Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 (iDeneb v1.6 10.5.8 Lite Edition) MULTI (2009). Haha Takes Heartbreaking Trip to Memorial for Forced Korean Labor Workers in Japan on “Infinity Challenge”. Android TV is a smart TV operating system based on Android and developed by Google for television sets, digital media players, set-top boxes, and soundbars. A successor to Google TV, it features a user interface designed around content discovery and voice search, content aggregation from various media apps and services, and integration with other recent Google technologies such as Assistant. The entire wiki with photo and video galleries for each article.
Chessmaster | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | Chess |
Developer(s) | David Kittinger Kathe Spracklen Dan Spracklen Johan de Koning |
Publisher(s) | Ubisoft Feral Interactive(OS X)[1] |
Platform(s) | Windows, MS-DOS, NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Macintosh, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 |
Original release | 1986–2007 |
Chessmaster is a chess-playing computer game series, which is owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold as of 2002.[2]
Since Chessmaster 3000 for Windows 3.x the moves are explained with voice output.
Timeline[edit]
- 1986: The Chessmaster series started with The Chessmaster 2000 first published by Software Country, and soon after by The Software Toolworks. It was published for Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Macintosh, and DOS. The game had a chess engine (without mouse control) written by David Kittinger and the manufacturer rated the game at 2000 Elo. USCF rated it over 2000; in reality, it is unknown at what strength it plays because the testings were done on slow 1980s computers. In July 1986, CM became the first commercially available software to win the Personal Computer class of the United States Open Computer Chess Championship in Mobile, Alabama.[3]
- 1988: The Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 was published for the Apple IIGS.
- 1989: The Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 was published for DOS. A version for the Sega Mega Drive was planned but never released.[4]
- 1990: The Chessmaster was published for the NES, and the Game Boy.
- 1990: The Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 was published for the Amiga.
- 1991: The Chessmaster was published for the SNES.
- 1991: The Chessmaster was published for the Game Gear.
- 1991: Chessmaster 3000 was published for DOS, Windows 3.x.
- 1993: Chessmaster 4000 Turbo was published for Windows 3.x.
- 1993: Chessmaster 3000 was published for Macintosh.
- 1995: Chessmaster 4000 was published for Windows 95.
- 1995: Chessmaster 3D for PlayStation had the Chessmaster 4000 engine.[5]
- 1996: Chessmaster 4000 was published for Macintosh.
- 1996: Mindscape publishes Chessmaster 5000 for Windows 95.
- 1997: Chessmaster 5500 was published for Windows 95.
- 1998: Chessmaster 6000 was published for Windows 95 and Windows 98 and Macintosh.
- 1999: Chessmaster 7000 was published for Windows 98 and Chessmaster II was published for PlayStation.[6]
- 2000: Chessmaster 8000 was published for Windows 98.
- 2002: Ubisoft publishes Chessmaster 9000 for Windows 98/ME/XP
- 2004: Chessmaster 10th Edition was published for Windows XP.
- 2004: Chessmaster 9000 was published for Mac OS X by Feral Interactive.[1]
- 30 October 2007: The current version, Chessmaster XI, was released for Windows XP/Vista (titled Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition) and Nintendo DS (titled Chessmaster: The Art of Learning), and 12 February 2008 for PlayStation Portable (also titled Chessmaster: The Art of Learning). It includes numerous tutorials by International MasterJoshua Waitzkin and GM Larry Christiansen for players of all skill levels.[7] Also contains the minigames Fork my fruit (which practices forking), Minesweeper (practices safety of pieces) and the tail game (where the player chooses a long-range chess piece, then trying to make a long tail using captured pieces, and avoiding the enemy pieces to capture the main piece or tail parts).
Chess engine[edit]
Chessmaster 10th Edition
The Chessmasterchess engine is called The King, written by Johan de Köning of the Netherlands. It was introduced in Chessmaster 4000; the first edition featured a chess engine written by David Kittinger, who went on to develop the engines for Interplay's USCF Chess, WChess for the German company Millennium 2000, and Sierra Entertainment's Power Chess, Majestic Chess and Disney's Aladdin Chess Adventures. The second edition had an engine designed by Kate and Dan Spracklen of Sargon fame.
According to the September 2009 Swedish Chess Computer Association (SSDF) rating list, Chessmaster 9000 had an estimated Elo rating of 2718 on an Athlon-1200 PC.[8] If multiple versions of other engines are stripped out of this list, Chessmaster 9000 ranked 14th among all engines tested. As of May 2008, Chessmaster 9000 remained the most recent version rated by the SSDF.
The latest version, Chessmaster 11th Edition, was released in 2007, and has lagged behind more current chess engines. CCRL placed it 121st on its August 2020 list (15th among engines only available via purchase).[9]
The King engine allows users to create new playing styles, called 'personalities', by manipulating several dozen different settings, such as King Safety, Pawn Weakness, Randomness, Mobility and others. Individual piece values can also be adjusted. Chessmaster 9000, for example, features over 150 different personalities ranging from International Grandmaster strength down to Stanley, a chimpanzee who, in most situations, plays completely random moves. The Stanley chimpanzee personality inspired the Stanley Random Chess Variant.[10]
Notable games[edit]
- Larry Christiansen vs. Chessmaster 9000 (September 2002), annotated at GameKnot: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4
Chessmaster won the four-game match against Christiansen held in September 2002, by a score of 2½–1½.[11] The Chessmaster program was operated by John Merlino, the Project Manager of Chessmaster at the time of the match. Four different personalities were used in the match, the first three of which were based on famous human Grandmasters: Alexander Alekhine, Bobby Fischer, and Mikhail Botvinnik. The final game of the match used the default 'Chessmaster' personality. Christiansen won the first game, lost the second and third games, and the fourth game resulted in a draw.
Platforms[edit]
To date, various versions of Chessmaster have appeared on Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Commodore 64, DOS, PC, Macintosh, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Sega Genesis (as a Sega Channel exclusive), Sega Game Gear, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and mobile phones.[12] Early Macintosh versions Chessmaster 3000 and 4000 were developed by Sebastian Rapport and Troy Heere that leveraged the Kittinger and de Koning engines respectively.[citation needed] Later Macintosh versions were ported by Feral Interactive, and the latest Macintosh version available is Chessmaster 9000. Ubisoft also offers a downloadable version of the game, Chessmaster Challenge, which differs from Chessmaster 10th Edition in its simplified interface and scaled-down tutorials.[13]
Infinity Challenge Mac Os Catalina
The more recent editions of Chessmaster include both 2D and 3D designs, and a large number of different boards and themed chess piece designs. The interface was revised for Chessmaster 10th Edition and features animated 3D sets in which the pieces 'walk' between squares and have simulated battles when a piece is taken, reminiscent of Battle Chess or the Wizard's chess set from Harry Potter. Chessmaster 10th Edition also comes packed with a pair of red and blue glasses to view the set in 'enhanced 3D'.
Xbox Live Arcade[edit]
An Xbox Live Arcade version with Xbox Live multiplayer and Xbox Live Vision camera support for the Xbox 360 called Chessmaster Live was released on 30 January 2008, but is no longer available.
Reception[edit]
The combined sales of the Chessmaster series had reached 1 million copies by September 1996.[14] The series surpassed 5 million units in sales by 2002, making it the highest-selling computer chess series ever at the time.[15]
In 1989, Computer Gaming World found Chessmaster 2100's features 'the clear winners' over Sargon 4,[16] in 1992 reported that Chessmaster 3000 had added 'a lot' to its predecessors, with new tutorial features and a variety of computer opponents making the game 'a truly impressive sequel',[17]and in 1994 approved of Chessmaster 4000 Turbo's new AI 'personalities' based on historical chess players.[18]4000 Turbo received a perfect 10 out of 10 score from Electronic Entertainment.[19]
In Japan, Famitsu magazine scored the 1991 Super Famicom version of the game a 23 out of 40,[20] and the 1994 Game Boy version a 21 out of 40.[21]
Critical reaction to the Chessmaster series has been mostly positive. GameSpot commented that 'Chessmaster has remained the consummate standard in console chess games since the '80s.'[22]IGN said that 'the series itself remains the best way to play and learn about chess on the PC.'[23]
Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition, the most recent PC edition of the series, scored positive reviews, with PC Gamer saying: 'this one-stop shop for an entire chess-playing and learning family should last until you're all grandmasters.'[24]Chessmaster 10th Edition holds an 84% rating on review aggregator site GameRankings.[25] IGN gave Chessmaster 10th Edition a score of 8.4/10, calling it 'the best chess game in town.'[23] GameSpot's review of Chessmaster 10th Edition said, 'If you're looking for a good chess program that's packed with a plethora of features and all the bells and whistles, you'll be very happy with Chessmaster 10th Edition.[26]
The mobile phone version of Chessmaster received a score of 9/10 from IGN, who called it 'an absolutely superlative product that will be enjoyed for week after week by fans of the mental contest.'[27] IGN criticized the Nintendo DS version of Chessmaster: The Art of Learning for its lack of multiplayer, but gave it an overall positive review, with a score of 7.8/10.[28] IGN criticized the 'boring' presentation of the PlayStation Portable version of Chessmaster: The Art of Learning, but added that 'there's no doubt that the information is valuable and can teach you the finer points of the game.'[29]
Although the Chessmaster engine is generally not as strong as the engines of other commercially available chess programs such as Fritz,[30][31] critics have praised the Chessmaster series for its comprehensive tutorials aimed at players of amateur and moderate skill levels. In its review of Chessmaster 9000, IGN said that 'the series has always distinguished itself with first-rate chess teaching tools,' and welcomed the game's 'appeal towards inexperienced and mid-level players. With all manner of tutorials, detailed analysis and exercises, the game helps ease newbies into the experience.'[32] GameSpot's review of Chessmaster 10th Edition commented positively on the game's 'huge bundle of features aimed at everyone from the neophyte who's looking to learn the basics to the advanced wood pusher who may need practice for tournament play.'[26]
A common criticism of the series has been the lack of new features in successive installments. IGN's review of Chessmaster 10th Edition commented, 'it simply doesn't add enough over any of the last two versions to make it a necessary upgrade.'[23]
Awards[edit]
The editors of Computer Games Strategy Plus named Chessmaster Online the best online game of 1997.[33]
Infinity Challenge Mac Os X
In 1994, PC Gamer UK named Chessmaster 4000 Turbo the 20th best computer game of all time, calling it the best of the series so far and accessible to all skill levels. The editors wrote, 'A chess game? In the Top 50? Well, why not?'[34] In June 1994 Chessmaster 4000 was a finalist for Computer Gaming World's Strategy Game of the Year award, losing to Master of Orion The editors wrote that 'Software Toolworks still has the capacity and the will to improve their best-selling chess engine'.[35]
Chessmaster 3000 was named the 40th best computer game ever by PC Gamer UK in 1997. The editors wrote that 'it remains [..] the premier PC chess title, with just the right balance of fancy game options and high-end gameplay. ChessMaster 3000 runs much faster than subsequent versions of the game and makes a welcome change from guns and guts'.[36]
In 1997 Chessmaster 5000 was a finalist for Computer Gaming World's Classic/Puzzle Game of the Year award,[37] losing to Baku Baku Animal.[38]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ ab[1]
- ^Chessmaster 9000 Review
- ^Oxner, Bill (November 1986). 'The Chessmaster 2000'(PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 32. p. 44. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^'News Special - CES Show: Games List - Megadrive'. Mean Machines. No. 17. EMAP. February 1992. p. 12.
- ^'Chessmaster 3d Review'. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^Chessmaster II at GameFAQs. Accessed 24 March 2013.
- ^[2]
- ^'The SSDF Rating List'. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
- ^'CCRL 40/40'.
- ^Verdra H. Ciretop (12 March 2004) 'Stanley Random Chess Introduced & Explained for Beginners'. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^'Chessmaster 9000 Defeats Reigning US Chess Champion Larry Christiansen; Chessmaster Wins Four Game Match 2.5 to 1.5 Via Live Internet Broadcast on ChessClub.com'. Business Wire. 1 October 2002.
- ^'Search Games - Chessmaster'. GameFAQs. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
- ^Chessmaster ChallengeArchived 9 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine Ubisoft
- ^Coleman, Terry (September 1996). 'Pawn to Infinity'. Computer Gaming World. No. 146. pp. 159, 160.
- ^IGN Staff (5 December 2002). 'Who's the Master?'. IGN. Archived from the original on 7 February 2004. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
- ^Wagner, Roy (September 1989). 'Chessmaster 2100 vs. Sargon 4'. Computer Gaming World. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^Carter, Tim (August 1992). 'Software Toolworks' Chessmaster 3000'. Computer Gaming World. pp. 42–43. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^Coleman, Terry (January 1994). 'The Ultimate Gambit'. The Ultimate Gambit. pp. 42, 44, 46.
- ^Brenesal, Barry (March 1994). 'Chessmaster 4000 Turbo'. Electronic Entertainment. 1 (3): 88, 89.
- ^New Games Cross Review - チェスマスター. Weekly Famitsu. No.323. Pg.39. 24 February 1995.
- ^NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: チェスマスター. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.307. Pg.40. 4 November 1994.
- ^Chessmaster mobile review, GameSpot, 15 June 2004
- ^ abcChessmaster 10th Edition review, IGN, 26 August 2004
- ^PC Gamer, Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition review, April 2008, p.64
- ^Chessmaster 10th Edition, GameRankings
- ^ abChessmaster 10th Edition review, GameSpot, 7 September 2004
- ^Chessmaster mobile reviewArchived 21 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, IGN, 7 July 2004
- ^Chessmaster: The Art of Learning - DS review, IGN, 4 December 2007
- ^Chessmaster: The Art of Learning - PSP review, IGN, 28 February 2008
- ^Chessmaster 8000 vs. Fritz 6Archived 20 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Roger McIntyre, Logical Chess
- ^Chessmaster 9000 vs. Fritz 6Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Roger McIntyre, Logical Chess
- ^Chessmaster 9000 review, IGN, 17 September 2002
- ^Staff (19 January 1998). 'The winners of the 1997 Computer Games Awards'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on 6 February 2005.
- ^Staff (April 1994). 'The PC Gamer Top 50 PC Games of All Time'. PC Gamer UK. No. 5. pp. 43–56.
- ^'Announcing The New Premier Awards'. Computer Gaming World. June 1994. pp. 51–58.
- ^Flynn, James; Owen, Steve; Pierce, Matthew; Davis, Jonathan; Longhurst, Richard (July 1997). 'The PC Gamer Top 100'. PC Gamer UK. No. 45. pp. 51–83.
- ^Staff (April 1997). 'Best of the Bunch; Finalists Named for CGW Premier Awards'. Computer Gaming World. No. 153. pp. 28, 32.
- ^Staff (May 1997). 'The Computer Gaming World 1997 Premier Awards'. Computer Gaming World. No. 154. pp. 68–70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80.
External links[edit]
- The MS-DOS version ofThe Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chessmaster&oldid=1013630648'
Flashpoint's Mac support is heavily experimental. This page provides information about the current Flashpoint for Mac package.
Please join our Discord and provide your feedback: http://discord.gg/S9uJ794
- 2Installation Instructions
- 2.1Troubleshooting
- 3Technologies
Latest Package
Download Beta 2019-12-15:
Changelog:
2019-12-15: Added
'wmode':'direct'
to the default SWFObject parameters. This fixes certain 3D Flash games which previously did not work properly.2019-12-14: First beta available!
Installation Instructions
- Download and unzip the latest package using the link above.
- Double-click
StartFlashpoint.command
to open Flashpoint.- Do not forget this step! You must use
StartFlashpoint.command
, otherwise Flashpoint will not work properly.
- Do not forget this step! You must use
Troubleshooting
Infinity Challenge Mac Os 11
If Flashpoint does not work after installation, follow the steps below:
- Click the Apple menu and open System Preferences.
- Click 'Security & Privacy,' then click the 'Privacy' tab.
- Click 'Full Disk Access'.
- Click the lock icon and enter your password to make changes. Then click the + button under the list of apps to add Terminal to the list.
- Click the lock icon again to save your changes. You should see Terminal in the list of allowed apps, as shown below.
Flash EOL Screen
If you see the Flash Player EOL information screen when you try to play a game, that means that SeaMonkey is loading your installed Flash Player plugin instead of the plugin that is bundled with Flashpoint. To fix the problem, uninstall Flash Player from your Mac and restart Flashpoint. Games should work again in SeaMonkey.
MacOS Catalina and Big Sur
Perfect octave mac os. Because Flashpoint's applications are from an 'unidentified developer,' if you're using Catalina or Big Sur, you'll need to approve each application before it can run. Open your system preferences, click 'Security & Privacy', then allow each of the following applications to run: StartFlashpoint.command, Flashpoint Launcher, swfbbox, and SeaMonkey. If you have trouble figuring out how to do this, watch this tutorial video.
Because Adobe Director Projectors are 32-bit applications, SPR for Mac will not work on MacOS Catalina or Big Sur. This means that Flashpoint for Mac does not support Shockwave games on Catalina or Big Sur.
MacOS Big Sur (MacOS 11.0)
Flash applications have been successfully tested and are working. To use Flashpoint with Big Sur, a few modifications are required. Follow the steps below:
- Download SeaMonkey 2.53.4 for MacOS x64 from here: https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/2.53.4
- Open Flashpoint Infinity's FPSoftware folder, then find the old 'SeaMonkey.app' there.
- Right-click the old SeaMonkey.app and click 'Show Package Contents.'
- Open the
Contents
folder, then within that folder, open theResources
folder. - Find the folder called
plugins
and copy it. - Find the new 'SeaMonkey.app' file that you downloaded by searching in Finder under 'This Mac'.
- Right-click the new 'SeaMonkey.app' and click 'Show Package Contents.'
- Open the
Contents
folder, then within that folder, open theResources
folder. - Paste in the
plugins
folder that you copied earlier. - Go back outside of the new 'SeaMonkey.app' package and copy it.
- Open Flashpoint Infinity's FPSoftware folder, then paste the 'SeaMonkey.app' file that you just copied. Replace the original file when prompted.
Apple Silicon Macs
To run Flashpoint on Macs with the new M1 chip, you'll need to install Rosetta by following these instructions. Once you've done that, follow the instructions in the previous sections to get Flashpoint working.
Installing Java
To add support for Java games, you'll need to install the Java Development Kit. Follow the steps below:
- Download JDK version 8u212 from here: https://github.com/frekele/oracle-java/releases/download/8u212-b10/jdk-8u212-macosx-x64.dmg
- Open the DMG file and run the installer. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the JDK.
Installing Wine
Running games in Wine is not yet supported, but we hope to add support for this in a future build. If you'd like to contribute to our efforts, you can download an installer here.
Using Flashpoint with Automator (optional)
You can start Flashpoint without having to click on
StartFlashpoint.command
by using Automator using the below steps:- Choose File > New.
- Select 'Application', then click Choose.
- Drag the Run Shell Script action into your workflow.
- Enter
open /Users/[YOUR USERNAME HERE]/Downloads/Flashpoint Infinity for Mac Beta/StartFlashpoint.command
in the command field.
Technologies
Currently, only Flashpoint Infinity is available for Mac. However, as explained here, both PHP and Apache are included with MacOS. This means it should be fairly simple to create a Flashpoint Ultimate package for MacOS as well. Let us know in our Discord if you can help!
No equivalent to the Flashpoint Redirector currently exists for MacOS. MacOS also does not provide any native way to set per-application proxy settings. In Flashpoint for Mac, the proxy settings for each supported technology must be set separately. This rules out using the Flash projectors, since they do not have configurable proxy settings. In Flashpoint for Mac, all Flash games run in a browser.
The Flashpoint FAQ contains a list of all web game technologies ('Platforms') supported in the Windows version of Flashpoint. The Mac version currently supports a small subset of these platforms. This is explained in detail below. The list of supported platforms includes an unscientific estimate of the percentage of games supported by our method.
Supported Platforms
- Flash: Supported using the SeaMonkey web browser, with a Flash plugin included. Games that use a Flash Player version other than 32 are not yet supported.
- ~95% of games supported.
- Shockwave: Supported with SPR for Mac. Because LeechProtectionRemovalHelp is only available for Windows, the majority of Shockwave games will not work properly.
- ~30% of games supported.
- Requires a 32-bit compatible OS; Catalina is not supported.
- HTML5: Supported using the SeaMonkey web browser. WebAssembly support is enabled in Flashpoint's SeaMonkey profile, so it should be compatible with nearly all of the same games as Basilisk.
- ~99% of games supported.
- Java Applets: Supported natively using the JDK. Java in the browser is not supported yet.
- ~99% of games supported.
Unsupported Platforms
- Unity Web Player: Has not been attempted yet. We would need to track down the Mac builds of all 12 versions of Unity Web Player that we support on Windows. Needless to say, this would be a huge challenge.
- PopCap Plugin: As far as we know, there is no version of PopCap Plugin for modern Macs.
- Authorware Web Player: Authorware is incompatible with all Intel Macs.
- GoBit Plugin: As far as we know, there is no version of GoBit Games Plugin for modern Macs.
- Silverlight: Silverlight for Mac is available here, but as explained in this StackExchange answer, Microsoft Silverlight for Mac is 32-bit only, even though the Windows version has 64-bit and 32-bit versions. This is a problem because no major browser for MacOS has a 32-bit version, and MacOS Catalina drops support for 32-bit programs entirely. As such, Silverlight is unusable on Mac.
- 3DVIA Player: As far as we know, there is no version of 3DVIA Player for modern Macs.
- 3D Groove GX: 3D Groove is incompatible with all Intel Macs.
- ActiveX: ActiveX is a Windows-only technology.
- ShiVa3D: The Windows version of the ShiVa3D Player is available in the free ShiVa Web Edition; this is where we obtained it. However, no Mac version of the ShiVa Web Edition is currently available, so we haven't been able to find a Mac version of the ShiVa3D Player. It's possible that we could extract a Mac version of the player from a Mac version of a ShiVa3D game. Or maybe we could obtain the Mac runtime from the Windows version of ShiVa3D Web Edition, since it has the capability of publishing for Mac.
Launcher Issues
A number of Flashpoint Launcher issues affect the experience of using Flashpoint Launcher on MacOS. Unfortunately, none of our Launcher developers currently have access to a Mac, so updates for the Mac version of Flashpoint Launcher will not be available in the foreseeable future. We will be unable to release a Mac version of Flashpoint 7.0 until a new version of the Launcher is built for MacOS. If you have access to MacOS and are able to build Flashpoint Launcher, please let us know!
The current issues with the Mac version of Flashpoint Launcher are listed below.
- Errors are shown in the log when services are missing from the
services.json
. These services are unnecessary for Flashpoint on Mac, so the errors can be ignored. - Flashpoint Launcher cannot find its own Version file, even if it is present in the Launcher's folder and app package.
- The Theme dropdown menu on the Config tab does not work properly. To select a theme, you must manually type the path to the theme's CSS file.
- A popup appears if the user attempts to start a Windows executable from Flashpoint. This popup tells the user to install Wine, and points them to the Linux Support page, even though the Launcher is running on Mac.
- If a shell script is specified in
execs.json
as an alternative to a batch script, the Launcher will attempt to launch the shell script defined for Linux, even if a different shell script is defined for Darwin (MacOS). - Flashpoint Launcher attempts to load the hidden resource forks of certain files as separate files. These files are not visible in the MacOS Finder, and have filenames beginning with
._
.- If any Platform XML has a resource fork, all of the Platform XMLs will fail to load, causing a 'No games found' error.
- If any localization JSON file has a resource fork, a 'NotValidJSON' error will appear in the logs.
- When Wine is started from Flashpoint Launcher, it uses >70% CPU for several minutes without ever starting the intended executable. This is despite Wine working fine when started from the terminal. This issue needs to be investigated and solved before Flashpoint can support launching games through Wine.
- By default, Flashpoint Launcher will attempt to read and modify
config.json
andpreferences.json
inside its own app package. Since Mac applications are not allowed to modify their own app packages, this will fail. For this reason, Flashpoint Launcher must be opened with a shell script commandStartFlashpoint.command
. This script sets the current directory to the Flashpoint Launcher folder so that the Launcher accesses theconfig.json
andpreferences.json
in the correct location. However, this unusual way of opening the Launcher may be the cause of the previously mentioned Wine bug.
Other Notes
- Some keyboard controls such as the spacebar or WASD keys may not work in some games. This is a known problem with the NPAPI Flash plugin on MacOS. We plan to resolve this problem in the next build of Flashpoint for Mac by using the PPAPI plugin instead.
- Flash games with URLs pointing to filenames with special characters will not work. This is because
nosamuEmbedSWF.sh
does not properly handle special characters when it converts URLs to paths, so it cannot copy the game's HTML to the correct location inhtdocs
. - Some Shockwave games may not close when you quit them from the menu. If this occurs, click inside the Message Window next to the game. Then type
quit
and press Enter to close the game. - Flashpoint for Mac uses exec mappings to determine what native executable to run based on the specified Windows application path. For example,
flashplayer_32_sa.exe
is mapped tonosamuEmbedSWF.sh
for MacOS. To add more exec mappings, navigate to Flashpoint'sData
folder and openexecs.json
in a text editor. The exec mappings use 'darwin' to refer to MacOS. - Flashpoint for Mac uses
swfbbox
to determine the width and height of an SWF file.swfbbox
is part of theswftools
homebrew package. To installswftools
, first install homebrew. Then typebrew install swftools
in the terminal. - Flashpoint for Mac requires that PHP and cURL are enabled on your system. These components should be enabled by default.
Packaging Flashpoint for Mac
Here are some steps to keep in mind when packaging Flashpoint for Mac. This assumes that you are using the current package as a base and modifying it.
- You can follow these instructions to update Flashpoint's XMLs to the latest version.
- You can follow these instructions to update Flashpoint Router to the latest version.
- Use
update-spr.sh
in theFPSoftware
folder to update SPR to the latest version. To get the latest version of SPR for Mac, see SPR for Mac. - If you would like to distribute a modified SeaMonkey profile, be sure to clear the cache, cookies, and other data. In SeaMonkey, click
Tools -> Clear Private Data
. - If you would like to add a plugin to SeaMonkey, first install the plugin normally. Then, follow these steps:
- Navigate to
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins
in Finder and copy the files for the plugin you want to add. - Navigate to Flashpoint's
FPSoftware
folder. Right-clickSeaMonkey.app
and choose 'Show Package Contents.' - Inside the app package, navigate to
/Contents/Resources/plugins
. Paste the plugin files that you copied in Step 1.
- Navigate to
- Before running or distributing Flashpoint, you should run the
dot_clean
command inside the Flashpoint folder to remove resource forks. Flashpoint Launcher may not work properly if Flashpoint files have resource forks, as explained in Launcher Issues.
Retrieved from 'https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/datahub/index.php?title=Mac_Support&oldid=4901'