City of Heroes on Mac: Difference between revisions

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m (Removed M1 references; we're at M2 and awaiting M3 launch this Fall. One reference to the processor names up top is enough.)
m (Replacing Island Rum with LaunchCat (and removing the HCLauncher for Mac package, which is no longer offered.))
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*Homecoming Launcher, which works on older and newer Mac systems from Intel to Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc.)
*Homecoming Launcher, which works on older and newer Mac systems from Intel to Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc.)
*Island Rum, specifically made for Intel Macs up to Catalina.
*LaunchCat, which works on MacOS versions from High Sierra all the way to Sonoma.


== Requirements ==
== Requirements ==
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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).
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).


== Homecoming Launcher ==
== LaunchCat ==
Install the [https://islandrum.eekstudio.com/mac-installer.zip HCLauncher] on Mac.  The install package comes with PrivateWine, so no separate Wine install is needed.
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].
 
Help configuring and using Homecoming Launcher on Apple Silicon is [https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/26607-how2-basic-installation-guide-macos-apple-m1/ available here], or on [https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/23064-installing-the-new-homecoming-launcher-on-a-mac/ Intel systems here].
 
== Island Rum ==
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]. The author continues to support and maintain the installer [https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/12-help-amp-support/ on the Help & Support forums]. Same as Homecoming Launcher it automates a [[Wikipedia:Wine (software)|WINE]] install for you; it would be possible to create your own WINE install if for some reason Island Rum is unusable.


== Historical pre-shutdown ==
== Historical pre-shutdown ==

Revision as of 23:57, 10 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 Homecoming: 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 Homecoming: 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