Author Topic: A Tutorial for Downloading FeralHeart on a Mac (in 2023)!  (Read 1820 times)

Offline Sincerest

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A Tutorial for Downloading FeralHeart on a Mac (in 2023)!
« on: July 24, 2023, 10:33:33 pm »
Having trouble downloading FeralHeart on a Mac? Look no further!


I've always noticed how a lotta people with Macs or non-Windows computers always have trouble getting Feral Heart to work, as well as the tutorials made to help with this problem ending up being outdated and nonworking after a while.. so here's my version of how I got FeralHeart to work on my Mac -- 2023 version!

This tutorial will be broken down into a step by step walkthrough with images for each step, as well as a list of 'you will need...' beforehand. If you have a question or something doesn't work out on your end, comment below and i'll try to help as soon as possible!



✢YOU WILL NEED✢
➞ The FeralHeart installer and patch download (1.17)
➞ A non-Windows OS (in this case, a Mac!)
➞ Porting Kit (this will be used to emulate Windows and run FH!)
➞ FeralHeart Executable file (1.17a update!)

☀QUICK LINKS☀
➞ FeralHeart Base Installer (1.17) | https://feral-heart.com/download/
➞ Porting Kit PK 5 (MacOS 10.13+)(DMG) | https://www.portingkit.com/download
➞ FeralHeart.exe Patch (1.17a) | https://www.mediafire.com/file/k0d3qfo084cnl76/FH.zip/file (Note: This is a vanilla file of the game with the new .exe preinstalled! You can either use THIS file with the steps below to skip manually patching the game, but I don't recommend as it didn't work on my end).


EMULATION SETUP
The first thing you'll need to do is download both the 1.17 Setup for Feral Heart AND the 1.17a executable file for the game itself. While you can get the 1.17 version from the front page's download link, the 1.17a link is broken. You can choose to either download the 1.17a file itself, or download a vanilla folder of Feral Heart with the 1.17a patch already installed. For this example, I'll be inputting the file manually!

Now, since I already have Porting Kit installed, the 1.17 base file (titled FHSetup1.17.exe) already auto assigns itself as a Porting Kit (or PK) based file. Normally when downloading any .executable file on a non-Windows OS, the icon would normally appear as a blank sheet of paper with a fold in the righthand corner; meaning it cannot be run and/or that the current computer doesn't have the proper things needed to run the file downloaded.


Now that you have one (or both, if you download both the 1.17 and 1.17a files at the same time) of the files you need, you should download Porting Kit! Porting Kit, much like PlayOnMac, runs off of Wine emulation -- but unlike PoM, you don't have to download Wine separately for Porting Kit to work. I've seen from a few people when it comes to running PoM or PK to run Windows games (specifically from the FHU staff) that 'well, Porting Kit and PoM don't work and are defuct!'. This isn't true at all! They may not be consistently updated, but the programs work regardless if you know how to make it!



From the words of PK's devs themselves: "Porting Kit is optimized for macOS 10.13.x and superior versions, although a lot (but decreasing number) of games will still work on 10.11+. To play more recent games, it is required to upgrade to macOS 10.13.x or superior."Meaning that the majority of the older Windows/.exe filed games will run. The download options present are to decide between a .DMG or .ZIP file for Porting Kit itself. I personally downloaded the .DMG file as I can then drag it into my Applications folder and run the program immediately!

If you're greeted with a message from your Mac saying something like 'The developer is not verified, cannot open', 'Are you sure you want to open an application downloaded from the internet?', or something along those lines -- do not fret!! This popup only appears because the application itself wasn't downloaded from something like Steam, the App Store, etc! Once having Porting Kit open, you should be introduced to the News Feed page. Clicking the 'Library' section of PK, you should be to a blank sidebar with a list of random games displayed to your right. Click the 'Add Application' button on the bottom of the left sidebar, this will begin your download of FeralHeart!

You should be opened to your computer files directory, opening to your Desktop files via the Mac Finder. Only .exe files will be visible here with any other file type grayed out -- because of this, I always make sure to drag the .exe file(s) I'm using to my desktop for easy access. Select the FHSetup1.17.exe file from your Desktop folder, you will get a popup window saying 'Select Port'; choose '<Create new port>'! Name the port FeralHeart and you're good!



The above window will open after running through the usual 'FeralHeart installer'. This window is to help better fit the port (or game you're installing) to make it run better! The Wine engine in the first tab (WS11WineCX19.0.2-3) is selected by default, and I've chosen a Windows 8 OS to be the emulation base to run FH. The window driver is also important! XQuartz is usually a smoother-running render when it comes to older Windows games/engines -- but regardless of whichever you use, your Mac is going to get really hot as it's working harder to run the game. For simplicity's sake, I'll be using the Mac Driver for the download.

The installer will set the Port Destination to your Applications folder by default, and will take a second to install as it's also installing the wrapper, Wine Prefix and configuration, and everything needed to make the Windows emulation run smoothly. A popup with 'Wine Configuration' will appear, and you're going to want to select Windows 8 as the Windows version to run.

The game should then install as normal! If errors do pop up such as 'name.dll cannot be run because the developer cannot be verified', you can just close the popup (there may be a lot-) as it shouldn't hurt the install. Once the base game is downloaded and shows as an application in your Launchpad, you're going to want to right click the icon and from the sidebar menu select 'Open', which will trigger a popup saying 'FeralHeart was downloaded from the internet, are you sure you want to run?' and select yes.



INSTALLING THE 1.17a PATCH

You should be met with the usual 'Please install the latest patch' when trying to login via the login screen ingame. This is where the patch file comes in!

From the Porting Kit 'Library' page, you'll want to click on the FeralHeart name (NOT the play button). This will open a home screen that should display little info like 'trailer not available', 'play', 'more' with a blank description. Click the 'more' button to open the dropdown menu, where you'll want to select Advanced Tools and then Open C: Drive (so More > Advanced Tools > Open C: Drive).

You should open to FeralHeart's normal C: Drive, where you can then drag the FeralHeart 1.17a .executable file into the main game directory, and select 'replace' when asked to do so. This will insert the patch into the game, and you should then be able to play FeralHeart normally -- and on a Mac!



i'm sorry if the formatting on this is weird!! i had a lotta trouble resizing the images and stuff since i've never made a properly formatted forum post on here before (or a tutorial!), so i hope everythings okay!! if you have any questions, comment and i'll reply -- and have fun running FH on a Mac in 2023!

« Last Edit: July 25, 2023, 09:02:42 am by Sincerest »
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Offline Ame88

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Re: A Tutorial for Downloading Feral Heart on a Mac (in 2023)!
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2023, 03:28:33 am »
Incredible job on this tutorial! I know a lot of Mac users will be relieved to come across this when they are having issues. Thank you so much for the work and effort you put into making this!

It's such a shame we are unable to have a working Mac port of FH for our Mac users, however I'm hoping in the future we can fix this issue. In the meantime, work arounds like this are a literal God send. Thank you again for making this!

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Offline AeroHour

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Re: A Tutorial for Downloading FeralHeart on a Mac (in 2023)!
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2024, 12:48:48 am »
Bumping this because after attempting a few other mac tutorials on the forums, this is the one that finally worked for me! And also super appreciate the tutorial and wanted to thank you Sincerest!