1942 on Linux

README.md

Installation

1. Download the game

   • https://drive.proton.me/urls/FH233HV5GC#0V0x9I62PWsj

2. Install with Wine

   wine installer.exe

   Installs to: ~/.wine/drive_c/EA Games/Battlefield 1942/

3. The installer ships with a bunch of community improvements called bf42plus. The way it works is to 'hook' the bf1942.exe process which is automatic on Windows, but with wine you need to manually configure it.

   • Run winecfg
   • Applications > Add application > Choose BF1942.exe from `C:\EA Games\Battlefield 1942\BF1942.exe'
   • Libraries > New override for library: dsound

   bf42plus ships itself as a DLL named dsound.dll

4. Create launcher script

   Create launch.sh in the game directory.

   #!/bin/bash
   cd "~/.wine/drive_c/EA Games/Battlefield 1942"
   
   # Parse bf1942://IP:PORT URL if provided
   JOIN_ARGS=()
   if [[ "$1" == bf1942://* ]]; then
       hostport="${1#bf1942://}"
       hostport="${hostport%/}"
       IP="${hostport%%:*}"
       PORT="${hostport##*:}"
       if [[ -n "$IP" && -n "$PORT" ]]; then
           JOIN_ARGS=(+joinServer "$IP" +port "$PORT")
       fi
   fi
   
   wine "./BF1942.exe" +restart 1 +game.setGameDisplayMode 2560 1440 32 60 "${JOIN_ARGS[@]}"
   echo "Press Enter to close this window..."
   read

   Then: chmod +x launch.sh

   launch.sh Code explainer

   The JOIN_ARGS code is to parse optional arguments in the form bf1942://101.35.241.106:14567. This will join the server with the given IP and port.

5. Create desktop file

   Create ~/.local/share/applications/battlefield-1942.desktop:

   [Desktop Entry]
   Version=1.0
   Type=Application
   Name=Battlefield 1942
   Exec="~/.wine/drive_c/EA Games/Battlefield 1942/launch.sh" %u
   Icon=~/.wine/drive_c/EA Games/Battlefield 1942/bf1942.ico
   Categories=Game;
   Terminal=false
   MimeType=x-scheme-handler/bf1942;

6. Register the bf1942:// URL scheme

   This lets you join servers directly from the browser via links like bf1942://51.81.48.224:14567 (e.g. from joinme.click):

   xdg-mime default battlefield-1942.desktop x-scheme-handler/bf1942

   Verify: xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/bf1942 should return battlefield-1942.desktop

   Test: xdg-open "bf1942://51.81.48.224:14567" should launch the game and connect to the server.

Optional - but probably a good idea

To run mods like FHSW and BF1918 that consume > 2GB of memory, you'll need the 4GB patch.

1. Download it https://ntcore.com/4gb-patch/
2. Run it wine 4gb_patch.exe and choose BF1942.exe to patch it

If you don't do this, the maps will typically load and then the game will crash.

Debugging

I have a Logitech Extreme 3d Pro that just worked. But it was not calibrated and would roll to the left badly.

• I downloaded this https://github.com/dkosmari/calibrate-joystick (and built it following the instructions)
• You run it, and basically use the X, Y and Z axes (left / right, forward / back, rudder left / rudder right)
• At the same time click the trigger button
• Then apply it
• This fixes the issue.

Run wine control > Game Controllers if you want to debug issues where can't detect the joystick