DDO Mac Client Is broke, use Crossover with windows client

[jwelch]

Okay, so there's a lot of issues with the mac client that no one should have to even try to deal with fixing

1. It's looking for a version of libpng that is a) quite old and b) not a part of the standard install. you can't use brew or macports to install it without a lot of manual symlinks so it's in the directory the ddo client wants it to be in. The same applies for manual config/make/make install
2. if you get past that, it complains about the resolution and refresh settings. It wants 2048x1280x32(bits) at 59 Hz, which is not the standard refresh rate. Since you can't set that precise rate, that would require more manual futzing about, which honestly, that's my job IRL, and if Standing Stone wants me to fix their code, they can pay my rates.
3. THe only way i found this out was to trace through what the actual launch files do to run: python ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.standingstonegames.ddo/common/script/invoker.py config=/Applications/DDO.app/Contents/Resources/config.json

If i just run crossover and point it at the windows client download URL, it downloads, installs, configures (takes a while, but works) and runs with no futzing about. So if you want a chance at reliably running DDO on a Mac, use Crossover, which gives you a *far* better WINE environment than that half-butted thing Standing Stone tossed our way, and use the windows client. It's what the "Mac" client is anyway. Oh, and the current Crossover runs correctly in 64-bit, unlike that nonsense Standing Stone came up with.

[Kaytis]

I want to make sure I am not missing something here. Crossover is a paid version of Wine that allows 32-bit apps to work on Mac OS 10.15 and later. The free version of Wine cannot run 32-bit apps. DNDLauncher.exe is 32-bits. SSG never ported it to 64-bits. It follows that the only thing that could possibly work is Crossover. libpng does not enter into it. Resolution does not enter into it. The Launcher is 32-bits, therefore Crossover is the only option.

I know from experience that if you copy an updated Client over to Catalina, it will actually work -really nicely in fact. But it's impractical because you can only update the Launcher and Client on an older machine.

Am I missing something here? Is there a 64-bit version of the Launcher I am not seeing? I would be willing to do the work for free if SSG gets that done. But until they do, my hands are tied.

[YUTANG75]

Yeah this game really isn't supported on Mac. They claim it is but I couldn't get it to work on my laptop despite my best efforts. I got as far as getting the launcher working with a 64-bit supporting version of Wine but it would crash when it tried to launch the game.

SSG should really retire the Mac claims or make it work on 64bit and ARM Macs (for free, no paid crossover). I have a strong suspicion on which option makes more financial sense for them...

[Kaytis]

Yeah this game really isn't supported on Mac. They claim it is but I couldn't get it to work on my laptop despite my best efforts. I got as far as getting the launcher working with a 64-bit supporting version of Wine but it would crash when it tried to launch the game.

SSG should really retire the Mac claims or make it work on 64bit and ARM Macs (for free, no paid crossover). I have a strong suspicion on which option makes more financial sense for them...

You got the 32-bit Launcher working with the open source Wine client? I didn’t think that was possible. Is it able to update the game? (That’s the main problem holding up getting it working on modern hardware).

You are using macOS 10.15 or later right?