- Enable Steam Play for non-compatible games so you can install AoE II through your Linux steam
- Deactivate the Steam overlay for better performance
You won't be able to start the HD Version on Steam unless you bypass the launcher. Go to the game folder (right click and go "open applications directory" then navigate to /steamapps/common/age2HD/ ). Rename the Launcher.exe to someting else. Then make a copy of the AoK HD.exe and name it Launcher.exe. Having a working HD installation is recommended because it allows you to set up your hotkeys once and then import them to AoC and WK with the WK installer.
In order to have the classic look for menus and some messages you need to install the original fonts. Install the fonts in drive_c/Program Files/Steam/steamapps/common/Age2HD/resources/_common/fonts to your system.
Set up a fresh 32 bit Wine prefix. Recommended UI for that is Playonlinux. Install Direct Play, Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Runtime, Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Runtime and Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Runtime to your AoE II Wine prefix with winetricks. Wine mono should auto install when needed and should be enough.
First install the compatibility patch and then create an account on voobly.com and install voobly.
The creators of AoE2-Tools have put work in so it will run with wine, however so far we did not confirm it does work (github issue or PR). If you test it, let me know and I can update the information here.
Install mimeo and xdg-utils-mimeo. Then open ~/.config/mimeo/associations.txt and add
/usr/share/playonlinux/playonlinux --run \"voobly\" %u
^voobly://
now you can open voobly links right by clicking the link in your linux browser.
Go to about:config and right-click. Then click on New->Boolean->network.protocol-handler.expose.voobly -> Value -> false Upon the next click on a voobly link firefox will ask you to choose a program to open voobly links. Choose xdg-open.
Follow this guide for better performance in voobly.