Sacred 2 on Linux (Lubuntu 22.04 LTS) help running?

[Shinryuu 15]

So I got a new computer. I really, really hate windows. Windows is like meth, I don't want to use it, but I don't have much choice since nothing else works.

18.04 was my last try, and I just gave up and used dual-boot back then. Windows 7 ran Sacred 2 quite perfectly, occasional crashes, but rare enough to not be an issue.

So now I can install Sacred 2 Gold just fine. There's been a few errors during installation, I think? but same happened with Sacred UW. Sacred 1 just works fine, I didn't exactly play much yet, but I guess I'll play it for now since Sacred 2 is not working.

I've tried just about everything. Winetricks, Wine 6, Wine8, Lutris GEs, various other Lutris versions, etc. If I run in desktop mode + fullscreen in Lutris, the game just hangs on launching. All other methods lead to one tiny error:

00ec:err:sync:RtlLeaveCriticalSection section 00D4B874 "?" is not acquired

Nowhere on the internet does it say what the issue is. WIth Sacred UW I got a whole laundry list of errors, put PlayVideo=0 (since the issue was the video) and it runs fine. Wine or lutris don't spit out any useable info  with Sacred 2 for a total Linux newbie.

Tried 64 bit, 32 bit, no PhysX, PhysX redist, PhysX winetricks, DirectX9 redist (I know this is bad now, but I did it and all other things tested on clean wineprefixes), Vulcan DX9, winetrick DX9, Fullscreen, windowed, 16 bit color, etc.

Do I just give up? Are there other things I can try? I mean, can I learn how to resolve these kinds of issues? Wine and Lubuntu are way better than when I last tried it (tons of stuff didn't work well), but now all my go-to apps work just fine, only problem is I want Sacred 2

My guess is it's associated with Windowed mode or not, DX9/PhysX and/or color depth. Just tried running as many native settings as possible but no go. I saw Chattius got it to work, so there must be a way? If it worked for nobody I wouldn't even have tried, but so many people run it just fine.

EDIT:
Played Sacred UW all day with no issues. Runs way smoother than on windows, but that might be due to better system specs + SSD HD. The game has basicly no load times or lag.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Shinryuu