PA install method for linux

Hi,

I always want my games to show as shortcuts in the menu's and desktop and thought this could be handy for other linux users as well.
I've done this on my Fedora setup, but the following steps should work on every distro.

1. Make a folder "Planetary Annihilation" in /opt
2. Download pa and unzip it in /opt, so that the executable is "/opt/Planetary Annihilation/PA/PA":
   
   /opt/Planetary\ Annihilation/
   ├── PA
   │ ├── Coherent_UI.log
   │ ├── crashupload
   │ ├── host
   │ ├── libCoherentUI.so
   │ ├── libfmodevent64-4.44.16.so
   │ ├── libfmodex64-4.44.16.so
   │ ├── libstdc++.so.6
   │ ├── licenses.txt
   │ ├── media
   │ ├── PA
   │ ├── tools
   │ └── version.txt
   
   
3. Download the zip attached to this post and unzip it in "/opt/Planetary Annihilation/"
   
   /opt/Planetary\ Annihilation/
   ├── install.sh
   ├── PA
   │ ├── Coherent_UI.log
   │ ├── crashupload
   │ ├── host
   │ ├── libCoherentUI.so
   │ ├── libfmodevent64-4.44.16.so
   │ ├── libfmodex64-4.44.16.so
   │ ├── libstdc++.so.6
   │ ├── licenses.txt
   │ ├── media
   │ ├── PA
   │ ├── tools
   │ └── version.txt
   ├── PA.desktop
   └── pa.png
   
   
4. Now run "/opt/Planetary Annihilation/install.sh"
5. A shortcut should appear in the games section of your menu and on the desktop

I have not tested the procedure exactly as posted here, so let me know if something doesn't work.
If the content of the scripts or desktop-file could be written better, also let me know !

Every time there is a new build of PA, you just need to replace the folder "/opt/Planetary Annihilation/PA" and everything will still work.

Marten

PS: when I have more time, i'll try to make the method more automated and robust

I'm think it's better to be moved into Mac/Linux subsection:
https://forums.uberent.com/forums/mac-and-linux-getting-started.73/

can't seem to do this in Ubuntu 64 13.04. the /opt folder is read only for me.

Useful info, I set up this Ubuntu with drive encryption, might this have anything to do with it?

do I proceed to move the folder with terminal?

I think he mean unpack it as root or set proper ownership to /opt.
E.g use "sudo -i" to gain root console or "sudo chown USERNAME:USERNAME /opt" to set ownership to this directory.

wow, I feel like I'm going to be in your dept often.

worked. (had to run the .sh scripts by pasting in terminal though) on to see it the game runs...

does using the nvidia drivers suggested by ubuntu's "aditional drivers" window suffice?

jesus h-flippin christ it works just like on windows!

how do i get a PA icon in the launch bar too?
+ the app refuses to lock to the launcher is the instance named differently everytime?

You can also try to run PA with "Threaded Optimizations", it's will improve performance even more.
If you running PA from console it's can be done like that:

Code:

__GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1 ./PA

I'm using KDE, so I'm not sure how exactly should be done in Unity, but you try check some how-to like that one:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles

thank you!!

what about the driver deal? am I at summum of what I can get?

If PA running for you it's mean you already have proprietary driver installed, but newer Nvidia driver might give you better performance so you should update to latest available version.

Obviously you should only install drivers from repositories.
Most recent drivers available though Xorg-edgers PPA:
https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers
But if your performance are fine probably you shouldn't change anything.

i didn't know what x.org was so I changed from that to the nvidia + updates.

should i change back?

Nope, it's okay now. Anyway you'll need to re-login (it's will actually restart XServer) to apply driver change.