There was one more big test left, however. Star Wars: Knights of the Old
Republic was next up. Game of the year for 2003, this single player role
playing game set in the Star Wars universe brought another surprise to
the table. It would provide an interesting opportunity as well. This
experiment we'll label "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."
Installation went smoothly. I had read a recommendation in TransGaming's
documentation to do a manual update to the latest version of the
program. This was achieved by performing the same routine as a normal
install in Point2Play. Again, no issues were encountered.
The game started right up and it looked like TransGaming was headed for
a perfect score. Like an over ambitious Padawan learner, I was about to
learn Cedega is not a Jedi yet. The game configured normally. I started
a new game and watched KOTOR disappear like a defeated combatant on the
losing end of a light saber fight, poof.
Resorting to my trusty gnome-terminal, I searched for an error message.
I wasn't sure if one had flashed earlier, if it did it went the way of
Qui-Gon Jinn in Episode One, dead. The error produced was very
descriptive. In fact, it wasn't a Cedega error message. It originated
from the software itself. Ironically, the piracy protection on the
CDROM, named SECUROM, failed. There was a website listed to contact. I
checked it out, and found no useful information.
This presented a unique opportunity. I decided to try out TransGaming's
technical support. TransGamers have a few support options available to
them. Documentation, forums and the method I chose provide adequate
support. I opened a ticket on the TransGaming website, detailing my
problem. Twelve and half hours later, there was a response! I was
informed, the issue resided with the kernel I was using. It was a known
issue, and the extremely current 2.6.11 RC 4 kernel had solved the
problem. This was nice, but I didn't want to update to a release
candidate. I was stymied. However, I could be nothing but satisfied with
the assistance I received. It was quick, seemingly accurate, and up to
date. Thus ended the last game experiment.
