Running Ren'Py Games on Mac OS X
Ren'Py was designed to be as cross-platform as possible. It uses the pygame package to abstract out as much platform dependency as possible, allowing the same game to run on multiple platforms.
If you're reading these instructions, then you're probably most interested in Mac OS X. These instructions cover how to get a Ren'Py game working on Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and 10.4 (Tiger). It's possible that Ren'Py games could work on earlier versions of OS X, but you're on your own to figure out how. These instructions will not work.
Getting a Ren'Py game running on Mac OS X requires three steps. You'll need to download the Ren'Py Launcher for Macintosh, download the game that you wish to run, and then use the launcher to launch the game.
Step 1: Download the Launcher
You can download the launcher from the link below. It's also possible to download older versions, but it shouldn't be necessary to do so, as the latest version of the launcher should work with older games.
- Download renpy-launcher-5.6.1.zip. (1.5 MiB)
- View other versions.
The Ren'Py launcher will download as a zip file. Depending on your system and web browser, this file may be uncompressed on download, to reveal the "Ren'Py Launcher" application. If not, you'll need to unzip the file yourself.
The Ren'Py launcher only needs to be downloaded once, for every game that a given version supports. If the launcher does not support a game, then it will refer you back to this page to download an updated version.
Step 2: Download a Game
You'll also want to download a Ren'Py game. A list of games is available on the Ren'Py homepage. You'll want to download a cross-platform zip file, and not a windows exe installer. Again, you'll need to decompress the zip file if it does not decompress on download.
Step 3: Launch the Game
To launch a game, first double-click on the "Ren'Py Launcher" application. This application will load, and bring up a window asking you to select a .py or .pyw file.
The .py and .pyw files are files that contain instructions needed to start the game. Most often, the file that you want is named "run_game.py", but not always. The file will always be at the same level as the "renpy" directory, but never inside the "renpy" directory itself.
Clicking "Choose" should then run the game. If any errors occur, you may want to check out the console to see them
Anyway, we hope you enjoy Ren'Py games running on Mac OS X, and please let us know if you can succesfully run them.
Useful Keys
The Macintosh is not known for a plethora of mouse buttons, so here are some keybindings for useful Ren'Py functions. Please note that these are here as general guidance, and may not be present in all games.
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| Escape | Shows the game menu, allowing you to load, save, and quit your game, and to change preferences. |
| Page Up | Rolls back to the previous thing that was displayed. |
| Page Down | Rolls forward to something that has been displayed already. |
For Developers
It's possible to use the Ren'Py launcher to build a Mac OS X application containing a game that you developed. Once downloaded and unzipped, a user can then just click on your application to start it, without needing to interact with the launcher itself.
To do this, one must first realize that on OS X, an application is a directory containing a number of files. It's just a normal directory on other platforms, while on OS X one needs to control-click and pick "Show Package Contents" to see inside the application. Anyhow, inside the application there is a directory name "Contents/Resources". If inside that directory, one creates a directory named "autorun" containing a Ren'Py root directory, then the Ren'Py instance in that root directory will be run when the application runs. (The first .py file in "Contents/Resources/autorun is run. The directory "Contents/Resources/autorun/renpy" must also exist.)
One can then edit the Info.plist file inside the application to change the name that is shown to the user on the menu bar. Zipping up the directory creates a single download that can run on the mac.
If you have any question or comments, email me at pytom at bishoujo.us.