Installing mods on macOS? [Split from EET v13.4 released]

[Elminsters Hat]

Maybe this is the best place to ask -- forgive me if it isn't -- but after 20 years of vanilla adventuring, I am ready for BG mods. I read many tutorials, studied and was ready for it, until macOS Big Sur forbade me from, well, doing anything. Two questions, 

1. If I learn to compile from GitHub, will it help?

2. Could anyone point me toward a tutorial for modding that would work with such restrictive OS? 

 

Many, many, many thanks.

[Sam.]

4 hours ago, Elminsters Hat said:

Maybe this is the best place to ask -- forgive me if it isn't -- but after 20 years of vanilla adventuring, I am ready for BG mods. I read many tutorials, studied and was ready for it, until macOS Big Sur forbade me from, well, doing anything. Two questions, 

1. If I learn to compile from GitHub, will it help?

2. Could anyone point me toward a tutorial for modding that would work with such restrictive OS? 

 

Many, many, many thanks.

My personal advice would be don't use a mac, largely because it is, by its very nature, incompatible with like 90+% of the rest of the world.  Your current predicament is case in point.  On a hopefully more helpful note, check out this thread.

Edit:  And welcome to the forums!!

Edited August 14, 2021 by Sam.

[jastey]

@Elminsters Hat welcome to the forums! I made this an own thread.

[Elminsters Hat]

Thank you @jastey and @Sam.

 

I will venture forth! 

[subtledoctor]

20 hours ago, Sam. said:

My personal advice would be don't use a mac, largely because it is, by its very nature, incompatible with like 90+% of the rest of the world.  Your current predicament is case in point.

Did G3 hire some of the Beamdog forum moderators? Don't know why they left this inane, inaccurate, and uninformative comment (which was apparently, appropriately, only posted in jest) but removed any follow-up...

Anyway @Elminsters Hat I and others have been using MacOS to play the games, mod the games, and create mods for Windows users (you're welcome) for many many years. There is nothing "incompatible" about the OS - it uses your basic UNIX underpinnings, universal and/or open-source networking and i/o, and can handle any files with any extension you care to throw at it. As stated once upon a time, this is not 1997.

Apple does unfortunately update the OS more often than Windows (which I think is a bad policy) and those updates can affect Weidu. Generally someone who helps out with Weidu compiles a new version for the latest MacOS update, and everyone continues without any problem. You are the 2nd person I've heard make a complaint relating to Big Sur, so maybe there is an issue there, but I have also heard of people using it with Big Sur just fine.

My advice:

• make sure you have found the proper game directory
• make sure permissions are set correctly for that folder
• get the latest copy of Weidu and put it in that folder
• get the Mac Weidu Launcher and put it in that folder
• get a bunch of mods and unpack them into that folder
• use the Mac Weidu Launcher

Works great for me, I actually find it substantially easier than installing mods on Windows. YMMV.

Edited August 15, 2021 by subtledoctor

[jastey]

5 minutes ago, subtledoctor said:

Did G3 hire some of the Beamdog forum moderators? Don't know why they left this inane, inaccurate, and uninformative comment (which was apparently, appropriately, only posted in jest) but removed any follow-up...

No, I splitted the threads. Follow up to @Sam.'s remark is here.

[subtledoctor]

That's fine, I just thought the thread deserved some more concrete information than "get a real computer!!1!1" or whatnot.

(To be fair, I have no experience with the new ARM-powered Macs. I don't know if Weidu works on that platform. I speak from the perspective of the last ten years, when Macs have been bog-standard Intel PCs with a slightly fancier aluminum shell. Maybe in the future, "incompatibility" will be a real concern again. Time will tell...)

[Elminsters Hat]

On 8/15/2021 at 4:20 PM, subtledoctor said:

I and others have been using MacOS to play the games, mod the games, and create mods for Windows users (you're welcome) for many many years.

Wow this is so great. I am truly grateful @subtledoctor

[StefanO]

On 8/16/2021 at 1:32 AM, subtledoctor said:

That's fine, I just thought the thread deserved some more concrete information than "get a real computer!!1!1" or whatnot.

(To be fair, I have no experience with the new ARM-powered Macs. I don't know if Weidu works on that platform. I speak from the perspective of the last ten years, when Macs have been bog-standard Intel PCs with a slightly fancier aluminum shell. Maybe in the future, "incompatibility" will be a real concern again. Time will tell...)

WeiDU runs both on ARM- and Intel-powered Macs. That's also true for other utilities sometimes used during mod installation:  tisunpack, mosunpack, 7z etc.

[subtledoctor]

2 hours ago, StefanO said:

WeiDU runs both on ARM- and Intel-powered Macs. That's also true for other utilities sometimes used during mod installation:  tisunpack, mosunpack, 7z etc.

Nice!

So, getting down to brass tacks: I've seen reports from two people that they had trouble installing mods on MacOS Big Sur. One of them said it worked fine on early versions of Big Sur, but that a recent update changed things. So I surmise that either 1) an OS update changed something and is not letting Weidu run; or 2) there si some kind of user error.

[StefanO]

56 minutes ago, subtledoctor said:

Nice!

So, getting down to brass tacks: I've seen reports from two people that they had trouble installing mods on MacOS Big Sur. One of them said it worked fine on early versions of Big Sur, but that a recent update changed things. So I surmise that either 1) an OS update changed something and is not letting Weidu run; or 2) there si some kind of user error.

I never had a BigSur related WeiDU problem.