I've been recently trying to play Age of Empires 2 on my Linux Ubuntu 12.04 LTS computer. However, I can't seem to get it to work with any method i found on the computer. I've tried Playonlinux, however, when i try to play it, a message comes up saying that there has been an internal error. I've also tried doing it though virtualbox and installing it onto a virtual version of windows xp. However, after it completes the install, it tell me that there is no CD in the disk drive and that I should insert it and restart the application. If anyone has a way I haven't tried yet or something that I could have missed please let me know. Thanks.
Ubuntu – Running Age of Empires 2 in Linux
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Related Solutions
Your best chance to install this is using PlayOnLinux as it'll configure wine to work with Age Of Empires III (and the various expansions) for you.
VirtualBox isn't the best solution, since it requires 2 operating systems to run simultaneously, along with a game. Plus, you will often experience problems with the mouse not working properly.
There is a better solution. There's a program called PlayOnLinux, which is a frontend for Wine. Here's the download link: PlayOnLinux Download If you download it here, you will be able to get the latest version, which you don't get via the Software Center.
After that, you can install Steam via PlayOnLinux, and you will be able to install your Steam games through that, as long as you make sure it is the right Wine version.
You can check which Wine versions you have to use for your games, here: Wine version
You can also browse games to install from PlayOnLinux, and you will be able to use the Steam version in some of them (I believe that Skyrim is one of those games, but I'm not sure). It's easier, because it finds the right Wine version for you, but of course, the PlayOnLinux doesn't feature all games, and you will have to find some of them yourself, and install them manually.
I did this, and most of my games work. Also, on the WineHQ site, you will be able to see how the games work via Wine, if there is large amount of bugs, or anything like that.
Best Answer
You should give WINE a look. WINE has come a long way over the last few years and many Windows-based applications can be run on it with varying degrees of success.
Here is the WINE HQ page for Age of Empires 2:
It looks like Age of Empires 2 has a pretty good rate of success. To get WINE, you first need to add the WINEHQ PPA Repository by adding "ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa" as a software source from within the Ubuntu Software Center (Edit->Software Sources). Then you should be able install WINE by executing the following from Terminal:
For further instructions, see WINE For Ubuntu and Ubuntu Derivatives