# Software Tycoon (Russian Release) - macOS Installation Guide
We get the ISO with the game and a MacBook (Apple Silicon, M-series chip). This guide covers every step from extracting the game files to running it with proper Russian language support and display scaling.
## Prerequisites
- macOS on Apple Silicon (tested on M5 MacBook Pro with Retina display 3024x1964)
- [Homebrew](
https://brew.sh) package manager installed
- [Whisky](
https://getwhisky.app) - Wine wrapper for macOS (used to create the Windows bottle/prefix)
## Step 1: Install Required Software
### 1.1 Install Wine via Homebrew
The game requires **Wine 11.0** (Homebrew version), not the Whisky-bundled Wine 7.7. The Whisky-bundled Wine 7.7 fails with "DirectDraw Init Failed" for this game.
```bash
brew install wine-stable
```
Verify:
```bash
/opt/homebrew/bin/wine --version
# Should output: wine-11.0 (or newer)
```
### 1.2 Install displayplacer (for display scaling)
The game runs at 800x600. To make it fill more of the screen, we use `displayplacer` to temporarily lower the macOS display resolution.
```bash
brew install displayplacer
```
### 1.3 Install Whisky
Download and install Whisky from
https://getwhisky.app. Whisky is used to create and manage the Wine bottle (virtual Windows environment).
## Step 2: Create the Wine Bottle in Whisky
1. Open Whisky
2. Click "Create Bottle"
3. Name it `SoftTycoon`
4. Set Windows version to **Windows XP 64-bit** (`winxp64`)
5. Leave DXVK **disabled** (the game uses DirectDraw, not Direct3D/Vulkan)
6. Click "Create"
The bottle will be created at:
```
~/Library/Containers/com.isaacmarovitz.Whisky/Bottles/<BOTTLE-UUID>/
```
Note the bottle UUID - you'll need it for the launch script. You can find it by looking in:
```bash
ls ~/Library/Containers/com.isaacmarovitz.Whisky/Bottles/
```
## Step 3: Extract Game Files from the CD/ISO
The Russian release CD has this structure:
```
w32_tycoon/
(common)/ # Shared assets (videos, sounds, save templates)
Avi/
Save/
Sound/
(russian)/ # Russian-specific files
Grafik/ # All game graphics including font bitmaps
Save/ # Russian name data files
Text/ # Russian game text (CP1251 encoded)
Software Tycoon.exe
Software_Tycoon.exe
SETUP.EXE # InstallShield installer (do NOT use)
DirectX9/
...
```
**Important:** Do NOT run the InstallShield installer (`SETUP.EXE`). It won't work properly under Wine on macOS. Instead, manually copy the game files.
### 3.1 Manual Installation
Copy the game files into the bottle's `Program Files` directory:
```bash
BOTTLE=~/Library/Containers/com.isaacmarovitz.Whisky/Bottles/<YOUR-BOTTLE-UUID>
GAME_DIR="$BOTTLE/drive_c/Program Files/Software Tycoon"
mkdir -p "$GAME_DIR"
# Copy Russian-specific files (graphics, text, executables)
cp -R /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(russian\)/Grafik "$GAME_DIR/"
cp -R /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(russian\)/Text "$GAME_DIR/"
cp -R /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(russian\)/Save "$GAME_DIR/"
cp /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(russian\)/*.exe "$GAME_DIR/"
cp /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(russian\)/*.ico "$GAME_DIR/" 2>/dev/null
# Copy common files (videos, sounds, save data)
cp -R /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(common\)/Avi "$GAME_DIR/"
cp -R /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(common\)/Sound "$GAME_DIR/"
# Merge common Save files with Russian save files
cp /path/to/w32_tycoon/\(common\)/Save/* "$GAME_DIR/Save/"
```
### 3.2 Verify Installation
The installed game directory should look like this:
```
Software Tycoon/
Avi/ # blackstar.avi (intro video)
Grafik/ # 109 .bmp files (sprites, UI, font bitmaps)
schrift.bmp # Main font (2240x15, supports Cyrillic)
schrift2.bmp # Small font (1000x15, ASCII only)
schrift3.bmp # Small font variant
schrift4.bmp # Small font variant
schrift5.bmp # White font (2240x15, supports Cyrillic)
schrift6.bmp # Yellow font (2240x15, supports Cyrillic)
schriftx.bmp # Extra font (2240x15, supports Cyrillic)
... (102 other graphics files)
Save/ # Save game data
Sound/ # 19 .wav files
Text/ # 27 .txt files (Russian, CP1251 encoded)
Software Tycoon.exe # Small launcher (28 KB)
Software_Tycoon.exe # Main game executable (4.6 MB, MSVC C++)
```
## Step 4: Configure Russian Language Support
The game's text files are encoded in **Windows-1251** (Cyrillic). Wine defaults to codepage 1252 (Western European), which causes garbled text (mojibake). Two fixes are needed:
### 4.1 Create the Registry Fix File
Create `cyrillic.reg` in the game directory:
```bash
cat > "$GAME_DIR/cyrillic.reg" << 'EOF'
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\Fonts]
"Codepages"="1251,866"
EOF
```
This sets:
- ANSI codepage to **1251** (Windows-1251, Cyrillic)
- OEM codepage to **866** (CP866, DOS Cyrillic)
### 4.2 Create the Launch Batch File
Create `launch.bat` in the game directory:
```bash
cat > "$GAME_DIR/launch.bat" << 'EOF'
cd /d "C:\Program Files\Software Tycoon"
regedit /s cyrillic.reg
Software_Tycoon.exe
EOF
```
This batch file:
1. Sets the working directory to the game folder (critical - the game loads assets relative to CWD)
2. Silently imports the Cyrillic codepage fix into the Wine registry
3. Starts the game
**Why the working directory matters:** Without `cd /d`, Wine's `explorer` command sets CWD to `Z:\Users\<username>\` instead of the game folder. The game loads Grafik/, Sound/, Text/, and Save/ relative to CWD, so it won't find any assets without the correct working directory.
**Why regedit runs every time:** Wine regenerates its registry from the system locale on every wineserver restart, overwriting the Codepages setting. The batch file reapplies the fix before each launch.
## Step 5: Create the macOS Launch Script
The game requires specific environment settings to run correctly. Create a launch script:
```bash
cat > ~/play_tycoon.sh << 'SCRIPT'
#!/bin/bash
# === CONFIGURATION ===
# Find your display ID by running: displayplacer list
DISPLAY_ID="37D8832A-2D66-02CA-B9F7-8F30A301B230" # Change to YOUR display ID
ORIGINAL_RES="1800x1125" # Your normal resolution
GAME_RES="960x600" # Lowest scaled resolution
# Update this to match your bottle UUID
BOTTLE_UUID="4AABAAB0-B5D1-408B-9851-055644F8CC30"
export WINEPREFIX=~/Library/Containers/com.isaacmarovitz.Whisky/Bottles/$BOTTLE_UUID
export LANG=ru_RU.UTF-8
export LC_ALL=ru_RU.UTF-8
# === SWITCH TO LOW RESOLUTION ===
displayplacer "id:$DISPLAY_ID res:$GAME_RES hz:120 color_depth:8 enabled:true scaling:on origin:(0,0) degree:0"
# === LAUNCH THE GAME ===
# - explorer /desktop=Game,800x600 : creates a virtual desktop (required for DirectDraw)
# - cmd /c launch.bat : runs the batch file which sets CWD and starts the game
WINEDEBUG=fixme-all /opt/homebrew/bin/wine explorer /desktop=Game,800x600 cmd /c "C:\\Program Files\\Software Tycoon\\launch.bat" 2>/dev/null
# === WAIT FOR GAME TO EXIT ===
/opt/homebrew/bin/wineserver -w 2>/dev/null
# === RESTORE ORIGINAL RESOLUTION ===
displayplacer "id:$DISPLAY_ID res:$ORIGINAL_RES hz:120 color_depth:8 enabled:true scaling:on origin:(0,0) degree:0"
SCRIPT
chmod +x ~/play_tycoon.sh
```
### 5.1 Find Your Display ID
Run `displayplacer list` and look for your display's "Persistent screen id". Update the `DISPLAY_ID` variable in the script.
### 5.2 Find Available Resolutions
The script uses `960x600` as the game resolution, which is the lowest scaled mode on a MacBook Pro. This makes the 800x600 game window fill most of the screen. Run `displayplacer list` to see available modes for your display.
### 5.3 Run the Game
```bash
~/play_tycoon.sh
```
## Technical Details
### Why These Settings Are Required
| Setting | Why |
|---------|-----|
| **Wine 11.0 (Homebrew)** | Whisky's bundled Wine 7.7 fails with "DirectDraw Init Failed". Wine 11.0 has better DirectDraw/macOS compatibility. |
| **Virtual Desktop (`explorer /desktop=Game,800x600`)** | The game requires DirectDraw exclusive fullscreen mode. Without a virtual desktop, DirectDraw initialization fails because macOS doesn't support legacy display mode switching. The virtual desktop provides a window that DirectDraw can render into. |
| **Working Directory (`cd /d` in launch.bat)** | The game loads all assets (Grafik/, Sound/, Text/, Save/) using relative paths. Without setting CWD to the game folder, it can't find any files. |
| **LANG=ru_RU.UTF-8** | Tells Wine to use Russian locale. Wine derives its internal codepage settings from the system locale. Without this, Wine defaults to Western European (CP1252) and Russian text appears as mojibake. |
| **cyrillic.reg (Codepages=1251,866)** | Explicitly sets the Wine font codepages to CP1251 (Cyrillic ANSI) and CP866 (Cyrillic OEM). This ensures the game's CP1251-encoded text files are correctly mapped to font glyphs. |
| **displayplacer resolution switch** | The game runs at 800x600 in a fixed-size window. On a Retina display (e.g., 3024x1964), this window is very small. Temporarily lowering the display to 960x600 makes everything on screen larger, so the game fills most of the display. |
| **DXVK disabled** | The game uses DirectDraw (DirectX 1-7 era), not Direct3D 9+. DXVK translates D3D9-11 to Vulkan and is irrelevant for DirectDraw games. |
| **Windows XP 64-bit** | The game is a 32-bit PE executable. Wine 11.0 only provides wine64, which runs 32-bit apps via WoW64 emulation. Windows XP 64-bit is the appropriate compatibility level for this early 2000s game. |
### Game Technical Profile
| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| **Engine** | Custom (destraX engine) |
| **Compiler** | Microsoft Visual C++ |
| **Graphics API** | DirectDraw (DDraw v1), 16-bit color (RGB565) |
| **Resolution** | 800x600 (also briefly tries 512x384) |
| **Text Encoding** | Windows-1251 (Cyrillic) |
| **Font System** | Custom bitmap fonts (BMP sprite sheets, 10px per character cell) |
| **Input** | Windows messages (GetMessageA/PeekMessageA), no DirectInput |
| **Sound** | WAV files, likely using DirectSound or WinMM |
### Font Bitmap Details
The game uses custom bitmap font rendering, not Windows GDI fonts. Font files are BMP sprite sheets in the `Grafik/` folder:
| File | Dimensions | Characters | Cyrillic Support |
|------|-----------|------------|-----------------|
| schrift.bmp | 2240x15 | 224 (0x20-0xFF) | Yes |
| schrift2.bmp | 1000x15 | 100 (0x20-0x83) | No |
| schrift3.bmp | 1000x15 | 100 (0x20-0x83) | No |
| schrift4.bmp | 1000x15 | 100 (0x20-0x83) | No |
| schrift5.bmp | 2240x15 | 224 (0x20-0xFF) | Yes |
| schrift6.bmp | 2240x15 | 224 (0x20-0xFF) | Yes |
| schriftx.bmp | 2240x15 | 224 (0x20-0xFF) | Yes (not loaded by game) |
Each character occupies a fixed 10-pixel-wide cell. The character position formula is: `x = (byte_value - 0x20) * 10`. Magenta (RGB 255,0,255) is used as the transparent color.
Note: `schrift2.bmp`, `schrift3.bmp`, and `schrift4.bmp` only support 100 characters (up to 0x83). These are used for certain UI elements. When these fonts encounter Cyrillic characters (0xC0-0xFF), the calculated pixel offset exceeds the bitmap width. On real Windows this is handled gracefully; on Wine it may cause visual artifacts but does not crash when the registry is not modified with Direct3D/DirectDraw override settings.
### Registry Settings That Must NOT Be Changed
During troubleshooting, the following registry modifications were found to cause crashes (black screen, frozen game):
- `[HKCU\Software\Wine\Direct3D]` "renderer"="gdi" -- **CRASHES THE GAME**
- `[HKCU\Software\Wine\DirectDraw]` "DefaultSurfaceType"="gdi" -- **CRASHES THE GAME**
- `[HKCU\Software\Wine\DirectInput]` "MouseWarpOverride"="force" -- **CAUSES ISSUES**
- `[HKCU\Software\Wine\X11 Driver]` "GrabFullscreen"="N" -- **CAUSES ISSUES**
These settings interfere with the game's DirectDraw surface management and cause it to enter an infinite rendering loop with corrupted source coordinates, resulting in a black screen.
**The only safe registry modification is the Codepages setting in `[HKCU\Software\Wine\Fonts]`.**
### Known Limitations
1. **Small fonts lack Cyrillic glyphs:** `schrift2.bmp`, `schrift3.bmp`, and `schrift4.bmp` only contain ASCII characters. Some UI text rendered with these fonts may appear garbled or empty for Russian text. The main game fonts (`schrift.bmp`, `schrift5.bmp`, `schrift6.bmp`) fully support Cyrillic.
2. **512x384 mode switch fails:** After initializing at 800x600, the game briefly attempts to switch to 512x384 resolution. This fails on Wine but the game continues running normally despite the error.
3. **Window cannot be resized:** The Wine virtual desktop window is fixed at 800x600. macOS window controls (green fullscreen button) are not functional on Wine windows. The display resolution workaround is the only way to make the game appear larger.
## Troubleshooting
### "DirectDraw Init Failed" on startup
- Make sure you're using **Homebrew Wine 11.0** (`/opt/homebrew/bin/wine`), NOT Whisky's bundled Wine 7.7
- Make sure the virtual desktop is specified: `explorer /desktop=Game,800x600`
- Make sure the working directory is correct (the `cd /d` in `launch.bat`)
### Garbled/mojibake text (wrong characters displayed)
- Make sure `LANG=ru_RU.UTF-8` is set before launching Wine
- Make sure `cyrillic.reg` exists in the game directory and `launch.bat` runs `regedit /s cyrillic.reg`
- Verify the codepages are set correctly: run `wine reg query "HKCU\Software\Wine\Fonts"` and check that Codepages is `1251,866`
### Black screen / game freezes on second menu
- Do NOT add any Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectInput, or X11 Driver registry overrides
- Remove them if they exist:
```bash
export WINEPREFIX=~/Library/Containers/com.isaacmarovitz.Whisky/Bottles/<UUID>
wine reg delete "HKCU\Software\Wine\Direct3D" /f
wine reg delete "HKCU\Software\Wine\DirectDraw" /f
wine reg delete "HKCU\Software\Wine\DirectInput" /f
wine reg delete "HKCU\Software\Wine\X11 Driver" /f
```
### Game window is too small
- Use `displayplacer` to lower the macOS display resolution before launching (see Step 5)
- Alternative: enable macOS Accessibility Zoom in System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom, then use Ctrl+scroll to zoom in on the game window
### No sound
- Ensure the `Sound/` directory contains all 19 WAV files from the CD's `(common)/Sound/` folder
- Wine's CoreAudio driver should handle audio automatically on macOS
## File Checksums (for verification)
The installed game files should match the CD originals. Key files:
```bash
# Verify game executables
md5 "Software Tycoon.exe" # Small launcher, 28672 bytes
md5 "Software_Tycoon.exe" # Main game, 4616192 bytes
# Verify font bitmaps
md5 "Grafik/schrift.bmp" # 100856 bytes
md5 "Grafik/schrift2.bmp" # 45056 bytes
md5 "Grafik/schrift3.bmp" # 45056 bytes
md5 "Grafik/schrift4.bmp" # 45056 bytes
md5 "Grafik/schrift5.bmp" # 100856 bytes
md5 "Grafik/schrift6.bmp" # 100856 bytes
```
Do not modify any game files. All fixes are applied through environment variables and registry settings at launch time.
А где же модератор? 
