City of Heroes on Mac: Difference between revisions

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== Overview ==
== Overview ==
There are various ways to operate the [[Game Client]] on the Apple Mac line of computers.
There are two game clients supported to play Homecoming:
 
*[[Homecoming Launcher]], which works on older and newer Mac systems from Intel to Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc.)
*[[LaunchCat]], which works on MacOS versions from High Sierra all the way to Sonoma.


== Requirements ==
== Requirements ==
* Apple Mac system (iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro) that has been released at least since 2008. (This is a broad requirement, there are exceptions.)
Essentially any post-shutdown (ie, post-2012) Mac will work.
* For best results, a MacOS installation of Sierra (10.12) or newer.
* Wine support will work on the current hardware in place, either AMD or Intel video. (NVidia was dropped from Apple in 2009, and Apple ended software support on NVidia drivers in 2018.  To continue playing City of Heroes, NVidia Macs cannot install Mojave or newer.)


== Island Rum ==
Specific to Macs using Apple Silicon, the Rosetta 2 library will prompt to install when playing City of Heroes. This is required as Rosetta 2 contains X86 emulation instructions City of Heroes needs to function. Graphics support from Rosetta 2 will emulate the Intel HD Graphics package (with similar options that aren't supported on Rosetta 2 disabled such as Depth of Field and Bloom).
Instructions for running Island Rum, the Mac installer and patching utility for Homecoming: City of Heroes, [https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/27-installation-guide/ is available here.]


This is the recommended method to running the game on a Mac. Manga continues to support and maintain the installer [https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/12-help-amp-support/on the Help & Support forums].
== LaunchCat ==
Mac players can get started on Homecoming: City of Heroes by installing [[LaunchCat]]. The author supports the installer [https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/12-help-amp-support/ on the Help & Support forums].


== Mac Client ==
== Historical pre-shutdown ==
{{historical|type=section|customreason=that no longer applies: the TransGaming Mac Client is unusable.  The current Island Rum installer makes a custom Wine environment for the Windows client to run on present-day Mac systems in order to play}}  
=== NCSoft Mac client ===
{{historical|type=section|customreason=that no longer applies: the TransGaming Mac Client is unusable to play}}  
:''Main Article:'' [[Mac Special Edition]]
:''Main Article:'' [[Mac Special Edition]]
'''Mac Special Edition''' was made possible using TransGaming's Cider Portability Engine, which acts as a "wrapper" around the game software, enabling it to run seamlessly on Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X.
The '''Mac Special Edition''' was implemented with TransGaming's Cider Portability Engine, which acted as a "wrapper" around the game software, enabling it to run on Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X. November 7, 2008, saw the beginning of the Mac Client's closed beta testing. The edition was short lived, as in 2009 Cedega was shut down and TransGaming went out of business shortly thereafter.
 
November 7, 2008, saw the beginning of the Mac Client's closed beta testing. [http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Number=12449959#Post12449959]


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== Boot Camp ==
=== Boot Camp ===
{{historical|type=section|customreason=that no longer applies: Apple will be retiring support for Boot Camp in a future MacOS release when Apple Silicon hits the market and Intel Macs are discontinued from new sales. Boot Camp is no longer recommended as a long-term solution for any players of}}  
{{historical|type=section|customreason=that no longer applies: Boot Camp has been deemed End-of-Life by Apple. At this time it is generally easier to use WINE to play}}  
Running City of Heroes through Boot Camp is exactly like running it under Windows. Because it is running it under Windows. '''Boot Camp''' is Apple's officially supported method of [[Wikipedia:Dual Boot|Dual Booting]] a Mac computer.
Running City of Heroes through Boot Camp is exactly like running it under Windows. Because it is running it under Windows. '''Boot Camp''' is Apple's officially supported method of [[Wikipedia:Dual Boot|dual booting]] a Mac computer.


Prior to the Mac Game Client, Boot Camp was the preferred method of running City of Heroes as there were no extra emulation layers.
Prior to the Mac client, Boot Camp was the preferred method of running City of Heroes as there were no extra emulation layers.
 
The standard comments about using [[Windows Vista]] apply.


After you've installed/patched Windows on your Boot Camp partition, you can copy the client from an existing installation location or DVD, or grab the updater and download the current version.
After you've installed/patched Windows on your Boot Camp partition, you can copy the client from an existing installation location or DVD, or grab the updater and download the current version.


Read all about the Windows [[Game Client]] here.
Read about the Windows [[Game Client|game client]] here.
 
=== Boot Camp Links ===
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20081204051251/http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html Boot Camp]
* [[Wikipedia:Dual_Boot#Apple_Boot_Camp|Wikipedia]] on Dual Booting and Boot Camp
 
== Parallels ==
[[Wikipedia:Parallels|Parallels]] Desktop for Mac is a piece of Virtualization software. It allows a second "guest" operating system to run along side the main "host" operating system. The later versions includes limited hardware video card support. In Parallels 4, up to 256MB of memory can be set aside just for the emulated video card. Some applications are able to smoothly utilize this video card.
 
=== Parallels 3 ===
* 2008-11-20
*: Unsuccessful test; graphical issues surrounding the cursor, even in fullscreen mode. Didn't bother entering the game because I couldn't click on things reliably. Wait for the native client. ;-) - [[User:Ex-calibur|@Ex-calibur]]
 
=== Parallels 4 ===
* 2008-11-19
*: Unsuccessful test; cursor is somewhat visible, [[Game Client|-compatibilecursors]] helped. However, after selecting a character and clicking "Enter Paragon City", the status bar filled about half way, console claimed the game had finished loading, then program crashed. Wait for the Native Client. - [[User:Konoko|Konoko]]
 
=== Parallels Links ===
[http://www.parallels.com Parallels]
 
== VMWare Fusion ==
Overview of running under VMWare Fusion.
 
=== VMWare Fusion Links ===
[http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/ VMWare Fusion]
 
== WINE ==
Overview on running under WINE/Wine.  Please note that Island Rum automates this installation for you, but you can build your own Wine/Winetricks solution to play the Windows client.
 
=== WINE Links ===
[http://www.winehq.org Wine]
 
== CrossOver Games for Mac ==
Overview on running under CrossOver/CrossOver Games.
 
City of Heroes runs perfectly well under CrossOver Games version 7.1.1 (but is not 7.2.0). There is a [http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=1299;forum=1;msg=49401 known bug in Crossover Games 7.2.0] that prevents it from going past the click "Next" screen.
 
However the game runs brilliantly well under CrossOver Games 7.1.1.
 
Simply download the COHUpdate.exe file (from ftp://client.coh.com/ ) and install it under a WinXP bottle inside CrossOver, and that's all there is to it.
 
=== CrossOver Games for Mac Links ===
* [http://www.codeweavers.com CrossOver]
* [http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name?app_id=1299 City of Heroes/Villians Compatbility page for CrossOver Games]


== See Also ==
== See also ==
* [[City of Heroes on Linux]]
* [[City of Heroes on Linux]] - Additional technical info on Wine, which is common to both.
* [https://archive.paragonwiki.com/wiki/City_of_Heroes_on_Mac Paragon Wiki Archive version of this same page]


[[Category:Game Client]]
[[Category:Game Client]]

Latest revision as of 14:24, 12 March 2024

Overview

There are two game clients supported to play Homecoming:

  • Homecoming Launcher, which works on older and newer Mac systems from Intel to Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc.)
  • LaunchCat, which works on MacOS versions from High Sierra all the way to Sonoma.

Requirements

Essentially any post-shutdown (ie, post-2012) Mac will work.

Specific to Macs using Apple Silicon, the Rosetta 2 library will prompt to install when playing City of Heroes. This is required as Rosetta 2 contains X86 emulation instructions City of Heroes needs to function. Graphics support from Rosetta 2 will emulate the Intel HD Graphics package (with similar options that aren't supported on Rosetta 2 disabled such as Depth of Field and Bloom).

LaunchCat

Mac players can get started on Homecoming: City of Heroes by installing LaunchCat. The author supports the installer on the Help & Support forums.

Historical pre-shutdown

NCSoft Mac client

This section contains information that no longer applies: the TransGaming Mac Client is unusable to play City of Heroes/Villains. It is provided for historical purposes.

Main Article: Mac Special Edition

The Mac Special Edition was implemented with TransGaming's Cider Portability Engine, which acted as a "wrapper" around the game software, enabling it to run on Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X. November 7, 2008, saw the beginning of the Mac Client's closed beta testing. The edition was short lived, as in 2009 Cedega was shut down and TransGaming went out of business shortly thereafter.


Boot Camp

This section contains information that no longer applies: Boot Camp has been deemed End-of-Life by Apple. At this time it is generally easier to use WINE to play City of Heroes/Villains. It is provided for historical purposes.

Running City of Heroes through Boot Camp is exactly like running it under Windows. Because it is running it under Windows. Boot Camp is Apple's officially supported method of dual booting a Mac computer.

Prior to the Mac client, Boot Camp was the preferred method of running City of Heroes as there were no extra emulation layers.

After you've installed/patched Windows on your Boot Camp partition, you can copy the client from an existing installation location or DVD, or grab the updater and download the current version.

Read about the Windows game client here.

See also

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