Trying to get BAT running on Linux (Ubuntu)

[Imperator Knoedel]

*record scratch* Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I got here.

In all seriousness, because I'm a masochistic tech nerd that hates capitalism I've decided to once again try ditching Windows in favor of Linux (Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS to be precise) with... mixed results.

As you can see in the attached screenshot, the graphics are all messed up when I try to start a game with the BAT (4.1) Mod. I'm running the GOG version of Civ4 (because in my laziness I couldn't be bothered to look for the disc that should be SOMEWHERE in my apartment lmao) via Wine. The unmodded game works fine, as does at least the one BTS mod that I tested (Next War).

Can someone help me figure this out please?

I'm attaching a screenshot of the System tab in the BUG Mod Options in case it is relevant.

Edit: Updating y'all (the imaginary audience) on my progress or lack thereof, it seems someone else once had the same graphics issue:

Freezes and graphics problems in Civ4 - WineHQ Forums

However, for them these messed up graphics were present in the unmodded base game, and could be fixed via winetrick msxml3 and d3dx9, which I already did way before even downloading BAT. The base game runs fine for me, as does Kmod which I downloaded and played a bit, so it must be related to some of the graphics stuff BAT introduces. Out of curiosity I tested Final Frontier since that is definitely changing a lot of graphics, but that looks and plays fine as well.

Maybe Blue Marble is to blame... I'll try un-installing BAT and re-installing it minus Blue Marble. Keeping you posted, my metaphorical rubber duckies...

Edit/Update #2: Nope, that did nothing.

Edit/Update #3: On closer inspection it seems the graphics issue in the link I posted isn't the same as the one I'm facing after all, so I guess that's a dead end.

Edit/Update #4: Fall From Heaven works fine too. What is it with the BAT mod specifically that causes the graphics to glitch out? Share your secrets with me, dark void I'm shouting into.

Edit/Update #5: Finally found another mod with the same issue, Legends of Revolution (downloaded from https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/main-download-and-information.325253), both with and without the optional Enhanced Graphics offered by the installer. I guess I'll try, hm, Dawn of Civilization next.

Edit/Update #6: While DoC was downloading I successfully got Planetfall up and running because I have it on an external hard drive. No messed up graphics there. WITHOUT Varietas Delectat or any other modules it works fine. WITH Varietas Delectat... it also works fine. I'm also running out of energy drinks and the sun is going up so... maybe I should sleep on it.

 

[f1rpo]

No clue about Civ 4 on Linux, but BAT's FPKs probably can just be removed one by one for testing. For the terrain (which you've really already tested), it should fall back on the original terrain when the Blue Marble FPKs get removed. The diversified assets will disappear or turn pink, but that shouldn't interfere with testing whether the terrain will unblacken. Though maybe something other than art assets could also be responsible somehow, e.g. the LSystem XML.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

No clue about Civ 4 on Linux, but BAT's FPKs probably can just be removed one by one for testing. For the terrain (which you've really already tested), it should fall back on the original terrain when the Blue Marble FPKs get removed. The diversified assets will disappear or turn pink, but that shouldn't interfere with testing whether the terrain will unblacken. Though maybe something other than art assets could also be responsible somehow, e.g. the LSystem XML.

Thanks for the tip, but after trying that out I haven't found one FPK that's to blame...

I found three!

• BM_v4.50_HI
• Cultural Citystyles v0.99 optimized
• IG_v2.0.7

Having any one of those present results in the blackened terrain (and incidentally many leaders being reduced to floating eyeballs, which I haven't brought up yet and I guess now is as good a time as any), whereas removing all three fixes it, at the price of some stuff looking a bit boring, pink, or missing. That's not... ideal. I guess I could unpack those three troublemakers and take a closer look at their contents...

Edit: Wait what am I growing senile in my old age!? Restoring BM_v4.50_HI and Cultural Citystyles v0.99 optimized doesn't break anything!? I swear to god if this game is secretly sometimes pulling stuff from cache without telling me and thus interfering with my testing...

For the time being, IG_v2.0.7 seems to be the cause for both the blackened terrain and the floating eyeballs, but a cursory look at its contents reveals it to be all about leaderheads, so why would it cause the terrain to glitch out?

Edit #2: For lack of ideas I tried un- and re-installing the mod entirely, and while that didn't change anything about my graphics problem, it did remind me of something I had forgotten about:

Apparently the BAT Mod Setup is having trouble with a file called "BM_v4.50_HI.FPK" After retrying to no avail, I hit Ignore. IIRC I did the same thing the first time around. Perhaps the root of my issue could lie somewhere in that FPK? It is present in the finished BAT mod folder, but maybe incomplete?

Edit/Update #2: After stumbling upon this thread, I figured maybe the installer was to blame, but alas, no such luck. Even replacing the entirety of the BAT mod folder created by the installer with its equivalent from the zip changed nothing.

Edit/Update #3: So deleting the zip-sourced mod folder in favor of an installer-sourced one again with Blue Marble (I reckon that's what BM stands for) NOT selected results in an error-free installation, though BM_v4.50_HI.FPK is curiously enough still present in the finished product. It also does not fix the terrain or the eyeballs.

Edit/Update #4: Tried updating my drivers, all that did was disable anti-aliasing and slow the game down, but the terrain is still black and the eyeballs still floaty.

 

[f1rpo]

I couldn't say how, but it doesn't strike me as farfetched that leader head graphics could cause a terrain glitch, especially if some of the leader graphics are also visibly broken. Perhaps the installer is supposed to rename or remove one of the two Blue Marble packs, and that somehow fails? The names of fpk files shouldn't matter, so if you install one or both of those manually, then I doubt that the installer can do any harm there. Or you could even get Blue Marble from somewhere else (there's a link to an fpk at the end of the K-Mod opening post).

My own BAT folder ... probably comes from the zip archive, I don't trust installers if I don't have to. In there, along with IG_v2.0.7.fpk, I have ImprovedGraphicsLHs_optimized.fpk. Not sure if you have both of these as well. The IG is then apparently for "improved graphics," the LH for "leader heads." Comparing the unpacked IG-LH packs in WinMerge, I see a number of differences, but most files are the same. So just removing the troublesome IG_v2.0.7.fpk should be mostly fine – if that fixes/ works around the issue.

Maybe the culprit could be narrowed down further by re-introducing unpacked IG_v2.0.7 assets that differ from ImprovedGraphicsLHs_optimized via the Art folder (which should take precedence over fpks).

 

[a pen-dragon]

I had the same problem with a few mods, including BAT and RI.

I tried getting it to run on my Laptop with Ubuntu 24.10+wine9.0 and never got it working, but on my Desktop with 22.04+wine6.0.3 it works fine without special care for these mods.

 

[Iconian]

Have you tried running a Virtual Machine under Ubuntu?

I have Linux Mint 22, and installed Virtual Machine Manager with it. It's let me do a number of Windows-based things.

This video helped a lot, though I took a number of steps before I found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqBJzrQ ... dex=2&t=1s