JA2 on OSX

Jagged Alliance 2 on Mac

It's possible. It works.
The Stracciatella project makes JA2 available on any platform! Thanks Tron!
The project has focussed on making JA2 platform-independent, without modifying its gameplay, while most other mods - like v113 - change gameplay a lot.

Precompiled (32bits, Intel Macs)

it works!

You will need the SDL libraries installed (see below under 'Compiling Yourself > SDL')
You will need the original JA2 datafiles and configure Stracciatella for them (see below under 'Compiling Yourself > Stracciatella: configure')
Download the precompiled JA2 below (Intel Macs, 32 bits only, revision 7065 + fullscreen-start)
(I've also got a precompiled 800x600 mod, also Intel/32bits)

click to download

Compiling yourself (any architecture)

XCode

Make sure you have XCode installed.
This is required both for compiling SDL and JA2 Stracciatella (or for compiling any other piece of software on your Mac).
SDL

Ensure you have SDL libraries installed
- You can check if SDL is already installed, and for what architecture it was compiled by entering in the terminal:
```
lipo -info /usr/local/lib/libSDL.dylib
```
  if the file exists, you get a message returning the architecture, for example:
```
Non-fat file: /usr/local/lib/libSDL.dylib is architecture: x86_64
```
  this means you have SDL installed.
- If the file can't be found, you receive a "can't open input file"-error, this means you need to install SDL:
  1. Download and extract the source from http://www.libsdl.org/download-1.2.php.
    (you will need to download the actual 'Source Code', not any of the runtime/development libraries)
    OSX LION USERS - PAY ATTENTION
    
    due to some API changes in Lion you need a development version of SDL which fixes issues related to Lion (see here, some more info in the comments there). I've used this SDL 1.2 (don't use 1.3!).
Go to its root directory and type
```
./configure
make
make install
```
to configure, compile and install it.

Troubleshooting

If during installation you get the following error
```
install: /usr/local/include/SDL/SDL.h: Permission denied
```
try running the installation as root
```
sudo make install
```

Stracciatella: source code

Get the latest Stracciatella revision from SVN

svn co svn://tron.homeunix.org/ja2/trunk ~/ja2

Stracciatella: compile

Macintosh-2:~/ja2 $ make
===> CC sgp/TranslationTable.c
===> CXX Build/AniViewScreen.cc
===> CXX Build/Credits.cc
===> CXX Build/Fade_Screen.cc
...
...
...
===> CXX Build/Utils/_PolishText.cc
===> CXX Build/Utils/_RussianText.cc
===> LD ja2
Macintosh-2:~/ja2 $

Yay, done! Play by running it

./ja

Optionally clean up the mess

make clean

Stracciatella: configure

You will need the original datafiles from a windows install, and configure them as follows

The first time you run the application, it will create a settings folder in your home dir
```
~/.ja2/
```
In this folder, JA2 will create the configuration file
```
ja2.ini
```
The game will only work after you configure a valid path to your windows-install-datafiles in this ja2.ini - for example:
```
data_dir = /Applications/JaggedAlliance2/
```

Points of attention

Be aware that Tron's latest revision will still contain bugs. Most are discussed and solved on this forum.
When switching from fullscreen to windowed mode and back, the game will crash in tactical screen when you encounter enemies.
(just always start game and play in fullscreen, dont switch to windowed - the screenshot above is just a proof it works on OSX)
If you're having questions/trouble with compiling, read this thread - it may help you
Upgrade to 800x600 (precompiled)
Play with the source code :)
- Want to allow 2 IMP merc's?
- Want to be able to skip militia turns by holding SHIFT?
- Want to be able to change Merc clothing color?
- etc.
it's all possible, and it's all been done.