Playing AGS games on Mac

Waffle Logic · Sat 01/10/2022 11:59:44

Hi everyone!

Looking for a simple way to play and test AGS games on my mac (please no 'get a real computer' responses). I don't need to be able to run the editor, but if I make art and assets for someone who is developing a game on a PC, I want to be able to play test the game. Also I want to play some of the existing awesome AGS games!

Thanks so much!
Owen

Nahuel · Sat 01/10/2022 12:05:49

Hey @Waffle Logic I'm currently having that same issue, but I was working around some things.

1. Possible solution is a VM (windows o linux) (for Intel)
2. Parallels for M1 (Which works splendid)
3. https://anthonyirwin.com/adventure-game-studio-ags-macos-build/

The 3rd option is quite straight forward and works very well.

Hope that helps

Snarky · Sat 01/10/2022 12:19:14

There is a Mac port of AGS now, and a lot of AGS games do have Mac releases. It just takes a few extra steps (and I think you need a Mac to do it). So that's the easiest: if the game has a Mac release, just play that. Your friend might be able to create a Mac version of their game (or could send you the files to do it) following these instructions: http://www.edenwaith.com/blog/index.php?p=112

If not, you can still get Windows-builds to play on Mac. Here is one guide to how: https://anthonyirwin.com/adventure-game-studio-ags-macos-build/

Another approach is to use the Web engine to play the game in a browser (note that some games may run slow): https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/engine-development/ags-engine-web-port/

Or for older games, it might work better to run them through ScummVM, a universal adventure game engine that now supports older versions of AGS: https://www.scummvm.org/

If you have an older Mac, you can also try to install Wine, a program that lets you run Windows apps on Mac and other platforms: https://www.winehq.org/ This is what I do for games that don't have a Mac version, and I find it usually works well. Unfortunately Wine doesn't work on newer OSX versions. (The last version that supports Wine is 10.14.)

Finally, if all else fails, you can run a Virtual Machine with Windows installed. Parallels (commercial) and VirtualBox: https://www.virtualbox.org/ (free) are the two main contenders. However, I find that AGS games run too slowly in VirtualBox to be playable. (My MacBook is ten years old, though, so not quite top of the line.)

Waffle Logic · Sat 01/10/2022 14:10:04

Thanks @Snarky and @Nahuel- I got Wilfred working just now using the Eden Wraith method! So that's great, thank you.

tilapisha · Tue 28/03/2023 09:43:12

Does this work for 3.6?

Snarky · Tue 28/03/2023 11:17:58

In principle yes, @tilapisha, but the problem with 3.6 is that ~~there isn't a pre-compiled shell application available (because 3.6 isn't yet officially released)~~. Edit: Or rather, the problem is that the 3.6 bundle available is older than many games built with 3.6, so they will not work with it. I ended up building it myself from source according to the instructions here. This solution does require you to install XCode, homebrew, and cmake if you don't already have them, which takes several hours and a couple of gigabytes of storage. (And since my Mac is really old and still on MacOS 13.10/High Sierra, I had to delve deep to find an older version of XCode that is compatible.)

I can share my shell app (when I get home, since it's on my private computer); it works fine on my own machine, but I'm not sure how well it would work on other Macs; there might be additional steps required.

Nahuel · Tue 28/03/2023 11:27:52

Quote from: Snarky on Tue 28/03/2023 11:17:58In principle yes, @tilapisha, but the problem with 3.6 is that ~~there isn't a pre-compiled shell application available (because 3.6 isn't yet officially released)~~. Edit: Or rather, the problem is that the 3.6 bundle available is older than many games built with 3.6, so they will not work with it. I ended up building it myself from source according to the instructions here. This solution does require you to install XCode, homebrew, and cmake if you don't already have them, which takes several hours and a couple of gigabytes of storage. (And since my Mac is really old and still on MacOS 13.10/High Sierra, I had to delve deep to find an older version of XCode that is compatible.)

I can share my shell app (when I get home, since it's on my private computer); it works fine on my own machine, but I'm not sure how well it would work on other Macs; there might be additional steps required.

That would be really cool, having a starting I think it would be great and help lot of people

tilapisha · Tue 28/03/2023 13:17:41

That would be great @Snarky. I believe I Have homebrew and cmake but not XCode. I could also send you my Windows build, and have you convert if it's easy and you're willing.

If not, I will happily work on it. Thank you.

Quote from: Snarky on Tue 28/03/2023 11:17:58In principle yes, @tilapisha, but the problem with 3.6 is that ~~there isn't a pre-compiled shell application available (because 3.6 isn't yet officially released)~~. Edit: Or rather, the problem is that the 3.6 bundle available is older than many games built with 3.6, so they will not work with it. I ended up building it myself from source according to the instructions here. This solution does require you to install XCode, homebrew, and cmake if you don't already have them, which takes several hours and a couple of gigabytes of storage. (And since my Mac is really old and still on MacOS 13.10/High Sierra, I had to delve deep to find an older version of XCode that is compatible.)

I can share my shell app (when I get home, since it's on my private computer); it works fine on my own machine, but I'm not sure how well it would work on other Macs; there might be additional steps required.

Snarky · Tue 28/03/2023 20:52:43

Here is a download of the app bundle I built for my own use:

Ags-v.3.6.0.44 (RC9)

(This was built on MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6, on an Intel Core i5 MacBook.)

To make any AGS game run on Mac, I simply copy this app bundle into the game directory, select all the game files and copy them, right-click on the bundle to "Show package contents," navigate to Contents/Resources/, and paste the game files. (You probably don't need all of them, but it's easier not to think about it.) Then I rename the app bundle to the same name as the game exe (except for the extension), though I'm not sure that's even necessary, and that's it.

However, since you'll be running it on a different computer than I built it on, you'll probably need to follow the instructions to disable the quarantine restrictions for an unsigned app.

tilapisha · Thu 30/03/2023 16:19:54

I'm on Catalina 10.15.4 with Intel Core i5, so I have to search for an XCode copy. Am I able to send you my Windows exe and have you convert it?

Snarky · Thu 30/03/2023 18:27:32

Can you not use the file I shared? There is nothing I can do that you shouldn't be able to do yourself.

tilapisha · Mon 03/04/2023 16:35:28

I tried, but I don't have XCode installed. I'm trying to find a version of XCode 12.4 but I don't have an apple developer login.

Snarky · Mon 03/04/2023 19:53:14

But the whole point of sharing my file was so you wouldn't need to build it yourself with XCode.

You should just need to copy the AGS Windows files into the app bundle I linked, and probably fix the permissions.

BTW, you can get an Apple developer account here.

tilapisha · Tue 04/04/2023 12:37:06

Omg it worked! Thank you