Running Football Manager 2008 in Linux

Football Manager 2008 was one of the main reasons I still used Windows ’til last week. It sure is one helluva game. The best football management game ever IMHO. Now how to get it running in Linux? There are a couple of ways to do this, but I only found one of them on the net. Here’s the other, easier way (unfortunately it only works if you have the game installed on a Windows PC, either on another computer or on the Windows partition of a dual-boot setup).

Before doing this, make sure you’ve installed the latest patch from SI on the PC where you already have the game installed, because you can’t do that later.

1. Ubuntu includes a nifty program called Wine with the default installation. Wine lets you run Windows apps in Linux. If you’re running another distro, just download it by typing “sudo apt-get install wine” in the terminal.

2. Now, go to Applications>Wine>Browse C:\ Drive. If you’re dual-booting with Windows, navigate to C:\Program Files on your Windows partition (usually accessible through Places>”x” GB Media ), and copy the “Sports Interactive” folder to the virtual C:\ drive you opened in the last step.

3. Download the no-cd crack: http://www.gameburnworld.com/gp/gamefixes/footballmanager2008.shtml

4. Replace fm.exe in your new Football Manager folder with the one you downloaded.

5. Double-click fm.exe to play it for the first time. This creates some new folders in your home directory.

6. You can create a launcher on the desktop or on any panel by rightclicking where you want it and selecting “Create launcher…” Click browse, and select “recently used” on the right side. Double-click “fm.exe”. Also don’t forget to give the launcher a name.

7. If you have saved games or any other User data to import, you’ll find a Sports Interactive folder in your home folder.

Happy managing.

Getting Compiz Fusion to Work with nvidia Graphics

With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced Aero with much fanfare. Aero was a slicker version of the old interface. It added transparency and special effects like Flip3d, which is like a cooler alt-tab that lets you switch windows in 3d. The whole world was left open-mouthed at Aero’s amazing features… not. It sure looked pretty, but the hardware requirements were sky-high at the time, and it had all been done before.

Yeah, meet Compiz Fusion. Compiz is a compositing window manager available for Linux. It really doesn’t matter what that means, what matters is this:

Now Compiz Fusion comes with ubuntu Hardy, so as long as you meet the minimum requirements, which are very, very low, you can enable it. Of course, as with a lot of things in Linux, it’s not as simple as it seems, especially if you have a nvidia 7300LE graphics card (not sure about ATI and Intel, though). So here’s a little walkthrough:

1. Just to see if it works out of the box, you can click System>Preference>Apperarance, and go to the Visual Effects tab. Try chnaging the level of effects. If this works, great.

2. If not, go to System>Administration>Software Sources and in the first tab, make sure everything is ticked. By doing this, you’re allowing ubuntu to download proprietary (non-open-source) software.

3. Go to Application>Add/Remove click the drop-down menu and change it to All available applications. Search for “nvidia” in the bar. Check “NVidia binary X.Org driver (‘new’ driver)”, and click apply changes. Do step 1, and you should be all set.

The Wonder that is Linux

Okay first post… Back when I used Windows I considered myself a power user. I knew my way around the OS like the back of my hand, and I had everything streamlined to suit me.

Then I made the switch to Linux. Why would anyone do this, you ask? Check www.linux.org for a few hundred reasons. I made the switch after attending a Cisco IT Essentials One course, where I was introduced to Linux. Before this, I had contemplated making the switch but I didn’t want to go through the bother of learning a new OS.

After the course, though, I saw the light, and looking back now, I can’t say I’ve never looked back. I still dual-boot, because I couldn’t bear to leave my games behind. Otherwise, Linux does everything Windows ever did for me and much, much more…

I run ubuntu Hardy, 8.04, and although I still feel like a complete n00b, I feel more at home using GNOME than Windows’ clunky interface.