Hi there.

I'd like to install ut2004 to play on both windows and linux. I don't quite fancy having two installations of several GB each. Is there a way of installing it so that some of the files are shared?

Thanks, reetep.

Yeah, you could in theory. I've never tried something like this, though.

What filesystems do you use for you Linux and Windows? ReiserFS? NTFS? ext2/3?

Wait... but doesn't windows use Direct X, and the Linux version of UT2K4 use OpenGL... I thought the files would change... or would they?

They both use the same maps, textures, and sounds, though.

You would have to have your windows install in a place that you could make symlinks to in place of where the files would be in your linux install.

Although this sollution is really crude. There are bound to be problems, most likely making the whole mess unplayable. It's a nice idea, but I don't think you should try it.

Too. Much. Work. Easier to install twice, or just switch to linux completely! You would probably have to make copies of so many files (direct x only and open gl only) that it would take up 75% or so of two installs anyway. Just not worth it. But a good idea. The result would be a mess of bloated unplayable badness (and i mean bad in a bad way). Install it on one OS, I don't see the problem (only takes 2 min or so to switch os). Or use vmware (NOT reccomended (by me) for games).

Thanks for your help guys. The obvious thing worked - I just installed separately twice, giving the installer the same destination directory on a shared FAT32 partition each time.

I noticed it replaced existing files without prompting during the second install, so I had to hope that some of the critical files (ie the ones that differed between the two installation types) didn't share the same filename.

Looks like the makers thought of this, cos I haven't had any problems so far!

Thanks for your help. Hopefully this'll help anyone else out there wanting to do the same thing.

In case it makes a difference, I installed on linux first, but I really doubt that matters.

Woah cool, but I never share partitions.... bad Feng-Shui. Oh and just a question : why did you want it on both OSes in the first place?

Whyever not? Do you not have music/films/documents that you want to be able to read/modify under either OS? What if you want to finish an essay that you started under windows when you happen to be under linux; do you reboot? I have a dedicated FAT32 partition for this purpose containing all my media, photos, documents etc. With the advent of NTFS write support for linux this won't be necessary of course, but I aint holding my breath...

Why not? Especially if it doesn't take up any more room. It's also interesting to compare the performance under each OS - openGL versus DirectX etc.

In fact the main reason is because I don't have to reboot if I happen to be in one OS and want to play the game installed in the other. For example I feel uneasy using internet banking under windows - you never know whether there's a new unknown virus which incorporates keylogging software etc* - so I tend to do that under linux. Similarly the thought of using emacs under windows makes me shudder, and there's plenty of other things that I prefer to do under linux too. On the other hand there are some programs/games which won't run under linux. If I want to move from one game to the next I don't fancy rebooting.


*that's not to say that it might not happen under linux either, but certainly less likely, if only by virtue of the the fact that linux is a less popular OS.

ah that make sense, but still, sharing a partition makes me uneasy, so I dont. Linux is my only OS now.