City of Heroes on Mac: Difference between revisions

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== Status ==
== Overview ==
The Mac OS X City of Heroes/Villains client entered closed beta testing on Nov 7, 2008. [http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Number=12449959#Post12449959]
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 [https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/12-help-amp-support/ on the Help & Support forums].
 
== Historical pre-shutdown ==
=== NCSoft Mac client ===
{{historical|type=section|customreason=that no longer applies: the TransGaming Mac Client is unusable to play}}
:''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.
 
<!-- Don't get into a lot of detail on the rest of these...beyond the scope of a wiki! -->


== Overview ==
=== Boot Camp ===
{{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.


From the announcement: [http://www.plaync.com/us/news/2008/10/ncsoft_and_tran.html]
Prior to the Mac client, Boot Camp was the preferred method of running City of Heroes as there were no extra emulation layers.
* City of Heroes for Mac was made possible using [[TransGaming]]'s [[CiderTM Portability Engine]], which acts as a "wrapper" around the game software, enabling it to run seamlessly on Intel-based Macs. The partnership with NCsoft to develop and publish City of Heroes for Mac offers the Mac gaming community its first opportunity to do battle in the streets of Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles™ in a persistent universe with no differentiation between the PC and Mac. "NCsoft's City of Heroes MMO is an incredible franchise and TransGaming is thrilled to provide Mac gamers the ability to demonstrate their creativity by building their own heroes and villains and immersing themselves in the battle between good and evil," commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & president of TransGaming. "Through Cider, the Mac version will parallel the developments of the PC version, providing all game updates, new features, and storylines simultaneously on both platforms."


== History ==
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.
In the past, one could follow similar options as the [[City of Heroes on Linux]] article.
* WINE
* Cedega
* Crossover


== Details ==
Read about the Windows [[Game Client|game client]] here.
=== What do we know? ===
*From [[Positron_(Developer)|Positron]] [http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=newsdiscuss&Number=12373095&bodyprev=#Post12373095]
**The client will be available at no extra cost (as a download) for anyone that has an active CoH Account
**Those who use the Mac Client will connect to the same servers as those connecting with the PC Client.


=== What don't we know? ===
== See also ==
Everything.
* [[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 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