Hi,
Let me preface this by stating I'm not trying to post whats been posted a dozen times, this isn't a copy-cat thread nor is it here to solve ALL Linux related issues. Fragmentation between distros may cause compatibility errors if you use this TUT for Mandriva (Mageia), Fedora, Suse, etc. and since I will not be including any Deb packages alien conversion is out of the question. That being said if someone would like to convert this tut to a new distro and their user-base, more power to you.

This thread is meant to be as easy and simple as possible. I will be using screenshots from Linux Mint 11, but don't fret the process is virtually the same with Ubuntu.


VIDEO TUTS (for those who hate reading)

Part 1:



Part 2:


PART 1: PPA's AND YOU
PPA's are a way to add software sources to Ubuntu and its derivatives. Ubuntu uses launchpad, launchpad in turn provides users with additional software repositories (sources) that allow you to install software left out of / not sanctioned by / or just plain unheard of by your distro and its software center. A very kind German fellow, who calls himself Recon, was awesome enough to compile a version of WINE tailored for League of Legends. I take no credit for his work and I was not involved in creating this brilliant release, I'm merely the messenger as it seems no one (as far as I know and as far as the search button can find) has posted his work.
Here's the link to his PPA: https://launchpad.net/%7Es-elser/+archive/winelol (https://launchpad.net/%7Es-elser/+archive/winelol)

If you're never used Launchpad or the PPA system before, here are some screenshots on how to add it to your software sources:

Step 01)
Go to the link for the PPA above and click on 'Technical details about this PPA"
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol01.png

Step 02)
A drop down menu will appear, select your Ubuntu release (11.04 / 10.10)
http://http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol02.png

If you look at the text box, you'll see that the only text that changes is the codename for your release, here's a sample showing both Natty and Maverick text boxes
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol03.png
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol04.png

Step 03)
Highlight the text from the first line in the text box, right click, select copy.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol05.png

Step 04)
Go to Software Sources under the Mint Control Center
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol06.png
Go to Manage Software Sources under the Ubuntu Control Center
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Ubuntu-Control-Center-Preview.png

Step 05)
A new box will appear, click on the 'Other Software' tab
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol07.png
Click on the Add button
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol08.png
Paste the line of code you got from the launchpad site
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol09.png
Click the Add Source button
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol10.png

A new dialog may appear asking you to reload your sources, or it may automatically do it for you, either way give a second to reload the software sources.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/winelolreload.png

For future reference, those of you new to this method of adding software, the most common way to add a PPA is 'deb URL UBUNTU_VERSION main'

For example: 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/s-elser/winelol/ubuntu natty main'


PART 2: SUDO APT-GET AWESOME
Many of you may be afraid to use the terminal (command prompt, konsole, etc.), of course I may be wrong, but for those of you who fear the black and white text, don't be. Its relatively simple and it's actually more intuitive than a clutter of windows and icons. After adding the software source to your OS, you'll need to install the software, in this case you'll be using the terminal.

Step 01)
Open up the terminal
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/winelol11.png
type or copy/paste: sudo apt-get install winelol
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/winelol12.png
press enter to begin installing
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol14.png
Once its done, you'll arrive at this screen
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol16.png

Step 02)
Now you'll now want to install the dependencies, type: wineloldeps
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol17.png
press enter to begin setup / install
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol18.png
It will then begin to install Gecko
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol19.png
After Gecko, it will then download and install DirectX
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol20.png

After DirectX, you will see software install prompts, like you're accustomed to on Windows

Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 comes next, just get used to pressing 'Next' and 'Finish' as you would on windows
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol21.png
IE6 and its Tools install next
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol22.png

After IE6 installs, you will be prompted to Restart / Reboot
!DO NOT RESTART YOUR COMPUTER!
It will automatically restart WINE
This process can take a few minutes depending on the speed of your computer.
After WINE restarts, you're done installing the dependencies.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol25.png


PART 3: WINECFG
After installing, its time to configure. Using this PPA, WINE is installed in the /opt/winelol folder. You'll still be using the terminal for a bit to configure wine and test the install of the client, afterwards I'll include some markups for creating some easy to use desktop shortcuts.

Step 01)
Open up the terminal, if you closed it, type: /opt/winelol/bin/winecfg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol30.png
Press enter to run the config
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol31.png

Step 02)
DO NOT CHANGE THE VERSION OF WINDOWS, LEAVE IT ON WINDOWS XP - Thank Tooblackforjack for this tip.


Step 03)
Check the box for Emulate a Virtual Desktop and input your screen resolution or a resolution you're used to running with LoL
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol34.png

Step 04)
Test your audio setup, I use Alsa because it generally works, check the box you want to use and Test Sound, if you hear a beep, you're good
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol36.png

Step 05)
Click Apply and Ok
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol37.png

You're now done with configuring your WINE setup.


PART 4: THE CLIENT
Currently, as far as I know, the official League of Legends client doesn't play well with WINE, even after being modified, so the solution is to use the Ace Client. Now I don't know the legalities of the Ace Client or if Riot shuns it, so I'll refrain from posting links. Use Google or DuckDuckGo and it should pop up as the first or second link.

While installing the dependencies, WINE configured a wine folder in your /home/you/ directory. Its hidden by default, so while you're in your file browser press CTRL + H and it will reveal a ton of hidden folders. Just scroll down to the .wine folder.

Here's my default home directory
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol40.png
Here's my home directory after CTRL+H
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol41.png
Here's the .wine folder
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol42.png
Here's the directory layout in the .wine folder
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol43.png

On to the client install

Step 01)
The Ace Client will come as a RAR file. You can extract the file to any directory, in fact the easier to remember or find, the better.
Example: /home/you/lol/
Here's the RAR file opened in Archive Manager (default compression file utility):
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol54.png
Here are the extracted files in my /home/tj/lol/ directory:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol55.png

Step 02)
Navigate to the /home/you/.wine/c_drive/ directory. Create the folder where you want to install the client.
Example: /home/you/.wine/c_drive/lol/or
Example: /home/you/.wine/c_drive/leagueoflegends/
"if you're not into the whole brevity thing"
(if you see what I did there, good for you, you deserve a cookie)
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol50.png

Step 03)
We are now ready to execute the client install.
Go to your terminal, type: /opt/winelol/bin/wine location of extracted ACE CLIENT
Example: /opt/winelol/bin/wine /home/you/LoL/installer.exe

You will be using the 32bit installer, instead of the x64 installer because the WINE version we installed was 32bit, even if you have a 64bit OS, your WINE version is only 32bit. So DO NOT EXECUTE the installerx64.exe file.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol51.png

Step 04)
After pressing enter, depending on how you setup your virtual desktop you will end up with a screen that looks something like this:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol56.png
Press next and you'll be prompted with this:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol57.png
Click on the change button and navigate to where you created your LoL folder in your wine directory
Example: /home/you/.wine/drive_c/lol/ = My Computer -> C: -> lol
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol58.png
Follow the prompt as you would with any windows software installer.

Step 05)
Test your install by running this in the terminal: /opt/winelol/bin/wine /home/you/.wine/drive_c/lol/lol.launcher.exe
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol59.png
You should end up with something like this, depending on the theme and files of your custom client:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol60.png


PART 5: SHORTCUT CREATION
So if you're fine running the client via the terminal, just use the command posted above. If you're looking for a GUI solution, lets make a desktop shortcut.

Step 01)
Right click on your desktop and select Create Launcher

Step 02)
Under name, type whatever you want, League Of Legends, LoL, etc.

Step 03)
Under Command, input:
/opt/winelol/bin/wine "/home/you/.wine/drive_c/lol/lol.launcher.exe"
Or wherever you installed your client.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol64.png

Step 04)
You can click the icon on the side to bring up a file browser to select any icon you want to use.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Wineloldone.png

!Now you have a fully automated desktop shortcut to launch League Of Legends!

CLOSING
There you have it. You've now installed League Of Legends on a Debian / Ubuntu based distro. I'd like to thanks the guys over at ACE, without their client, none of this would've been possible. I'd also like the thank Recon for all his amazing work, you can check out his blog here: http://unixblogger.wordpress.com/

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'll try my best to answer. For performance tweaking you should visit the WineHQ page here: http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=19141

They go further in depth than I ever could and their support / community is amazing.

Thank you,
TJ

P.S.
I take no responsibility if you inadvertently screw something up on your system. Just a forewarning, I'm not liable.

With that being said, have fun and enjoy some LoL.

This is so in depth, I can't help but feel like I learned something just by skimming past it!

+1 !

<3

I thought I should add, you'll need to manually update your client by downloading patches from the ACE website. Applying these patches is generally easy and requires unpacking a RAR or ZIP file and copying over folders/files into your /home/you/.wine/drive_c/lol (or wherever you installed the client) directory.

- Thanks -

you can post a video playing?

I will post a video when I find decent capture software.

Here are some screenshots:
(I actually found that NOT running it in an emulated desktop provides better performance for me, however some other people have reported the opposite, so I'd suggest experimenting a bit)

Login Screen:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol-Game01.png

Client Screen (background never loads for some reason):
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol-Game02.png

Champion Select:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol-Game07.png

In Game:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol-Game08.png

In Game:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol-Game06.png

In Game:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol-Game09.png

In Game Store Menu:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelol-Game11.png

In Game:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/unit_like_stereo/Winelolgame10.png

Some of the effects don't show properly, however tinkering around with the settings may fix this. The average FPS i get sits somewhere between 30-40, its playable, and I could probably squeeze more out of it if I turned off Compiz and turned everything to Low settings.

For reference I'm running an AMD Phenom II x4 3.2ghz, DDR3 1333 RAM, AMD Radeon 5850 video card, on a standard 7200 RPM HD. Nothing fancy, pretty straight forward. In Windows I can run the game at native resolution on max settings, however using WINE under Linux I have it set to medium-low settings running at 1024x768 resolution. I'd love for someone to post some results with an Nvidia card to see how their rendering stacks up against mine. It could possibly be 100x better, pending the drivers.

- Thanks -

Here's a video demonstrating the client under linux.

works perfectly, so my FPS is 15, would have some way to get the normal FPS?

What kind of hardware are you using?

Duo Core 2,8 GHZ, NVIDIA GTS 450 1GB DDR5, 2GB DDR2 RAM.
I have already install my drivers, my linux is Ubuntu 11,04
on windows i can play with full grafics, on linux i have tu use Very Low.

Are you using the open source drivers (Nouveau) or the proprietary? There are also some tricks you can use that are posted on the WINEHQ website, such as disabling the glow effects.

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=19141

just scroll down a bit, it'll give you the exact files you'll want to configure (they're located in your /home/you/.wine/drive_c/ League Of Legends install directory).