L.G.C. |How-To| — Install Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited (WINE)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to yet another LGC How-To. In this iteration, I’ll be showing you how to install The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited on WINE. Not that it is a very complicated process, it just has an extra hoop which may not be entirely obvious for everyone to jump through. Let’s get to it, then.

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  1. Log in to https://account.elderscrollsonline.com/ and hit the Download Game button;
    1. If you haven’t yet bought the game, I recommend you don’t. It’s far too expensive for something that doesn’t support Linux.
  2. Locate the file you just downloaded, it should be called Install_ESO.exe and remember where it is, or move it somewhere easier to find (i.e. the desktop);
  3. Install and/or start PlayOnLinux;
    1. The reason I’m using PlayOnLinux is because it will make our job much easier.
  4. On the main window, push the Install button and choose Install a non-listed program from the bottom left corner of the window that shows up;
    1. There is an entry for ESO already on PoL but it did not work for me, so I don’t recommend you use it.
  5. Follow the installation wizard, making sure to call the prefix something sensible (simply eso will do), and choose a 64bit prefix when prompted;
  6. When it asks you to select an install file to run, browse to where you left the Install_ESO.exe file earlier;
  7. The ESO installer will launch and you can keep the default settings, I just recommend you untick the box for creating a desktop shortcut;
  8. Once the installation is finished you will see a PlayOnLinux error box come up before being covered the Launcher itself;
    1. Don’t worry, this is normal. It happens because the installer failed to install the certificate the game needs.
  9. Close the Launcher and the error box and you will be prompted to pick a file for which to create a shortcut, choose the Bethesda.net_Launcher.exe and once it’s done close the window;
  10. Now we need to download the certificate the installer failed to install.
    1. You can find it in several places but I recommend you get it from Andrew Schott’s website: Direct Link (right click -> Save as)
  11. Now click the Configure button on the main PlayOnLinux window and choose the Miscellaneous tab;
  12. Now click the Open a Shell button and on the XTerm window which popped up type: wine control
    1. This will open the WINE Control Panel window, which contains three icons (Add/Remove Programs, Game Controllers and Internet Options).
  13. Open Internet Options, navigate to the Content tab and click the Certificates button;
  14. There, click where it says Import…, hit Next, choose the eso-thawte-cert.crt you downloaded earlier and, on the final step, choose to Automatically Select Certificate Depot;
  15. Assuming you did everything correctly, you’ll get a little message box saying the certificate was successfully installed;
  16. Now you can double click the shortcut you made earlier and get started on that Nobel Prize, because it’s a ~32GB download;
  17. Once it’s finished, launch the game by clicking on the Play button;
  18. In the main menu, go to Settings and be sure to change the graphics options to your liking.
    1. Doesn’t really matter what you change right now, we just need to do this so the game will create the UserSettings.txt file.
  19. Find the UserSettings.txt file;
    1. It will be located in either your ~/Documents/Elder Scrolls Online/live/UserSettings.txt or simply ~/Elder Scrolls Online/live/UserSettings.txt, depending on how you have PlayOnLinux configured.
  20. Open that file with your favorite text editor and replace the the line which says SET GraphicsDriver.7 “D3D9” with SET GraphicsDriver.7 “OPENGL”;
    1. This is not mandatory, but you’ll never have to thank me if you do it.
  21. That’s it, just start the game and enjoy.

And finally:

DON’T BUY GAMES WHICH DO NOT SUPPORT LINUX

Author: Pedro Mateus

13 Comments
  1. Hello mate! I followed the steps exactly like you and it stucked at
    loading screen… the same thing before I put the certificate… I
    looked other options on the internet but I can’t pass through the
    loading screen…

      • Yes I tried it too! Yesterday, before you anwering me I tried it again by cleaning all the virtual drives in PoL and I test it. My computer stucked and the launcher wasn’t showed up completely. I restarted my computer and I tried again your method and the same result came up! It’ weird because I can play Hearthstone through PoL, so I don’t think Wine or PoL have problem.

        Thanks for answering mate!

  2. I followed the steps as well and it froze at the launcher. Didn’t make it to the update, which it froze at before. I tried installing a virtual drive with POL to run it (like the guy below commented) and Wine just crashed.

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