Getting started on the STEX for Macintosh users

[Zelgadis 638]

I'm sure many of you Mac users come here before the omnibus. I know I did. I was here for a long time before I knew the omnibus even existed.

So this topic is here to make the Mac omnibus article easier to find.

Getting started on the STEX for Macintosh users

Alternate link available here.

It is now fully updated with all the current information you need.

ISF

[Menotyou 0]

Really useful! I didn't know alot of that stuff!

Cheers!

[Crissa 1]

The Omnibus mentions a graphical bug which I haven't encountered.

Does anyone have a more detailed description of the bug?

-Crissa

[Zelgadis 638]

Are you referring to the graphics rules.sgr situation? If so, and you don't know what it is, feel lucky. This bug makes scrolling painfully slow and irritating. The game was almost unplayable for me, so I harrassed Aspyr for awhile and they sent me a fix.

ISF

[peepska 0]

excellent! Good work

[tgcela 0]

I don't really understand here. When I try to open the download folder it justs says that i need to open it with a differen't application. I try to use the plug in thing but it won't let me place it in that folder

[Zelgadis 638]

Some of the files on the sharing site can only be used with Windows. Those files are typically in the folders. These files are provided for SC4 for Mac users who have Windows machines or Intel Macs but do not have SC4 for Windows.

[ShamanOfSexay 0]

Hi, I dont know if I'm posting at the right but anyways, I'll give it a try. Some of the files I download are working but not completely. Like the simgoober files which are a lot of commercials shopping, restuarants etc... All the place that are supposed to be parkings are instead grass. I'd like to know if someone can help me. Thanks!

[Hamish 1,369]

You may need to download extra files called dependancies.

Go back to where you downloaded it or into the readme file. One of these should have a list of files to download.

Also make sure your graphics settings are set to high.

[ShamanOfSexay 0]

Ok and where can I change my graphics settings?

[iggypop 0]

This is fantastic - thank you!

[redrummage 9]

what was in that mac pack vol 1 link, https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=mac%20pack%20vol%201&type=all

it doesn't seem to be there anymore? Just want to know if I'm missing anything essential?

[Airicci 0]

ok for some reason, when I click on the "Getting Started on the STEX for Mac users" link, I get an error saying I dont have permission to access it. I really need help downloading and installing some stex files, but I cant open the stupid link!!

[lucius0605 0]

I also get a error! Argh! Help..

[Zelgadis 638]

Sorry about that. I didn't update the link when ST switched over to the new omnibus. That's fixed now.

ISF

[EdouardB 1]

Do not erase your .exe files from your downloads . My Mac Pack 3 would not function when I did that hehe.

Thank you for all the great advice by the way. I think lighting up your buildings at night is to complicate for me though

[EdouardB 1]

What I mean is keep the files you use FileJuicer on.

[TekindusT 3,809]

Could you please fix the title of the Omnibus article linked above? It says "Creating a realistic highway junction", although the article is talking about getting started on the STEX for Macintosh users...

[c4bl3fl4m3 405]

You might want to put a note that FileJuicer isn't the only program that'll extract .EXE files. You can also use Stuffit Expander to do the same thing. If you already have it (and many people do, as it handles a ton of other files as well, like Zip and Rar) there's no need to DL another program.

[Pebbleheed 0]

When I click either link in the first post I just get brought back to this thread?

 

Tried in Safari and Chrome. Both don't work.

[rsc204 21,806]

It should be on the Omnibus somewhere, but indeed the link is non-functioning. I can't easily find the article either .

That said, I'm really unsure what you'd need to know, it's not highly complex. The first problems you'll have will depend on the version you have for the Mac. However both the releases have bugs and other problems that don't occur with the PC version.

But the main issue of the Mac game is that you can only install a very limited number of plugins or actual files. There is some pre-set limit that simply can't be surpassed. I'm not sure of the exact amount, although the problem is not affected by the size of the files. So you will need to get to grips with DAT-Packing, JDAT Packer is cross-platform and works using Java.

After that you may find that some downloads are harder to install than others. Those in .zip, .rar or .7zip format should be fine, much like for Windows users, you just need to extract the archives to get to the files inside them. The real problems start when a mod is bundled with an installer that was designed for Windows only. Here there are two possible solutions, if you have access to a Windows PC, run the installer there, then copy the files it extracts back to your Mac. Otherwise, you'll need a third party tool, FileJuicer is the most popular, that can extract the contents of these installers.

Really that's the only information I can think of that's specific to Mac users.

[c4bl3fl4m3 405]

Just to add to the above, instead of using FileJuicer to install BATs bundled in EXE files, I use WineSkin.I believe someone else mentioned it somewhere else, not to mention unlike FileJuicer, it's free.

You use WineSkin Winery to create a WineSkin, then you run it (you can use the same skin every time, no need to make a new one for every file), choose the EXE file you want, and it runs the EXE installer as if it was in Windows. It maps your drive as if it was a windows drive, but you have to tell it a different place to put the files: the default is not the proper place. (It's a pain to have to go through the menus to get to the proper place, so I just have it extract somewhere, then move the files by hand.)

FileJuicer may be easier (I think I might have used it some back when I used to do this in 2009.), but this is, indeed, free.

(Some other folks have mentioned Keka, but I've never been able to get Keka to work for this in 2017-2018. I do believe back in 2009 it was the program I used for this, but now when I try to it gives me some kind of info about corrupted EXEs or something.)

Edit: I have noticed with WineSkin it doesn't always put the files where you tell it to. It usually does, but maybe 20% of the time it doesn't. It's worse at some builder's files than others. And yes, in a single EXE file, it'll put SOME files where you tell it to, and OTHERS in the default place for Windows installs (w/ all the nesting therein if applicable). So if your BAT isn't looking right/working right, go look in the default folders for BATs for Windows installs & go to the proper subfolder and see if there's any remnant files that ended up in the wrong location.

 

  Edited November 2, 2019 by c4bl3fl4m3  
explaining occasional errors using WineSkin