140 replies to this topic

[ilkelma]

**Note that this is heavily updated since the original form, the old version is preserved here in case someone needs it.** Just a quick FAQ. Even if everyone here knows the answer to these questions I figure newbies could get some things that are bothering them answered here:


Q: I bought the PC version, do I also own the Mac version? Or vice versa?
A: At the moment: No. Although the Mac version is just the PC version wrapped in Transgaming's cider technology you cannot currently download or extract the PC version from the Mac version. I personally remain hopefully this will change but I would not even get close to expecting anything to change about that any time soon.
New Answer is: YES! The key that you receive for purchasing either the Mac or the PC version is good for the corresponding version of the game on the other platform no matter where you purchased it. There are a few very important catches to that however. Firstly there are two kinds of game keys: digital deluxe/collector's edition and the base game, no amount of fiddling can change that fact. Secondly there are two different kinds of dragon age on PC, the boxed and the digital edition. The keys are the same across both boxed and digital BUT the boxed version of the game requires the CD check (SecuROM if you care) and the digital version requires authorized log-in via your EA account. The difficulty comes in obtaining digital copies of both if you want to play both. At current I do not know a way beyond visiting certain shady torrent sites to obtain the Mac version of the game if you did not purchase and download it originally. It is out there on the internets if you have the key however but I won't be offering any help to find it, google is your friend (WARNING: only Mac keys have been proven to unlock and download the PC version, if you go the other way you do so at your own risk!) To get the PC version you can download the EA Download Manager and under the "activate" tab after you log in to your EA account, you should be able to download the PC client by entering your game key even if the version you purchased is Mac.

Hopefully this is clear but feel free to ask me (preferrably by posting in this thread so that others can see the answer to your problem as well! (Also thanks to DrMoebius and others for this information!)

Q: I bought the Mac version after I already own the PC version, can I move my characters over?
A: Yes. If you completed any of the DLC or extra content on the PC version that you don't have access to in whatever Mac version you bought then that content will NOT be ported over and depending on what it is it may cause your game to go wonky (the game warns you of this in fact). I have tested it only completing DLC that I did have on the mac side and that content carried over fine. But things like Return to Ostagar items and data may not have as easy a transition. 

Also note that the files are located in your My Documents/Bioware/Dragon Age/Characters/ folder where you will find folders for all your characters, simply copy them over to your Documents/Bioware/Dragon Age/Characters folder on your mac and you should be good to go. For Mac to PC simply follow the reverse of these instructions, I'm still looking into ways to mirror the two so that you can play the same save games in both, i'll keep you posted.

Q: Can I use the online profiles feature?
A: Yes! But it doesn't quite work out of the box and can be difficult. If you're viewing this page then you should be able to get to the "My Games" menu on the sidebar to the left, and select the register game option. Just select the Dragon Age: Origins - PC option and enter your game's serial number. Voilà! You are now fully connected and able to post on these forums.

Q: What about DLC? And Mods? Patches?
A: An unfortunately trickier issue... First there are 4 kinds of extra content for Dragon Age:

• Official DLC requiring authorization - Most DLC are now available from Bioware, check the Games -> Dragon Age Origins -> Official DLC tab on this site or this link: Official DLC. The DLC packs included with the digital deluxe edition are not available but the workaround that we used for Ostagar back when it did not work should work for this too in a similar fashion. Follow the instructions at a later question below at your own risk!
• Official DLC NOT requiring authorization - Some DLC content (particularly the bonuses from playing the Dragon Age: Journey's flash game) does NOT require authorization from BioWare's servers and for this content you can use the same procedure as mods in the next section. For a list of this content see http://dragonage.wik...adable_Contents (which contains a checklist showing what needs authorized, what doesn't, and download links for all of it
• Community mods - Yes you can use mods like PC users! For mods (and the DLC above) you could do it manually but unless you take some sort of joy in hacking up XML files, Jhime created Modazipin to handle all your dazip files. For mods not using the .dazip format, such as overrides you should be able to follow the instructions that they give you for installing as to where to copy the files.
• Patches - All patches for PC are now available for mac!

Q: What about the expansion, DA: Awakening?
A: Rejoice! It is now available for Mac at some mac selling digital distribution sites such as GamersGate and GameTree Online! No workarounds necessary.

Q: You said there is a way to get the DLC from the digital deluxe edition to work?

A: **NOTE** This guide is adapted from the same principles used to install Return to Ostagar before it was made available. This SHOULD work. But it is untested and I have no way to test it so swim at your own risk as it were. **END NOTE** Yes, and it's not exceedingly difficult but it DOES involve some hacking of xml files as well as paying for it before you've actually gotten it to work completely. Any messup here could bork your DLC or lose you real $$$, it's fairly easy but know the risks before you attempt this. This is not supported by BioWare and while people on the forum may help there are no guarantees of any kind from me or any of the people that discovered this solution as to recovering anything lost. Okay disclaimers over with let's get on with it!

• Go to the addons page on the Dragon Age site. Click on the PC button under either or both DLC (stone prisoner and Warden's keep). You will be taken to BioWare's online point purchasing checkout. Buy the appropriate number of BioWare points (or buy them from the EA store or wherever you choose to get them). **Note** - If you are migrating from the PC side and already have the deluxe edition you do not need to buy it again, nor should you be able to buy it again, you will just need to follow the instructions to install and activate it.
• Now to download the content Warden's Keep and the Stone Prisoner are made up of two parts: an Offer and an Addin. To get both files you can go to the bioware forums here, or the dragon age wikia here. Remember to get BOTH the offer file and the addin for both if you are installing both of them
• To install both the Addin and Offer .dazip files you can just use the most excellent Modazipin by Jhime.
• Now you need to open up your game. Check the Downloadable Content page, and your Installed Content tab. You should see Return to Ostagar listed and under Game Version: nothing should be listed. It will likely also say something about unauthorized there or at some point but just ignore it for now. Now all you need to do is authorize it and spend your BioWare points. There are 2 ways to do this but note that you do NOT need to do both, doing so may charge you twice (though unlikely since you have to spend points but just fair warning).
• The first way is in-game: First make certain you are logged in (bottom left on the main menu) and travel to the new DLC location or talk to the guy in your camp. Play through the dialog and the "events" that occur around it and at some point the game will ask if you want to "download additional content" say yes and your bioware points will be spent (we already did the downloading portion so there won't be any downloading happening). If you still can't talk to the person or proceed log out and then log back in and it should work. Now the DLC Should be fully unlocked for you!
• The second way is by going to: http://social.bioware.com/page/da1-dlc and choosing to "buy" it for PC, I cannot confirm but it might also give you a download link that way, but this should work to buy it for your account. 

This answer draws on my experiences as well as the instructions originally given by eleve here and Marvin_Arnold here so please check those posts if something is unclear as well! Thanks to all who helped with this solution


(I'd like to point out that this FAQ draws from various sources of info many of whom are users on this forum, Thank you all so much for your help!)

Edited by ilkelma, 15 September 2010 - 12:33 AM.

[ilkelma]

Any other questions people had? these are based on questions I had and couldn't find the answers to but feel free to tack on anything else you might find useful and I can copy it to the top or you can just steal this whole page I really don't care as long as it helps somebody

[Avac Davison]

Good FAQ for new people. There's an additional problem with that Apple logo on the Awakening page - it implies a Mac version. If one is not produced, then there's the potential for false advertising charges, not to mention the potential of Mac DA:O - only players buying Bioware points and not being able to spend them, which might border on fraud (since the only place where it's indicated that there is no Bioware Point-buyable content is outside of the actual checkout area). Of course, the fraud element is removed if Bioware refunds the cost if requested.

[Bratt1204]

Avac Davison wrote...

Good FAQ for new people. There's an additional problem with that Apple logo on the Awakening page - it implies a Mac version. If one is not produced, then there's the potential for false advertising charges, not to mention the potential of Mac DA:O - only players buying Bioware points and not being able to spend them, which might border on fraud (since the only place where it's indicated that there is no Bioware Point-buyable content is outside of the actual checkout area). Of course, the fraud element is removed if Bioware refunds the cost if requested.

Yes. I posted about this a month ago.

[jkiller2]

This FAQ I *hope* is really appreciated. I certainly applaud it.



The fact that bioware/EA/transgaming don't have something of similar content for the mac version just makes me angrier at their lack of support!

[Marvin_Arnold]

OK, this is getting off-topic, bit:

Dragon Age: Origins (Mac) Digital Deluxe Edition download

£39.95 VAT Included

This product is only available for purchase in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

This version of Dragon Age: Origins is compatible with universal patches and the mod toolset from BioWare.


This is how direct2drive.co.uk advertises the DA:O Mac version. It is clearly untrue, as we know. (no "universal" patches exist, toolset is NOT compatible)

Edited by Marvin_Arnold, 11 March 2010 - 10:56 AM.

[Bratt1204]

Marvin_Arnold wrote...

OK, this is getting off-topic, bit:

Dragon Age: Origins (Mac) Digital Deluxe Edition download

£39.95 VAT Included

This product is only available for purchase in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

This version of Dragon Age: Origins is compatible with universal patches and the mod toolset from BioWare.


This is how direct2drive.co.uk advertises the DA:O Mac version. It is clearly untrue, as we know. (no "universal" patches exist, toolset is NOT compatible)

True

[ilkelma]

Thanks all and as for the off-topic... eh better than posting "bump"



@Bratt1204 & Marvin_Arnold: US direct2drive.com says the same thing which people have pointed out elsewhere. I'm not sure how they can say that either... (I bought my copy from direct2drive just recently from the 50% sale actually, I can assure you it's no different from other mac versions in terms of patch compatibility or whatnot. I mean we don't even have a patching app!



Also interesting point about the apple logo, that could very well get them in hot water if they never deliver a mac version... (hopefully that means they will and it's not just a mistake they could be held liable for...)

[eleve]

ilkelma wrote...

Q: What about DLC? And Mods? Patches?
A: An unfortunately trickier issue... First there are 4 kinds of extra content for Dragon Age:
1. Official DLC requiring authorization - This one is the most depressing, as a mac user you either bought the digital deluxe or the baseline version of the game. In terms of content that requires authorization from BioWare's servers for now what you bought originally is all you can get. That means no Return to Ostagar, and none of the various preorder bonus items (thought that should be obvious!). Transgaming is supposedly working on this. Only time will tell

Just a heads up for the less faint hearted
I bought Return To Ostagar to try and get it working on my Mac (DAO v1.01) and I succeeded (except the achievements which haven't turned up anywhere). It is not for the faint of heart though and it needs fiddling with the files (eg.remove the <gameversion> tag) so I won't just publish a "how to" here unless you all agree you want to see it here.

I did play through it as a test and it worked

[Sandracat]

I am curious, Eleve, as to how much fiddling you did to get the files to work. I was wondering if changing the game version might do the trick, looks like you found the way. I for one would like to see how you accomplished this feat.

[Avac Davison]

I'd like to see a workaround for RtO, as well, and have no fear of playing with files.

[bstanley52]

ilkelma wrote...
from other mac versions in terms of patch compatibility or whatnot. I mean we don't even have a patching app!

Also interesting point about the apple logo, that could very well get them in hot water if they never deliver a mac version... (hopefully that means they will and it's not just a mistake they could be held liable for...)

I disagree that the Mac logo could get them in trouble because that same image (with all the four platforms) is on EVERY page of the Bioware site. Yes it implies that DA:OA is available for Mac but that barely talk about the Mac DA:O version ANYWHERE on the Bioware site so they are really not leading us on at all.

To be fair, I agree that they should make a Mac version as the delay between DA:OA for the PC,XBox 360, and PS3 and whenever the Mac comes out will cause me great pains and possible spoilers.

Here's hoping someone gets it done soon.

EDIT: I mean, Mac isn't even listed under the platform list beneath that image! And there are other platforms listed that DA:O is NOT made for!! 

Edited by bstanley52, 13 March 2010 - 11:16 PM.

[AtlanDaGonozal]

I bought Return To Ostagar to try and get it working on my Mac (DAO v1.01) and I succeeded (except the achievements which haven't turned up anywhere). It is not for the faint of heart though and it needs fiddling with the files (eg.remove the tag) so I won't just publish a "how to" here unless you all agree you want to see it here.

Yes, I like to see it.

Atlan

[ilkelma]

I'd like to see it as well, I'm starting to guess how that might be done now that I know the serials aren't different between Mac and PC I'm guessing buying it on the PC manually transferring and messing with some xml files could get it done but I'd love to see how you did it!

And as to the platforms list? well that's all EA menu stuff, as in all platforms EA publishes for, but the Logos are for dragon age. Yeah they might argue "well it's on every page!" but really, how much effort would it take to remove that or make a note somewhere saying there is no mac version? and that's kind of a weak excuse anyway... but then i'm optimistic

Edited by ilkelma, 14 March 2010 - 02:29 PM.

[eleve]

I used the Bioware point system to buy RTO then downloaded the package manually (as I understand this will be done automatically on a Win PC).

For the manual download, I used the URLs given in here (search for DAO_PRC_CP on the page), plural because it comes in 2 parts, 1 for playing the addon and 1 for the "offer" which is the "trigger" (like the Dryden guy in the camp; here the spot on the map).
I am copying the urls here but give no guaranties it'll stay valid.
Addon Return To Ostagar
Return to Ostagar Offer

Unlike other addons, RTO has 2 parts so I didn't even try Modazipin. It may or may not work but if it does it'd save quite a bit of time . In any case, make certain Modazipin isn't running when doing the manual changes as it will revert them.

Addin install
Once you unzip the files they look like normal addons.
move or copy the downloaded folder
<your download path>/DAO_PRC_CP_1_1.1.zip Folder/Contents/Addins/dao_prc_cp_1
into the Addins folder
<your user>/Documents/BioWare/Dragon Age/Addins

Please make a copy of the files you are about to change in case something goes wrong. If things turn out wrong you will not be able to play at all anymore if you don't have a good copy to go back to.
Open the file
<your download path>/DAO_PRC_CP_1_1.1.zip Folder/manifest.xml
and copy everything in between <AddInsList> and </AddInsList>
into the file
<your user>/Documents/BioWare/Dragon Age/Settings/AddIns.xml
(I'd suggest pasting just before the </AddInsList> as that file could be quite long if you have added a lot of addins either manually or with help from Modazipin)

Now do a search for "<GameVersion>1.02</GameVersion>" and replace it either with "<GameVersion />" or "<GameVersion></GameVersion>" (they are both the same statements so take whichever is easier for you....the quotes here are just for better understanding, remove them if you copy/paste from here).

Save Addins.xml; if at all possible use a text editor to do this as programs like Word etc. will make a mess of that file and you may not be able to recover and/or play the game at all anymore if that happens.

Offer install
The same cautions, disclaimers, etc.apply here as in the part above
Now we do the same for the offer part:
unzip the downloaded file
Copy or move the folder
<your download path>/DAO_PRC_OCP_1_1.1.zip Folder/Contents/Offers/dao_prc_ocp_1
to the offers folder
<your user>/Documents/BioWare/Dragon Age/Offers

Open the file
<your download path>/DAO_PRC_OCP_1_1.1.zip Folder/manifest.xml
and copy everything in between <AddInsList> and
</AddInsList>
into the file
<your user>/Documents/BioWare/Dragon Age/Settings/Offers.xml
Again, I'd paste just in front of the </AddInsList>.

And again: Now do a search for "<GameVersion>1.02</GameVersion>" and
replace it either with "<GameVersion />" or
"<GameVersion></GameVersion>" (they are both the same
statements so take whichever is easier for you....the quotes here are
just for better understanding, remove them if you copy/paste from here).

Save Offers.xml; if at all possible use a text editor to do this as
programs like Word etc. will make a mess of that file and you may not be
able to recover and/or play the game at all anymore if that happens.

Have fun playing :happy:
Do I need to add more disclaimers?:happy:

[bstanley52]

Jeez, if it is that easy to get it to run then why is it taking Transgaming so long to do it?! Thanks!

[eleve]

Oh...forgot: these files come as .dazip so you may need to rename them as .zip to unzip manually

[Sandracat]

Thank you very much Eleve! I will try this out as soon as we get back from watching Alice In Wonderland

[eleve]

I hope this helps...I do remember some waiting until RTO showed as valid in the options

[Avac Davison]

I've been able to install RtO itself - and was able to verify by loading in a saved game that I did after completing RtO on Windows-side (full Cailan armor/weapons, etc). However, I cannot seem to get the offer to go in correctly. It appears in the offers.xml file, with modified GameVersion, but a game I loaded without ever doing RtO did not have the location appear on the world map.

Update: Nevermind, I found my mistake - I had the entire unzipped folder in the Offers folder, as opposed to the actual Offer component. Given that search elements in programming are very specific, it didn't initially see it as the path was incorrect.

Once I pulled out the correct folder so that the search path was correct, A King's Confidant showed up in my quest log on a early-game save, along with the location on my world map.

Score!

Edited by Avac Davison, 14 March 2010 - 07:51 PM.

[Avac Davison]

Oh, another thing - the main portion did properly install via modazipin, but the offer portion did not - that had to be manually installed. Also, the aforementioned version adjustment had to be manually done for both (which was easy by using TextEdit and doing a Find for GameVersion, and then adjusting the 1.02 from that).

[Sandracat]

Eleve, I purchased the 400 points required for RTO, and installed the files, but I can't redeem the points to authorize the addon. I am curious, how did you use your points to "pay" for the addon, since I don't have that option on my Mac version of the game?

EDIT: NVM, I had my bf login with my account info through his pc, and buy the game for me   Thanks all!

Edited by Sandracat, 14 March 2010 - 10:35 PM.

[eleve]

Hmmm...I didn't need a Win PC or Bootcamp/other Win emulation but I can't remember all the steps anymore.
As I remember I went through the official Return To Ostagar page and got the points from there and it did take some fiddling to convince the servers that my RTO was valid and authorised. I do remember trying to go through the steps in the pdf for PCs on the RTO page that naturally failed....but one of the things I tried there must have validated it.

[ilkelma]

Updated the FAQ with some new answers. Eleve, I'm going to try the RTO thing and see if I can get it to work as well. After that I'd like to post how to go about getting RTO on there in the FAQ in the first post, I'd of course credit you for finding the solution! Is that cool with you?

[Avac Davison]

As I had mentioned in the thread that Eleve started, I got RtO to install using his/her method. Haven't tried going through it yet, but on a savegame in which I had completed RtO, all the shiny lewt was there. So we'll have to wait and see.