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works with proton 5.13.6 after winetricks and changes in fonts2.xml
General note:
2 weeks ago, the game worked with proton 6.3.8 - so repeat the following steps for other proton versions, if necessary.
After installing winetricks & protontricks, use this command:
WINEARCH=win64 WINEPREFIX=${HOME}/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/105450/pfx/ winetricks d3dx9 mfc42 winxp l3codecx corefonts
Explanation of the winetricks:
audio issues? -> l3codecx*
can't enter aoe3 key due to font issues? -> corefonts
key registration issues? -> mfc42
Additional issues:
- "fonts2.xml not found" -> go to your AOE3 steam dir and change the UTF-value in the "fonts2.xml" from "16" to "8" in the first line. if that still doesn't do the trick, copy the fonts files into your wine dir, as discussed here (https://askubuntu.com/questions/86335/installing-other-fonts-on-wine)
- if the error persists(*), manually copy the l3codecx into your wine folder. detailed instructions can be found here under paragraph "Acquiring the l3codecx.ax file" (https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=3795)
In-game text is small and hard to read.
Narrations get cut off.
I had to change the directory of some files that were not being found, including "datap.bar". When playing I had to put shaders on low.
Shade quality only worked on low
Runs perfectly through a Bottles install of Steam. Direct steam/proton had issues saving profiles. (could not gain experience, etc)
The Game trows some errors and warnings, but all of them can be ignored. Works anyways.
Solved after switch to screen's native resolution, game UI focuses where really the mouse is, no need to manually patch the settings XML file unless you really want to do so.
Saving the game will temporary hang the game but it will recover, don't force exit.
Terrible perfomance degradation with WineD3D, use iXit's Gallium9 Standalone for twice the framerate, DXVK also performed terrible (when compared to Gallium9 in this legacy hardware). Anyway, this game is old it will work no matter how poorly configured Wine, works since Wine 0.9.
Game crashed on first startup but has worked ever since.
protontricks 105450 corefonts
Had to install corefonts with protontricks in order to input the CD key:
protontricks 105450 corefonts
Downgraded proton to version 5.13-6, or else the game would crash on intro clip.
Switching resolution to 1920x1080 made the game crash, but the setting was stored and re-launching the game worked just fine with the new resolution.
After a bit of tinkering, the game worked splendidly. So far I've only finished the first map in the main campaign.
Doesn’t work. A pop-up shows up "Initialization Failed Could not load DATAP.BAR". Launching the game fails.
I'm unable to launch the game whatsoever. A pop-up window shows up with a message "Initialization Failed Could not load DATAP.BAR" and then launcher stops.
Just works.
Tutorial audio cuts about half a second before end of sentence. Not a big deal
Tutorials and capaign all good. Did not try multiplyer.
Crashes when SHIFT+TAB for Steam Menu
On Startup, the game warns that the GPU has 0MB of Video Memory. You can attempt to run anyway, and it should start fine.
Couldn't play offline :t
Couldn't play offline as there was a aiLoader error
Game sometime crashes after Alt-Tabing. Also, pressing Shift+Tab to get the Steam overlay causes the game to freeze every time. It was very annoying, since the prompt for the CD-key required pressing Shift+Tab to dismiss it. However, doing so would always cause the game to freeze.
Expect to lose 10 - 30 fps on highest graphics settings when in a big battle
Game crashed on me about once an hour
Tabbing out of the game or opening Steam overlay would freeze the game occasionally.
When launching the game it popped-up a window for me
"Age of Empires III requires at least a 64 MB video card. This computer appears to have a 0 MB video card. If you wish to upgrade your computer, please contact your computer manufacturer for any necessary assistance."
but you can skip this by just "launching forcefully" the game, I think the game just does not regonize newer hardware..
Change Compatibility to Proton 5.13-6 and it should install and work properly. Desync/Unable to connect may be due to alt-tab.
Audio may reset volume level if you alt-tab out
Due to changes from proton 5.x and 6.x, newer versions CAN'T save the game properly (can't save cities!)
I believe alt-tabbing in Multiplayer may cause desyncs or "unable to connect" messages. Playing with zero alt-tabbing gave me no issues until now.
Does not require other tweaks anymore but font rendering still not good on 5.13 so I installed corefonts.
protontricks 105450 corefonts
There is a very slightly wheezing sound on the background.
If you use Proton 6.3, the game does not save your progression. 5.13 however doesn't have this problem.
Home cities cannot be saved correctly in skirmish mode
Keybind settings seem to reset frequently
Home City and Campaign don't progress normally.
Campaign Progress and Home Cities do not load upon loading the game. The progress is being saved to file but the xml files aren't being loaded for some reason. I can update a home city inbetween campaign games but the cards I chose aren't available during the game: only the default cards.
The leveling up issue (and therefore more better 'cards' and 'deck') is a concern. Otherwise the Gameplay is as good as Windows.
Wasn't able to save progress.
Campaign Progress does not save. Also skirmish Level ups for Home City is not registering and the home city stays at level 1.
BTW Campaign crashes after first chapter the first time, as in we get a blank screen and we have to kill the game, but second time onwards there is no issue in gameplay.
the experience of the game itself depends on the experience system so you can "buy" cards and have more options while playing, so no.
Not saving experience while playing on skirmish mode.
It did not go to the next campaign scenario, a black screen appears and do not go alway until you close the game.
protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx corefonts
Some audio was missing the first time I played, after that worked without problems
I managed to get the game up and running with proton 5.0-10 and with protontricks command: "protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx", but when I was trying to play I had some issues such as, sound broken after some minutes of playing; when I wanted to change some settings inside of the game and after i press the button in order to save them the game stopped from nowhere and the cutscenes were impossible to watch. So I uninstalled the game and installed again with the proton 4.2-9 with the protontricks command: "protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx corefonts" and worked out of the box.
pretty much enjoyable for casual play
volume is higher than before after doing alt-tab
sometimes is just crashed, not really frequent
Ocasional flickering textures, mainly shadows and minimap fog of war.
Used Proton 5.13-3. Crashed first launching time, then worked. No winetricks.
Game works fine after first-time launch crash and the crash after changing resolution/switching between fullscreen and windowed.
Game crashes on changing video settings, fine after that though
Game crashes at launch, and becomes unresponsive after changing graphics, but once set up it runs fine
Very important: do not install on an NTFS partition; the game will lose all sound and will be unable to locate its AI or random map files if you do.
Did the same method everyone used, after launching the game the first time (It will crash) and after that I input "protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx" into my console.
Also don't forget to launch the game with Proton 4.11-13.
Did as the elders before me.
Crashes after playing the game >1 hour. Not sure if this is software related as I can't find log files.
Works perfectly by doing what Macabee said below : "If game doesn't work,try this, make sure steam settings proton is 4.11. It may need to restart. Delete game then Install the game. Run once and it will crash. Good! Go to terminal and enter "protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx corefonts" Let it finish. Start game. It might crash again when changing video but restart again."
It is not easy as a windows "download it and run" experience. If you have fialed attempts, you must uninstall steam completely.
I used protontricks terminal command "protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx"
After efforts, i opened it but another error.
How to make it playable:
1- Install protontricks
2- Change proton to previous version (the new version just closes the game)
3- Open terminal and write this: protontricks winxp
What my problem is, game opens and it goes to menu but after that game closes itself and shows this error:
"The Fraunhofer IIS Layer-3 Codec (l3codecx.ax) cannot be found."
Game opens and shows the logo and closes. It worked on this computer when I was using Windows 7.
It is sad to see that there is no official help for a game I have bought...
I did as those before me recommended.
If you alt+tab, the game will crash
If you try to play as steamplay, the game will crash. You need to install and config protontricks. It isn't difficult, but still has some issues, like alt+tabbing.
Runs with proton 4.11-13 and in protontricks run "protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx"
Ok it took like 1h hour cause im a linux beginner, but i will try to explain and make it easier for others like me Preparation: Install the game on steam with proton 4.11-13 Run the game (it will crash) Continue with the steps Steps: 1.- Go to: https://wiki.winehq.org/Winetricks#Installing_winetricks then in the installing winetricks part do what it says. 2.- Go to https://github.com/Matoking/protontricks and follow instructions for your distro 3.- On the terminal put "protontricks 105450 mfc42 winxp l3codecx" and finally run the game
