Unreal Tournament GOTY on Ubuntu Feisty

Wine could be used to run UT Classic on Linux, but since the OpenGL graphics library is being used, UT can run natively too. To install it on Ubuntu Feisty, one could follow this procedure:

Download ut-install-436-goty.run (right click -> save target as).

Insert or mount the first UTGOTY cd. I’m using images, so I have to mount the image and change my SETUP_CDROM system variable for the .run file to work:

sudo mkdir /media/utcd
sudo mount -o loop -t iso9660 Unreal_Tournament_GOTY_CD1.iso /media/utcd/
export SETUP_CDROM=/media/utcd

Now we can run the ut-install-436-goty.run. First we have to make the file executable, of course:

chmod a+x ut-install-436-goty.run

We’ll have to use a workaround to install UT: the –keep option of the .run file: “Do not erase target directory after running embedded script”:

./ut-install-436-goty.run --keep

Just click cancel on the graphical user interface. A directory called ut-436-GOTY should have been created. In this dir, run setup.sh.
The GUI will show up again, asking you for a directory where to save the maps and the binary files in. Since I’ll be installing UT on my external NTFS disk, I had to enter /media/PB/UT, make a directory /media/PB/UT/bin and enter this directory as the binary dir.

No errors should occur when you click the install button. The installer will ask for the 2nd cd, so the first should be unmounted and the second should be mounted (use another terminal for this):

sudo umount /media/ut1
sudo mount -o loop -t iso9660 Unreal_Tournament_GOTY_CD2.iso /media/utcd/

Let the installer finish. Be sure to be patient at the end, since all the maps are being extracted at that time, as you can see in the console window.

/media/PB/UT/ut-436-GOTY$ ./setup.sh
Warning: No writable targets in path... You may want to be root.

Creating preferences directory...
Creating directory /home/username/.loki/ut/
Creating directory /home/username/.loki/ut/System
WARNING: Not using preference directory
stage 0: 0.328692 secs
stage 1: 0.180815 secs
stage 2: 0.310931 secs
stage 3: 0.141942 secs
stage 4: 0.453863 secs
Total: 1.416242 secs
Decompressed ../Maps/AS-Frigate.unr.uz -> AS-Frigate.unr
WARNING: Not using preference directory
stage 0: 0.261014 secs
stage 1: 0.136889 secs
stage 2: 0.216173 secs
stage 3: 0.184799 secs
stage 4: 0.295411 secs
Total: 1.094286 secs

UT is installed. Almost done! As I didn’t install the default folder (being /usr/local/games/ut), I have to set the UT_DATA_PATH variable:

/media/PB/UT/bin$ ./ut
dirname: missing operand
Try `dirname --help' for more information.
Couldn't run Unreal Tournament (ut-bin). Is UT_DATA_PATH set?
/media/PB/UT/bin$

To fix this error:

export UT_DATA_PATH=/media/PB/UT/System

Starting UT (./ut in the bin folder) shouldn’t give problems no more. You’re done. Unless you’ve got a CPU with scaling capabilities, just like my Pentium Mobile (Centrino): UT will run too fast, it will be impossible to play the game. On Windows, I used to change my power options from ‘Portable/Laptop’ to ‘Home/Office Desk’. There is no difference in Ubuntu. The ‘CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor’ should be added (right click on free space on a panel, choose ‘Add to Panel’). Now, cpufreq cannot be set immediately: the SUID bit should be set:

sudo chmod +s /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector

Click on the cpufreq-selector and choose the highest possible speed. Enjoy!