I am unable to fix Heartbound on Mac due to an error with the build process. I have already spoken to other developers and Apple's support team about this. As of today we will be officially dropping Mac support for the foreseeable future. This may be resolved once we update to Game Maker: Studio 2.0
Below you will find the answers to a number of questions you may have. If you can't find an answer to your question please reach out to me directly via this email. [email protected]
Why did this happen?
The Mac we use to make Heartbound forced an update to OS Catalina. This obsoleted XCode 9.3 which is required for GM:S 1.4. We make Heartbound in GM:S 1.4 so it's not something we can get rid of.
Why won't this work in XCode versions past 9.3?
Attempting to get this to work in XCode 11 caused a libstdc++ library issue. After trying for multiple days to resolve this I was unable to do so. Even adding that library back to XCode 11 did not resolve this.
Running older versions of XCode lead to a generic error from the Apple machine. This could not be resolved using online guides over multiple days of testing. It also could not be resolved by talking to Apple support.
I attempted to downgrade to every version between XCode 11 and 9.3 that was compatible with OS Catalina. No version between 9.3 and 11 worked and I was unable to make a working build of Heartbound.
Did this happen because Apple dropped 32-bit application support?
No. It has nothing to do with that.
Why can't I run the game without you doing this?
Apple requires all software to be digitally signed. If XCode doesn't play nice we can't digitally sign the game and you can't run it on Apple hardware.
Why don't you update to GM:S 2.0 now?
Updating Heartbound to GM:S 2.0 would potentially resolve this issue. However, doing so breaks every cutscene in the game and would take multiple months to fix. We will be updating to GM:S 2.0 after fully launching the game. GM:S 2.0 is required for us to make a build for Nintendo Switch.
What if you find a solution?
Even if I do manage to resolve these issues there is no guarantee that the Apple build process won't break like this again. It has happened to us many times before during the development of Heartbound.
Can I still play Heartbound or will I have to buy it again?
You do not have to buy the game again. If you bought Heartbound you have access to it on Windows and Linux currently. You can still play Heartbound on Windows or Linux.
What if I don't want to play on Windows or Linux?
For those on Apple hardware that still want to play you may be able to try Parallels, Bootcamp, or Wine. I cannot guarantee that this will work now or in the future and I don't want to get your hopes up but you can try it. If this isn't something you want to do please refund the game.
If you're unable to make this work on Apple hardware or have no other solutions, please refund the game. I'm sorry I couldn't fix this.
-Thor