How to get DDO running on a Mac ? (when will SSG fix this...)

[Finn]

So, if you look at the old forums , they say you cannnot. That you need to run a virtual Windows machine on your mac, and run DDO within that windows virtual machine.
1) @ssg - is there any updates on this? very annoying that you guys don't submit the necessary certification to Apple to allow the clients to install on native macOS.
2) anyone know of a free VM? not looking to spend 60-100$ for the VM solution proposed in old forum.
3) anyone try installing / running DDO on linux ?

thanks

 

[ShadowFlayer]

Others have gotten DDO running under version of Wine, so you should be able to find something on the old forums relating to that. I tried CrossOver a while back but wasn't happy with the performance. I have Parallels for another purpose and play on that with both M1 and Intel Macs (on Intel Macs Boot Camp is the best option for performance; on M1, the performance has been very good for me under Parallels).

VMWare does have a free VMWare Player version available for M1 Macs now. I have not used it, but suspect it will work as well as Parallels does.

 

[MrTreev]

I got the steam version of DDO working great under Linux by forcing the use of Proton (the Hotfix version worked best for me).

In Steam:
Library -> right click DDO -> Properties -> Compatibility -> tick 'Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool'

 

[Imandria]

I have Parallels for another purpose and play on that with both M1 and Intel Macs (on Intel Macs Boot Camp is the best option for performance; on M1, the performance has been very good for me under Parallels).

I have Parallels and I'm finding that the client is crashing with no error log or anything. I'm not a Mac expert - I only have one because it was gifted to me - should I give up? I don't even know where to start with fixing the issue.

 

[HoopleHead]

Step #1
Buy a PC

Step #2
Burn your Mac

Step #3
Profit

 

[Livmo]

Step #1
Buy a PC

Step #2
Burn your Mac

Step #3
Profit

I was somewhat surprised as well (Spok raises eyebrow and speaks, "Correct Captain, we are 23.5 years into the 21st century.")

It's OK to own more than 1 computer and have 1 just for gaming after all basic needs are met. The $200 PC I'm on right now from the Amazon is rockin' DDO. Of course I waited till it went down to $199 before purchase (and it's refurbished).

Warning. I've purchased a few cheap duds over the years. I recall one was "refurbished" and overclocked for no good reason and it burnt out after a year. However a few have been really great. Like the one I'm on now.

I tend to look for ones I can hop up with spare parts or cast offs. The Sleepers of the cheap computer world : ) ) This one is running DDO, Forums, and Task Manager with ease:

 

[Imandria]

Step #1
Buy a PC

Step #2
Burn your Mac

Step #3
Profit

I have a PC. I want to run it on both my PC and Mac.

 

[HoopleHead]

Others have gotten DDO running under version of Wine...

I don't recommend Wine... run with someone who was ready to have a stroke from the way every patch and update borked his install, and he would have to reinstall almost weekly... eventually he had enough, set the Mac aside & bought a PC.
.
Come to think of it, he's not really any happier these days due to lag... but he's not reinstalling every week either...



We (our group) assume he's going to live a little longer....

 

[Evynar]

I got DDO running via Crossover, but I wasn't motivated to pay for a subscription. I got it to work under Parallels/Fusion, but it was unplayably slow. I'm currently trying the recent Gaming Porting Toolkit but it's not very user-friendly right now.

 

[Mand O'Lin]

I got DDO running via Crossover, but I wasn't motivated to pay for a subscription. I got it to work under Parallels/Fusion, but it was unplayably slow. I'm currently trying the recent Gaming Porting Toolkit but it's not very user-friendly right now.

Subscription? For CrossOver? It was a one-time purchase for me. A bit pricey, but it has worked reasonably well for me.

 

[Stuk]

I got DDO running via Crossover, but I wasn't motivated to pay for a subscription. I got it to work under Parallels/Fusion, but it was unplayably slow. I'm currently trying the recent Gaming Porting Toolkit but it's not very user-friendly right now.

Do DDO's developers have any idea how much money they're leaving on the table as Mac players direct their game money to third party enablers instead of DDO's developers for content? I know several households that don't run MSFT's OS and play DDO, and if DDO doesn't come up with a solution to migrate off its MSFT-dependent code base it's going to lose these customers as their Intel Macs slowly are replaced. I have one such Mac running solely because it still can run DDO, but now the DDO Store won't launch so I can't buy content. Good thinking, guys.

 

[Br4d]

Macs are for graphic designers, people who are challenged by more than one mouse button and people who just want to spend a lot of money on computers in general.

And I say this as a native Mac user who finally converted to PC's when Windows 95 came out because I was very tired of playing the same half dozen games over and over again.

 

[Mand O'Lin]

Macs are for graphic designers, people who are challenged by more than one mouse button and people who just want to spend a lot of money on computers in general.

And I say this as a native Mac user who finally converted to PC's when Windows 95 came out because I was very tired of playing the same half dozen games over and over again.

That certainly is one opinion... although not one I share.

I purchased my first Mac in 1987 and haven't had a desire to go to the dark (bsod) side. As an engineer and CIO, working on and with PCs all day caused me to appreciate that decision every day.

While I agree there were / are more games available on the PC platform, quantity does not make up for quality. I probably still have well over a hundred games from my first decade of Macintosh ownership. There certainly was no derth of them.

 

[Br4d]

It wasn't the dearth of games that got me. It was not having the games I wanted to play on the Mac platform.

Also the fact that a baseline Mac capable of playing the games that did exist was in the $2500 range and a $1000 PC including monitor did the trick.

The point is that people go to great efforts to play PC-only titles on the Mac generally with mixed results and the risk of obsolescence in the software that enables that. Every patch for the game runs huge risks of sudden incompatibilities.

At the price of PC's it just makes no sense to do this. It's like carrying your iPad around and using it as a cellphone...

 

[Mand O'Lin]

It wasn't the dearth of games that got me. It was not having the games I wanted to play on the Mac platform.

Also the fact that a baseline Mac capable of playing the games that did exist was in the $2500 range and a $1000 PC including monitor did the trick.

The point is that people go to great efforts to play PC-only titles on the Mac generally with mixed results and the risk of obsolescence in the software that enables that. Every patch for the game runs huge risks of sudden incompatibilities.

At the price of PC's it just makes no sense to do this. It's like carrying your iPad around and using it as a cellphone...

Yes, and my old IIci had graphics which outperformed Windows PC 10 years newer. You can play a game in CGA on a PC or 640x480 on a Mac, VGA on a PC or 1600x1200 on a Mac. When I got together with friends to play networked games it was always my Mac which hosted the games. Why? Because the Mac outperformed the PCs and provided a smoother network game experience. I do understand the allure of the PC, but I tend to value quality over banal.

The only PC game I play on a Mac is DDO, and only because the developers decided to stop developing a Mac version of the game (in 2019?). It was a sad day when they obsoleted the Mac specific version.

Now Xsolla has decided to implement some sort of fraud prevention which essentially requires you run DDO on a PC. As a result there will be no further DDO point purchases for me (or likely the other Mac DDO gamers out there). Brilliant move!!!

 

[Tyrande]

I got DDO working on a 16" M1 Max Macbook Pro with the Game Porting Toolkit. See here: https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/Game_Porting_Toolkit

Basically, install the the Sonoma Operating System (MacOS 14+), install the x86 version of Homebrew, download the Xcode 15 beta 2 command line tools from Apple Developer. Then use Homebrew to compile the Game Porting Toolkit 1.02.

Install Steam.
Run Steam.
Install DDO.
Play DDO or any other game from Steam.

Gaming on a M1 or M2 macs, dudes and dudettes!

Note: to run without the HUD regarding FPS, etc. Run game-porting-toolkit-no-hud instead.

Here is a screenshot. 120fps 120Hz very playable.

https://imgur.com/a/O5sY2JC

yeah, yeah, I have to arrange the buttons, etc. I was not running on my 4K monitor.

 

[Tyrande]

However, I still hope someone in SSG sees this and actually use the toolkit to recompile the game for apple silicon. According to benchmarks, the M1 MAX supposedly on par with a 3080ti if running native.

 

[Br4d]

Yes, and my old IIci had graphics which outperformed Windows PC 10 years newer. You can play a game in CGA on a PC or 640x480 on a Mac, VGA on a PC or 1600x1200 on a Mac. When I got together with friends to play networked games it was always my Mac which hosted the games. Why? Because the Mac outperformed the PCs and provided a smoother network game experience. I do understand the allure of the PC, but I tend to value quality over banal.

The only PC game I play on a Mac is DDO, and only because the developers decided to stop developing a Mac version of the game (in 2019?). It was a sad day when they obsoleted the Mac specific version.

Now Xsolla has decided to implement some sort of fraud prevention which essentially requires you run DDO on a PC. As a result there will be no further DDO point purchases for me (or likely the other Mac DDO gamers out there). Brilliant move!!!

I had Mac, Mac+, Mac II, Mac IIcx and finally a Power Mac G3. Shortly after buying the G3 I also bought a Compaq laptop and despite it being a laptop and a Win 95 PC it ran dramatically more software titles than any of the Macs I had from 1984 to 1998.

Going to Software Etc meant shopping in the 90% of the store that was devoted to PC's and PC titles instead of the one book shelf of Mac titles.

It was not hard to look at the situation and suddenly have the epiphany that unless I was a graphic artist the Mac just wasn't priced in a range that made sense given the options that having a Mac foreclosed. Since then I have always had PC's because they are cheaper and inside of that even more cost-effective at doing almost anything I need to do and particularly for gaming purposes.

 

[Teh_Troll]

I have a PC. I want to run it on both my PC and Mac.

Have you considered using Parsec to connect to your PC from your Mac to play?

 

[Phoenicis]

SSG depreciated MAC support years ago when Apple required certain graphics certifications (if memory serves). So unless Apple has reverted those requirements and I highly doubt they have, there will probably not be a native MAC client going forward.