Posted May 17, 2017
high rated
Bloodlines: MacOS Installation Instructions (via Wineskin)
• For Updated Notes: Jump to post 49 (until i find time for another full writeup)
• Alternate Option: ciemnika posted a PlayOnMac step-by-step variant of these instructions later in this thread.
I've seen a couple of people ask if Bloodlines works on a Mac using Wine. Yes it does!
There's a catch, though. The mod-loader doesn't work, so the Unofficial Patch doesn't load correctly out of the box. But that's ok, the workaround is simple enough.
This works fine with the base GOG version (Unofficial Patch), but also for the Plus Patch if you want to download it separately. I haven't tested any other patches.
===
Tools Required:
• Wineskin Winery
• An up-to-date Wineskin Wrapper
• A recent Wineskin Wine Engine
• Finder
• Terminal
The following was tested using:
• Late 2013 MacBook Pro
• MacOS Sierra 10.12.5
• Wineskin Winery 2.6.2
• Wine Engine WS9Wine 1.9.21
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 1.2 (UP 9.7 Basic)
===
Installation Instructions
Note: I won't go into detail on the basics of setting up Wineskin Winery, so if you're unfamiliar, check out the documentation on the project's website or search for one of the many fine tutorials out there :)
Step 0: Download the game's Windows installer.
Step 1: Open Wineskin Winery and create a new blank wrapper named "Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines"
Step 2: Open Finder and browse to your new file's location (default location is /Users/<your username>/Applications/Wineskin)
Step 3: Right-click or Control-click on your new file, Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app, and select "Show Package Contents" from the popup menu.
Step 4: In the newly opened directory, double-click Wineskin.app to start the application. Select "Advanced" on the popup dialog and then click the "Install Software" button down in the bottom left corner.
Step 5: Click "Choose Setup Executable" and then find your downloaded game exe file. The installation should begin.
Step 6: Perform the installation normally. You may receive an error near the end of the installation, but this is a known issue and can be safely ignored. When it is complete, unckeck the box to run the game automatically (if it is checked) and click Finish to close the installer.
Step 7: After a few seconds a window will pop up asking you to select the correct application executable. Select "Vampire.exe" and hit OK. This will take you back to the "Wineskin Advanced" window you started on.
Step 8: (Optional) If you want to use the in-game console, find the input box labeled "EXE Flags" and enter "-console" (without quotes).
Step 9: Next, look to the top of the window at the small, 3-button selector bar. Select "Options" and then uncheck "Map User Mac OS X folders in wrapper."
Step 10: At the bottom of the window, click "Set Screen Options" and then, in the lower right column, check "Use Mac Driver instead of X11" and then click "Done". This fixes some of the common mouse pointer issues in-game.
===
That's it for the basic installation, but we're not done yet. Next up is making sure the Unofficial Patch works.
===
Updating to the Plus Patch
If you are fine with the basic patch then you have everything you need (it's shipped in the GOG version) and can skip to the next section.
If you prefer the Plus Patch, you'll need to download it separately. At the time of this writing the most recent version is Unofficial Patch 9.7 (Final), which you can download from Patches Scrolls here.
Installing the Plus Patch works exactly as installing the game did, but first you'll need to get the Basic Patch out of the way, as their directory names conflict.
Step 1: Go back to your Finder window, to the same directory that contains Wineskin.app, and then navigate to drive_c/GOG Games/VtMB/.
Step 2: Rename the "Unofficial_Patch" directory to something like "Unofficial_Patch.bak" to get it out of the way.
Step 3: Go back to the Wineskin Advanced window, click "Install Software", and repeat the same process you used to install the game but this time using the downloaded patch executable.
Step 4: Install the patch using your preferred patch options. You don't need any of the "Extras", but you can install the walkthrough documentation if you like. When the patch installation is complete, uncheck both options (to avoid viewing the readme or auto-running the game) and then finish the installation. If you receive a warning about not finding any new executables you can safely ignore it and continue back to the starting screen.
===
Fixing the Patch
You're finally done with Wineskin, so you can go ahead and close that out now.
The remaining issue is that the mod-loader doesn't work right under Wine on a Mac. So if you tried to run the game right now, it would run, and SOME of the patch would get loaded. Unfortunately, not all of it loads and it can leave your game in an even more broken state than the original unpatched game was in when the developers ran out of money ;)
Since the mod-loader's broken, we'll just manually merge the patch files in ourselves.
The following steps will be performed using terminal commands, but at this point I recommend opening up Finder and "installing" your game by moving the Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app into your root Applications directory. The following commands will assume your game is installed to /Applications/Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app.
Step 0: Open Terminal (the built-in MacOS terminal emulator).
Step 1: Change to the game's installation directory:
cd "/Applications/Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app/drive_c/GOG Games/VtMB"
Step 2: Backup your base Vampire data directory:
ditto -V Vampire Vampire.bak
Step 3: Merge the patch data into the base data:
ditto -V Unofficial_Patch Vampire
Step 4: Rename your Vampire directory to denote the patched data:
mv Vampire Vampire_UP
Step 5: Create a symbolic link to replace the Vampire directory:
ln -s Vampire_UP Vampire
===
That's it! Patch should be fully merged now.
We backed up the game directory and created a symbolic link to the patched version for a couple of reasons. First, if something went wrong copying the patch over you don't want to have to reinstall the game from scratch because you killed your data directory. Second, if you ever want to update to a newer version of the patch (or use a different patch) you can do so by copying the backup (Vampire.bak), applying the new patch, and creating a new symbolic Vampire link pointing to the new directory.
===
Run the game like any other app by double-clicking it from the Applications directory or running it from Launchpad / Spotlight.
Note: The intro videos might very well not work for you—If you get an all black or all white screen during startup, but it sounds like a video is playing, just hit the Esc key a few times until you hit the main menu.
Have fun! Let me know if I've missed anything (or have any major typos) in the comments below.
• For Updated Notes: Jump to post 49 (until i find time for another full writeup)
• Alternate Option: ciemnika posted a PlayOnMac step-by-step variant of these instructions later in this thread.
I've seen a couple of people ask if Bloodlines works on a Mac using Wine. Yes it does!
There's a catch, though. The mod-loader doesn't work, so the Unofficial Patch doesn't load correctly out of the box. But that's ok, the workaround is simple enough.
This works fine with the base GOG version (Unofficial Patch), but also for the Plus Patch if you want to download it separately. I haven't tested any other patches.
===
Tools Required:
• Wineskin Winery
• An up-to-date Wineskin Wrapper
• A recent Wineskin Wine Engine
• Finder
• Terminal
The following was tested using:
• Late 2013 MacBook Pro
• MacOS Sierra 10.12.5
• Wineskin Winery 2.6.2
• Wine Engine WS9Wine 1.9.21
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 1.2 (UP 9.7 Basic)
===
Installation Instructions
Note: I won't go into detail on the basics of setting up Wineskin Winery, so if you're unfamiliar, check out the documentation on the project's website or search for one of the many fine tutorials out there :)
Step 0: Download the game's Windows installer.
Step 1: Open Wineskin Winery and create a new blank wrapper named "Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines"
Step 2: Open Finder and browse to your new file's location (default location is /Users/<your username>/Applications/Wineskin)
Step 3: Right-click or Control-click on your new file, Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app, and select "Show Package Contents" from the popup menu.
Step 4: In the newly opened directory, double-click Wineskin.app to start the application. Select "Advanced" on the popup dialog and then click the "Install Software" button down in the bottom left corner.
Step 5: Click "Choose Setup Executable" and then find your downloaded game exe file. The installation should begin.
Step 6: Perform the installation normally. You may receive an error near the end of the installation, but this is a known issue and can be safely ignored. When it is complete, unckeck the box to run the game automatically (if it is checked) and click Finish to close the installer.
Step 7: After a few seconds a window will pop up asking you to select the correct application executable. Select "Vampire.exe" and hit OK. This will take you back to the "Wineskin Advanced" window you started on.
Step 8: (Optional) If you want to use the in-game console, find the input box labeled "EXE Flags" and enter "-console" (without quotes).
Step 9: Next, look to the top of the window at the small, 3-button selector bar. Select "Options" and then uncheck "Map User Mac OS X folders in wrapper."
Step 10: At the bottom of the window, click "Set Screen Options" and then, in the lower right column, check "Use Mac Driver instead of X11" and then click "Done". This fixes some of the common mouse pointer issues in-game.
===
That's it for the basic installation, but we're not done yet. Next up is making sure the Unofficial Patch works.
===
Updating to the Plus Patch
If you are fine with the basic patch then you have everything you need (it's shipped in the GOG version) and can skip to the next section.
If you prefer the Plus Patch, you'll need to download it separately. At the time of this writing the most recent version is Unofficial Patch 9.7 (Final), which you can download from Patches Scrolls here.
Installing the Plus Patch works exactly as installing the game did, but first you'll need to get the Basic Patch out of the way, as their directory names conflict.
Step 1: Go back to your Finder window, to the same directory that contains Wineskin.app, and then navigate to drive_c/GOG Games/VtMB/.
Step 2: Rename the "Unofficial_Patch" directory to something like "Unofficial_Patch.bak" to get it out of the way.
Step 3: Go back to the Wineskin Advanced window, click "Install Software", and repeat the same process you used to install the game but this time using the downloaded patch executable.
Step 4: Install the patch using your preferred patch options. You don't need any of the "Extras", but you can install the walkthrough documentation if you like. When the patch installation is complete, uncheck both options (to avoid viewing the readme or auto-running the game) and then finish the installation. If you receive a warning about not finding any new executables you can safely ignore it and continue back to the starting screen.
===
Fixing the Patch
You're finally done with Wineskin, so you can go ahead and close that out now.
The remaining issue is that the mod-loader doesn't work right under Wine on a Mac. So if you tried to run the game right now, it would run, and SOME of the patch would get loaded. Unfortunately, not all of it loads and it can leave your game in an even more broken state than the original unpatched game was in when the developers ran out of money ;)
Since the mod-loader's broken, we'll just manually merge the patch files in ourselves.
The following steps will be performed using terminal commands, but at this point I recommend opening up Finder and "installing" your game by moving the Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app into your root Applications directory. The following commands will assume your game is installed to /Applications/Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app.
Step 0: Open Terminal (the built-in MacOS terminal emulator).
Step 1: Change to the game's installation directory:
cd "/Applications/Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.app/drive_c/GOG Games/VtMB"
Step 2: Backup your base Vampire data directory:
ditto -V Vampire Vampire.bak
Step 3: Merge the patch data into the base data:
ditto -V Unofficial_Patch Vampire
Step 4: Rename your Vampire directory to denote the patched data:
mv Vampire Vampire_UP
Step 5: Create a symbolic link to replace the Vampire directory:
ln -s Vampire_UP Vampire
===
That's it! Patch should be fully merged now.
We backed up the game directory and created a symbolic link to the patched version for a couple of reasons. First, if something went wrong copying the patch over you don't want to have to reinstall the game from scratch because you killed your data directory. Second, if you ever want to update to a newer version of the patch (or use a different patch) you can do so by copying the backup (Vampire.bak), applying the new patch, and creating a new symbolic Vampire link pointing to the new directory.
===
Run the game like any other app by double-clicking it from the Applications directory or running it from Launchpad / Spotlight.
Note: The intro videos might very well not work for you—If you get an all black or all white screen during startup, but it sounds like a video is playing, just hit the Esc key a few times until you hit the main menu.
Have fun! Let me know if I've missed anything (or have any major typos) in the comments below.
Post edited October 01, 2019 by xixas