q4wine works, q4wine-cli doesn't
 

Hi forum,

I very much enjoy playing Flatout2 via wine 1.6.2-0ubuntu4 on Linux Mint 17. I configured q4wine 1.1-r2-1 to create a virtual desktop 1024x768 for the game. The game itself is set to run in 1680x1050, which is as well my desktop's as the monitor's native resolution. This works surprisingly well.

There is a shortcut in the start menu which runsAs far as I understand, that should do exactly the same as double-clicking on the FlatOut2 icon (results described above).

But the actual 3D racing game world stays black. Only the overlays like speedometer, lap count, position, etc are there at 5 fps.

How can I change the shortcut to work as if I clicked on the icon in q4wine gui?

i'm a little confused now.
can you please post both commands, the one that works as expected, and the other one?
hint: you can find the other command in /usr/share/applications/flatout2.desktop (filename might be different) after "Exec=".
might also be in some other applications directory, depending how you installed it:

Sorry, I didn't make that clear enough: The icon (the one which works) is not on the desktop but within the q4wine gui under "Programs"->"Default"->"gms"->"FlatOut2". The "gms" is the one in the "-d" option for q4wine-cli.

it must still be possible to get at that other command.
it stands to logic that you have to find out what that other (hidden?) command is doing differently than yours, if you want this solved.
maybe you should ask the developers? i do not have neither flatout2 nor q4wine installed.
hint: wine usually stores its stuff in ~/.wine. looked there?

ps:
in linux, .desktop files don't necessarily have to be on the desktop.
they are what's behind most menu entries. open a terminal and type "ls /usr/share/applications" to see what i mean.

Nope, no such thing as a FlatOut2.desktop file. But the link in the start menu now works nonetheless without using q4wine at all. Now it's with the settings (virtual desktop 1024x768 + emulate Windows98) set in the "configure wine" application.

By the way: I had to experiment a lot to get those settings. Is there a methodical way to investigate on what settings an application will work with in wine?