Linux Beta

Ancient Orbit on Linux

The game runs on Linux through Wine. One script sets everything up for you: its own Wine folder, the launcher from our update server and an Ancient Orbit entry in your app menu.

Download for Linuxinstall-linux.sh · Wine 9 or newer Windows instead?

Install

Three steps to orbit

  1. 1

    Install Wine

    Open a terminal and install Wine, winetricks and curl with your distribution's command:

    Ubuntu · Mint · Debian · Pop!_OSsudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y wine64 wine32 winetricks curl
    Fedorasudo dnf install -y wine winetricks curl
    Arch · Manjaro · EndeavourOSsudo pacman -S --needed wine winetricks curl
    openSUSEsudo zypper install wine winetricks curl

    Arch: Wine needs the [multilib] repository enabled in /etc/pacman.conf.

  2. 2

    Run the install script

    Download the script with the button above and run it - or do both in one go:

    Download + runcurl -fsSL https://ancientorbit.org/linux/install-linux.sh -o install-linux.sh && bash install-linux.sh

    The first run takes 5-15 minutes: it installs .NET Framework 4.7.2 and the Windows fonts into its own Wine folder. Some installer windows may pop up - just let them finish.

  3. 3

    Log in and play

    The launcher opens by itself. Create your pilot or log in and press Play: the launcher downloads the game and keeps it up to date, just like on Windows.

    Next time start Ancient Orbit from your app menu, or run:

    Start~/.local/bin/ancientorbit

What the script does

  • Wine folderits own in ~/.local/share/ancientorbit - your other Wine games stay untouched
  • Inside it.NET Framework 4.7.2, Windows core fonts, Tahoma
  • Launcherdownloaded from our update server, checksum verified
  • Menu entryAncient Orbit + the command ancientorbit
  • Needswine, winetricks, curl · 64-bit Linux · OpenGL 3.3

Questions & problems

The launcher window stays black or flickers.

The launcher switches to software drawing under Wine by itself. If it still happens, update Wine to version 9 or newer and run the script again - it repairs the installation.

winetricks fails while installing .NET.

Update winetricks (sudo winetricks --self-update), then remove the half-done setup with bash install-linux.sh --remove and run the script again.

How do I update the game?

Just start it. The launcher checks the game files, downloads only what has changed and updates itself too.

Steam Deck / Proton?

Not tested yet. On the Steam Deck switch to desktop mode and use the script like on any other Linux.

How do I uninstall it?

Run bash install-linux.sh --remove. It deletes the Wine folder, the game, the start command and the menu entry.

Something does not work.

Linux support is new. Tell us in Discord with your distribution, your Wine version (wine --version) and what you see - we will fix it.