MacOs - How to run Spirit City on whisky

Run the app using whisky: A free translation layer that helps launch windows programs on macOs

What is Whisky?

Whisky[getwhisky.app], similar to Crossover, is a compatibility layer that runs windows programs on MacOs. The main difference between whisky and CrossOver is that whisky is a completely free & open source project, meaning there is no cost to run applications. Crossover on the other hand, is a paid application, but with some benefits of better support for other applications. The installation process for both are similar, with Whisky having different methods to installing things.

Both apps are based on the Wine project, originally designed for Linux. Wine is supported by individual donations made by people like you[www.winehq.org], as well as CodeWeavers, the creators of crossover, and Valve, the developers of proton, which helps run windows games on the Steam Deck.

What Macs are supported?

This guide is the sequel to another one for users running crossover. In my testing, performance on an M3 Apple silicon mac has been about the same as on Crossover (full speed & performance works!). One user reported that performance on the M2 was a little slow. It is unknown if that user was changing the framerate at all to improve performance.


Given this, I have not tested with my intel mac, since the results are probably the same. On intel macs, crossover wouldn't help because integrated graphics was not able to run the game. More details can be found in the previous guide, but it's always possible that old macs with dedicated GPUs could probably run it.

If there is any success running the game with intel-based macs, I can update this guide to indicate that it works!

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1: install Whisky

The application can be retrieved from here[getwhisky.app]

It will need to be unzipped, and the .app will need to be moved over to the /Applications/ folder of the Mac.

Click on the whiskey app

Step 2: Create a new bottle!

A bottle is a container that holds a bunch of things to run windows programs. Give the bottle any name you like. Click "Create".

Step 3: Install steam via winetricks

On the bottom right corner of the menu, there should be a button labeled "winetricks". Clicking on it will open up a menu for a list of programs to install.



There should be an entry for steam, select that and allow for it to begin installation


There should be a terminal that pops up that begins to download content. Type "Y" in the keyboard, and it will launch the steam wizard.




Navigate through the menus, but DO NOT Launch steam. Uncheck the box that says "Run Steam", click Finish.

The terminal should then proceed to do more work. Once it's done, your username, followed by
~" and "%" should be visible on the bottom line of the terminal. That means it's done installing steam!

Step 4: Adjustments to your Whisky bottle

We're not ready to launch steam just yet. A few things can be toggled to enhance the experience of launching and running Spirit Cities.

Pinning steam to your bottle

To launch steam quickly, we'll create a shortcut. Click "installed programs"


Search for steam in this list, and click the pin on the left side of the list item. Going back from this menu will show steam now on the bottle's menu!

Adjusting DPI (for retina display)

Almost done with configuration stuff. Open "Bottle configuration", Then switch on "Retina mode". Underneath that, is DPI scaling. Click "configure".


On my side, 168 DPI was able to function well for this use-case.

Aside from that, there isn't a need to toggle anything else in this menu. DirectX-to-metal is already running out of the box with whisky, so there isn't a toggle to enable it in the first place.

Step 5: Launching Steam

Nearly there! The next step is to login to steam. Double-click on the shortcut that was created earlier.

Once launched, you can then log in. It may take a minute to get everything setup.


Go to your library, click "install" to install the game!

Downloading Issues

There may be a chance that the download hangs at 99% (And steam decides it will take over a year to download o_O). If this happens, pause the download, and then close steam. re-opening team should then give a notification that install is done!

Step 6: Launch the game!

On first run, it will ask for a dependency; once that, the game should be able to run in full!


To improve performance, framerates can be adjusted in the settings. My personal setup uses 5 frames per second when the game isn't the active window. This is to prevent the mac from using too much energy when it's not required. It also prevents the mac from getting too hot for too long.

The end result causes the mac to be roughtly luke-warm when performing normal tasks. The batter y can take a hit, but it's still strong enough to last a while without the charging cable.

Fin

That's it! There are some things that wern't covered, such as troubleshooting steps if the game doesn't operate correctly.

I'll link to the previous guide, since the issues there can likely be resolved with similar steps.

This solution for running on MacOs is considered temporary, as the developers have plans to launch the game on this platform. By doing this, performance has the potential to double, as well as preserve battery life as a result of not requring to translate grahpics and architectural differences. (Direct X -> Vulkan -> Metal) + (x64 -> Arm / apple silicon)

Hope the experience for installing this to MacOs fairs well! If there are any questions, or things that require clarification, be sure to share them in the comment section.

[epipenany]

Hi! I got it working.

Well mostly, I can now listen to music on my bluetooth headphones while my speakers are playing Spirit City Lofi. Soooo, that's weird. It would be nice to be able to turn up the volume and connect my bluetooth speakers through Wine. But this is actually okay for now.

Thank you so much! :)

*Eagerly awaits macOS release of Spirit City...*