A guide to running modded San Andreas on Linux

This is a guide to setting up San Andreas on Linux. When I say "Setting up" I don't just mean proton, I mean making it fully functional with the proper mods to do so.

Introduction

I've been using Linux for about a year now, and through all my time doing so, nothing has been as hard as getting San Andreas to work. It took me hours of troubleshooting, finding the proper downgrading guides, and getting mods working. I'm here to save you the headache and give you a proper way of making San Andreas Working on Linux.

This Guide will help you get;

• True Widescreen Support
  
• Proper Controller Input
  
• Most Bugs Ironed Out
  
• Original Tracks added back in, meaning the game finally works.

This guide will NOT attempt to help you;

• Make the Graphics better, unless 1080p and 16:9 is better graphics to you.
  
• Make the game run ANYWHERE higher than 30fps. It just doesn't work, and I'm sorry about that, you get used to it after a very small amount of time though.

With that out of the way, lets get this show on the road.

Installation In Steam

Do this how you would normally do anything.

Install San Andreas, but click Properties, than force the use of Proton Version 5.0.10. I am unsure which other versions work, but trying it on 4.11 led to corrupted text inside the main game, this is purely cosmetic however, and if you can get past it, do let me know if you see any benefits to using it.

I have NOT tried any other version, and you should use them at your own risk.

Downgrading

If you've attempted this before hand, you've probably seen numerous tools that attempt to help you downgrade the executable file, and the truth is the TOOLS do not work, At least not for me. Instead, you will probably want to manually find the 1.0 exe. I am unsure of the legality of the file I am about to post, but as the zip file only contains an exe, you couldn't even use this to pirate the game as it requires much more than one executable file, so I think it is okay. Credit to

YouTube™ Video: A guide to make your Rockstar Launcher GTA:SA copy mod compatible (WITHOUT DOWNGRADE TOOL) 

Views: 31,981

Update: 5/26/2020 the mod pack in the video is no longer available. So I put a link to a drive. Apparently downgrade machine BROKE so I had to upload an alternative method of patching and making your...

for this Pack!!


https://drive.google.com/driv e/folders/1321f3H0VDKVSsn5PnY1Bzzgjt3YKFT4U (remove the space to get a working link.)

The above file contains most of the resources needed to get this working, and you should download it first.
Unzip the download, and find the folder "GTA_SA.EXE V1.0US" There, click on the subfolder based on how much ram you have, though most modern computers should have 4GB, and click the latter option.
You will see a file called "gta_sa.exe", make a copy of this file but change the name to "gta-sa.exe" (notice the underline is replaced with a dash.) Just to be safe, you probably want to copy both. Also, if you want to, back up the original steam executable. After that, paste these two .exe files in your San Andreas folder, and overwrite the original executable if you didn't back it up by changing its name.

Congratulations! You have changed the .exe to a vastly superior version, that supports all mods.

Proper Modding

You'll notice the thing you just downloaded also came with a LOT of other mods. There is a few here you absolutely want to get, they are as follows.

• Silents ASI Loader - REQUIRED for any and all mods, loads the .asi files that are mentioned below. simply add the .ini file in the scripts folder to your san andreas scripts folder, than copy the two .dll files and use them to replace the ones in the san andreas directory.
  
• Silentpatch - Fixes many bugs, and gives you 5 extra fps without breaking anything, neat!
  Put both the .asi and .ini files in your san andreas directory, and optionally your scripts folder in the san andreas directory (make it if it doesn't exist.)
  
• Widescreen Fix - Allows for fully functional 16:9 Display, same installation procedure as Silentpatch.
  Not technically required, but unless you have a 4:3 display, you definitely want this.
  The Widescreen fix included in the pack does not come with widescreen frontend, which although optional makes the display look much nicer. You can find it at https://github.com/ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack/releases/tag/gtasa . Copy the models folder, and put in the San Andreas Directory, if asked to overwrite, do so.

Now, you are NOT done yet because you have these 3, these just come with the pack, and are here for convenience sake. The pack also comes with a multitude of other mods, which you should do your own research and decide if they're right for you. It's worth noting that upon attempting to download this, drive gave me a "moonloader has a virus" warning, so you may wanna avoid that one.

There is one more mod that is required to make the game run tight, but if you are using a controller, (which you should be, trigger sensitive driving feels AMAZING!) than you need to install GInput as well.

GInput can be found at https://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=24272, and I should note it also happens to come with the same mod for Vice City & 3, which is cool. (Might I say, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Vice City & 3 are SO much easier to play than San Andreas, it's a world of difference really.) Same procedure as above, and make sure you move the models folder (like widescreen frontend) and overwrite as needed.

Fixed Sound

(Thanks a billion to

YouTube™ Video: GTA SA crashes when you enter vehicle • Fix in 7 Steps 

Views: 39,800

Thank you for watching! Donators get shoutouts: Charity: https://www.extra-life.org/participant/UseroneGaming Paypal: http://tinyurl.com/useronepaypal Twitter: https://twitter.com/UseroneGaming Game:...

for helping me find this one!)

If you play the game with the mods above now, everything will seem normal at first, except for the fact that during missions where you enter a car, the game crashes seconds after.
This will be a headscratcher at first, but if you read this guide, you should know it's because the game is missing many of the radio's songs that were removed due to licensing issues. Removed VERY poorly might I add, when the songs attempt to play, the game immediately crashes, since there's no file there. The solution is to add 'em back.

Download https://www.med iafire.com/f ile/9k2ouv47e6q9qno/GTA_San_Andreas_SFX__and_streams.zip/file , (make sure to remove the spaces on this one too, sorry about the large size!).

Once you've extracted the zip, Make sure that you rename "SFX" and "Streams" to "sfx" and "streams". The reason for doing this is sorta a complex issue about how unix systems and dos systems handle case-sensitive file names.
Copy every file in these folders EXCEPT "CUTSCENE" in "Streams" It is INCREDIBLY important that you don't mess this up, as if you copy the new cutscene file, then no cutscenes will play and your game will be broken.
So that means replace every file in San Andreas "sfx" and "streams" EXCEPT the one labeled "CUTSCENE". keep that one as is.

IMPORTANT EDIT!!! PLEASE READ! If your game is crashing during the lowrider hopping minigame, than make sure you dont replace the old sound files with any of the sounds in streams with a name 2 digits or longer, these have names like "BEATS" and the aforementioned "CUTSCENE", at the time of testing everything works.

important edit 2021-09-12: as im replaying san andreas i've noticed that this guide still largely holds up even with more mods, however i noticed that i NEEDED to copy all the longer files for the cutscenes to work, so it ended up having the opposite effect. Maybe its a change in proton, maybe its my extra mods, who knows. i'd reccomend trying both out to see which one works for you.

Misc. Issues

If the game looks frozen (or rather, your desktop looks like its frozen when your focused on the game) Press enter or A a few times, that will skip the intros and get into the game.

I highly recommend turning on antialiasing, and subtitles. Make sure you set the resolution to your desired one if you haven't already.

Sometimes the game will crash when you attempt to start a cutscene at the beginning of a mission, this is why I highly reccomend that you save at every chance you get. Nobody wants their progress from the last mission to be lost.

If you installed GInput, and want pressure sensitive triggers, go into the GInput .ini file(s), and under [PAD1], change control scheme from 1 to 2, this will make the controls more similar to Grand Theft Auto IV & 5, and more importantly, allow pressure sensitive driving since you use the triggers.
Be sure to check out the other mods ini files and see if theres anything you want changed there.

from speedrun.coms san andreas page, there is a d3d9.dll file that allows for easier windowed mode. i've been told this makes the game run better on i3. https://www.speedrun.com/gtasa/resources check it out if ya want it.

Closing Statements

I encourage anyone and everyone following this guide to comment on this guide or my profile if you have ANY issues, I will do the best I can to help you.

Like said at the start, I had to do the steps in this guide all by myself, and it was a nightmare. I'm hear to save other Linux users the headache I went through.

[Marie ❤]

has anyone ever tested the whole thing with ENBs? without mods it works without problems, but as soon as you use the asi loader the game crashes with an ENB.

[GamingGoblin]

Thank you! For what it's worth, San Andreas was the biggest nightmare I ever had in terms of Linux Gaming. 90% of games are still just turn on proton and play, which is fine by me.

[eight]

Great guide, ridiculously unstable to run this game on Linux though. Definitely not bothering with Linux for gaming.

[GamingGoblin]

Try to use the WidescreenFix from the github link. You can use the first link in the release.

[Grovesy]

Widescreen fix seems to be missing on google drive. Directory is there, but appears to be empty?

[GamingGoblin]

You have to go to the pfx folder in compatdata. This is a bit complex, but probably go to ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/12120/pfx/drive_c and it should function like a virtual windows directory, where you can go to my games (or where-ever idk where it is) as usual.

[GodsBadAssBlade]

hey does anyone know where to put your music files for this game? ive been trying in multiple spots in all sorts of fashion but it seems like it doesnt want to work

[Get Some]

Modding: Hard mode.

[GamingGoblin]

Did you set the proper configuration? I'm sorry if i'm not too much as it's been awhile since I've done this.

[SlightlyDisturbed]

Thank you for this guild. I was able to get SA working and downgraded because of it, but I’m still having a small issue. Even though I added the contents of the Ginput controller mod into models folder, some my Xbox 360 controller’s buttons don’t work and the camera will continuously spin if I get onto the bike at the beginning. Any help would be appropriated. I’m running Linux Mint 20.3 in case that matters.