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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.
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-mac-linux-help.


= Important note about Wine =
Unfortunately, no up-to-date Flashpoint packages are currently available. There are a few options to get Flashpoint running:
* [https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/downloads/ Download the Windows version of Flashpoint] and run it in a Windows virtual machine. This is your best bet right now.
* Run the Windows version of Flashpoint with [[#Wine|Wine]]. This works well on some computers, but does not work consistently.
* Download the outdated Flashpoint 10.0 package and [[#Manual Installation (for advanced users)|manually update it]] to get it working. This should work more consistently, as long as you are able to follow all of the steps.


As of Wine 5.22, the Shockwave wrappers are no longer launching. Avoid updating for now.
== Stand-Alone Packages ==


= Release =
These are standalone packages suitable for all common Linux distributions.


These are experimental packages for specific Linux distros. If you don't see a package for your system here, '''please use the [[#Latest_Stand-Alone_Package|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.
Unfortunately, no working packages are currently available. See the [[/Outdated Packages/]] page for previous builds, but be aware that they will not work properly. They are only useful as examples of completed builds, in case developers need them when working on future builds.


* '''Flashpoint Infinity 8.2-2 .deb (Debian / Ubuntu):
== Distro-specific Packages ==
https://bluepload.unstable.life/flashpoint-infinity-8-2-2-amd64-deb.7z
* PPA Repository - In Consideration.
* AUR package currently not available - '''please use the [[#Latest_Stand-Alone_Package|stand-alone package]] instead'''


== Debian Installation Procedure ==
These are experimental packages for specific Linux distributions. 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.


# Download and extract the .7z file above into any folder - /Downloads is fine.
Unfortunately, no working packages are currently available. See the [[/Outdated Packages|Outdated Packages]] page for previous builds, but be aware that they will not work properly. They are only useful as examples of completed builds, in case developers need them when working on future builds.
# It's recommended to run the .deb from the command line so the install progress is clear. From the folder where the .deb is: <code>sudo apt install ./flashpoint-infinity_8.2-2_amd64.deb</code> 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 ==
== Manual Installation (for advanced users) ==
After installation, start Flashpoint Infinity either from the command line as <code>flashpoint-infinity</code> 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.
It's recommended to use the native Basilisk for HTML5. To enable this change go to the config tab and in the Native Platforms drop-down, select the box for HTML5. For Flash it's still recommended to go through Wine (this is the default), though native Flash projectors can be enabled in the Native Platforms drop-down too if desired.


On the first time using Wine to launch a game, it does some configuration so it could take some time.  
No up-to-date Flashpoint packages for Linux are currently available, but with a few extra steps, you can download the outdated Flashpoint 10.0 package and update it to work again. The steps for doing so are below.


Flash, HTML5, and Shockwave games run well generally. More about other platforms below.
Dependencies: git, 7zip, tar, wine(32 bit), wget, glibc>=2.29, php, qemu (a qemu package that provide qemu-system-i386 is required)


== Debian Update Procedure ==
First open a new terminal and type the following commands:
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.
# Change the working directory to your home directory
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.
cd
Once it restarts the update is complete and all features of this version should be available.
# Create the required directories
mkdir --verbose --parents opt/flashpoint/{launcher,data}
# Get the new flashpoint launcher (version 10.1.1)
cd opt/flashpoint/launcher
wget https://github.com/FlashpointProject/launcher/releases/download/10.1.1/Flashpoint-10.1.1_linux-x64.7z
7z x ./Flashpoint-10.1.1_linux-x64.7z
rm -v Flashpoint-10.1.1_linux-x64.7z
# Because PHP and QEMU are not killed correctly upon exit, create this launch script:
cat << EOF > flashpoint
#!/bin/sh
cd $HOME/opt/flashpoint/launcher
$HOME/opt/flashpoint/launcher/flashpoint-launcher
killall php
killall qemu-system-i386
EOF
sudo install -D -m 755 -o root -g root ./launcher /usr/local/bin/launcher
# Get Flashpoint 10.0 Infinity
cd ../data
wget https://bluepload.unstable.life/flashpoint-10-linux-x64.tar.gz
tar --extract --verbose --file=./flashpoint-10-linux-x64.tar.gz
rm --verbose ./flashpoint-10-linux-x64.tar.gz


== Notes about the Debian package ==
=== Fix qemu failing to start ===
* The 'Flashpoint folder' above can go anywhere the user can write to - home is a convenient place for it
Execute the following command:
* It installs binaries into /usr/lib/flashpoint-infinity/, and /usr/bin/flashpoint-infinity links to the launcher
qemu-system-i386 -machine help | grep pc-i440fx-6.0
* Extreme games are disabled by default in version 8.2-1 which was up from October 23, 2020 until November 7, 2020. To enable them or change other configuration options, edit <code>config.json</code> in the <code>/usr/lib/flashpoint-infinity/</code> folder.
If that command outputs "pc-i440fx-6.0        Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)" then open the file opt/flashpoint/data/services.json and change the line 34 from:
* 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"
"arguments": ["-m", "512", "-net", "nic,model=e1000", "-net", "user,hostfwd=tcp:127.0.0.1:22500-:80", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4444,server,nowait", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4445,server,nowait", "-hda", "alpine.qcow2", "-loadvm", "quick", "-display", "none"],
to
"arguments": ["-m", "512", "-machine", "pc-i440fx-6.0", "-net", "nic,model=e1000", "-net", "user,hostfwd=tcp:127.0.0.1:22500-:80", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4444,server,nowait", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4445,server,nowait", "-hda", "alpine.qcow2", "-loadvm", "quick", "-display", "none"],
If there is no output to the command "qemu-system-i386 -machine help | grep pc-i440fx-6.0" start qemu with the following command:
qemu-system-i386 -m 512 -net nic,model=e1000 -net user,hostfwd=tcp:127.0.0.1:22500-:80 -hda ~/opt/flashpoint/data/Server/alpine.qcow2
Wait for the alpine system to boot up and open the View menu and select compatmonitor0 and type the commands:
delvm quick
savevm quick
quit
Open flashpoint with the command "flashpoint" and then go to Config and on the Flashpoint section set the Flashpoint Path to ../data then scroll down and click on the "Save & Restart" button.


= Latest Stand-Alone Package =
== Troubleshooting ==
'''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''':
If the Flash Player crashes immediately when launched, there are a few possible solutions:
# Download and extract the .7z file.
* Replace our hacked Flash projector with the original, unhacked Adobe Flash projector. Follow these steps:
# Install PHP and the 32-bit version of Wine if you do not have them. See [[#Wine|Wine installation instructions]] below.
*# [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dt3EGqB6SmfM1hkGszUMnYYlNo7RtlhD/view?usp=sharing Download the projector from here]
# Change to the Launcher folder and run the flashpoint-launcher binary
*# In your Flashpoint folder, open <code>FPSoftware/Flash</code>
*# Replace the <code>flashplayer_32_sa.exe</code> file with the one you downloaded.
* Remove wine-dxvk from your system. This causes problems with the Flash projector on some computers.


''Previous link''
# 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''':
In some cases, a problem with Wine may prevent games in Flashpoint from working. Look for the following error in the Logs tab of the launcher:
wine: 'examplewinedirectory/.wine' is a 64-bit installation, it cannot be used with a 32-bit wineserver.
If you see this error, then navigate to your Wine directory and run the commands below to resolve the problem. Note that this will reset your Wine settings.
rm -r .wine/
winecfg


2020-11-07
== Technologies ==
* 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
Flashpoint Infinity, like its Windows counterpart, it uses <code>router.php</code> as a proxy server. But unlike Windows, Linux provides native ways to set per-application proxy settings, so no equivalent to the [https://github.com/FlashpointProject/FlashpointProxy Flashpoint Proxy library] is used. On Linux, each application is simply told via environment variables to use <code>localhost:22500</code> as a proxy server. For example, before Flashpoint Launcher opens the Flash projector, it sets the <code>http_proxy</code> environment variable to <code>http://localhost:22500/</code>.
* 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 <code>router.php</code> as a proxy server. But unlike Windows, Linux provides native ways to set per-application proxy settings, so no equivalent to the [https://github.com/FlashpointProject/FlashpointProxy Flashpoint Proxy library] is used. On Linux, each application is simply told via environment variables to use <code>localhost:22500</code> as a proxy server. For example, before Flashpoint Launcher opens the Flash projector, it sets the <code>http_proxy</code> environment variable to <code>http://localhost:22500/</code>.


The [http://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/faq/ 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.
The [http://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/faq/ 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 ==
=== 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.
* 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.
* Shockwave: Supported through Wine.
* HTML5: Supported natively through the Basilisk browser. To update Basilisk, download it from [http://us.basilisk-browser.org/release/basilisk-latest.linux64.tar.bz2 here] and extract it such that the executable is located at <code>FPSoftware/Basilisk-Portable/linux/basilisk</code>. By default, Basilisk will store its configuration in the location defined by <code>XDG_CONFIG_DIR</code>, 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 [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y5Mgm9dCa4gCc6UF5WFPqQruzsO81xhf/view?usp=sharing here]. This [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/516027726851735632/612891261665411073/BasiliskSetup.txt text file] describes Basilisk's configuration.
* HTML5: Supported natively through the Basilisk browser. To update Basilisk, download it from [http://us.basilisk-browser.org/release/basilisk-latest.linux64.tar.bz2 here] and extract it such that the executable is located at <code>FPSoftware/Basilisk-Portable/linux/basilisk</code>. By default, Basilisk will store its configuration in the location defined by <code>XDG_CONFIG_DIR</code>, 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 [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y5Mgm9dCa4gCc6UF5WFPqQruzsO81xhf/view?usp=sharing here]. This [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/516027726851735632/612891261665411073/BasiliskSetup.txt text file] describes Basilisk's configuration.
* Java Applets: Supported natively using the JDK.
* Java Applets: Supported natively using the OpenJDK. This support is not currently working, however.
* Unity Web Player: Supported through Wine. Unity 2.x and 3.x games may not work; this needs further testing.
* 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.
* PopCap Plugin: Supported through Wine.
Line 122: Line 96:
* GoBit Plugin: Supported through Wine.
* GoBit Plugin: Supported through Wine.


== Unsupported Platforms ==
=== Unsupported Platforms ===
* Silverlight: In the past, [http://www.webupd8.org/2013/08/pipelight-use-silverlight-in-your-linux.html Pipelight] allowed Linux users to use Silverlight, but the repository is no longer available for most Linux distros. [https://www.maketecheasier.com/install-and-run-silverlight-in-linux/ Moonlight] was another option, but is also no longer available. Attempts to use Silverlight in K-Meleon using Wine have failed.
* Silverlight: In the past, [http://www.webupd8.org/2013/08/pipelight-use-silverlight-in-your-linux.html Pipelight] allowed Linux users to use Silverlight, but the repository is no longer available for most Linux distros. [https://www.maketecheasier.com/install-and-run-silverlight-in-linux/ 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: <code>Error: Access was denied while trying to open files in your profile directory</code>. We need another tester to help us narrow this down.
* 3DVIA Player: A previous tester received this error, which crashed K-Meleon: <code>Error: Access was denied while trying to open files in your profile directory</code>. 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 [https://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#How_do_I_configure_a_proxy.3F here] would work better, but this needs to be tested. Two of our testers received the following set of errors: [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/496132309498724391/577330595609444352/unknown.png 1] [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/496132309498724391/577330680678055948/unknown.png 2] [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/496132309498724391/577330740396556309/unknown.png 3]
* 3D Groove GX: When the http_proxy variable is set, Groove Player downloads but fails to load the file. Maybe the registry method described [https://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#How_do_I_configure_a_proxy.3F here] would work better, but this needs to be tested. Two of our testers received the following set of errors: [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/496132309498724391/577330595609444352/unknown.png 1] [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/496132309498724391/577330680678055948/unknown.png 2] [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/496132309498724391/577330740396556309/unknown.png 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.
* 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 [https://trello.com/c/iriUET1L/51-path-rewriting-rules-for-multi-platform-support Trello post] outlines some potential improvements.


== Wine ==
== Wine ==
Line 142: Line 113:
* Arch Linux - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wine#Installation
* Arch Linux - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wine#Installation


== Pipelight ==
=== Important Note ===
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.  
 
Update: As of Wine 6.0-rc1, Shockwave appears to be working again. If you are on 5.22, keep an eye out for an update from your distribution.
 
<s>As of Wine 5.22, the Shockwave wrappers are no longer launching. Avoid updating Wine until a fix is found.</s>
 
== Changelog ==
 
; 2021-07-26
: Added 10.0 Infinity package
 
; 2021-02-16
: Added Core/Ultimate standalone package for 9.0 based on 8.1 Infinity standalone


=== General Information ===
; 2020-11-07
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipelight
: 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


https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pipelight
; 2020-10-23
: Updated .deb to Flashpoint 8.2-1 Infinity


https://web.archive.org/web/20161120025536/fds-team.de/cms/articles/2013-08/pipelight-using-silverlight-in-linux-browsers.html
; 2020-07-04
: Updated to Flashpoint 8.1 Infinity
: Updated to Flashpoint Launcher 9.0.2


=== Download Links ===
; 2019-09-28
Source: https://github.com/keithbowes/pipelight
: 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


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


=== Problems Encountered ===
; 2019-07-21 and prior
Unity gives "Failed to update Unity Web Player"
: 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'''
* Allow the launcher to automatically start/stop the flashpoint server on Linux
* Rewrite and test startUnity.sh and startJava.sh scripts
* Find a way to get Basilisk working better in Wine, or use an alternative browser like K-Meleon
* Get Java working natively again with OpenJDK 8
* Test Unity 2.x and 3.x games
* AMF support for games like Neon Rider for the community levels


== Next Version ==
<noinclude>[[Category:Technologies]]</noinclude>
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 <code>"$1"</code> with <code>"$@"</code> on line 8

Revision as of 12:51, 28 November 2021

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-mac-linux-help.

Unfortunately, no up-to-date Flashpoint packages are currently available. There are a few options to get Flashpoint running:

  • Download the Windows version of Flashpoint and run it in a Windows virtual machine. This is your best bet right now.
  • Run the Windows version of Flashpoint with Wine. This works well on some computers, but does not work consistently.
  • Download the outdated Flashpoint 10.0 package and manually update it to get it working. This should work more consistently, as long as you are able to follow all of the steps.

Stand-Alone Packages

These are standalone packages suitable for all common Linux distributions.

Unfortunately, no working packages are currently available. See the Outdated Packages page for previous builds, but be aware that they will not work properly. They are only useful as examples of completed builds, in case developers need them when working on future builds.

Distro-specific Packages

These are experimental packages for specific Linux distributions. 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.

Unfortunately, no working packages are currently available. See the Outdated Packages page for previous builds, but be aware that they will not work properly. They are only useful as examples of completed builds, in case developers need them when working on future builds.

Manual Installation (for advanced users)

No up-to-date Flashpoint packages for Linux are currently available, but with a few extra steps, you can download the outdated Flashpoint 10.0 package and update it to work again. The steps for doing so are below.

Dependencies: git, 7zip, tar, wine(32 bit), wget, glibc>=2.29, php, qemu (a qemu package that provide qemu-system-i386 is required)

First open a new terminal and type the following commands:

# Change the working directory to your home directory 
cd
# Create the required directories
mkdir --verbose --parents opt/flashpoint/{launcher,data}
# Get the new flashpoint launcher (version 10.1.1)
cd opt/flashpoint/launcher
wget https://github.com/FlashpointProject/launcher/releases/download/10.1.1/Flashpoint-10.1.1_linux-x64.7z
7z x ./Flashpoint-10.1.1_linux-x64.7z
rm -v Flashpoint-10.1.1_linux-x64.7z
# Because PHP and QEMU are not killed correctly upon exit, create this launch script:
cat << EOF > flashpoint
#!/bin/sh
cd $HOME/opt/flashpoint/launcher
$HOME/opt/flashpoint/launcher/flashpoint-launcher
killall php
killall qemu-system-i386
EOF
sudo install -D -m 755 -o root -g root ./launcher /usr/local/bin/launcher
# Get Flashpoint 10.0 Infinity
cd ../data
wget https://bluepload.unstable.life/flashpoint-10-linux-x64.tar.gz
tar --extract --verbose --file=./flashpoint-10-linux-x64.tar.gz
rm --verbose ./flashpoint-10-linux-x64.tar.gz

Fix qemu failing to start

Execute the following command:

qemu-system-i386 -machine help | grep pc-i440fx-6.0

If that command outputs "pc-i440fx-6.0 Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)" then open the file opt/flashpoint/data/services.json and change the line 34 from:

"arguments": ["-m", "512", "-net", "nic,model=e1000", "-net", "user,hostfwd=tcp:127.0.0.1:22500-:80", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4444,server,nowait", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4445,server,nowait", "-hda", "alpine.qcow2", "-loadvm", "quick", "-display", "none"],

to

"arguments": ["-m", "512", "-machine", "pc-i440fx-6.0", "-net", "nic,model=e1000", "-net", "user,hostfwd=tcp:127.0.0.1:22500-:80", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4444,server,nowait", "-qmp", "tcp:127.0.0.1:4445,server,nowait", "-hda", "alpine.qcow2", "-loadvm", "quick", "-display", "none"],

If there is no output to the command "qemu-system-i386 -machine help | grep pc-i440fx-6.0" start qemu with the following command:

qemu-system-i386 -m 512 -net nic,model=e1000 -net user,hostfwd=tcp:127.0.0.1:22500-:80 -hda ~/opt/flashpoint/data/Server/alpine.qcow2

Wait for the alpine system to boot up and open the View menu and select compatmonitor0 and type the commands:

delvm quick
savevm quick
quit

Open flashpoint with the command "flashpoint" and then go to Config and on the Flashpoint section set the Flashpoint Path to ../data then scroll down and click on the "Save & Restart" button.

Troubleshooting

If the Flash Player crashes immediately when launched, there are a few possible solutions:

  • Replace our hacked Flash projector with the original, unhacked Adobe Flash projector. Follow these steps:
    1. Download the projector from here
    2. In your Flashpoint folder, open FPSoftware/Flash
    3. Replace the flashplayer_32_sa.exe file with the one you downloaded.
  • Remove wine-dxvk from your system. This causes problems with the Flash projector on some computers.


In some cases, a problem with Wine may prevent games in Flashpoint from working. Look for the following error in the Logs tab of the launcher:

wine: 'examplewinedirectory/.wine' is a 64-bit installation, it cannot be used with a 32-bit wineserver.

If you see this error, then navigate to your Wine directory and run the commands below to resolve the problem. Note that this will reset your Wine settings.

rm -r .wine/
winecfg

Technologies

Flashpoint Infinity, 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 OpenJDK. This support is not currently working, however.
  • 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.

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:

Important Note

Update: As of Wine 6.0-rc1, Shockwave appears to be working again. If you are on 5.22, keep an eye out for an update from your distribution.

As of Wine 5.22, the Shockwave wrappers are no longer launching. Avoid updating Wine until a fix is found.

Changelog

2021-07-26
Added 10.0 Infinity package
2021-02-16
Added Core/Ultimate standalone package for 9.0 based on 8.1 Infinity standalone
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

  • Allow the launcher to automatically start/stop the flashpoint server on Linux
  • Rewrite and test startUnity.sh and startJava.sh scripts
  • Find a way to get Basilisk working better in Wine, or use an alternative browser like K-Meleon
  • Get Java working natively again with OpenJDK 8
  • Test Unity 2.x and 3.x games
  • AMF support for games like Neon Rider for the community levels