Source Ports on macOS
| |
| Developer | Apple |
|---|---|
| Type | Operating systems |
| Release date | 2001 |
| Latest release | macOS 13 Ventura |
- This page is about game engine recreations and source ports that run on macOS (previously Mac OS X).
- For emulators that run on macOS (previously Mac OS X), see Emulators on macOS.
What is a Source Port?
Sometimes creating an emulator for a whole system is overkill. If the source code for a game is available, it is possible to modernise the code and port it to multiple platforms that the original game developer did not originally envisage. This is called a source port. Most of the source ports listed below were not released with Apple Silicon support, but support has been added by independent developers.
Alternatively, if the source code is not available, it is possible to recreate a game engine from scratch. This is much more difficult to do and to make the resulting game match the original.
Getting the App
Some of the games on this list will have a macOS app bundle available to download on the project's home page or git. But a lot of them do not. However there is a project called Mac Source Ports which takes open-source games, compiles them into a macOS app bundle (Universal Binary where possible), signs and notarises them, and makes them available to download for free.
The MSP builds are often the most convenient way to play these games, so if an MSP version is available it is recommended.
Compiling the Source Code and the Terminal
In some cases there is no app bundle available for download, so you may have to compile the source code yourself, or to run the game using the command-line. No instructions will be provided here, but the project's git page usually will tell you how to go about it. This list will indicate if an app bundle is available or not.
Getting the Game Data
For most source ports and game recreations, game data from the original game is required and this must be legally obtained from the original release for copyright reasons. Game data for most of the games below are available to purchase from GoG or Steam (GoG is preferred as games purchased there do not contain DRM which could make things more difficult). Generally, the game data should be put in the ~/Library/Application Support/ directory (where ~ represents your user home folder). But this is dependent on the individual game, so check the installation instructions.
A few games were open-sourced and released with their game data included, so for these games no additional steps are required.
| Name | Supported games | Site | App Bundle | MSP | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | Gamepad Support | FLOSS | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NakedAVP | Aliens Vs Predator (2000) | git | ✓ | ✓ [1] | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| wipEout-Rewrite | wipEout (PS1) | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
