Mac Source Ports

Developer: Epic Games
Release Date: November 22, 1999

Continuing our tour of why 1999 was the best year ever for gaming, we now have Unreal Tournament on Apple Silicon. This is the original 1999 version, not the sequels and not the attempted-but-abandoned 2014 effort, this is the game that went head-to-head with Quake III: Arena from an era when the multiplayer-only FPS was still a novel concept.

Similar to the Daikatana situation, Epic has not released the source code for this game (which uses what we'd now probably retronym Unreal Engine 1) but a group of individuals online entered into an agreement with them to take over maintenance and future development. They've been releasing new builds for a few years now and now the game runs natively on Apple Silicon.

So break out the Mountain Dew and party like it's 1999 again. For extra fun fire up Quake III: Arena as well and experience a rivalry that continues between old fart gamers to this very day.

NOTE: The build of 469e added a preview version of the team's new Apple Metal renderer. For more information, see the installation instructions below.

Developer: SuperTuxKart Team
Release Date: August 6, 2007
Source Code Release Date: August 6, 2007

Something I kinda wish I had been around for was the launch and initial rise of Linux. I mean, I was around for it in that I'm old enough to remember it but I barely had a PC at that point, I was quite a ways off from trying to be part of a revolution or anything. But it had to be fascinating to be involved with trying to use an operating system made from scratch, if for no other reason than the thing didn't have any software other than what people wrote for it. Most software was closed source Windows-centric to the point of being un-portable so everything from windowing systems to application software to web browsers had to be created from scratch by the community.

Also, games. It would be years before developers would feel enough benevolence to port games to Linux but in the meantime people wanted to play something, so that gave rise to a handful of games including the likes of New Breed Software. Another very early example of Linux gaming was Tux Racer, a game featuring Tux (the name of the cartoon penguin mascot of Linux) racing down a snowy mountain. Later on, another game in a similar vein, TuxKart, started development. A take on Nintendo's Mario Kart, it was never finished amidst squabbles within its developers but thanks to the nature of open source software a later fork, SuperTuxKart, arose and continued the work.

Today, SuperTuxKart is a mature software project with a full freeware release across multiple platforms including Apple Silicon Macs, so check it out if you're interested in playing a kart racing game alongside several FOSS-based mascots as playable characters.

Developer: Chris Sawyer
Release Date: October 15, 2002

Another game from the mind of Chris Sawyer, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 shares the same pixel art style and hardcore interface as his other games.

  Buy RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 on GOG.com

  Buy RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 on the Humble Store

Developer: Midway Games
Release Date: April 4, 1997

OK, now we have all the DOOM games (pre-2016 anyway).

The port of DOOM to the original PlayStation, handled by Midway Games, was such a hit that when it came time to port the game to the Nintendo 64, Midway wanted to do something other than just port the same game again, and wanted to take advantage of the features of the hardware. The result is the most bizarrely unique entry in the series.

DOOM 64 does use the DOOM engine, or at least it started with it, but they took a hard left. The game does use the original game's enemies with reworked assets from the original game, but the levels are new and the engine takes place of the then-novel idea of hardware accelerated graphics. Notably, the N64 could do colored lighting and they use that all throughout the game.

Reactions were mixed. Gamers wanting the original game were disappointed, gamers wanting something new were intrigued, and the critics were mostly just confused. Until recently, it was an obscure anomaly entry in the series with a cult following.

A source port project called Doom64 EX came out, whose goal was to recreate the game using the N64 ROM image for data. In the runup to DOOM Eternal, id and Zenimax decided to resurrect the game and the creator of the source port worked with Nightdive Studios to make a version that ran on PC as well as consoles. In the years since, the Doom 64 EX+ project came out which enhances the original source port as well as gives it the ability to use the data from the PC port of the game. The commercial release did not come to the Mac, but working with the author we're able to offer a Mac release here.

So fire it up and pretend like you're playing on your big CRT having just rented it from Blockbuster Video. It's definitely a unique experience.

  Buy DOOM 64 on GOG.com

Developer: Blizard Entertainment
Release Date: January 3, 1997

Diablo more or less invented the modern action RPG, combining addictive gameplay with roguelike elements such as randomly generated levels. You choose from one of three character classes and play as a lone hero from Tristram in the Kingdom of Khanduras who ventures into the dungeons below to fight demons, score loot, and eventually entering Hell to confront Diablo, the Lord of Terror. The formula has been duplicated multiple times over the years and the series has spawned multiple sequels.

The original game in the series, while groundbreaking, has received less attention and updates from Blizzard, but also has a unique distinction in that it's the only entry whose source has been reverse engineered. The story is sort of wild and involves an effort whose catalyst involved the discovery of a debug symbols file on the retail Japanese PlayStation 1 copy of the game. The result was the Devilution project, which recreates the original source code, and the DevilutionX project which enhances the original and allows for ports to everything from the Amiga to the Nintendo Switch.

Mac Source Ports is now handling an official build for the DevilutionX project. As a bonus, another individual on the DevilutionX team has built versions that run on 32-bit Intel and PowerPC Macs so this is the rare entry on our site that can be played as far back as Mac OS X 10.4. Science isn't about why, it's about why not!

  Buy Diablo on GOG.com

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Release Date: September 20, 1996

Although not as popular as later entries, THe Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall still has a devout cult following today, so much so that there is an online effort to recreate it in an updated engine.

The Daggerfall Unity project, which like it says on the tin is a recreation of the game in the Unity engine, has been in the works for a few years now and for a while it's been mature enough to play through the whole game.

I had been keeping an eye on this project and the main reason I held off on adding it before was that it was an unsigned Intel-only app, and I would have built a Universal 2 version except I have no experience with Unity so I put it on the backburner. However, in light of recent developments with Unity I now don't see myself ever messing with it, and since there are technical reasons why it is Intel-only for now, I've decided to add it as it is.

For the game data, Daggerfall is free on places like GOG and Steam and the Daggerfall Unity project itself is available on GOG, but only for Windows, so I figured adding it here was still worthwhile.

  Buy The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall on GOG.com

Developer: Stainless Games
Release Date: June 13, 1997

An example of controversy for controversy's sake, Carmageddon basically took what people wanted to do in other racing games - crash into other cars and run over pedestrians - and turned it into the primary gameplay loop. They took the macabre joke about getting points for hitting people in your car and made it a gameplay mechanic. The game was successful both from a critical and commercial perspective, as well as its goal as a controversy magnet.

The dethrace project is a source port where in lieu of source code they're reverse engineering it, and according to their Twitter account they're approximately 70% of the way there. The game is very playable but may crash in some places, so I'm introducing a new tag: Early Access. This probably could use a better name but I'm using it to convey the notion that the project doesn't consider itself completely finished (though there are reports of people making it through the entire game), but it's still pretty awesome so I figured if nothing else it's worth putting up a quick build.

  Buy Carmageddon on GOG.com

Developer: Pumpkin Studios
Release Date: April 10, 1999
Source Code Release Date: December 6, 2004

Warzone 2100 is a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy game from 1999 whose source was released in 2004 and whose content was released as freeware in 2008.

Although my aim is to host signed and notarized game bundles on Mac Source Ports, the Warzone 2100 Project has done incredible work on this port and has logistical reasons for not being notarized yet. While they work through that process, I decided it was worth making an exception to the site's policy so that Apple Silicon gamers looking for a full, free and polished RTS would be able to find it.

Because the app bundle is not notarized, on first run you may run into issues. The shortest answer is to right-click on the app bundle (wz2100.app) and select Open. The long answer is here.

Developer: Grey Matter Interactive
Release Date: November 19, 2001
Source Code Release Date: August 12, 2010

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a fantastic single player game with lots of little touches you might have missed the first time around and that you don't see much anymore. Still abolutely worth firing up just to blast some Nazis. This source port also includes the multiplayer as a separate app, which still works on the servers running to this day.

  Buy Return to Castle Wolfenstein on GOG.com

  Buy Return to Castle Wolfenstein on the Humble Store

Developer: id Software
Release Date: December 9, 1997
Source Code Release Date: December 22, 2001

Quake II is a first-person shooter, the second in the Quake series. Yamagi Quake2 is the most mature and advanced port actively being maintained.

  Buy Quake II on GOG.com

  Buy Quake II on the Humble Store