How to PLAYPHOENIX ON MAC: the guide

[Poink]

Hi all. I am Poink, a Mac OS user, and I tried to playphoenix on my native OS (without Bootcamp as I hate having to completely stop my work flow to play a single game). So, after a ridiculous amount of time trying every solution under the sun, I have arrived at a method that worked for me. Hopefully it will work for you as well.

 

Things that DO NOT WORK:

• Running the game under a standard Wine configuration/wrapper/bottle.
• CrossOver. It looks like it’s gonna work for a hot minute and does nothing.
• Early versions of Parallels (Tested with V13/V14).

 

So what should you prepare in order to make it work?

• You’re going to need a full installation of Parallels 15. Future versions will likely work as well.

    Obviously your choice whether to get it legit or not, but it’s a fairly pricy program, keep in mind.

• [OPTIONAL] You’re also going to need a method to activate your Windows installation.

    Note that digital licenses can transfer over if it’s not tied to your actual computer, so you may already have this step done.

• A working Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 15 x86 download link. You will need this in order to circumvent the “msvcp140.dll is missing” error when you launch Phoenix while not having vc_redist.x86 installed. Get it here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145

 

If you have these two or three things prepared, the course of action is as following:

1. Install Parallels.
2. Choose to install a new instance of Windows 10. (I have not tested any other version so I can’t vouch for them).
3. After installation is complete, you may activate Windows using either a digital license by logging into your Microsoft account, using a pre-bought Windows activation/license key, or other methods I will not list here due to them actually being illegal. Like, more illegal than playing an old version of a server.
4. Install vc_redist.x86 on your Windows ‘machine’. Just download the file and right-click > Run in Parallels no matter where you stored it.
5. Download the latest Phoenix version.
6. Go into coherence mode so it looks like you’re running Phoenix directly on your Mac without all the Windows mumbo-jumbo.
7. Launch Phoenix, and remember to edit the phoenix.ini file for your desired resolution. Note that it will technically be running in window mode so plan accordingly.
8. Enjoy!

If there are any elaborations to be made within the guide, please let me know.

 

PROTIPS (bonus section)
1. When you set up parallels make sure your virtual machine is set to GAMES ONLY on the configuration panel.
2. In the general parallels settings pane, under shortcuts, DESELECT the shortcuts as follow to enable you to jump without automatically attacking:
option + right (translates into ctrl + right)
option + left (translates into ctrl + left)
option + shift + right (translates into ctrl + shift + right)
option + shift + left (translates into ctrl + shift + left)
3. Set your attack and otherwise repeatable keys onto non-modifier keys, as Mac gives trouble with holding them down.

[quit]

Actually had to use this last night and it works great! Thanks so much. Also confirmed to work with Windows 7.

[SHA2048]

POGGERS

[RedBlueBlur]

have any of u tried using an:

1. old client such as osm and

2. downloading phoenix client via winebottler and

3. replacing the new client data w the old one?

 

much appreciated for an alternative method as the above, some my me and my friends mac are unable to carry out ur method or either the system processes way too slow.

[Talent]

On 3/4/2020 at 11:45 PM, RedBlueBlur said:

have any of u tried using an:

1. old client such as osm and

2. downloading phoenix client via winebottler and

3. replacing the new client data w the old one?

 

much appreciated for an alternative method as the above, some my me and my friends mac are unable to carry out ur method or either the system processes way too slow.

what you mean my wine bottler 

 

[RedBlueBlur]

On 1/13/2020 at 5:53 PM, Poink said:

• Install vc_redist.x86 on your Windows ‘machine’. Just download the file and right-click > Run in Parallels no matter where you stored it.
• Download the latest Phoenix version.
• Go into coherence mode so it looks like you’re running Phoenix directly on your Mac without all the Windows mumbo-jumbo.

- so , we have to install vc_redist.x86 no matter the mac OS ver? how about trying vc_redist.x64? (usually 64 bit is for i5 which is mine)

- checked out the phoenix.ini file and its default resolution was 800x600, launched but its giving me the error : Gr2d...

Edited April 1, 2020 by RedBlueBlur

[JGah]

Hey everyone, so my girlfriend would like to play with me, but I know nothing of mac. How would she go about getting the files necessary for this guide?

[KittySays]

On 3/23/2020 at 5:18 PM, JGah said:

Hey everyone, so my girlfriend would like to play with me, but I know nothing of mac. How would she go about getting the files necessary for this guide?

I just got it to work on my Mac. Check out imore.com/how-install-windows-your-mac-boot-camp

I just followed all the instructions.

[Sphereless]

Can confirm this works on M2 Macbook with Windows 11 inside Parallels 18.1.1.

Tried a few other options including UTM and CrossOver but those didn't work. UTM doesn't have GPU emulation for Windows yet. Wine-based solutions (like CrossOver) stopped working for me many patches ago, I think because of something in Phoenix.dll. Maybe Arnah can fix this if he cares enough.

Some tips for Parallels:

- If the window is tiny, set the resolution to "Scaled" in Parallels

- Set the keyboard to "Optimize for Games" in Parallels settings to get modifier keys like alt/ctrl/shift to work properly

- Coherence mode uses a lot less CPU but the game lags when scrolling the screen.