Installing SCS on Mac

[Guest Boromir]

This is my first time modding the game, despite playing it for years. I play on Mac. So when trying to run the setup-stratagems.command, Mac gave me the error that I didn’t have permission, and I needed to go to File > Get Info to fix it. After some trial and error and googling, I found I needed to run “chmod u+x /path/file.command” to give it permission, which I did in the right Terminal window. When I tried again to run the setup-stratagems.command in the left Terminal window, it give me that error, saying I still don’t have permission. Image here.

I tried to fix it by running the "chmod u+x" command for setup-stratagems and the stratagems file, but it just gave me this.

Not sure what I need to do to rectify this issue.

[subtledoctor]

Try using this. 

It’s been a long long time since I set this stuff up fresh. You might need to set the permissions for the whole game folder and everything inside it. I think you can do that by selecting the game folder and hitting cmd-i for the Get Info box; permissions are at the bottom of that window. 

[OrlonKronsteen]

Thanks for making this tool, Subtledoctor! I may be moving to Mac soon, so it may be right up my alley. If you can forgive a silly question, which file do you actually download? Is it the zipped, source code file?

[subtledoctor]

Yeah “source code zip,” then unzip it and put the app into your game folder. Run it from there. You can make copies of the app and put copies in other game folders if you have multiple instances of the game(s). 

You may have to jump through some hoops to get it to run the first time, depending on how new/locked-down your version of MacOS is. 

It’s not really an “app” - just an applescript with two bundled .txt files, which upon being double-clicked generate and run a shell script. No actual executable to speak of. Nevertheless, Apple keeps making it harder and harder to use. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by subtledoctor

[OrlonKronsteen]

Thank you so much.

Jeeze, I keep hearing about how much harder it is to do things on Mac now because of security. That really sucks, especially since ease of use is supposed to be a selling point.

[subtledoctor]

On 4/15/2023 at 5:29 PM, OrlonKronsteen said:

Jeeze, I keep hearing about how much harder it is to do things on Mac now because of security. That really sucks, especially since ease of use is supposed to be a selling point.

Actually, for other reasons, I just managed to install the latest macOS Ventura into an external drive and boot from it! I didn't think you could do that anymore?? But it works. Just like the good old days.

So I set up a pristine new instance of macOS, and copied my BG2EE game folder over to the new Desktop (including the game executable which is in the game folder). I could run the Mac Weidu Launcher no problem, and install mods, and run the game from that folder. Excellent. It's a little weird that my custom app icon no longer works, so the app looks like a folder. But whatever - it works, which is the important thing.

[OrlonKronsteen]

You are obviously a much more advanced user than me - I would never attempt what you just did with the OS (I figured it would only download to a recognized Apple device during a set-up or update).

In any case, it looks like I can get your tool running on a Monterey Mac. Bizarre security though: if I double-click the app I'm told I can't run it for security reasons, but all I have to do to circumvent that is right-click, and open. I was able to open the Tweaks Anthology menu in the terminal (though I didn't have time to install). SCS should work, too, I'd imagine. Brilliant. And I got to see your custom app icon, too.

Hopefully we'll all have as easy a time as you did with Ventura.

 

[subtledoctor]

2 hours ago, OrlonKronsteen said:

if I double-click the app I'm told I can't run it for security reasons, but all I have to do to circumvent that is right-click, and open

I think if you double-click and it fails, then you can open System Settings and go to the 'Security' tab, and there will be a message like "You just tried to run this app. Do you want to authorize that app to run?" And then it should work by simple double-clicks from then on.

[jmerry]

Yeah, that works too. More complicated, but you can do the security bypass even if you forgot and tried to run the app like a certified one. And once you've bypassed the security once, any future attempts to run that app are good without any special measures.

[OrlonKronsteen]

Hi, just thought I'd drop in for an update. I finally switched to Mac, and I can happily report that the launcher worked like a charm for me on 14.1. The custom icon is there, too! Thanks again for building that for us.