Windows version is also problematic.
Do you have a current version of the game?
Lutris scripts are also often a good help: https://lutris.net/games/install/504/view
this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025
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Well obviously the version on the DVD is ancient. I did apply the latest available patch, but that is also ancient.
I assume the steam version the Lutris script uses was updated at some point after the last retail patch.
Maybe. But more importantly, it downloads a new binary.
Right. I tried that patch now, but it still wants libstdc++.so.5
Bummer. Maybe you can get that from some other distro's package and add to the library path.
But at that point going the Proton route is probably easier.
Usually you can symlink to other versions and it will work fine.
Well yeah, but how do i figure out which version I need and where do I get that version?
What I mean is, you create a link from "libxyz.wanted.so" to "libxyz.present.so", so when the game is looking for the libxyz.wanted.so file, it actually reads the libxyz.present.so file.
You do this with the symbolic links and ln -s, but check the order of the parameters, as I always get those with long the first time around.
Sounds like the best way would be to run the software in a period appropriate container.
Or find the source for libstdc++.so.5, compile it yourself and set the appropriate LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
Every time I'm getting close to abandoning Windows on my gaming rig I stumble in here and change my mind. I do run Linux on some other machines though.
To be honest I'm having way less problems than I was expecting. I would never want to switch back.
Honestly this is not a good reason.
Basically the only sticking point IMO would be whether the specific games you enjoy tend to have problems (often due to draconian DRM or anti cheat systems)
I have those reasons. Multiple games, and several other work-related software requirements. I literally have the physical media for UT2004 sitting on my desk because I recently reinstalled it. Like I said, I'm still running Linux on multiple machines but I'm not yet comfortable cutting the cord.
My job is only 10% IT but I'm going to be having to deal with this more soon. I have at least a dozen PCs I'm going to have to make decisions about before Win10 EOL. Maybe I'll be more confident soon.
You’re much better off either running it in a container that provides the ancient libraries it needs or running the Windows version through Proton. Otherwise, my understanding is that if you were to theoretically provide it everything it needed, you’d basically be downgrading your distro to a version from 2004.
The Proton approach is what I would try.
Looking in the aur libstdc++5-bin package it's getting it from Debian pre-compiled: https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/libstdc++5
I don't know about Nobara, but if isn't available there you can get the library from the same source and use LD_LIBRARY_PATH to load that library.
That helped. Thank you very much! Crashes everytime I try to switch to fullscreen though, I'll play around with it for a bit, hopefully I'll figure it out.
My recollection is that the DVD included that library, but it's been a while...
The DVD includes SDL and OpenAL, but not libstdc++
With the help of this forum post and a bit of persistence I managed to get it to work and I wanted to share how with future generations and/or my future self.
First Problem: libstdc++.so.5
dnf does not have libstdc++5 but apt does.
Solution: I installed Mint on a Virtual Machine ran sudo apt install libstdc++5 and then copied the library to my real machine into the system directory of UT2004. The game now starts. I know there must be a better way to solve this.
Second Problem: Game starts in a tiny window stuck in the top left corner
Alt+Enter switches it to a real window that makes the game useable, but setting a proper resolution and trying to make it fullscreen again crashes the game.
Solution: Open /home/odin/.ut2004/System/UT2004.ini, go to the [SDLDrv.SDLClient] section and set all lines with viewport to the desired resolution.
Third Problem: No sound
UT2004 uses the obsolete OSS sound system.
Solution: Run the game under a compatibility wrapper. Debian and derivatives have aoss available. Fedora and derivatives have padsp. Thus run the game with padsp "./ut2004-bin-linux-amd64" and the sound works.