Troubleshooting guide for Linux
Problems before entering the game
Installation
Permissions :: You may have to set permissions on the downloaded installation file so it will run. Do this from a command prompt, from the directory where you downloaded the installation file (~/Downloads). Type:
cd ~/Downloads chmod 755 PlaneShift-vn.n.n-x86.run
Then, to launch it, assuming you still have the same command prompt open:
./PlaneShift-vn.n.n-x86.run
replace: PlaneShift-vn.n.n-x86.run
with the actual file name, n.n.n-x86 will need to be changed.
To start PlaneShift from a Linux command line
If PlaneShift is installed in your home directory:
~/PlaneShift/psclient
or
~/PlaneShift/pslaunch
To update PlaneShift from a Linux command line
If PlaneShift is installed in your home directory:
~/PlaneShift/pslaunch --console
If the updater fails with errors such as:
Unable to get root node! Segmentation fault
Edit: updateservers.xml and updaterinfo.xml
(in the PlaneShift directory) so that <mirrors> tag looks like this:
<mirrors>
<mirror id="1" name="server1" url="http://194.116.72.94/update/" />
</mirrors>
and try to update again.
Graphics card drivers
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc, will install or offer to install the latest stable version of your graphics card driver for you.
If you are using a different Linux distribution and it does not automatically install an optimised driver for your graphics card then you can install one manually.
NVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
AMD/ATI: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
Intel: http://www.intel.com/p/en_UK/support/graphics/
Each of these web sites have Linux drivers for their laptop and desktop computers' graphics cards. Documentation regarding their installation will be included with the driver.
Black or grey screens
This suggests your graphics card is not adequate for running PlaneShift.
Another symptom of insufficient Graphics Processing Unit is when creating a character for the first time, the application will apparently just exit.
No audio
This message is displayed when you start PlaneShift:
could not load plugin 'crystalspace.sndsys.renderer.null'
Start the PlaneShift Launcher. If PlaneShift is installed in your home directory:
~/PlaneShift/.pslaunch
Click the Settings button. From the Settings screen click: Audio
Select: Enable sound
Set Sound Renderer to: OpenAl
Unable to connect to server
The following page will inform you whether the game server is accessible.
http://planeshift.zeroping.it/index.php?page=about_page
Check the Stats box for server status.
If the Total online is 0, this probably means administrators are updating software on the game server.
If you have a firewall then you need to know that PlaneShift requires the outbound port: 7777
In game bugs (after loading world)
Performance
1. Run the updater to ensure the PlaneShift software has the latest bug fixes installed.
2. Lag and poor performance can be improved by:
2.1 Updating your graphics card drivers.
2.2 Set your desktop colour depth to 24 or 32 bit, sometimes called 'true colour'.
2.3 Enable Adaptive Distance.
Start PlaneShift, log in. Then from the game's tool bar, click the Options button.
From the Options window, under the Graphics item, click Details.
Select the Adaptive distance check box.
Click: Save
2.4 Texture down sampling.
Edit: PlaneShift/psclient.cfg
and change:
Video.OpenGL.TextureDownsample = 0
to
Video.OpenGL.TextureDownsample = 4