Mac Support: Difference between revisions

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Flashpoint's Mac support is heavily experimental. This page provides information about the current Flashpoint for Mac package.
This page provides information about the first official Flashpoint release for MacOS! For information about older releases, see the [[/Beta 2022-06-22|Beta 2022-06-22]] subpage.


Please join our Discord and provide your feedback in the <code>#flashpoint-mac-linux-help</code> channel: http://discord.gg/S9uJ794
Please join our Discord and provide your feedback in the <code>#flashpoint-mac-linux-help</code> channel: http://discord.gg/S9uJ794


== Latest Package ==
== Installing Flashpoint ==
<ol>
<li>
Open Finder, then click the Applications tab.
</li>
<li>
Scroll down and double-click the Utilities folder to open it. Then open the Terminal app. <br>
[[File:TerminalInUtilitiesFolder.png|700px]]
</li>
<li>
Copy the following command, then paste it into the Terminal and press Return: <br>
<pre>/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FlashpointProject/homebrew-flashpoint/main/DownloadFlashpoint.sh)"</pre>
[[File:PasteCommand.png]]
</li>
<li>
Flashpoint may need to install some additional dependencies. If so, you will need to enter your password to authorize the Terminal to perform the installation. Your password will '''not''' be shared with Flashpoint. <br>
The terminal will not show anything while you are entering your password - this is normal. Simply type in your password and press Return, just as you usually would. <br>
[[File:EnterPassword.png]]
</li>
<li>
Once any dependencies have finished installing, Flashpoint will begin downloading. Wait for the download to complete. The terminal will indicate the download progress as shown below. <br>
[[File:TerminalDownloadingFlashpoint_v2.png]]
</li>
<li>
When the download completes, your new Flashpoint folder will open. Double-click the downloaded 7Z file to expand it.
* Note: You must use '''Archive Utility''' to expand the file! If double-clicking the file does not work, please [https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/datahub/index.php?title=Mac_Support&oldid=8290 follow the old installation instructions]. We are working on a fix - stay tuned!
</li>
<li>
When the file finishes expanding, you will see a new folder called "Flashpoint 11 Infinity". Open the folder, then open '''Flashpoint.app'''. <br>
[[File:FlashpointFolder.png]]
</li>
<li>
After Flashpoint opens, Control-click the Flashpoint icon in the Dock, then choose Options > Keep in Dock. <br>
[[File:KeepInDock.png]]
</li>
</ol>
'''Flashpoint is now installed!'''


'''Download Beta 2019-12-15:'''
== Troubleshooting ==
[[File:WineNotFound.png|thumb|The error message displayed when Wine is not installed and is required to run a game.]]


http://bluepload.unstable.life/flashpointinfinityformacbeta2019-12-15.zip
=== Installing Wine ===
 
If you see an error message about Wine when trying to run a game, that means you need to install Wine. Copy the following command, then paste it into the Terminal and press Return: <br>
'''Changelog:'''
<pre>/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FlashpointProject/homebrew-flashpoint/main/InstallDependencies.sh)"</pre>
 
After Wine is installed, the game should run without further issues.
2019-12-15: Added <code>"wmode":"direct"</code> 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 <code>StartFlashpoint.command</code> to open Flashpoint.
#* '''Do not forget this step! You must use <code>StartFlashpoint.command</code>, otherwise Flashpoint will not work properly.'''


=== Troubleshooting ===
==== Installing Wine on old MacOS versions ====
If Flashpoint does not work after installation, follow the steps below:
If you are on MacOS Sierra (10.12) or earlier, the Flashpoint installer cannot automatically install Wine. If you want to play a game that requires Wine, you will need to install it through [https://www.macports.org/install.php#installing MacPorts] by following [https://github.com/Gcenx/macports-wine#how-to-use-this-repository these instructions].
# 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. <br> [[File:FullDiskAccess.png|500px]]


==== Flash EOL Screen ====
For more information about Wine on MacOS, including manual installation instructions for each MacOS version, see [https://github.com/Gcenx/wine-on-mac Wine on Mac].
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, [https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html uninstall Flash Player from your Mac] and restart Flashpoint. Games should work again in SeaMonkey.


=== MacOS Catalina (10.15) and later ===
=== Flash EOL Screen ===
Because Flashpoint's applications are from an "unidentified developer," if you're using Catalina or later, 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, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiYmUXVOlgI watch this tutorial video].  
If you see the Flash Player EOL information screen (shown below) when you try to play a game, that means that Waterfox is loading your installed Flash Player plugin instead of the plugin that is bundled with Flashpoint. To fix the problem, [https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html uninstall Flash Player from your Mac] and restart Flashpoint. Games should work in Waterfox now.


Because Adobe Director Projectors are 32-bit applications, [[SPR for Mac]] will not work on MacOS Catalina or later. This means that Flashpoint for Mac does not support Shockwave games on Catalina or later versions of MacOS.
[[File:FlashTimebomb.png|200px]]


=== MacOS Big Sur (11.0) and later ===
=== Fixing Dependencies Error ===
Flash applications have been successfully tested and are working. To use Flashpoint with Big Sur and later versions, a few modifications are required. Follow the steps below:
If you see a "Failed to install Flashpoint dependencies" error when trying to download Flashpoint, that likely means that something is wrong with your Homebrew installation. Run the following command in your terminal:
# Download SeaMonkey 2.53.4 for MacOS x64 from [https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/2.53.4 here]. After the file finishes downloading, open it and copy the "SeaMonkey.app" file somewhere that you'll remember.
brew doctor
#* '''Make sure you download the correct version; 2.53.4 is the only SeaMonkey version that will work with Flashpoint!'''
# 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 <code>Contents</code> folder, then within that folder, open the <code>Resources</code> folder.
# Find the folder called <code>plugins</code> and ''copy'' it.
# Find the new "SeaMonkey.app" file that you downloaded in Step 1. Right-click it and click "Show Package Contents."
# Open the <code>Contents</code> folder, then within that folder, open the <code>Resources</code> folder.
# ''Paste'' in the <code>plugins</code> 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.


=== MacOS Monterey (12.0) ===
Next, read through the output and run any commands that it tells you to run.
MacOS Monterey no longer ships with PHP, so you will need to manually install PHP 7.4. The instructions for doing so are below, but are currently untested. If you try them, please join our Discord server and let us know whether the instructions worked for you.


First, open the terminal and follow [http://osxdaily.com/2018/03/07/how-install-homebrew-mac-os/ these instructions] to install Homebrew. Keep the terminal open and run these commands in order:
Finally, [[#Installing Flashpoint|try installing Flashpoint again]].
brew tap shivammathur/php
brew install shivammathur/php/[email protected]
brew link --overwrite --force [email protected]
For more information about installing PHP on MacOS Monterey, see [https://wpbeaches.com/updating-to-php-versions-7-4-and-8-on-macos-12-monterey/ this article].


=== Apple Silicon Macs ===
== Using Flashpoint ==
To run Flashpoint on Macs with the new M1 chip, you'll need to install Rosetta by following [https://osxdaily.com/2020/12/04/how-install-rosetta-2-apple-silicon-mac/ these instructions]. Once you've done that, follow the instructions in the previous sections to get Flashpoint working.
[https://flashpointproject.github.io/manual/Using_the_launcher.html See the Flashpoint Manual].


=== Installing Java ===
== Changelog ==
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 ===
2022-08-25: Bundled dependencies with Flashpoint to make Homebrew unnecessary in many cases. Updated install scripts appropriately.
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 learn more about installing Wine on MacOS from [https://github.com/Gcenx/wine-on-mac here].


=== Using Flashpoint with Automator (optional) ===
2022-08-17: Flashpoint 11 Infinity for Mac is now available!
You can start Flashpoint without having to click on <code>StartFlashpoint.command</code> 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 <code>open /Users/[YOUR USERNAME HERE]/Downloads/Flashpoint\ Infinity\ for\ Mac\ Beta/StartFlashpoint.command</code> in the command field.


== Technologies ==
== Technologies ==
Currently, only Flashpoint Infinity is available for Mac. We plan to also create a Flashpoint Ultimate package for MacOS in the future. To do this, we will need to set up Apache for use on MacOS, including all of its required modules.


Currently, only Flashpoint Infinity is available for Mac. However, 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!
Thanks to the work of volunteer [https://github.com/LindirQuenya/ LindirQuenya (Ardil)], we now have an equivalent to FlashpointProxy for Mac, aptly named [https://github.com/FlashpointProject/FlashpointProxyMac FlashpointProxyMac]. This allows us to use the native standalone projectors for most Flash games and eliminates nearly all of the Flash-related bugs that plagued previous Flashpoint Mac builds.
 
No equivalent to the Flashpoint Proxy 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 [http://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/faq/ 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 [https://www.microsoft.com/Silverlight/ here], but as explained in [https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/348822/does-silverlight-for-macos-support-64-bit 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 [https://shiva-engine.com/get/ 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 ==
Flashpoint for Mac now includes [https://github.com/Gcenx/wine-on-mac Wine-crossover] as a dependency. This is a version of [https://www.winehq.org/ Wine] specially designed to run on MacOS. Thanks to Wine-crossover, Flashpoint for Mac now supports '''21 web technologies''' ([[Platforms]]):
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!  
* Flash: Supported natively with standalone projectors. Older 32-bit-only Flash versions are supported through Wine.
** Flash in the browser is supported natively with [https://classic.waterfox.net/ Waterfox Classic].
* HTML5: Supported natively with Waterfox Classic and Chromium.
** Games that use Flashpoint Launcher's Browser Mode are [[#Known Issues|not supported yet]].
* Java Applets: Supported natively with the Java Development Kit.
** Java in the browser is not supported yet.
* Shockwave: Fully supported with Wine, including Shockwave in the browser.
* ShiVa3D: Supported with Wine and the help of custom shell scripts.
* 3DVIA, Authorware, GoBit, PopCap, Silverlight, Vitalize, Tcl, DeepV, LiveMath, AnimaFlex, Visual WebMap, o2c-Player, Squeak, WebAnimator, iPix: All supported in Flashpoint Navigator with Wine!


The current issues with the Mac version of Flashpoint Launcher are listed below.
An attempt was made to support Unity Web Player, but it is not working right now. See [[#Known Issues|Known Issues]].
* Errors are shown in the log when services are missing from the <code>services.json</code>. 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 <code>execs.json</code> 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 <code>._</code>.
** 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 <code>config.json</code> and <code>preferences.json</code> 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 command <code>StartFlashpoint.command</code>. This script sets the current directory to the Flashpoint Launcher folder so that the Launcher accesses the <code>config.json</code> and <code>preferences.json</code> in the correct location. However, this unusual way of opening the Launcher may be the cause of the previously mentioned Wine bug.


== Other Notes ==
Most of the remaining unsupported technologies rely on Flashpoint Secure Player, which is only compatible with Windows right now. We hope to port some of Flashpoint Secure Player's functionality to a launcher extension to enable support for more platforms; see the [[Help Wanted List]] for more information. Another possibility may be to port Flashpoint Secure Player itself to MacOS and Linux, using the cross-platform features of .NET/C#. Regardless, Flashpoint Secure Player's support for ActiveX controls relies on Windows-only features and cannot be ported to other platforms.
* 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 <code>nosamuEmbedSWF.sh</code> does not properly handle special characters when it converts URLs to paths, so it cannot copy the game's HTML to the correct location in <code>htdocs</code>.
* 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 <code>quit</code> 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, <code>flashplayer_32_sa.exe</code> is mapped to <code>nosamuEmbedSWF.sh</code> for MacOS. To add more exec mappings, navigate to Flashpoint's <code>Data</code> folder and open <code>execs.json</code> in a text editor. The exec mappings use "darwin" to refer to MacOS.
* Flashpoint for Mac uses <code>swfbbox</code> to determine the width and height of an SWF file. <code>swfbbox</code> is part of the <code>swftools</code> homebrew package. To install <code>swftools</code>, first [http://osxdaily.com/2018/03/07/how-install-homebrew-mac-os/ install homebrew]. Then type <code>brew install swftools</code> in the terminal.
* Flashpoint for Mac requires that PHP and cURL are installed and enabled on your system. These components should already be set up, unless you are on [[MacOS Monterey (12.0)|MacOS Monterey]].


== Packaging Flashpoint for Mac ==
== Known Issues ==
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.
* [https://github.com/FlashpointProject/launcher/issues/333#issuecomment-1218457380 Launching HTML5 games that use Flashpoint Launcher's Browser Mode fails and shows an error popup].
* You can follow [[Extended FAQ#GameDeleted|these instructions]] to update Flashpoint's XMLs to the latest version.
* For unknown reasons, if a game fails to launch, the launcher may claim that an update is available and force a restart, as shown below. No update will actually occur. <br> [[File:LauncherRestart.png]]
* You can follow [[Extended FAQ#UpdateRouter|these instructions]] to update Flashpoint Router to the latest version.
* Unity Web Player games will get stuck on the loading screen. Audio will play but the graphics will not initialize. We are currently trying to diagnose the cause of this problem.  
* Use <code>update-spr.sh</code> in the <code>FPSoftware</code> folder to update SPR to the latest version. To get the latest version of SPR for Mac, see [[SPR for Mac]].
* Clicking a link inside a Flash game that launches your default web browser may also crash the browser. This is because the Flash projector is launched with an environment variable telling it to load FlashpointProxyMac, and it passes the variable to its child processes. But the variable value is a relative path to the FlashpointProxyMac library, and the relative path will not resolve correctly for applications in other locations, such as your default web browser. Thus the browser will fail to load the library and will crash.
* If you would like to distribute a modified SeaMonkey profile, be sure to clear the cache, cookies, and other data. In SeaMonkey, click <code>Tools -> Clear Private Data</code>.
** This only happens if the browser is not already open because when launching a new instance of an existing process, it inherits the environment of the existing process.
* If you would like to add a plugin to SeaMonkey, first install the plugin normally. Then, follow these steps:
** We considered avoiding the problem by referring to the FlashpointProxyMac library with an absolute path, but this would force the launched browser to use Flashpoint's proxy, which is not ideal either.
*# Navigate to <code>/Library/Internet Plug-Ins</code> in Finder and copy the files for the plugin you want to add.
** It seems like older Flash projector versions do not have this issue, so we are considering using the Adobe Flash Player 29 projector by default on MacOS if no better solution is found.
*# Navigate to Flashpoint's <code>FPSoftware</code> folder. Right-click <code>SeaMonkey.app</code> and choose "Show Package Contents."
* Flash games that use Waterfox may not work in mainland China due to Adobe's geolocation restrictions, which we have not patched out of the MacOS browser plugin yet. A workaround would be to use Wine to play the games instead. To switch to Wine, click the Config tab of the launcher, scroll down and click the "Native Platforms" dropdown, and uncheck Flash.
*# Inside the app package, navigate to <code>/Contents/Resources/plugins</code>. Paste the plugin files that you copied in Step 1.
* HTML5 games may perform poorly in Waterfox on Apple Silicon Macs. This is a side effect of running Waterfox in Intel (x86_64) mode, which the Flash plugin requires. In the future, we plan to run HTML5 games in native mode on Apple Silicon Macs while continuing to run Flash games in Intel mode. This would require two separate startWaterfox shell scripts and a launcher extension to choose which one to run based on the launched game's Platform field.
* Before running or distributing Flashpoint, you should run the <code>dot_clean</code> 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|Launcher Issues]].
* A [[:File:JavaScriptError.png|JavaScript error popup]] may appear when starting Flashpoint. After dismissing the popup, Flashpoint should work normally.
* [https://github.com/FlashpointProject/launcher/issues/378 The Flashpoint Path box on the Config tab is highlighted in red even though it is valid]. This may be confusing but does not impact Flashpoint's functionality.


<noinclude>[[Category:Technologies]]</noinclude>
<noinclude>[[Category:Technologies]]</noinclude>

Revision as of 13:14, 26 August 2022

This page provides information about the first official Flashpoint release for MacOS! For information about older releases, see the Beta 2022-06-22 subpage.

Please join our Discord and provide your feedback in the #flashpoint-mac-linux-help channel: http://discord.gg/S9uJ794

Installing Flashpoint

  1. Open Finder, then click the Applications tab.
  2. Scroll down and double-click the Utilities folder to open it. Then open the Terminal app.
    TerminalInUtilitiesFolder.png
  3. Copy the following command, then paste it into the Terminal and press Return:
    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FlashpointProject/homebrew-flashpoint/main/DownloadFlashpoint.sh)"

    PasteCommand.png

  4. Flashpoint may need to install some additional dependencies. If so, you will need to enter your password to authorize the Terminal to perform the installation. Your password will not be shared with Flashpoint.
    The terminal will not show anything while you are entering your password - this is normal. Simply type in your password and press Return, just as you usually would.
    EnterPassword.png
  5. Once any dependencies have finished installing, Flashpoint will begin downloading. Wait for the download to complete. The terminal will indicate the download progress as shown below.
    TerminalDownloadingFlashpoint v2.png
  6. When the download completes, your new Flashpoint folder will open. Double-click the downloaded 7Z file to expand it.
  7. When the file finishes expanding, you will see a new folder called "Flashpoint 11 Infinity". Open the folder, then open Flashpoint.app.
    FlashpointFolder.png
  8. After Flashpoint opens, Control-click the Flashpoint icon in the Dock, then choose Options > Keep in Dock.
    KeepInDock.png

Flashpoint is now installed!

Troubleshooting

The error message displayed when Wine is not installed and is required to run a game.

Installing Wine

If you see an error message about Wine when trying to run a game, that means you need to install Wine. Copy the following command, then paste it into the Terminal and press Return:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FlashpointProject/homebrew-flashpoint/main/InstallDependencies.sh)"

After Wine is installed, the game should run without further issues.

Installing Wine on old MacOS versions

If you are on MacOS Sierra (10.12) or earlier, the Flashpoint installer cannot automatically install Wine. If you want to play a game that requires Wine, you will need to install it through MacPorts by following these instructions.

For more information about Wine on MacOS, including manual installation instructions for each MacOS version, see Wine on Mac.

Flash EOL Screen

If you see the Flash Player EOL information screen (shown below) when you try to play a game, that means that Waterfox 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 in Waterfox now.

FlashTimebomb.png

Fixing Dependencies Error

If you see a "Failed to install Flashpoint dependencies" error when trying to download Flashpoint, that likely means that something is wrong with your Homebrew installation. Run the following command in your terminal:

brew doctor

Next, read through the output and run any commands that it tells you to run.

Finally, try installing Flashpoint again.

Using Flashpoint

See the Flashpoint Manual.

Changelog

2022-08-25: Bundled dependencies with Flashpoint to make Homebrew unnecessary in many cases. Updated install scripts appropriately.

2022-08-17: Flashpoint 11 Infinity for Mac is now available!

Technologies

Currently, only Flashpoint Infinity is available for Mac. We plan to also create a Flashpoint Ultimate package for MacOS in the future. To do this, we will need to set up Apache for use on MacOS, including all of its required modules.

Thanks to the work of volunteer LindirQuenya (Ardil), we now have an equivalent to FlashpointProxy for Mac, aptly named FlashpointProxyMac. This allows us to use the native standalone projectors for most Flash games and eliminates nearly all of the Flash-related bugs that plagued previous Flashpoint Mac builds.

Flashpoint for Mac now includes Wine-crossover as a dependency. This is a version of Wine specially designed to run on MacOS. Thanks to Wine-crossover, Flashpoint for Mac now supports 21 web technologies (Platforms):

  • Flash: Supported natively with standalone projectors. Older 32-bit-only Flash versions are supported through Wine.
  • HTML5: Supported natively with Waterfox Classic and Chromium.
  • Java Applets: Supported natively with the Java Development Kit.
    • Java in the browser is not supported yet.
  • Shockwave: Fully supported with Wine, including Shockwave in the browser.
  • ShiVa3D: Supported with Wine and the help of custom shell scripts.
  • 3DVIA, Authorware, GoBit, PopCap, Silverlight, Vitalize, Tcl, DeepV, LiveMath, AnimaFlex, Visual WebMap, o2c-Player, Squeak, WebAnimator, iPix: All supported in Flashpoint Navigator with Wine!

An attempt was made to support Unity Web Player, but it is not working right now. See Known Issues.

Most of the remaining unsupported technologies rely on Flashpoint Secure Player, which is only compatible with Windows right now. We hope to port some of Flashpoint Secure Player's functionality to a launcher extension to enable support for more platforms; see the Help Wanted List for more information. Another possibility may be to port Flashpoint Secure Player itself to MacOS and Linux, using the cross-platform features of .NET/C#. Regardless, Flashpoint Secure Player's support for ActiveX controls relies on Windows-only features and cannot be ported to other platforms.

Known Issues

  • Launching HTML5 games that use Flashpoint Launcher's Browser Mode fails and shows an error popup.
  • For unknown reasons, if a game fails to launch, the launcher may claim that an update is available and force a restart, as shown below. No update will actually occur.
    LauncherRestart.png
  • Unity Web Player games will get stuck on the loading screen. Audio will play but the graphics will not initialize. We are currently trying to diagnose the cause of this problem.
  • Clicking a link inside a Flash game that launches your default web browser may also crash the browser. This is because the Flash projector is launched with an environment variable telling it to load FlashpointProxyMac, and it passes the variable to its child processes. But the variable value is a relative path to the FlashpointProxyMac library, and the relative path will not resolve correctly for applications in other locations, such as your default web browser. Thus the browser will fail to load the library and will crash.
    • This only happens if the browser is not already open because when launching a new instance of an existing process, it inherits the environment of the existing process.
    • We considered avoiding the problem by referring to the FlashpointProxyMac library with an absolute path, but this would force the launched browser to use Flashpoint's proxy, which is not ideal either.
    • It seems like older Flash projector versions do not have this issue, so we are considering using the Adobe Flash Player 29 projector by default on MacOS if no better solution is found.
  • Flash games that use Waterfox may not work in mainland China due to Adobe's geolocation restrictions, which we have not patched out of the MacOS browser plugin yet. A workaround would be to use Wine to play the games instead. To switch to Wine, click the Config tab of the launcher, scroll down and click the "Native Platforms" dropdown, and uncheck Flash.
  • HTML5 games may perform poorly in Waterfox on Apple Silicon Macs. This is a side effect of running Waterfox in Intel (x86_64) mode, which the Flash plugin requires. In the future, we plan to run HTML5 games in native mode on Apple Silicon Macs while continuing to run Flash games in Intel mode. This would require two separate startWaterfox shell scripts and a launcher extension to choose which one to run based on the launched game's Platform field.
  • A JavaScript error popup may appear when starting Flashpoint. After dismissing the popup, Flashpoint should work normally.
  • The Flashpoint Path box on the Config tab is highlighted in red even though it is valid. This may be confusing but does not impact Flashpoint's functionality.