Thanks for this. Been planning on switching my laptop to Manjaro for a while now, since I'm soooo done with this slow and slower, frequently crashing Windows 10. It's like setting up a new computer every time they do a major update without my knowledge. Knowing I can still sim is a huge incentive to go ahead and start the migration. Games are the only reason I have Windows still, anyway.

Can't believe this thread is still getting replies ngl :b but I'm glad it is!

Manjaro's an excellent choice, great for playing the game. But as with all Linux distros, be careful about what Windows programs that you can use on Manjaro. As a simmer, off the top of my head, SimPE, Photoshop, Compressorizor, Hoodchecker, HoodReplace both work fine. Sims 2 Pack Clean Installer is one app that takes a LOT of patience to get working tbh

That's great to hear! I'm just about to switch to Linux...do you know if those also work on the Pop distro? Additionally, would my system being eight or so years old prevent anything from working? For example, VirtualBox - at least, when I tried it - is incompatible.

"Will something work on this system and OS" is more of a technical support question than a game question. With that said, I'm running TS2 on a low-end computer model that I later learned was prevalent in corporate environments about 10 years ago, with an OS designed for use on lower-specification computers.

Since I've been using Linux for a very long time, I've learned that sometimes you just have to try things out to see if they work. And if they work, do they work as intended.

I can't seem to get the Sims 2 to run without being choppy and laggy, especially in neighborhood view and on larger lots.

I am on Arch Linux, with an NVIDIA GeForce 1050 ti, 16GB of RAM. I have the Ultimate Collection.

did you proceed with each necessary step to make the game playable on modern hardware (it's the same as in the Windows)?

Making game recognize the GPU and adding the necessary fixes should help themselves. Then you can also tinker the Lutris options or directly (if not installed via Lutris) editing the status of wineprefix if you feel in need of. If you're running the Arch I suppose you know what you're doing anyway.

I have had no problems with the game (old Thinkpad T450 with only HD5500) and the tools, though the last to install needs some tinkering to place them correctly in the current game's wineprefix. Occasionally it stutters a bit - especially if there's heavy snow overlay on the screen and sometimes in the max speed mode - but I did experience the same behaviour of the program while running it on Windows 7. Limiting the FPS helps a bit for this - the game sometimes behaves weirdly with powerful (proportionally ofc) hardware, well its an old program.

Have fun and sim well

I applied the 4GB patch and edited my Graphics Rules and Video Cards, but I think Lutris is somehow spoofing my GPU, because the game's log see my GPU as a different model. I've played around with the Lutris options, using gamemode, emulating desktop, etc.

The game runs, it's just laggy enough to not be enjoyable.

EDIT: It seems to be an issue with the newer versions of Wine. I switched to Wine 5.2 and it seems to be working much better now! :D

Thank you for this guide, I've recently started using Ubuntu on a new PC, and I'd like to try this.

However, how should I create a new user for Wine? Does it have to be done before installing Wine?

I find Elementary OS is a good starting point for Mac users :p

I switched from Ubuntu to Manjaro KDE (its file manager, dolphin, is fantastic with lots of control, much better for me than the one in Ubuntu), installed and it works good so far on a PC with Ryzen 5 4650g and integrated graphics, I don't even have the square shadow issue that was on my old win7 laptop.

I managed to even install sim2pack files, but with Clean installer, as double clicking with default Package installer doesn't seem to work. SimPE also doesn't work for me, it says it will shutdown due to an unhandled exception... Does it need to have .NET and other things installed separately? Would someone share their experience with it, if it can work?

Regarding your issue with installing sim2pack files, I'm not entirely sure about SimPE's system requirements. But, based on my experience, some applications do need additional dependencies like NET to work correctly. Perhaps you could try installing .NET and other prerequisites and see if that helps solve the issue? Also, if you're looking for an alternative operating system, you might want to check out centos 7 . I recently came across an article that says its lifecycle has been extended until 2024, so it could be an excellent choice for those who prioritize stability and long-term support..

I have played Sims 1, Sims 3, and Sims 4 on Slackware64 Linux for several years. With the older versions of WINE, it was a bit of work. With the newer ones, I've had fewer problems. However, be prepared to use winetricks to install some libraries.

Hoodchecker threw errors on ubuntu, I managed to get it to work. If you faced the same issue, don't click on your hood's name like you usually do, instead, open hoodname.package file through the "browse" button in hoodchecker.

EDIT: I thought it worked out of the box when installed on its own, but that was the EP selector. Will investigate further.

EDIT EDIT: Managed to fix this exception; see this thread for details

I get this error when running through Lutris on Linux Mint:
(See thread with identical error)
The weird characters in " System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type '.' from assembly '' are apparently unicode symbols with values 2 and 3 ('start of text' and 'end of text'). If anybody can recognize what that is about, let me know.

I tried fiddling with the configurations including disabling Lutris Runtime but the result is the same.
Others in this thread have gotten SimPE to work, so I am curious what they have done differently.

EDIT: I see that the weird characters aren't visible outside of post editing. They are on each side of the period in "Could not load type '.' from assembly"

I added it as a new game to Lutris (used SimPE version 0.75f) with its own separate prefix and it worked for me - though it does have some weird quirks, i.e. normally clicking on entries in the resource list doesn't open them in the plugin view. I have to right click on them to open plugin view for whatever reason. I don't get any error messages though.

I also tested the compressorizer, hair binner, hood replacer and hood checker and they all seem to work fine for me as well if I run them inside the game's prefix. The only thing I haven't gotten to work is CleanInstaller.

All of this on Fedora, I'm not the biggest fan of ubuntu. I've helped a couple of people set up Linux in the past month and the ones who had the biggest issues were always the ones who went for ubuntu.