• install thief 2
  
• activate compatibility mode
  
• download t2fix into the thief folder
  
• rename Thief2.exe to Thief2.exe.orig and t2fix to Thief2.exe
  
• start the game
  
• be patient. The T2Fix installation window takes a long time to apear
  
• rename everything back
  
• finish up the t2fix installation
  
• start the game

This is a simple guide for getting the basic thief 2 game running on linux with Steam and Proton.
Simple as in "no shell commands" and no manipulation of environment variables.

To run Windows games under Linux Steam uses a “compatibility mode” which is called Proton.
Proton is their version of WINE.
You only need to know that Proton is a what steam uses to run thief.
Thief2 thinks it runs under Windows and there will be a virtual drive c: and a drive z: which maps to the root folder /

To run Thief2 on a modern computer you need to patch it. The Steam version does not even run under Windows without beeing patched. The recomended way at the moment is to install T2Fix.

T2Fix is a collection of patches made by the thief community.

The Tux pinguin logo was made by lewing@isc.tamu.edu with GIMP and is from wikipedia.

• Steam
  
• Thief 2
  
• the latest version of T2Fix (explained in the guide)
  
• Proton installed (explained in the guide)

Befor you can install Thief2 you need to enable “compatibility mode”

you can enable it in the “properties” windows.
Click the Gear (1) then Properties (2) in the new window click on "COMPATIBILITY" (3)
and set the check mark on “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool”

“Proton Experimental” works fine for me. But if it’s not working you can try different versions found in the "“Dropdown Menu" bellow the checkmark.

Be aware: Every installed Proton version costs you additional disk space





Now you can run the Thief 2 installation on Linux.
Spoiler: it won’t run after the installation. We need to install T2Fix first.



After the installation is completed you have to open the thief2 directory.
The fastest way is via the “Browse local files” Dialog option


Leave the thief_2 filemanager window open.
Download the latest version of T2Fix from the TTLG forum.
T2Fix (with mods)[www.ttlg.com]

T2Fix is a unofficial package of patches for thief 2.
There are 3 version. I recommended installing “T2Fix with mods”.
It not only makes the game playable but also fixes some missions and adds some missing features.
There is also T2Fix without mods for the basic experience and T2FixLight for people without broadband connection.


Copy the T2Fix executable in the thief_2 folder.
Now you have to rename Thief2.exe to Thief2.exe.orig
and the T2Fix executable to Thief2.exe



Leave the thief_2 folder open and start the game via steam.
Be patient. This time it takes some time to open.
After ~60 seconds the T2Fix installer should open.


Click “Next” until you reach the “Select Destination Location” Dialog


Leave the window open and switch back to the thief_2 folder.
Rename the files again. This time
Thief2.exe to Thief2.exe.t2fix and Thief2.exe.orig to Thief2.exe


Now you need to copy the entiere path to the clipboard.
There are different ways depending on your Linux version and configuration but it should work something like this.


Now switch back to the T2Fix installer. Click “Browse”
In the “Browse For Folder” dialog insert the thief2 path from you clipboard and add Z: in front of it. Linux uses / as a seperator for folders instead of \.
Just click “OK” Proton will take care of it.



Click "Next".




If you see the "A valid installation was not detected" Dialog then you have made a typo in the thief_2 path or renamed something wrong and there is no Thief2.exe.
Fix it and try it again.


Now select at least "Thief2 Fixed 1.3b". The description box tells you all you need to know about the options. When you are finish, click "next" then "install"



If the error message "an error occurred while trying to replace existing files" pops up then you did not rename the files correctly.

thief2.exe has to be original thief2.exe


As soon as the installation is finished you can close the windows and start the game.

Happy Taffing

After T2Fix
With Thief2HD mod

• 
• 
• 
• foog and bloom don't work well together
  
• 
• 
• much better
  
• 
• 

• If your game runs like a slideshow, but native linux games run just fine. Go to the Options menu and check "Hardware Driver" under "Video". If it shows something along the line of "llvmpipe (LLVM)" then the game runs in software render mode and doesn't use the grafik card. Just install the dxvk drivers via your systems package management. Thief uses Direct3D. dxvk translates DIrect3D to Vulkan, the Linux equivalent od Direct3D and quasi successor of OpenGL.
  
• 
• 

I will write a seperate "simple guide" for installing angelloader.

TL;DR

• rename thief2.exe to thief2g.exe
  
• copy angelloader (a fan mission manager) into the thief2 folder. skip doc and copy 7zip.dll only if not there
  
• rename angelloader.exe to thief2.exe.
  
• create 2 folders: backup fanmission
  
• start angeloader by starting the game via steam.
  
• Fill out the setup assistent:
  The Thief2 executable is now called thief2g.exe
  Every path you copy has to be changed from Linux path format to windows path format (for example /home/username/.steam/ to z:\home\username\.steam\ )
  
• without a fanmission in the folder angelloader will give an error. just click on "continue" a couple of times
  
• download a fanmission into the fanmission folder
  
• restart thief2 (angelloader) or click reload
  
• click play mission
  
• enjoy

Tested on:

• Ubuntu 20 LTS - i3-2100 - 16GB Ram - GeForce GTX 9800 GPU
  
• Debian Buster - i7-8550U - 16GB Ram - Intel 620 GPU