through the Docker setup, to avoid two separate Wine installations, but I haven't worked out how to do that quite yet.

Obviously, this only works for games that are using the Flash technology, and are single-file and not site-locked. Flashpoint exists because many games are not like this, and require extra work.

As an alternative to the standalone projector bundled with Flashpoint, you can use the Linux native projector, which can be downloaded from a previous version of the Adobe website here.