The Legend of Heroes: Trails… for Linux!

There's no such thing as a dumb question, Regnitz.
         But that one came awfully close.
                      — Instructor Neithardt

This repository unofficially hosts Lutris-based Linux installers for numerous entries in Falcom's legendary Kiseki ("The Legend of Heroes: Trails…",『英雄伝説 …の軌跡』) universe – the longest-running continuously interconnected Japanese role-playing (JRPG) franchise now spanning three decades of profitable development.

All installers hosted at this repository ship with out-of-the-box support for input controllers, in-game videos, and full Japanese voice acting with fully localized English subtitles. This includes:

• High-quality Japanese voice acting converted by Zhenjian Yang's third-party SoraVoice library from the Japan-only Evolution Vita ports of the original Sora no Kiseki trilogy (i.e., Sora no Kiseki FC, Sora no Kiseki SC, Sora no Kiseki the 3rd).
• High-quality unofficial translations by the third-party localization group Geofront for those entries still lacking official translations (i.e., Zero no Kiseki, Ao no Kiseki).

This repository also serves as a central hub for detailing and resolving issues in Linux emulation of supported Kiseki entries. Help us get a better idea of the state of these installers by submitting a new issue documenting your installation and playthrough experience.

⚠️ These installers are not officially endorsed by Falcom, Nippon Ichi Software (NIS), or XSEED. We still love you, Toshihiro Kondo.

Contents

• Brace Yourself!
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (Sora no Kiseki FC)
    • Pre-installation
    • Installation: Go, Go, Go!
      • Good Old Games (GOG)
      • Steam
    • Installation: Keep Going!
    • Post-installation
    • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
      • Should I play with a guide?
      • Which guide should I play with?
      • Which difficulty should I play on?
      • How do you reconfigure the game after installation?
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (Sora no Kiseki SC)
• See Also

Brace Yourself!

This repository currently hosts installers for only some of the available Kiseki titles. As we continue playing through the series ourselves, additional installers for later Kiseki titles will be added.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you enjoy your stay in Liberl.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (Sora no Kiseki FC)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (Japan: Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki First Chapter (FC),『英雄伝説 空の軌跡』) is the first title in the Kiseki arc, originally released in 2004 for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and subsequently ported first to the PlayStation Vita in 2015 as Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC Evolution and then to PC in 2016 via both GOG and Steam.

A journey of a thousand trash mobs begins with a single sketchy letter from your JRPG Dad. This is that letter.

Pre-installation

It is dangerous to go alone. Before you venture forth into the deceptively dangerous world of Liberl, there are things you must do... unspeakable things.

1. Please financially support Falcom, NIS, and XSEED by legally purchasing The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky from either:
   • (Recommended) Good Old Games (GOG). Our GOG installer is fully automated and does everything for you. (Estelle dances the happy stick dance.)
   • (Nightmare Mode) Steam. Our Steam installer is only partially automated. Lutris only partially integrates with Steam. If you purchase the Steam version, you'll need to do a bit more work. But worry not! We walk you through this trying ordeal that could break you. (Joshua frowns. The sound of two swords unsheathing is heard.)
2. Download and install Lutris (if you haven't already).
3. Download Japanese dialogue voices converted from the Evolution Vita port: [1]
   1. Browse to this MEGA-hosted filelocker folder.
   2. Download only the 1.92GB file named The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky FC - Evolution Voices Files 20180518 Update.zip.
4. Download Japanese battle voices converted from the original PSP release: [2]
   1. Browse to this MEGA-hosted filelocker folder.
   2. Download the 66.4MB file named ED6_DT1A.dat.
   3. Download the 17KB file named ED6_DT1A.dir.

Installation: Go, Go, Go!

Pick your poisonous storefront.

Good Old Games (GOG)

So. You've purchased The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky from Good Old Games (GOG) and obeyed the pre-installation instructions above. Good. Let's continue, fam.

1. Run Lutris.
2. Either:

• (Recommended) Run our automagic installer hosted at the Lutris website: ^{^_^}
  1. Browse to the Lutris page for this game.
  2. Click the Install button to the right of the WINE GOG 32-bit DirectX 8 voiced version installer.
• (Nightmare Mode) Run our manual installer hosted at this GitHub repository: ^v_v
  1. Download our Lutris GOG installer for this game.
  2. Return to Lutris.
  3. Click the + button in the upper left-hand corner.
  4. Click Install from a local install script.
  5. Browse to the file you just downloaded.
  6. Click OK.

Steam

So. You've purchased The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky from Steam and obeyed the pre-installation instructions above. Good. Before we begin, however, you should know two things.

Lutris cannot directly run this game. Lutris can only help you patch the Japanese dub into a Steam installation of the game. That's still valuable, as manually applying this patch is basically impossible. Still, this does basically reduce Lutris to just a glorified mod manager. Barf! Moreover...

You can only run the game by selecting the DirectX 8 version of the game from within Steam. Why? Because this patch breaks the default DirectX 9 version of the game, which also explains why Lutris cannot directly run the game. Steam only launches the broken default DirectX 9 version of the game when launched from Lutris. It is sad.

Now that we've gotten that off our hairy chest, let's continue.

1. Run Steam for Linux.
2. Enable Proton. You probably already did, but let's make sure. Either:

• Enable Proton globally for all games:
  1. Click Steam Menu, Settings, Steam Play, Advanced, and Enable Steam Play for all other titles.
  2. Under Run other titles with:, select your preferred Proton version Proton (e.g., Proton 7.0-x, Proton 6.3-x).
• Enable Proton locally only for this game:
  1. Click Library.
  2. Right-click The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.
  3. Click Properties, Compatibility, and Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatiblity tool.
  4. Select your preferred Proton version (e.g., Proton 7.0-x, Proton 6.3-x).

1. Click Library.

2. Right-click The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.

3. Set Launch options to:

   WINEDLLOVERRIDES="dinput8.dll=n,b" %command%

4. Run Lutris.

5. Either:

• (Recommended) Run our automagic installer hosted at the Lutris website: ^{^_^}
  1. Browse to the Lutris page for this game.
  2. Click the Install button to the right of the WINE Steam Proton DirectX 8 voiced version installer.
• (Nightmare Mode) Run our manual installer hosted at this GitHub repository: ^v_v
  1. Download our Lutris Steam installer for this game.
  2. Return to Lutris.
  3. Click the + button in the upper left-hand corner.
  4. Click Install from a local install script.
  5. Browse to the file you just downloaded.
  6. Click OK.

Installation: Keep Going!

So. You have downloaded many things. Your bandwidth is now exhausted and so are you... yet, this is only the beginning. A grueling journey that ends with you slumped over the keyboard still awaits.

1. Click Install twice. Just do it.
2. Scroll down until you see a list of requested game files.
3. Browse Lutris to where you downloaded all of those files. Yes, this takes literally forever. No, it's not our fault. We blame the Erebonian Empire. What aren't those bad dudes responsible for!?
4. Click Continue.
5. Scroll back up and patiently wait with growing irritation as Lutris slooowly downloads each of the remaining dependencies.
6. Drink a concerning amount of liquids while waiting for Lutris to fully extract and install these files. Pour one out for your kidneys, bro.
7. (GOG Only) Repeatedly click Next, Install, and Finish when asked to install LAV Filters (i.e., the Windows component responsible for displaying in-game videos). In other words, don't bother configuring the installation of these filters; just accept their default configuration. Don't go down the dark rabbit hole of LAV filter configuration. "Just say no."

Post-installation

1. Configure the game appropriately. Towards the end of the installation process, this game's configuration utility (i.e., Config.exe) will be automagically run. If you accidentally closed it or would merely like to reassess your life choices, you can manually rerun this utility at any time by obeying the FAQ entry below. While you're here, please do:
   • Change the resolution to the native resolution of your monitor. For example, @leycec changed the resolution to 1920x1080 to match the native resolution of his antiquated Gateway monitor that's mostly just dead pixels. Do not mock him. That only makes him stronger.
   • Enable (Borderless) Window Mode. When disabled, the keyboard arrow keys (and thus joystick support mapping onto those keys) will be largely dysfunctional. Interestingly, Windows users suffer the same issue. Hah!
   • Enable Hardware Vertex Shading. When disabled, performance stutters to a halt within urban environments. Did we mention there are lots of urban environments? Because there are. We hope you enjoy urban environments.
   • Click OK.
2. Click Close.
3. Right-click the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky entry.
4. Click the Configure item.
5. Click the Runner options tab.
6. Scroll down.
7. Check the Windowed (virtual desktop) box (if not already checked).
8. Click the down arrow directly to the right of Virtual desktop resolution.
9. Select the same resolution that you configured above (i.e., the native resolution of your monitor).
10. (GOG Only) Enable joystick support. Sadly, Japanese voice acting and native joystick support are mutually exclusive. You can have one or you can have the other. You (of course) want Japanese voice acting, which means you cannot have native joystick support. So what can you do? You can complain bitterly to anyone that might listen! How'd that go? Not so well? Then read. Although the game no longer provides native joystick support (...because we broke it), that's no obstacle to in-game progress. Just manually install a Linux joystick mapping utility. Many exist, but the one most Linux gamers care about in 2023 is AntiMicroX:
    1. Install AntiMicroX.
    2. Run AntiMicroX.
    3. If you have a PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 (DS4):
       1. Connect your DS4 via a wired microUSB-to-USB cable to your PC.
       2. Download our DS4 AntiMicroX profile.
       3. Click Load.
       4. Browse to the downloaded sora-no-kiseki-fc-ps4.gamecontroller.amgp file.
       5. Let the turn-based pownage begin.
    4. Else, create your own joystick-specific AntiMicroX profile:
       1. Map the appropriate buttons of your joystick to these keyboard keys:
          • Your up button to the <Up> arrow key on your keyboard.
          • Your down button to the <Down> arrow key on your keyboard.
          • Your left button to the <Left> arrow key on your keyboard.
          • Your right button to the <Right> arrow key on your keyboard.
          • Your left shoulder button to the <Z> key on your keyboard.
          • Your right shoulder button to the <X> key on your keyboard.
          • Your Xbox-style A button to the <Left Button> on your mouse.
          • Your Xbox-style B button to the <Right Button> on your mouse.
          • Your Xbox-style X button to the <A> key on your keyboard.
          • Your Xbox-style Y button to the <Left Alt> key on your keyboard.
          • Your Xbox-style Back button to the <V> key on your keyboard.
          • Your Xbox-style Guide button to the <B> key on your keyboard.
          • Your Xbox-style Start button to the <Esc> key on your keyboard.
          • Whatever button you have available left to the <C> key on your keyboard.
       2. Click Save.
       3. Consider uploading your profile to save other users precious lifeforce. Just submit an issue or pull request with your profile and the type of your joystick. We'll do the rest. (Thanks in advance! Go, you.)
    5. Keep AntiMicroX running in the background, where it will act as a daemon process that continually maps (i.e., rebinds) joystick to keyboard inputs as you play.
11. Run the game. For:
    • GOG, just run the game from within Lutris like usual.
    • Steam, run the DirectX 8 version of the game from within Steam. Do not run the game from within Lutris or run the DirectX 9 version of the game from within Steam. If you do either of those things, the game will run without Japanese voices. Congrats. You wasted everyone's time. </sigh>
12. Enable Japanese battle voices:
    1. Open the Options menu in-game.
    2. Switch the Voices setting to Japanese.

Brace for awesomeness. Your trail begins today.

[1]

Japanese dialogue voice files are also available from other sites (e.g., nyaa), typically under a directory named The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky FC - Evolution Voices Mod/ whose parent directory also contains a copy of the GOG version of this game. Please download from these sites only if you have already purchased this game. Falcom deserves all of your wallet for their service to humanity.

[2]

Japanese battle voice files are also available from other sites (e.g., nyaa), typically under a directory named The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky FC - Japanese Battle Voices/ whose parent directory also contains a copy of the GOG version of this game. Please download from these sites only if you have already purchased this game. Falcom deserves all of your wallet for their service to humanity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Should I play with a guide?

You should play with a guide if you hope to read all content, which you should, because this franchise sports the best writing of any JRPG – and let's not even debate that prior claim. Like the adjacent Tales of... franchise, the Trails of... franchise "features" a wide array of permanently missable content. This includes missable:

• Bracer points (BPs). If you manage to obtain all BPs, you receive a significant reward when importing your save into the next entry (i.e., The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter (SC)).
• Side quests, most of which yield juicy dialog, lore, and world-building.
• Rewards, the most significant of which are unique Quartz for casting Arts.
• Writing. This includes a chronological series of:
  • Newspapers, building the world around you as you live it.
  • Book excerpts, which are surprisingly well-written and mildly foreshadow future events in subsequent entries.
• Voice acting. The Japanese voice acting throughout the Trails in the Sky arc is among the best Japanese voice acting of all time for any media. No. Seriously. It is that good. Which makes its exclusion from the PC release all the more inexplicable. ^{Licensing. Money. You love to hate it.} Although some of this voice acting is presented naturally through the course of the main quest, a shocking amount of this voice acting can only be accessed by pursuing hidden missables nobody has ever found naturally.

Which brings us to the next bold question...

Which guide should I play with?

You should play with Kartarius' spoiler-free "Guide and Walkthrough" at GameFAQs, because that's the best guide for any game we've ever read. No. Seriously. It also is that good. Unlike most guides that shall remain nameless, Kartarius' guide is formatted in extremely readable HTML + CSS split across multiple pages for readability. It really is spoiler-free and will save your undivided attention from shadow madness while hunting down all meaningful missables – which, of course, is most of them.

Regardless of whether you hope to 100% the game, obtain most of the missables, or just read most of the content, we strongly advise that everyone at least speak to all of the NPCs in Kartarius' guide whose names are prefixed by either a "+" or "++" (e.g., "+Claire (outside Abend Bar)", "++Aina"). Speaking with these NPCs yields a conversation between those NPCs and the party; in the case of NPCs whose names are prefixed by a "++", those conversations are additionally voiced.

No game has ever worked so hard to hide so much content.

Which difficulty should I play on?

Hard. For clarity, let's accurately retranslate this game's four difficulty settings into modern parlance:

Stated Difficulty	Actual Difficulty
Easy Normal Hard Nightmare	Babby's First JRPG Babby's First JRPG (Part Deux) Normal I GUZZLE THE BITTER TEARS OF YOUR SWEET SUFFERING

We all see the problem there, I trust. Out of four available difficulty settings, only one difficulty setting is worth sinking 80 or more hours into.

On the high end (i.e., on "Nightmare"), you will stumble headfirst into difficulty spikes that can only be overcome via luck-based save scumming and non-fun farming for Quartz, food, EXP, and rare gear drops. You will repeatedly pray to RNJesus for succour from your poor life choices.

On the low end (i.e., on "Easy" and "Normal"), you will blindly trainwreck through all available combat by repeatedly pressing X to win. Not even the Turbo button – which you will, of course, keep held down for 80 continuous hours until your fragile wrist snaps under its oppressive load – can save your playthrough from the blue pill of monotony. Do you like boredom? You will learn to do so.

On the middle end (i.e., on "Hard"), you will meaningfully engage with (mostly) fun subsystems like Quartz slots, character gear, and cooking ingredients. Trash mobs and bosses alike require a modest amount of preparation. Difficulty spikes are extremely uncommon, (mostly) tied to optional super bosses, and always surmountable without requiring luck-based save scumming or non-fun farming for Quartz, food, EXP, or rare gear drops.

Play on Hard. Fun is its own reward. Have fun. Be rewarded. You deserve it.

How do you reconfigure the game after installation?

Great question! We're so glad you asked. You may have seen that our installer automagically ran this game's configuration utility (i.e., Config.exe) towards the end of its installation process, right? It did that because if it didn't do that, the game would fail to run. ^yeah.

But what if you want to reconfigure the game after installation? What then, huh? Huh? Easy! Just:

1. Run Lutris.
2. Right-click the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky entry.
3. Click the Configure item.
4. Click the Game options tab.
5. Click the Browse button directly to the right of Executable.
6. Double-click the Config.exe executable.
7. Click Save.
8. Double-click the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky entry.
9. Reconfigure as desired.
10. Click OK when done.
11. Right-click the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky entry again.
12. Click the Configure item again.
13. Click the Game options tab again.
14. Click the Browse button directly to the right of Executable again.
15. Scroll down. Way down. Further. Okay. Almost there. Now scroll some more.
16. Double-click the ed6_win.exe executable.
17. Click Save.

You're welcome.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (Sora no Kiseki SC)

To be announced...

See Also

If you enjoy this, you might also enjoy:

• Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm (Aokana)… for Linux!, Lutris installers automating patching and execution for the fan-produced native Linux port of the shounen sports chuunibyou visual novel Aokana.
• Fate/stay night [Réalta Nua] Ultimate Edition… for Linux!, a Lutris installers automating patching and execution of the [Réalta Nua] variant of the seminal shounen chuunibyou visual novel Fate/stay night.