This thread was written a while back. It still contains very usefull info, but some stuff may be a bit outdated. Proceed with caution
For newbies, Linux is an Operating System (OS). For more information read this article on Wikipedia. The important thing is that you can also play Urban Terror on Linux. Perhaps the greatest advantage of Linux is that it is downloadable from the Internet for free.
This FAQ assumes that you have some basic knowledge of Linux. For example, you know who root is and you know how to change permissions. I use the GNOME desktop environment, so I will not give terminal commands in this FAQ. You should have read the Urban Terror manual and FAQ as well. If you think something in this FAQ is wrong or wish to see something added, please post in this topic.
1. Installing and playing Urban Terror
How do I install Quake 3 Arena on Linux and how do I get Punkbuster running?
This HOWTO on linux-gamers.net explains it all. For the rest of the FAQ I will assume that you have installed Quake 3 in the default location, which is /usr/local/games/quake3
How do I install Urban Terror on Linux?
After you have installed Quake 3 as described in the previous answer, download the zip file (which can be used for every OS) from the Urban Terror website and extract it to the /usr/local/games/quake3/q3ut3/ directory.
What directories does Quake 3 and Urban Terror use on Linux?
This can be a bit confusing if you are new to Linux. In Windows there is only one directory where everything related with Quake 3 Arena is stored, but in Linux there are two directories. There is one system wide directory, /usr/local/games/quake3/ by default, and one personal directory in every users' home directory, /home/<username>/.q3a which is a hidden directory. All your config files, screenshots, demo's and punkbuster updates and other things are stored in the personal directory, the rest is stored in the system wide directory (but can also be stored in the personal directory, if you wish). It is done this way because Linux is a natural multi-user system, with the directory in every users' home directory every user can have different settings and such.
How do I start up Urban Terror?
Make a shortcut with the command: /usr/local/games/quake3/quake3 +set fs_game q3ut3
When I try to start up Urban Terror with the shortcut as described in the previous question, it starts up Q3 instead?
This can be caused by insufficient permissions for the q3ut3 folder, located in the Quake 3 folder (usr/local/games/quake3/ by default). Your user must have read permission for the q3ut3 directory, and read permission for all the files inside the directory.
I can't open the console in Linux. In Windows I can, am I doing something wrong?
I had this problem on a keyboard with a Dutch keyboard layout. It's possible you can also have this problem on other keyboards, I'm not sure about that. In I Windows I could open the console with the key below the Esc-key. In Linux I had to to keep SHIFT pressed and press the key left of the Backspace key.
After I connected to a server and joined a team, I'm kicked back to spectator mode?
This is because Punkbuster has problems with auto updating. To update it manually read this HOWTO on linux-gamers.net.
2. Mouse related problems and questions
My mouse pointer won't move after I started Quake 3/Urban Terror, is there a way to fix this?
Make sure that you have installed the latest pointrelease, which is 1.32b, not just 1.32.
The extra buttons on my mouse don't work in Linux in general and in Urban Terror. Is there a solution for this?
You can find a solution on linux-gamers.net.
I have a Logitech mouse, but in Linux it is not as accurate as it is in Windows. Is there a way to change that?
In Linux some Logitech mouse run at 400 cpi by default, but they are capable to run at 800 cpi, which is more accurate. Read this HOWTO on linux-gamers.net.
Are there any other ways to speed up my mouse?
Yes, there is hack avaialble which can enhance the sampling rate of a USB mouse, making it the mouse more responsive. Take a look at this post on the Gentoo forums and this website. Members of this forum reported that this patch works.
3. Video card related problems and questions
I can't get Quake 3 Arena, Urban Terror, or any other game which requires 3D accerelation to work. What can I do?
Did you make sure you installed the drivers for your video card? I can't explain this in detail, as that would be difficult, the methods to install the drivers are different for most of the Linux distributions. Of course you can always download the sources from you video card vendor's website and compile them, but most likely there are easier ways to install them. Read the documentation of your Linux distribution.
Is there a way to overclock my video card in Linux?
Currently this is only possible if you have an NVIDIA video card. Check out the website of NVClock.
How do I turn on FSAA and AF in Linux?
If you have a powerful video card you can play Urban Terror with Full Scene Anti Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering. They will improve the visual quality of the game, but they will lower the framerate dramatically if you don't have a powerful videocard. If you have a NVIDIA video card there is an easy way to turn them on, there is a program called nvidia-settings which most likely got installed along with the NVIDIA drivers. To start it, you can most likely find it in your applications menu, or else type: nvidia-settings in the console. Select "Anitaliasing Settings". Then select "Override Application Setting" and enable Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering. Now start Urban Terror and notice the difference. If you have FSAA set to 2x you might not notice anything, if you have it set to 8x you will notice it. Don't forget to turn it off again if you play a game which is demanding more of your video card, such as Doom 3, otherwise it will become unplayable with high FSAA or AF settings.
Are there any other tweaks for NVIDIA video cards?
Yes, read this topic.
How do I benchmark in Quake 3/Urban Terror?
You will have to open the console and type: /timedemo 1 Then press ENTER and type: /demo <nameofyourdemo> and then press ENTER again. This will play your demo and return you to the main menu. Then you have to open the console to see the results. You might want to benchmark the demo shipped with the game to compare benchmark results with others. Please read this FAQ for instructions on how to this.
Will Linux give me a higher framerate than Windows when I play Urban Terror?
I have the Fedora Core 3 Linux Distribution and Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed on the same computer, a dual boot. I recorded a demo en then benchmarked that demo on both OS'ses, with equal graphical quality settings, and the latest NVIDIA drivers. Windows XP gave me 90 fps, Fedora Core 3 gave me 115 fps. So Linux can run Quake 3 and Urban Terror slightly faster. Other games however, Doom 3 for example, gives me less fps on Linux than on Windows XP.
Why are you constantly talking about NVIDIA? ATI exists as well...
That's because ATI's Linux drivers are bad. ATI is working on improving them, but if you like to game on Linux I advise that you buy a NVIDIA card. NVIDIA has Linux drivers which are a lot better than ATI's drivers, giving you better performance.
4. Other questions
When Urban Terror will be ported to Enemy Territory, will we still be able to play it on Linux?
Yes, Enemy Territory is also available on Linux, so we will still be able to play Urban Terror when it's ported.
In the zip file I can only find a low-res icon for Windows. Is there an icon for Linux?
Here you can find a Linux icon I created in xpm format.
I don't want to use the server browser of Urban Terror, are there external server browsers avaialble for Linux? A program which is similar to the All-Seeing Eye server browser for Windows?
Yes, there is a program called XQF which can browse for Quake 3 Arena servers and it's mods, and works with some other games as well. Get it from the XQF website. You notice that when you scan for Quake 3 Arena servers, you will see the normal Q3 servers and all the servers running mods for Q3. If you only want to see the servers which run Urban Terror, you have to make a server filter. Start XQF -> Server Filters -> Configure -> New -> Enter a name for the filter -> then type: q3ut3 in the field "the game contains the string". Now press the "S Filter" button in the main window of XQF, and scan for Quake 3 Arena servers. You should only see the servers which are running Urban Terror now.
I can't play certain demo's?
If the demo is recorded in an older version of Urban Terror/Quake 3 than you have installed it won't play, but there also seems to be a Linux specific problem. If you want to play demo's from the demo menu, they will not play. Try typing in the console: /demo <demoname> The file name is case sensitive. Then they most likely will play.
How do I convert my UrT demo file to a movie on Linux?
This question requires a long answer. I can't explain everything concerning movie making, I will only explain a method to convert a demo to a movie and the programs which can be used to accomplsih that. I will not explain the usage of scripts in UrT and the codec configuration in the video editor. You will have to search for information yourself if you need help on that.
First we need a demo. I like to use this script for recording demo's when I'm playing UrT.
//DEMO RECORDER SCRIPT
set r_demo_1 "set r_demo vstr r_demo_2; g_synchronousClients 1; record; g_synchronousClients 0"
set r_demo_2 "set r_demo vstr r_demo_1; stoprecord"
set r_demo "vstr r_demo_1"
bind m "vstr r_demo" //record demo
I have these lines copied in my autoexec.cfg, all I have to do is press the "m" key when I'm playing UrT to record a demo, pressing "m" again will stop recording. After the demo is recorded, return to the main menu, open the console and type:
/cl_avidemo 25
/demo <nameofyourdemo>
The command cl_avidemo will create an image sequence of the demo, which can then be converted to a movie. The number 25 specifies the framerate, in this case it means it will create 25 images for every second the demo plays.
After the demo is done playing, exit UrT. The sequence of images can now be found in the directory /home/<username>/.q3a/q3ut3/screenshots (assuming that you installed Quake 3 in the default directory).
We will now convert the image sequence into a movie. To accomplish that we will use the program Avidemux. But before we convert the image sequence into a movie, we first have to convert the images to the BMP file format because Avidemux can't handle the TGA file format. This can easily be achieved with ImageMagick, which is most likely already installed on your PC, depending on your Linux distribution. Open a terminal and enter the following commands:
cd /home/<username>/.q3a/q3ut3/screenshots
for i in *.tga; do convert $i `basename "$i" .tga`.bmp; done
Now you have to wait for some time, it can be a few minutes or it can be a few hours if your demo is very long and your computer is slow. When it's done, open Avidemux. Press “Open” and type: /home/<username>/.q3a/q3ut3/screenshots/shot0000.bmp
If it's all right your image sequence should be imported now. Press “Play” -> “Play Video” to see your movie being played. Now all we have to is press “Save”. Type in a filename and your movie will be encoded. Again this will depend on how long your video is, how fast your computer is, and the codec you've chosen and it's configuration. When it's done, open the video file and see the result.
To do list:
USB mouse hack answer needs more work.