Homecoming Launcher for Mac

The Homecoming Launcher for Mac contains four major parts:

  1. The Homecoming Launcher for Mac Installer. The installer’s job is to prepare the City of Heroes: Homecoming install folder in Applications/coh with the correct permissions to support a game install, and then place the Homecoming Launcher and Wine package.
  2. The Wine Package. Supplied by the Software Freedom Conservancy and WineHQ, the Wine (Wine is Not An Emulator) package for Mac is the heart of what makes it possible for a Windows based game to run on Mac.
  3. The Launch CoH AppleScript. This is a very basic Applescript that sets up the environment on the Mac and with Wine to be able to launch and run the Homecoming Launcher and City of Heroes: Homecoming.
  4. The Homecoming Launcher. The very same Homecoming Launcher used for Windows is included, and will self-update when launched for the first time.

Unlike Island Rum (explained below), the Homecoming for Mac package is not yet capable of updating itself, and requires redistribution any time Wine or the Applescript need updating. The Homecoming Launcher does update itself, however.

Island Rum for Mac, Windows, and Linux

Island Rum is a self-contained application built in C# and Unity 3D (for its cross-platform build capabilities) which is capable of fully patching and launching City of Heroes: Homecoming, as well as downloading the Wine package if necessary, and even updating itself. It’s capable of multiple manifests as long as they’ve been whitelisted by Powermad Software (for security’s sake!).

The downside to Island Rum is that it currently depends on the continued maintenance of “legacy” manifests by Homecoming staff to operate, which is uncertain due to the transition to the Homecoming Launcher. Its future is not certain.