How to Install JSRF Multiplayer on Linux

Intro

UPDATE (Dec 9, 2020): For improved performance, install 2 DirectX components (scroll to "Commands" section down below)

When I was young, I enjoyed playing on the Original Xbox. It was my first console.

I did not have that many games to play, but Jet Set Radio Future and Sega GT 2002 were one of my most favorite.

Being great games and all, they were not exactly easy games to beat.

Grinding on rails took some time getting use to, and maneuvering a car was much different than Mario Kart.

Nonetheless, these games were in their prime, and I honestly have not seen any other game come close in making a mark.

How did JSRF come back?

Over the years, my Original Xbox stopped working and I could not try the games from the past.

But recently, I’ve discovered online that Jet Set Radio Future was remade by the community who so desperately wanted it to come back (apparently, SEGA is spending too much time on Sonic).

After seeing some footage of the game on YouTube, I decided to try it out.

Of course, it did not have Linux support since the developer has trouble compiling it for other platforms, but I had Windows at the time being so it was not too much of a concern.

When I started playing it, it was like taking a trip down memory lane - it almost feels like an exact replica of what I’ve experienced before.

The textures, the music, and oh yes - the grinding.

The developer did an amazing job recreating a game that was never brought back to life.

Why is the game underdeveloped?

Even though it’s awesome that someone put their blood, sweat, and tears for something like this, a good deed never goes unpunished:

The developer claims that he is aware of SEGA wanting to infringe on the recreated game, so perhaps he is trying his best to keep it under the radar.

But other than that, is it possible to run the game besides on Windows?

Surprisingly, yes you can!

But it just requires a few additional steps, but they ain’t that hard.

My specs (smooth FPS + medium settings)

Issues found

Resources

Commands

1a. Install wine on Arch-based distro:

sudo pacman -S wine wine-gecko wine-mono

1b. Install wine on Ubuntu-based distro:

2. Configure wine to “Windows 7”:

winecfg

3. Install winetricks, and use it to install 2 DirectX components

sudo apt install winetricks
winetricks vcrun2017
winetricks d3dcompiler_47

4. Open and Install DXVK (execute the last 2 lines inside the dxvk directory):

tar xvf dxvk-*.tar.gz
export WINEPREFIX=~/.wine
./setup_dxvk.sh install

Conclusion

Once you follow the steps correctly and launch the game, it should run just fine.

Just remember to lower the graphics settings. I personally don’t notice the difference between medium and ultra.

You can play with your friends or anyone that has an open lobby.

Unfortunately, if you have a spare controller, I have not figured out a way to connect it. But playing with the keyboard is not too bad.

Have fun.