minivmac-package

This is a package of tools to assist in bundling classic Mac applications with Mini vMac. For modern Mac computers it creates an app bundle that includes the necessary files. For Windows computers it creates a folder with the necessary resources and a bat file to launch the exe. In both cases Mini vMac will automatically boot from the included dsk image.

Requirements

This has primarily been tested on a Mac with macOS 14. Creating Windows builds should work on a Mac or Linux computer that can run zsh scripts. Creating Mac builds requires a Mac.

Mac builds require Xcode. In my testing you will need a different version of Xcode, and thus a different version of macOS, depending on what you're trying to build.

• Apple Silicon builds (mac): Xcode 12 or later is required. I have mainly tested with Xcode 15.0.1.

• Intel builds (mac-intel): Xcode 9.4.1 (on macOS 10.13.6) through 11.7 (on macOS 11.6.8) works well in my testing. Later versions will create an Intel build that does not play sound. Tested with Mini vMac 37.03.

Mac builds also require Python 3 and pbxproj. Here's how you can install them using Homebrew:

• brew install python
• pip3 install pbxproj
• brew info python and find the path after the line that says "They will install into the site-package directory"
• Using that path, add this line to ~/.zshrc: export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:<path>

Windows builds require MinGW-w64. You can install this using Homebrew with brew install mingw-w64. It may also be necessary to install GCC and Clang (this isn't necessary on a Mac as long as you have Xcode installed).

Setting things up

Before you run the script, you'll need to add some files:

• files/example.config: A configuration file with various settings used in the build process. The file's base name should match the file-base setting in the file. See the example file for the required settings.

• files/example.dsk: A bootable disk image that includes your application. This can be created using a standard build of Mini vMac. The file's base name should match the file-base setting in your config file.

• files/example.iconset: An iconset folder including images for the Mac app icon. The file's base name should match the file-base setting in your config file. This can be created using free templates available from Apple.

• files/vMac.ROM: A Mac Plus ROM file.

• source: The Mini vMac source code. This script has only been tested with version 37.03.

Building a package

Here's an example command: ./build.sh --platform mac --config example

Possible platforms are mac, mac-intel, or windows. The config argument should match the base name of your config file (without the extension) in the files folder.

Thanks

I was inspired to put this together after seeing how Sonneveld bundled The Secret of Donkey Island with DOSBox. It's a delightful game, you should try it.