Ultima Online on MacBook

Merus · March 2018

Anyone have a step by step tutorial about how to run UO (classic client preferred) on a MacBook. I read that WINE can be used, but need some set up instructions.

KiMarhi_Scrible · March 2018

I tried this and gave up. bought an alienware. All I could ever find is having to install windows on a partition of your HD and it never ran that great.

Merus · March 2018

Yeah... trying to sell the idea to a friend to pay $10 a month for a game that is 20 years old was kind of a hurdle... but the suggestion to buy a new laptop with windows was a lead balloon.

With EJ coming and the rise in popularity of Apple product, UO could perhaps expand its marketability a little bit if it has some instructions on how to get UO running on that platform

@Kyronix @Bleak @Mesanna ; This might be something you all could add to the guide or wiki, as it would be pretty helpful.

MadMartyr · March 2018

I normally run UO from either VirtualBox or CrossOver Games on my Mac, but I've been meaning to switch over to Wine Stable for quite some time, so...

Install Process

Install XQuartz
Install Wine Stable
Download the UO Installer (I'll be using Classic Client for this example)
Launch the UO installer (double-click it)
You'll be prompted to install wine-mono. Click "Install".
You'll be prompted to install Gecko. Click "Install".
The UO Installer will now launch, follow the prompts as you would in Windows. You may want to uncheck the Create Shortcut checkbox, as it'll create a useless LNK file on the desktop.
Open a new Finder window and click Go > Go to Folder in the Menu Bar
Copy/Paste the following: ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Electronic Arts/Ultima Online Classic
Double-click "UO.exe" to begin the patch process.

Create a Shortcut on the Desktop

Select UO.exe in the previously opened Finder window.
In the Menu Bar select File > Make Alias
Drag the newly created Alias to your desktop from the Finder window.

I'm doing this now, so if I run in to any issues I'll update this thread.

MadMartyr · March 2018

Process just finished, logged in successfully, and all works as expected.

Untested:

Third-party programs
Macro hotkeys

Merus · March 2018

MadMartyr said:

I normally run UO from either VirtualBox or CrossOver Games on my Mac, but I've been meaning to switch over to Wine Stable for quite some time, so...

Install Process
Install XQuartz
Install Wine Stable
Download the UO Installer (I'll be using Classic Client for this example)
Launch the UO installer (double-click it)
You'll be prompted to install wine-mono. Click "Install".
You'll be prompted to install Gecko. Click "Install".
The UO Installer will now launch, follow the prompts as you would in Windows. You may want to uncheck the Create Shortcut checkbox, as it'll create a useless LNK file on the desktop.
Open a new Finder window and click Go > Go to Folder in the Menu Bar
Copy/Paste the following: ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Electronic Arts/Ultima Online Classic
Double-click "UO.exe" to begin the patch process.
Create a Shortcut on the Desktop
Select UO.exe in the previously opened Finder window.
In the Menu Bar select File > Make Alias
Drag the newly created Alias to your desktop from the Finder window.
I'm doing this now, so if I run in to any issues I'll update this thread.

This would make a great sticky someplace. Thanks.

Peacefull76 · April 2020

For those looking for a solution to run UO on a mac, this seemingly great approach unfortunately does not work on Catalina, be advised. Bootcamp + Windows 10 was so far the only way for me to get the game to run. With CrossOver (made by the same company than Wine) I was able to install and load the classic client but it won't let me connect past Shard selection. I click on the shard I want then it goes to "connecting" indefinitely.

Kirthag · April 2020

Following.... as I am having to go back to Mac for school (design & advertising) and I just cannot afford to get a MacBook and new gaming rig (Alienware).

OR - I will keep my itty-bitty-Dell-netbook and continue to play UO from an external teradrive. Then I won't have to play around with getting the MacBook running windows.

MadMartyr · May 2020

I don't recommend Wine, CrossOver, or PlayOnMac at this point. They're all Wine under the hood, and none function as they should for UO. I'm now running the game in a Windows 7 Virtual Machine in VMWare Fusion, and it performs beautifully. I had six clients logged in the other night for our guild's Cinco de Mayo event and it never skipped a beat.

I previously used VirtualBox, but I ran in to a multitude of issues if I tried to run more than one client for anything. The resources were just tapped out too quickly at modern macOS HiDPI resolutions.

Rhayam · May 2020

I am using Parallels with Windows 10 Pro in a Sept 2012 MacBook Pro.
The CC runs fine, but the EC never opens. Although is using 50% of the virtual CPU.

I saw a Reddit posting, that said the following:
"Broke it in a debugger and discovered it was in a tight infinite loop. I broke it out of the loop and the game finished loading. I'm going to see if I can get a dump to the developers so that they can fix it. I don't know why it happens or why it doesn't happen to other people."

Hmm, I never heard of using a debugger to break a "tight infinite loop" in windows. Any suggestions to run the EC when this happens?

Thanks.

Kirthag · July 2020

and got the MacBook Pro (2019) and looking forward to playing my favored game more frequently. The netbook just isn't cutting it anymore.

After getting adjusted and reacquainted with all the happy mac stuff - will be playing UO on it (classic, of course).

@MadMartyr
so are you using Fusion?

Dubh · July 2020

I've been running EC or Parallels. It's almost perfect (it doesn't seem to recognize that control-shift is down until you hit another key).

Seth · July 2020

Thanks to @MadMartyr for contributing the steps. @Mariah I think this thread deserves a sticker.

@MadMartyr I wonder if you know how we can make custom icons for EC macros....

MadMartyr · July 2020

Seth said:

Thanks to @ MadMartyr for contributing the steps. @ Mariah I think this thread deserves a sticker.

@ MadMartyr I wonder if you know how we can make custom icons for EC macros....

Sorry, the only time I actually even update EC is to test things for Ultima Mapper.

Dubh · July 2020

Small update: Although I tried Parallels for a while, the keyboard not being polled well combined with some inaccuracy on the mouse led me to try VMWare Fusion instead. It doesn't seem to have either bug, so I'd suggest it instead.

Virtual Box could barely start the game and video locked up pretty quickly.

Dubh · August 2020

Dubh said:

Small update: Although I tried Parallels for a while, the keyboard not being polled well combined with some inaccuracy on the mouse led me to try VMWare Fusion instead. It doesn't seem to have either bug, so I'd suggest it instead.

Also, there's going to be a free version of VMware come October, so given the best compatibility and the best price that's probably the best option now. I'm using the beta ("technical preview") until then.

Reviewing the original question, I did get EC working once in Crossover on the Mac. I haven't been able to repeat that feat. It also suffered extremely intermittent connections (succeeding in getting the character list less than 1 time in 20). CC was a little better, but I also had connection problems there. I wouldn't really recommend either unless someone writes a good guide and you're really technical.

Kirthag · September 2020

Dubh said:

Small update: Although I tried Parallels for a while, the keyboard not being polled well combined with some inaccuracy on the mouse led me to try VMWare Fusion instead. It doesn't seem to have either bug, so I'd suggest it instead.

Virtual Box could barely start the game and video locked up pretty quickly.

Which Mac version do you have? Lots of people in my professional circle swears by Parallels and are jealous that I can get it with a student discount.

Dubh · September 2020

Kirthag said:
Which Mac version do you have? Lots of people in my professional circle swears by Parallels and are jealous that I can get it with a student discount.

It's a MacBookPro11,3. Late 2013 model. That might be the first Retina MacBook. The game is pretty unplayable on the built-in display, but works fine on an external monitor.

I've had good experiences with a Mac mini as well.

MadMartyr · December 2020

Just a minor update since I received my new ARM M1 Mac Mini the other day. Without virtualiziation (due to the CPU), I'm back to fighting with WINE and CrossOver to get it to work. Still getting stuck after selecting the shard, and I put in a ticket with CrossOver. If they can fix it in their WINE build, I'm happy to throw some cash at them. If not, I'll uninstall CrossOver and either fight with WINE myself or go down the path of getting Windows 10 ARM64 installed via QEMU.

MadMartyr · December 2020

No luck with CrossOver or WINE. Installed Windows 10 ARM Insider Build via QEMU, Classic Client installs, but doesn't get past "Connected" following shard selection. Will come back to this when things are stabilized.

MadMartyr · December 2020

Now running the Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview in the Parallels Technical Preview on my M1 Mac Mini flawlessly. Playing UO right now. Should work just as well on any other ARM Mac.

Kirthag · March 2021

Thanks @MadMartyr
Giving me some insight on manipulating my Mac... and what future purchasing decisions I will make with regard to gaming on a Mac or not. Part of me thinks to keep my games on Windows while I dedicate my Macs to work and design...

Kitiara · March 2021

Kirthag said:

Part of me thinks to keep my games on Windows while I dedicate my Macs to work and design...

That's what I do. It also gives me easy access to Windows when I need to test web sites for work. Everything else I do on my Macs.

Kirthag · April 2021

Yep - decided that is going to be the modus operandi for me now. Little Dell laptop is able to manage UO's CC without a hitch (not that I like played the EC).

MadMartyr · December 2021

Revisiting this while I have time over the holiday. I'm currently running Windows 11 ARM in Parallels on my M1 Mac Mini 16GB. It's fine, and I can run four clients simultaneously, with things starting to slow down at five clients. I gave the VM a ton of RAM and 4 cores, and it does what I need.

But a guildmate asked me to check things out again. I've started with CrossOver and Classic Client, and the same issue still exists of being unable to login past the shard select. It just sits at "Connecting...".

I'll be trying other various combinations (CC only, as I don't play EC) and will post here with any progress.

MadMartyr · December 2021

Just tried PortingKit (another Wine bottle manager). Initial install completed successfully, but patching throws a filesystem error. Restarted the patcher, and it appeared to continue normally. Once it was fully patched, I was able to launch Classic Client and login successfully.

MadMartyr · December 2021

OK, actually, PortingKit seems to do everything I need now and CC appears to be pretty stable. I can try other apps/configurations if anyone needs it, but I think I'm done for now. I recommend PortingKit unless I manage to find some major issues while playing over the next few days.

Jepeth · December 2021

For travel reasons I installed Windows on my rather ancient 2013 MacBook Pro via Bootcamp to run the game. It runs pretty good all things considered! For sure needs a mouse as you can’t do much with that trackpad.

MadMartyr · December 2021

Unfortunately you can’t use Boot Camp on 2020 and later Macs using the ARM CPU, so virtualization/emulation is the only available route. Either running Windows ARM builds in a virtual machine or emulation for Windows apps.

Kirthag · March 2022

thanks @MadMartyr
this info is invaluable for us Mac users!

MadMartyr · March 2022

Happy to hear that I've been helpful!

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Ultima Online on MacBook

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