[100% Unofficial] How to play GW2 on Mac OS after the Mac client is gone - [Merged]

[ASP.8093]

Hmm. The DOSBox thing is new in PortingKit since I last tested it. Definitely don't use that, use Wine. DOSBox is a wrapper for running really old games (games that would run on MSDOS).

In my experience, PortingKit can sometimes get stuck trying to fetch things from the Internet. It's ok to just kill it after like ~10 minutes, nothing it does should take longer than that without some kind of output telling you it's going like a progress bar.

[Com Otio.4067]

When I choose Wine the window closes and that's it. Nothing happens after that. I loaded Porting Kit again and tried it and still got the same problem

[Qida.5648]

I tried to install d912pxy to improve my performance M1 mac. It does not load for Windows 10 ARM / parallels.

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/110553/want-to-use-directx-12-dx12-for-gw2-heres-a-guide-on-using-the-d912pxy-on-windows-10

However it did install for Crossover. So I assume you need Windows 10 x64 / x86 bottles. Or parallels intel.

I have to install the latest Visual C++ from Microsoft.. and then place the folder d912pxy and run the installer.

Maybe someone who have Intel Macs try and let me know if it improves your fps?

[Melech.4308]

Now that Parallels 16.5 is released which supports Apple M1 Macs, has anyone tried if the PC version of GW2 works fine? Any experiences? FPS drops?

[Gumbolia.5381]

I found a better solution than the PlayOnMac one I covered previously. This one uses an updated version of Wineskin.

I followed this and it seems to be working better for me so far:

Running Guild Wars 2 On macOS Using Wine

[ASP.8093]

@"Gumbolia.5381" said:I found a better solution than the PlayOnMac one I covered previously. This one uses an updated version of Wineskin.

I followed this and it seems to be working better for me so far:

Running Guild Wars 2 On macOS Using Wine

Thanks, I'll update the first post.

[Dawdler.8521]

@Melech.4308 said:Now that Parallels 16.5 is released which supports Apple M1 Macs, has anyone tried if the PC version of GW2 works fine? Any experiences? FPS drops?Maybe in the future one can even run GW2 on M1 iPad Pros, lol (well if they make a Windows emulator for iPadOS).

[clumsybunii.8973]

I'm hoping someone can help me! 
I'm following these instructions: https://asmaloney.com/2021/04/howto/running-guild-wars-2-on-macos-using-wine/

and everything works until the step: "Click the Choose Setup Executable button and select the Windows Guild Wars 2 installer you downloaded earlier."

When I do that I get the error message:

"WARNING

No new executables found!

Maybe the installer failed...?

If you tried to install somewhere other than C: drive (drive_c in the wrapper) then you will get this message too.  All software must be installed in C: drive."

Can anyone help? I have the 64 bit windows installer downloaded (GW2Setup-64.exe)

[Gumbolia.5381]

@clumsybunii.8973 So you were at the window called Installer (right above the text you mentioned in the article) and you chose the GW2 installer you downloaded from ANet? It should pause a little and then show the GW2 installer window (the next graphic in that post) and start updating itself.

[Qida.5648]

On 4/20/2021 at 11:57 AM, Melech.4308 said:

Now that Parallels 16.5 is released which supports Apple M1 Macs, has anyone tried if the PC version of GW2 works fine? Any experiences? FPS drops?

 

Almost the same. No / low pop area 60 ~ 40 fps (All low settings). Wvw, big events, zergs slow to a crawl.  I wish i could use d912pxy.. but after installation, GW2 does not launch.

 

On 4/21/2021 at 11:33 PM, Dawdler.8521 said:

Quote

@Melech.4308 said:Now that Parallels 16.5 is released which supports Apple M1 Macs, has anyone tried if the PC version of GW2 works fine? Any experiences? FPS drops?Maybe in the future one can even run GW2 on M1 iPad Pros, lol (well if they make a Windows emulator for iPadOS).

 

I am hopeful for the M1 iPad Pros 🙂. Especially the 16GB versions. Currently there is an app called UTM, it can virtualise almost any OS, thanks to qemu (Apple will never support it.. so you need to build it yourself or find alt ways). I tried on my iPhone 12 Pro, can only allocate 1GB.. any higher it will crash low memory. Playing GW2 on any A series chip is out of the question. But the M1... hmmmm if its the same chip in Macbooks. 

[clumsybunii.8973]

On 5/1/2021 at 8:50 PM, Gumbolia.5381 said:

@clumsybunii.8973 So you were at the window called Installer (right above the text you mentioned in the article) and you chose the GW2 installer you downloaded from ANet? It should pause a little and then show the GW2 installer window (the next graphic in that post) and start updating itself.

Yes, I am at the Installer window, click "choose setup executable" and select the "Gw2Setup-64.exe" that I downloaded from here https://account.arena.net/welcome?_ga=2.193931373.1966733758.1620058695-1539262888.1617461135 

it gives the message "wineskin is currently busy" for about 25 seconds then pops up 

"WARNING

No new executables found!

Maybe the installer failed...?

If you tried to install somewhere other than 😄 drive (drive_c in the wrapper) then you will get this message too.  All software must be installed in 😄 drive."

 

[Jacques.8170]

I tried the wineskin method on my 2.93Ghz MacPro with RX580 and it was dreadfully slow, 10-15fps with nobody around. 

 

Could I ask a favour of those running via Windows ARM - if you are on low/med settings and run at 1080p, what fps do you achieve? My monitors max resolution is 1920x1200 and I'd like to understand what is possible at this resolution.

 

I'll keep playing it on my linux box in the meantime, though I do intend to switch to a MacMini at some point. If GW2 is still lagging a bit I'll pop the RX580 into my linux box and have that as my GW2 machine. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Jacques.8170

[Qida.5648]

On 5/5/2021 at 3:14 AM, Jacques.8170 said:

Could I ask a favour of those running via Windows ARM - if you are on low/med settings and run at 1080p, what fps do you achieve? My monitors max resolution is 1920x1200 and I'd like to understand what is possible at this resolution.

 

M1 MBA 8/8 core 16GB. Parallels 16 + Windows 10 arm build 21370. (7 Processor + 8GB allocated)

 

1920 x 1200 settings all low. 

EOTN: FPS 50 - 30 (20s when near dragon storm event)

WvW: FPS: 70 - 50 (no people) 30 - 20 (moderate) 10 - 1 (big zergs)

Dragonstorm: 30 - 8 (avg 20 - 10)

 

 

 

[Jacques.8170]

Thank you, that is helpful.

Edited May 8, 2021 by Jacques.8170
Spelling

[Silver.1290]

On 5/3/2021 at 11:19 AM, clumsybunii.8973 said:

Yes, I am at the Installer window, click "choose setup executable" and select the "Gw2Setup-64.exe" that I downloaded from here https://account.arena.net/welcome?_ga=2.193931373.1966733758.1620058695-1539262888.1617461135 

it gives the message "wineskin is currently busy" for about 25 seconds then pops up 

"WARNING

No new executables found!

Maybe the installer failed...?

If you tried to install somewhere other than 😄 drive (drive_c in the wrapper) then you will get this message too.  All software must be installed in 😄 drive."

 

I'm having the same problem as the person who said that as well. What do you mean by installing somewhere other than the c drive? Is there a specific location I should put the Gw2 installer before attempting to choose the setup executable?

[raaahbin.7405]

On 5/7/2021 at 7:24 PM, Qida.5648 said:

 

M1 MBA 8/8 core 16GB. Parallels 16 + Windows 10 arm build 21370. (7 Processor + 8GB allocated)

 

1920 x 1200 settings all low. 

EOTN: FPS 50 - 30 (20s when near dragon storm event)

WvW: FPS: 70 - 50 (no people) 30 - 20 (moderate) 10 - 1 (big zergs)

Dragonstorm: 30 - 8 (avg 20 - 10)

 

 

 

Have you also tried Crossover on the M1? I thought Crossover only worked on Intel, but the home page says it works on Apple Silicon as well. Curious to know which performs better on the platform that has to emulate everything no matter what.

[Qida.5648]

On 6/1/2021 at 10:57 PM, raaahbin.7405 said:

Have you also tried Crossover on the M1? I thought Crossover only worked on Intel, but the home page says it works on Apple Silicon as well. Curious to know which performs better on the platform that has to emulate everything no matter what.

 

I now play using Crossover on my M1. Because I did not pay for Parallels. 

By default, Crossover's performance is worse then Parallels. However, if you install d912pxy, its performance is better than Parallels. But Crossover suffers from 'mount not appearing / loading in issue' when in zerg.

 

Parallels + Windows 10 arm, d912pxy does not work.

[raaahbin.7405]

4 hours ago, Qida.5648 said:

 

I now play using Crossover on my M1. Because I did not pay for Parallels. 

By default, Crossover's performance is worse then Parallels. However, if you install d912pxy, its performance is better than Parallels. But Crossover suffers from 'mount not appearing / loading in issue' when in zerg.

 

Parallels + Windows 10 arm, d912pxy does not work.

Thanks - when I eventually get an M1 mac I'll try that out. For now I'm using the 32-bit client on an old macbook, so "mount not appearing" is my default experience. 😑 

[Svata.8034]

On 6/9/2021 at 2:10 AM, raaahbin.7405 said:

For now I'm using the 32-bit client on an old macbook, so "mount not appearing" is my default experience. 😑 

Does this natively work on a MAC?

If so, do you just download from here: https://account.arena.net/welcome ?

It says windows....

[Manasurge.4312]

Hello! Thank you for this thread as I am sad for the dropping of mac support and have been lurking here religiously (even though I understand why, it still sucks. But alas :C ). So I decided to try out one of the options presented that would be the least complicated as I'm not super tech savvy when it comes to the technical intricacies (but decent enough to follow along at least and troubleshoot a few things with instruction). So as a quick rundown:

- I'm on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB (specs info). I'm also running this one on the 64bit GW2.
- I decided to try out Crossover bc of the trial period, easy and simple enough installation, least amount of storage required, and my friend uses it as well.

- I sadly do not have enough storage or patience to bother with the bootcamp option 😞

- So far it's been pretty good overall! FPS isn't so bad, jumps between 15-30, so it's good enough for me. Had to drop the graphics a bit, but it's not the end of the world. I'm just glad it's running. The fps doesn't really drop drastically, so it's pretty on par with how it was working for me before.

- Fortunately, there's no crashing on startup for me like I've read happening to some people on here

- It's a bit slow to start up, but I suppose that's just a wine thing.

- Yes, I do play with a trackpad as my own personal preference (never liked using a mouse, even since childhood. I like keeping a relaxed hand without having to worry about a cramped hand/wrist, as well as annoying desk clutter). This is actually relevant to a point that comes up later.

- I'm fortunate I don't have the issue of the game freaking out or dropping fps when I pan the camera around quickly in multiple directions, which is a godsend as I play a Mirage, which has me doing this on the reg when I port around like a maniac. 
 

Problems I've encountered so far:

- The game likes to crash more often than I'd like. Usually during metas (but not always, just... sometimes? It can handle some zergs just fine, but others, not so much? And sometimes it'll just crash during a quiet period with nothing going on, so it's kinda moody. Some days it's more forgiving than others). This is by far the most frustrating thing since I have to close it and restart it again, and this is especially troublesome during metas where I tend to often get booted to another map instance, which follows up with the next issue I've encountered.

- I can no longer right click using the keyboard method I always have, which makes it impossible for me to switch map instances, or even do things such as right click on an item to unlock it's skin/sell on TP/etc. but mostly for the instance switching issue. I've tried everything to reconfigure my keybindings in hope of a secret life hack, but I've had no luck so far (so I've reluctantly ordered a mouse for the sake of right clicking for these situations only, so I'll see how it works once it's delivered, which should hopefully be today). in addition a few keybinds have been reconfigured to other keys, but I figure that's again, a wine reflecting windows thing. 

- The newest issue I've discovered is that the game will sometimes freeze my computer entirely, forcing me to have to restart it, and this is a huge pain for obvious reasons.

 

So these three  (mainly two) above issues are the things I need help with if it is possible to fix them (and if someone is able to help me, I will love you forever). I have no idea why it does these things. I'm used to the occasional crash from previous supported gameplay, so that happening once in a while is fine, but not to this extent.
 

Is there anything I should look into to stop these issues from happening? (mainly the crashing and freezing?). If there isn't anything else, do you think I would I have better luck trying out playonmac, or one of the other options? Thank you in advance!

[Qida.5648]

18 hours ago, Manasurge.4312 said:

Hello! Thank you for this thread as I am sad for the dropping of mac support and have been lurking here religiously (even though I understand why, it still sucks. But alas :C ). So I decided to try out one of the options presented that would be the least complicated as I'm not super tech savvy when it comes to the technical intricacies (but decent enough to follow along at least and troubleshoot a few things with instruction). So as a quick rundown:

- I'm on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB (specs info). I'm also running this one on the 64bit GW2.
- I decided to try out Crossover bc of the trial period, easy and simple enough installation, least amount of storage required, and my friend uses it as well.

- I sadly do not have enough storage or patience to bother with the bootcamp option 😞

- So far it's been pretty good overall! FPS isn't so bad, jumps between 15-30, so it's good enough for me. Had to drop the graphics a bit, but it's not the end of the world. I'm just glad it's running. The fps doesn't really drop drastically, so it's pretty on par with how it was working for me before.

- Fortunately, there's no crashing on startup for me like I've read happening to some people on here

- It's a bit slow to start up, but I suppose that's just a wine thing.

- Yes, I do play with a trackpad as my own personal preference (never liked using a mouse, even since childhood. I like keeping a relaxed hand without having to worry about a cramped hand/wrist, as well as annoying desk clutter). This is actually relevant to a point that comes up later.

- I'm fortunate I don't have the issue of the game freaking out or dropping fps when I pan the camera around quickly in multiple directions, which is a godsend as I play a Mirage, which has me doing this on the reg when I port around like a maniac. 
 

Problems I've encountered so far:

- The game likes to crash more often than I'd like. Usually during metas (but not always, just... sometimes? It can handle some zergs just fine, but others, not so much? And sometimes it'll just crash during a quiet period with nothing going on, so it's kinda moody. Some days it's more forgiving than others). This is by far the most frustrating thing since I have to close it and restart it again, and this is especially troublesome during metas where I tend to often get booted to another map instance, which follows up with the next issue I've encountered.

- I can no longer right click using the keyboard method I always have, which makes it impossible for me to switch map instances, or even do things such as right click on an item to unlock it's skin/sell on TP/etc. but mostly for the instance switching issue. I've tried everything to reconfigure my keybindings in hope of a secret life hack, but I've had no luck so far (so I've reluctantly ordered a mouse for the sake of right clicking for these situations only, so I'll see how it works once it's delivered, which should hopefully be today). in addition a few keybinds have been reconfigured to other keys, but I figure that's again, a wine reflecting windows thing. 

- The newest issue I've discovered is that the game will sometimes freeze my computer entirely, forcing me to have to restart it, and this is a huge pain for obvious reasons.

 

So these three  (mainly two) above issues are the things I need help with if it is possible to fix them (and if someone is able to help me, I will love you forever). I have no idea why it does these things. I'm used to the occasional crash from previous supported gameplay, so that happening once in a while is fine, but not to this extent.
 

Is there anything I should look into to stop these issues from happening? (mainly the crashing and freezing?). If there isn't anything else, do you think I would I have better luck trying out playonmac, or one of the other options? Thank you in advance!

 

You can try downloading D912pxy, unzip it.

Open crossover, under bottle, right click and open C:\ drive.

Copy the zip into your Guild Wars 2 folder.

Right click and run command: (Then select the install.exe in the D912pxy folder you copied)

A command prompt should appear, just press enter for all default settings. 

Then try launch the game again.

 

It makes performance better for me on Crossover. Not sure if that might help you.

 

If it does not, just run the install.exe again, it will prompt to remove. Then you will be back to normal.

[Manasurge.4312]

2 hours ago, Qida.5648 said:

 

You can try downloading D912pxy, unzip it.

Open crossover, under bottle, right click and open C:\ drive.

Copy the zip into your Guild Wars 2 folder.

Right click and run command: (Then select the install.exe in the D912pxy folder you copied)

A command prompt should appear, just press enter for all default settings. 

Then try launch the game again.

 

It makes performance better for me on Crossover. Not sure if that might help you.

 

If it does not, just run the install.exe again, it will prompt to remove. Then you will be back to normal.

Thank you! I'll go ahead and try it out in hopes that it'll work. Even though it says it's meant for macs with M1 chips (mine is intel) it's worth a shot since I'm desperate and curious enough. Also thank you for the step-by-step and de-installation instructions as well in case it doesn't work out, I really appreciate that. 
Well, here's hoping for the best!

[Manasurge.4312]

4 hours ago, Qida.5648 said:

 

You can try downloading D912pxy, unzip it.

Open crossover, under bottle, right click and open C:\ drive.

Copy the zip into your Guild Wars 2 folder.

Right click and run command: (Then select the install.exe in the D912pxy folder you copied)

A command prompt should appear, just press enter for all default settings. 

Then try launch the game again.

 

It makes performance better for me on Crossover. Not sure if that might help you.

 

If it does not, just run the install.exe again, it will prompt to remove. Then you will be back to normal.

Sadly, it didn't work out. I just kept getting an error message. I guess it's due to my mac being intel, and I'm not sure if this is meant for 32bit or 64bit, but it was worth a shot 😞

Command error text:

winewrapper.exe:error: cannot start L"C:\\d912pxy\\install.exe"

[raaahbin.7405]

On 6/12/2021 at 3:23 AM, Svata.8034 said:

Does this natively work on a MAC?

If so, do you just download from here: https://account.arena.net/welcome ?

It says windows....

No - I've got a copy of the old-old Mac 32-bit client, which hasn't been available for download for years, but still runs if you are running an old enough version of MacOS to support 32-bit apps (anything before Catalina). As I understand it, it still works because it's just a wrapper for the Windows 32-bit client, so as long as they keep updating the Windows 32-bit client it is indirectly "supported". If you have a newer Mac, I would recommend the PlayOnMac/Crossover approach, as the performance will be better, and obviously if your Mac is running Catalina or newer that is your only option. However, if you have a really old Mac like mine, the 32-bit client is your best bet. PM me if you want info on how to download it.

[War Seeker.4738]

tldr; Buy this mini pc, and play on 1280x600, all low settings (native resolution, textures on high). 10-30fps. Decent experience (good enough for me)

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

For anybody super casual with the game (like me).

 

I have an interesting solution... Not exactly a Mac Client thing, but an option for Mac-only users who still want portability/minimalism, who don't mind playing on 720p + lower settings + 10-30fps, and who don't mind dishing $180-$300 to play the game again.

I bought this mini Windows 10 PC, the Chuwi LarkBox Pro (literally the size of a lemon. Literally). And I run the game at 1280x600 on lowish settings (native resolution, textures on high, everything else on low). I'm getting 10-30fps, depending on the area. Which is good enough for me, tbh. It's responsive enough to play and satisfy my Guild Wars 2 itch every few months when it comes.

 

Since I had to settle for low settings / resolution / fps though, I decided to pair the PC with this native 720p projector, and this wireless keyboard and mouse, to get a huge 120in display on my wall to compensate for the lower settings/fps. The size makes it more immersive, and the experience is pretty cool (check it out!).

 

But if you want portability instead, I'm sure there is free software you can use to use your macbook's display as the display for your windows 10 machine (I haven't tested it but it looks possible. might even be able to get the keyboard and trackpad working too. Note you will probably need a real monitor to initially set things up. then log in to your PC blind, and have spacedesk auto launch at login to work). See this video and this video. Might test this later.

 

Or just use Wine or something lol. I just personally don't want to clutter my mac with a Windows 10 partition.

 

Total price was $264. The mini-pc ($179), the 720p projector ($55), the wireless keyboard and mouse ($18), and tax/shipping ($12).

Plus I'm a developer so it's nice to have a Windows machine on hand now.

 

Good enough for me. Might be good enough for some of you, who were gaming on a Mac anyways, ha!

Edited August 15, 2021 by War Seeker.4738