/!\: This thread is not kept up-to-date anymore, please go to the following one to get the latest links and instructions, or for any kind of feedback on the scripts:
[./play.it] Install the Icewind Dale games on Linux

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Hello fellow Debian users, Ubuntu lovers and Mint freaks!

Here you’ll find scripts allowing you to turn your .exe installers of Icewind Dale (IWD1) and Icewind Dale 2 (IWD2) into .deb packages, allowing to install them through DPKG and remove them through APT.

First thing first, here you can download the scripts:
IWD1, French version (GOG release 2.0.0.11): dead link removed
IWD1, English version (GOG release 2.0.0.11): dead link removed

IWD2, French version (GOG release 2.0.0.11): dead link removed
IWD2, English version (GOG release 2.0.0.11):dead link removed
IWD2, French version (GOG release 2.1.0.12): dead link removed
IWD2, English version (GOG release 2.1.0.12): dead link removed

Choose the language you feel more comfortable with, but rest assured: no language will be stripped from your game (nor added by the way). It is only the language used by the script, not by the game.

I tried to make them as easy to use as possible:
1. Download and put in a same directory the script and the GOG .exe installer (setup_icewind_dale_complete_2.0.0.11.exe, setup_icewind_dale2_2.0.0.11.exe or setup_icewind_dale2_french_2.1.0.12.exe);
2. Check the script dependencies. To run, these scripts need the following packages to be installed on your system:
fakeroot, innoextract, icoutils
3. Open a terminal in the directory containing the script then run the script via the following command: (for IWD1), (for IWD2 release 2.0.0.11), or (for IWD2 release 2.1.0.12)

That’s it! The script will take a couple minutes to work its magic, and end by giving you the command to launch as root to install the freshly built .deb package.

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Advanced usage
Mod support (IWD1)
Mod support (IWD2)

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Any return, be it a bug report, a suggestion, a request, a demand for clarification, an insult or a simple "thank you" is welcome in this thread. Demands for similar scripts for other GOG games (or Humble Bundle ones) should go via PM.

I hope you’ll enjoy these scripts as much as I enjoy writing and tweaking them ;)
Have fun, and see you on the Spine of the World!

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Here you go for more supported games!

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2015-06-16: easy-to-use mod support added to IWD2
IWD2 config files (*.ini) now found under ~/.config/icewind-dale/
IWD2 temp files (cache/) now found under ~/.cache/icewind-dale/

2015-06-09: easy-to-use mod support added to IWD1
IWD1 config files (*.ini) now found under ~/.config/icewind-dale/
IWD1 temp files (cache/ temp/) now found under ~/.cache/icewind-dale/

2015-20-07 Wrong wine dependency for Ubuntu/Mint *fixed*
Thanks to parabox for the report:
https://www.gog.com/forum/icewind_dale_series/linux_turn_your_exe_installers_into_deb_packages/post2

First off, thank you for basically winewrapping the remaining two IE games, as .deb files (I'm not really over GOG not completely fulfilling their promise as far as Linux games go - providing both archives and packages, that is)! They're currently cheaper and more modifyable, and seem to go on sale more often than their EE counterparts, so for many of us they're the better option.

Now, on to my problem. The packages wine-bin and wine32 that the IWD packages are built to have as dependencies don't seem to exist in Ubuntu and therefore also not in Mint. They appear to be alternate names Debian has for wine and wine:i386. The fix for this is simple: edit the shell script and change the line that reads PKGDEPS="wine, wine-bin|wine32" to read PKGDEPS="wine|wine-bin|wine32", the package will install and the game will run fine. Maybe modify the line to read PKGDEPS='wine|wine:i386|wine-bin|wine32" so it works for those on a 32bit system, though I'm not sure on that.

Done.
Thank you for the report!

I updated all my scripts for games depending on WINE. The dependencies list is now: "wine, wine32|wine-bin|wine1.6-i386|wine1.4-i386" to ensure i386 version of WINE is installed.
Please tell me if you get any unwanted behaviour from this.

If you renamed your GOG archive, the script will not find it automatically. You have to give it the path to the archive as an argument in order for it to work. This can allow you to run the script without the need to copy the archive around.
Here is an example: You can set different options while running these scripts to define some of its behaviours. Here comes the list of these options, with the default option in bold characters.

CHECKSUM=md5,none
By default, the script will check the archive integrity through md5sum. If you want to bypass this check for any reason, set this option to none while launching the script:  
COMPRESSION=none,gzip,xz
By default, the final .deb package is built without compression to speed up the building process and the package installation. You can use DPKG built-in support of gzip or xz compression by setting this option to the adequate value:  
PREFIX=/usr/local,any absolute path
By default, the .deb package will install the game data under /usr/local. If you want to install it under another path, you can by setting this option to the relevant path. Only an absolute path can be defined this way.

The IWD1 package created by this script allows for automated installation of some mods.
Here goes the list, with for each mod its name and version, a download URL, and the command to install it.

Icewind Dale Fixpack v6
http://gibberlings3.net/forums/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=758 Unfinished Business for Icewind Dale v7
http://gibberlings3.net/forums/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=765 Icewind Dale Tweak Pack v15
http://gibberlings3.net/forums/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=757 The game installed via this script allow of course the installation of any mod, this list is only some tested mods that have a simplified installation process.
If you’d like to see your favourite mod added to the list, just ask for it here ;)

The IWD2 package created by this script allows for automated installation of some mods.
Here goes the list (only one mod yet), with for each mod its name and version, a download URL, and the command to install it.

Icewind Dale II Tweak Pack v2.2
http://gibberlings3.net/forums/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=780 The game installed via this script allow of course the installation of any mod, this list is only some tested mods that have a simplified installation process.
If you’d like to see your favourite mod added to the list, just ask for it here ;)

Hi,
I have a very basic question - I have used your .exe to .deb convert scripts and they are swell, so kudos for that. However I would like to know for the sake of curiosity, what is the difference between using a tar ball extract from gog vs using your script on exes from gog? I mean is there any difference in terms of performance. Also do the tar ball versions not use wine? I am a little confused as to what the pros/cons might be.

Please do let me know.

Peace
Anant

That’s a pertinent question. So let me list some points that my .deb packages do differently than the GOG .tar.gz packages:
_installation through DPKG, uninstallation with any APT front-end (apt-get, synaptic, gnome-software, etc.) ;
_a single installation allow for multiple user-specific mod set-ups, without the need to duplicate the data for each user ;
_easier acces to conf files, under '~/.config/' ;
_temporary files are written under '~/.cache/', so if you set this directory to be written in RAM your games will benefit from it ;
_system-wide WINE is used, so you will benefit from updates to WINE by your distribution, and you don’t need to duplicate WINE installation for each game ;
_game data files are kept in "vanilla" state in the system directories ('/usr/local/share/games/' by default), so you can revert your set-up to this state at any time in a couple seconds ;
_automated installation for some specific mods, user-specific ;
_by copying/tweaking the launcher scripts (under '/usr/local/games/' by default) you can maintain multiple different set-up of the game (useful if you are a modder) without the need for duplicating data files.

I might forget a couple differences, but that’s the most important ones.
If anything is not clear, do not hesitate to ask for clarification ;)

Thanks for all that. All of that makes sense but I my primary question was from an gameplay/performance point of view. Does the tar ball not use wine? If it doesnt and run natively, then it has to be better than using wine right? After all, wine in emulation - that was the primary part of the question.

And I also assume that your script would be used only with the exe version right? Just wondering if it makes sense to bring these advantages to the native version as well (if it does not use wine, that is!)....

Do let me know.

Peace

To further this conversation:
I tried installing both the exe version and the tar version (albeit the exe version with pure wine and not your scripts).
In the case of the exe with wine, the screen was windowed and very small - I know this might have to do something with my wine but I have not really configured wine one way or another, it is out of the box vanilla wine 1.6.2

With the tar ball, the game launched full screen and graphic options were readily available.

So what do you make of this?

Oh, I understand better now: you’re talking about Enhanced Editions?
These scripts here are for the original Icewind Dale & Icewind Dale 2, not the EE. And there is no Linux version of the originals.

Of course, when a native version is available, it will be better than a run through WINE in ~99% of cases.

No problem, I should have titled this thread better so there wouldn’t be any confusion ;)
Sadly GOG forums doesn’t allow for a thread title change, which is a shame as I’m quite "typo-prone".

By the way I intend to write scripts for the EE editions too once I get a hand on them. Of course only some of the advantages I listed would be pertinent for the EE, I’ll have to try them first to see which ones.

Actually there I can help you. When I tried to install the 3 mods, all of them failed. I used tolower and weinstall but nothing works on the EE. One of your advantages is the mod installation, maybe that would help.

I am trying to get help on the gibberlings forums but so far no luck :(