Guide

Installation on macOS

1. Check your toolkit before proceeding

This procedure requires the legacy GPTK wrapper interface on Apple silicon. The GPTK 1.0 README (archived copy) specifies macOS 14 Sonoma, Rosetta 2, Xcode 15 or its Command Line Tools, and x86-64 Homebrew. It recommends at least 16GB of memory for translated games. This is not an Intel Mac, CrossOver or current-GPTK procedure; compatibility with newer toolkit versions is not established.

  1. Obtain the toolkit from Apple's downloads; Apple Account sign-in may be required. Follow the README included with your package to install its Wine environment, graphics bridge libraries and launcher scripts.
  2. Check that the package provides gameportingtoolkit and gameportingtoolkit-no-esync, both taking the prefix directory first and quoted Windows executable path second. The prefix-creation command below also requires its x86-64 Homebrew game-porting-toolkit installation.
  3. Run these commands in Terminal to check that both scripts are available from that toolkit installation:
command -v gameportingtoolkit
command -v gameportingtoolkit-no-esync

If either script is missing or your package uses different commands, stop here and complete its documented setup. Do not mix components from different toolkit releases. Allow space for the toolkit, prefix and game as well as future mods; the launcher provides a space estimate for the game download.

2. Use a separate Windows environment

A prefix holds Wine's virtual C: drive, registry and Windows user files. The runtime, launcher and game must all use the same prefix.

These commands use ~/eldewrito-prefix. If that folder already exists, choose an unused name and replace eldewrito-prefix consistently in every command. Keep ElDewrito in its own prefix, separate from other games and older installations.

In the x86-64 Homebrew environment prepared in step 1, create the prefix with the toolkit's Wine:

WINEPREFIX="$HOME/eldewrito-prefix" "$(brew --prefix game-porting-toolkit)/bin/wine64" winecfg

In Wine configuration, select Windows 10, select Apply and close the window. If it does not open, resolve the toolkit setup before continuing. Complete any graphics-bridge or prefix setup required by your package's README.

In Finder, use Go > Go to Folder to open ~/eldewrito-prefix/drive_c. This is C:\ to Windows programs. Create a folder named EDSetup inside it for the two installers.

3. Install the Windows desktop runtime

  1. Download launcher.exe from the Download page or the launcher project's releases.
  2. Download Microsoft's .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.36 — Windows x64 installer, named windowsdesktop-runtime-6.0.36-win-x64.exe.
  3. Copy both files into the prefix's drive_c/EDSetup folder. These are executable installers, not archives to unpack. Keep them separate from the final game directory.
  4. Run the runtime installer with this command, complete installation and close it:
gameportingtoolkit "$HOME/eldewrito-prefix" 'C:\EDSetup\windowsdesktop-runtime-6.0.36-win-x64.exe'

Use the Windows x64 Desktop Runtime inside the prefix, even on an Apple silicon Mac. This supplies the Windows .NET 6 components the launcher needs; you do not need the macOS runtime or SDK.

4. Install ElDewrito in that prefix

Open the setup launcher using the same prefix:

gameportingtoolkit "$HOME/eldewrito-prefix" 'C:\EDSetup\launcher.exe'
  1. Select Next and let the launcher find the available release.
  2. Select a fresh game destination. For the examples below, use C:\Program Files\ElDewrito as the final game folder. Check the complete destination shown by the installer so you do not accidentally select a doubled ElDewrito\ElDewrito directory.
  3. Select Install and allow the download and installation to finish. Keep the Mac awake and the destination available. If setup fails, use Troubleshooting before deleting or reinstalling anything.
  4. When the launcher offers Play, close it. In Finder, open ~/eldewrito-prefix/drive_c/Program Files/ElDewrito and check that it contains launcher.exe and eldorado.exe. If you installed elsewhere, use that folder's Windows path in the remaining commands and its Finder path when editing files.

Install 0.7 in a fresh folder, not over a 0.6.1-era copy. Keep your old installation and back up personal content before migrating it; see Installation.

5. Configure the menus

The community recipe disables GPU acceleration for ElDewrito's browser-based menus with Game.CEFGpuEnable 0. Close the game and launcher before changing the preference.

  1. Inside the installed game folder, open data. If dewrito_prefs.cfg exists, copy it to a separate backup first and record the current Game.CEFGpuEnable value.
  2. Open data/dewrito_prefs.cfg in a plain-text editor. Change the existing Game.CEFGpuEnable setting to the line below. If the setting is absent, add it once. Do not append a conflicting second copy.
  3. If the file is absent, create a plain-text file named exactly dewrito_prefs.cfg inside data with this line. Ensure the editor does not save it as rich text or add .txt.
Game.CEFGpuEnable 0

To undo this change, restore the setting's original value or remove the line if you added it. Keep any other preferences in the file.

6. Launch, join a game and return later

Connect your gamepad before launching, then start the installed game:

gameportingtoolkit-no-esync "$HOME/eldewrito-prefix" 'C:\Program Files\ElDewrito\eldorado.exe'

This starts the game with Wine's ESYNC option disabled, using the same prefix as the launcher.

  1. Check that the menus respond, then configure your controls and start a local game to check movement, aiming and sound. Keep the game window focused while checking input.
  2. Open the server browser and join an active server. You can check activity on the site's Servers page. Allow required custom content to download. You do not need to forward ports to join a server.
  3. Exit normally. Use the same command and prefix whenever you return to the game.

Continue to Playing for controls and joining, or Custom content for mods.

Updates and recovery

Directly starting eldorado.exe bypasses the launcher. For launcher update checks, open the installed launcher in the same prefix, not the temporary setup copy:

gameportingtoolkit "$HOME/eldewrito-prefix" 'C:\Program Files\ElDewrito\launcher.exe'

Close the game before updating. Once the launcher finishes, close it and use the game-launch command above. Before changing the toolkit, moving the game or altering preferences, quit all Windows programs in the prefix and back up the files you are changing. Include any game or personal folders stored outside the prefix; Wine can access those too.

For a missing-runtime prompt, check that the runtime installer and launcher used the same prefix. For a missing-file error, compare the quoted Windows path with the file under drive_c; Program Files contains a space, not an underscore. For other problems, see Troubleshooting. When asking for help, include your Mac chip, macOS version, toolkit/Wine version and the error text.