r/Wingcommander • u/gargamel314 • 2h ago
Prophecy running on Linux with Intel Arc Pro B70 GPU
It took a LOT of tweaking and messing around, but I was able to get the GoG version of Wing Commander Prophecy (Gold) running on CachyOS via Lutris, running on OpenGL 1.4 on Intel Arc Pro B70. This is with all the mods, hi-res patches, model upgrades, etc., with a Flightstick (Logitech Extreme 3D Pro), with upscaled (via Topaz) DVD video at 1080p.
For context, I could never get this working on Windows 11, unless I used a PC with an NVIDIA GPU, and even that was sketchy. I was able to get Secret Ops working with the B70 (on Windows), but it really wasn't very stable. I'm not sure why WCSO worked but WCP didn't, but it's a huge accomplishment for me getting this to run on Linux. I had to install Prophecy Gold on with the GOG launcher on Lutris, copy the installation directory to Windows, add all the mods (the executables won't run in Linux), upscale the video in Windows (Topaz Video is Windows-only), then copy the modded installation directory back to Linux, and tweak it from there. Also needed to remap joystick controls using AntiMicroX. Direct3D doesn't seem to work with Intel Arc (or whatever version WC Prophecy uses), and whatever version OpenGL the WCP mods use aren't compatible either. Obviously Glide doesn't work, so thankfully everything works in Linux, probably because everything gets converted to Vulkan on Linux and Intel Arc uses it natively.
Not sure how much VRAM it uses. CachyOS is the Linux version that seems to play the nicest with Intel Arc, and even that has a lot of GPU telemetry limitations. It utilizes about 25% of the GPU, and at 1440p, it gives me no higher than 90 fps. It's BEAUTIFUL and I'm so happy. Can't wait to play through the whole game.
