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.