Kevin C. Wong

Install DDO with Codeweavers

Jun 02 2020
I have a new MBP with macOS Catalina which means no 32-bit apps. Dungeons & Dragons Online's macOS client is now the PC client wrapped with Wine. But I think it uses 32-bit Wine so the install doesn't even complete.

Codeweavers is a 3rd party Wine bottle creator. They test with a lot of apps and customize each app installation with the latest Wine and they use 64-bit Wine (which is pretty new). Still, older apps are sometimes not well supported so what started out as a simple install hasn't really been updated and can fail in various ways.

Anyways, here are my notes on how I installed the Windows version of DDO on my MBP.

Versions Used


References


Instructions

  1. Launch Crossover
  2. Click "Install a Windows Application"
  3. (There might be a warning to update Crossover, do so.)
  4. Application name = Dungeons & Dragons Online
  5. Click Continue
  6. Choose ddolive.exe
  7. If given the choice choose Windows XP bottle (should be automatic)
  8. Click Install
  9. During install sub-installers and license windows will launch. Say ok/yes.
  10. DDO Installer: choose Express
  11. Unselect "Launch DDO" and click Finish
  12. Back to Crossover installer. Click Done.
  13. Launch DDO from Crossover
  14. "DDO would like to access files in your Documents folder". Click OK.
  15. DDO starts download updates. At this point add DDO app permissions.
    • Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy tab, unlock controls
    • Go to ~/Applications/Crossover/StandingStoneGames
    • Drag DDO app to Accessibility, make sure app is enabled
    • (Can't drag into Microphone, will have to wait for DDO to request access)
  16. During update DDO may get an error "An application has made an attempt to load the C runtime library incorrectly." Click OK. In DDO you may also see "Failed to load patchclient (Cannot load library patchclient: DLL initialization failed).
    • Quit DDO installer (click X)
    • CrossOver > DDO bottle > Control Panels > Wine Configuration.
    • In Library tab edit msvcr80 to Builtin then Native. Click OK.
    • Restart DDO app.
  17. DDO update continues. If it errors, quit and relaunch DDO. Might have to do this several times until update finally goes through. Sometimes waiting a couple of hours before another try seems to help.
  18. First time you login to a server it'll play the intro animatics. I've read that you want to change your monitor resolution to 720p or DDO will crash. I'd already used the server so didn't experience this.
  19. First time you login to a server DDO wants access to key presses and microphone. The screen might go black as it goes to full screen mode and the macOS dialogs are hidden. We did accessibility in step 15 but for microphone you will need to mouse over the the menu and hopefully a menu item to pop you back to macOS and show the dialog.
  20. That should do it. Game plays well at max resolution on my MBP 2020. I've had an instance where text chat doesn't work but later it worked when I restarted. Voice chat I haven't been able to get working so we use Discord.

Issues

After four sessions these are the issues I've encountered.

  • Text chat usually doesn't work do I do get system messages.
  • Voice chat out usually doesn't work so can't hear the other players. I think audio and text chat are the same subsystem (like a third party library).
  • Voice chat in doesn't work. DDO requested mic access and I gave it but it still doesn't get mic audio.
  • Sometimes the app freezes. It might come out in 30 seconds or not even after a couple of minutes. I reduced graphic settings from max to medium and then to low (there is also an ultra low setting) and it seems to help. I keep Object Draw distance at ultra high.
  • Friends list doesn't display. Mostly useful to see which characters are online.

Voice chat we fallback to Discord. Text chat we do without though we could so do Discord. Friends list is really minor. Hopefully I resolved the freezing issue.

All in all it's good enough for me to keep using.