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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.


== Latest Package ==
As it stands, the Docker version of Flashpoint for Linux supports Flash, HTML5, Shockwave, Unity and Java. The exceptions are content that uses the Chromium browser, and Shockwave content that plays in-browser.
'''Download''': https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eai0nFWe0XNc8WbsIg-koOzLc7jk_b_k/view?usp=sharing
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:
* This is the latest experimental package of Flashpoint Infinity for Linux, created on September 28, 2019.
* [https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/downloads/ 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|Wine]]. This works well on some computers, but does not work consistently.


'''Installation instructions''':
Otherwise, download the [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zgBrmyiMpSfW9xsZ9A4ejvR0lktWlTRR/view?usp=sharing latest Docker Flashpoint package] and [[#Manual Installation|install it]].
# Download and extract the .tar.gz file.
# Install PHP and Wine if you do not have them. You'll need to follow distro-specific instructions if you have [https://wiki.winehq.org/Ubuntu Ubuntu] or [https://wiki.winehq.org/Debian Debian].
# Run the Flashpoint shortcut.
# Click the Config tab and check the "Use Wine" box if unchecked.


'''Changelog''':
== Manual Installation ==


September 28:
=== Dependencies ===
* Updated to Flashpoint 6.3
First, install Flashpoint's dependencies.
* Bundled WIP Launcher with better Multi-Platform Support
{| class="wikitable"
** Proper linux argument escaping (Supersonic RC works now, yay!)
!colspan="9"|Dependency package names on various distros
** 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)
!Library/command name
** .bat files will always run their .sh equivalents (even if use Wine is turned on in Config)
!Docker
** Windows execs are mapped to native execs (if existing), so Windows game XMLs should work out the box. (See execs.json)
!PulseAudio<span style="color:#0000ff">*</span>
** Can mark a platform as 'native' in Config, will force native execs to be used even if use Wine is turned on.
!X11<span style="color:#0000ff">**</span>
*** If no native execs are available (like Shockwave) then it will fallback to running the Windows exec with Wine.
!XHost
* Added native Basilisk support files
!PHP
* Updated SPR files
!bash
* Updated router.php
|-
!Debian-like<span style="color:#0000ff"><small><sup>a</sup></small></span>
|(see [https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/debian/ this page])
|pulseaudio
|xserver-xorg-core
|x11-xserver-utils
|php
|bash
|-
!Ubuntu-like<span style="color:#0000ff"><small><sup>b</sup></small></span>
|(see [https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/ this page])
|pulseaudio
|xserver-xorg-core
|x11-xserver-utils
|php
|bash
|-
!Fedora-like
|(see [https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/fedora/ this page])
|pulseaudio
|xorg-x11-server-Xorg
|xhost
|php
|bash
|-
!Arch-like<span style="color:#0000ff"><small><sup>c</sup></small></span>
|docker
|pulseaudio
|xorg-server
|xorg-xhost
|php
|bash
|}
<small><span style="color:#0000ff">a</span> : E.g. ChromeOS Terminal, MX Linux | <span style="color:#0000ff">b</span> : E.g. Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Zorin OS | <span style="color:#0000ff">c</span> : E.g. Manjaro, SteamOS >=3.0</small>


September 18:  
'''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.
* 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


July 21 and prior:
<span style="color:#0000ff">*</span> : PipeWire can also be used in place of PulseAudio by installing the <code>pipewire-pulse</code> package on Ubuntu-like and Arch-like distros, or <code>pipewire-pulseaudio</code> on Fedora-like distros. For Debian-like distros, see [https://wiki.debian.org/PipeWire#Using_as_a_substitute_for_PulseAudio.2FJACK.2FALSA this link].
* 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'''
<span style="color:#0000ff">**</span> : X11 can also be used within Wayland by installing the <code>xwayland</code> package on Debian-like and Ubuntu-like distros, <code>xorg-x11-server-Xwayland</code> on Fedora-like distros, or <code>xorg-xwayland</code> on Arch-like distros.
* Test Unity 2.x and 3.x games
 
* Test the [https://mega.nz/#!Q8EhzQCb!2U_n8TU-YouS6cY60J3AblkOChiVxGfZCldJ-rOle7k GoBit Plugin games] for Flashpoint 6.3
 
* Add the [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/496132309498724391/612871415108206602/HTML5.xml updated HTML5.xml]
To install them, use your distro's package manager:
* Add new [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y5Mgm9dCa4gCc6UF5WFPqQruzsO81xhf/view?usp=sharing preconfigured Basilisk with startup script]
{|class="wikitable"
* Update Flashpoint Router: replace <code>Server/router.php</code> in the Flashpoint folder with the [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FlashpointProject/Flashpoint-Router/master/router.php latest version].
!Distro
!Package manager install command
|-
!Debian-like
|<code>sudo apt-get install {PACKAGE}</code>
|-
!Ubuntu-like
|<code>sudo apt-get install {PACKAGE}</code>
|-
!Fedora-like
|<code>sudo dnf install {PACKAGE}</code>
|-
!Fedora-like (old)
|<code>sudo yum install {PACKAGE}</code>
|-
!Arch-like
|<code>sudo pacman -S {PACKAGE}</code>
|}
=== Installation ===
Before you start, you need to [https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall/#manage-docker-as-a-non-root-user configure Docker to be managed by a non-root user], then reboot your computer.
 
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 <code>nvidia-docker2</code> package. Follow the "Setting up NVIDIA Container Toolkit" instructions under the heading corresponding to your distro [https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/install-guide.html#docker here]. If you use an Arch-like distro, install either [https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nvidia-container-toolkit <code>nvidia-container-toolkit</code>] or [https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nvidia-docker <code>nvidia-docker</code>] from the AUR if you did or didn't already install Docker respectively.
 
Then, download the [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zgBrmyiMpSfW9xsZ9A4ejvR0lktWlTRR/view?usp=sharing 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 <code>./pull.sh</code>. They'll take ~3.5 GB.
 
Finally, run the <code>./flashpoint</code> executable script to start the launcher.
 
 
Config files can be found in <code>./LinuxConf/</code> and <code>./FPSoftware/FSPConfigs/</code>.
 
Save data is stored in <code>./SaveData</code>. 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 <code>proxy.sh</code> 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:
# Close the Flashpoint launcher.
# Open <code>./LinuxConf/proxy.sh</code> in a text editor.
# Change <code>/var/lock/flashpoint-networking.lock</code> to <code>/tmp/flashpoint-networking.lock</code> and save the file.
# Relaunch Flashpoint.


== Technologies ==
== 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 Flashpoint Redirector is used. On Windows, the HTTP ''system proxy'' is set to <code>localhost:8888</code>, and the ''Redirector'' forwards traffic to port 22500 if it originates from one of Flashpoint's applications. On Linux, each application is simply told 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>.
Flashpoint Infinity, like its Windows counterpart, 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> in the docker container.
 
When Flashpoint is updated, each Platform XML must be updated. The XMLs are located in Flashpoint's <code>Data/Platforms</code> folder. The initial download of Flashpoint Infinity for Windows only supports Flash games, but Flashpoint Infinity for Linux includes all of its supported web game technologies in the initial download. Thus the ''Other Technologies'' upgrade is not used. The ''Logos & Screenshots'' upgrade works the same way on Linux as on Windows, though.


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.
* 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, open <code>Flash.xml</code> in a text editor, then replace each instance of <code>FPSoftware/flashplayer_32_sa.exe</code> with <code>FPSoftware/Flash/linux/flashplayer32SA</code> (the path to the Linux projector). Finally, click the Config tab and uncheck "Use Wine" if it is checked.
* Shockwave: supported through Wine, but only locally. Any games that use Shockwave Projector Redirector (SPR) will not work. This is because SPR is hardcoded to use proxy port 8888. However, a [https://github.com/FlashpointProject/Shockwave-Projector-Redirector-for-Flashpoint new version of SPR] with a user-configurable port number has been released. It needs to be added to the Linux package along with the updated [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/516027726851735632/620078413205602335/Shockwave.xml Shockwave.xml] and [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/516027726851735632/620078445631635524/Theatre-Shockwave.xml Theatre-Shockwave.xml], then tested thoroughly.
* HTML5: Supported natively through the Basilisk browser. Be sure to switch off Wine from the Config tab. 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 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.
* 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.
* Silverlight: Not supported. 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: Not supported. 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: Not supported. 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: Not supported. 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.
* GoBit Plugin: Not tested yet. To get started, simply download the [https://mega.nz/#!Q8EhzQCb!2U_n8TU-YouS6cY60J3AblkOChiVxGfZCldJ-rOle7k GoBit Games Plugin support pack] and follow the instructions in the included Readme.
== 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.


Additional startup checks in the launcher could also benefit Linux (and Windows) users. For example, the launcher could check whether PHP and Wine are installed. [https://trello.com/c/e7BiyrYp/91-on-linux-check-if-wine-is-available-on-startup-of-fpl This Trello post] makes this suggestion.
=== 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 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.


The launcher also has issues escaping special characters on Linux. This is detailed [https://trello.com/c/UCK7ZTMj/88-properly-escape-launch-commands-for-linux here].
<noinclude>[[Category:Technologies]]</noinclude>

Revision as of 17:37, 8 October 2022

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.

As it stands, the Docker version of Flashpoint for Linux supports Flash, HTML5, Shockwave, Unity and Java. 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, download the latest Docker Flashpoint package and install it.

Manual Installation

Dependencies

First, install Flashpoint's dependencies.

Dependency package names on various distros
Library/command name Docker PulseAudio* X11** XHost PHP bash
Debian-likea (see this page) pulseaudio xserver-xorg-core x11-xserver-utils php bash
Ubuntu-likeb (see this page) pulseaudio xserver-xorg-core x11-xserver-utils php bash
Fedora-like (see this page) pulseaudio xorg-x11-server-Xorg xhost php bash
Arch-likec docker pulseaudio xorg-server xorg-xhost php bash

a : E.g. ChromeOS Terminal, MX Linux | b : E.g. Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Zorin OS | c : E.g. Manjaro, SteamOS >=3.0

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.

* : 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.

** : 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.


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

Distro Package manager install command
Debian-like sudo apt-get install {PACKAGE}
Ubuntu-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}

Installation

Before you start, you need to configure Docker to be managed by a non-root user, then reboot your computer.

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.

Then, 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.

Technologies

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

  • 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.