Project Reclaimer Mac Port 1.4.1

Play Halo 3 (and now Halo 3: ODST) through Project Reclaimer on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer, macOS 14+). You need Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam, the Steam app on your phone, ~45 GB free disk space (~54 GB with ODST), and your Mac password.

Install

1. Download Project-Reclaimer-Mac-Port.dmg below and open it.
2. Double-click Project Reclaimer. The first time, macOS blocks it: click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway (the disk image has a picture of this). Only once.
3. Pick the games to download (ODST is optional), scan the QR code with the Steam app, type your Mac password when asked, then press Play.

Already installed?

• On 1.1 or newer: open Project Reclaimer and it updates itself.
• On 1.0 (it asked for your Steam account name): open Project Reclaimer from this disk image and press Upgrade.

What's new since 1.2.3

Halo 3: ODST (thanks @Sirfriswad, #11)

• Setup offers ODST as an optional ~9 GB download. Project Reclaimer 0.9.19+ plays its campaign and Firefight.
• Tools → Installed games: add, remove or repair Halo 3 and ODST, with download progress and a free-space check.

Controller window (thanks @jfirwin, #12)

• A Controller button beside Tools shows your controller's buttons, sticks and triggers live before you play, with player assignment and a Ping that buzzes a pad so you know which is which.
• Xbox controllers show their real layout. macOS's own virtual copy of a controller is ignored, and sticks, triggers and D-pads are read at their real resolution.

Fixes

• Setup fails with "check your internet connection" when Xcode is installed but its license hasn't been accepted (#10). Setup and the app now say so and offer Accept Xcode's license, behind one password prompt.
• The game keeps running after Exit Game, invisible and using a CPU core (#15). The app now notices and stops it (thanks @0miicr0n, #16).
• Sound check before Play: shows where your Mac's sound goes and warns when it's muted (thanks @chrisreedbates, #9).
• The mod helper only downloads the exact Workshop mod, and leaves server-made character packs to the server. Before, a character pack could trigger an unrelated 10 GB download.
• Works with Project Reclaimer 0.9.18+'s renamed game file, the microphone prompt for voice chat, and the extra network addresses newer versions use.

Project Reclaimer Mac Port 1.2.3

Play Halo 3 through Project Reclaimer on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer, macOS 14+). You need Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam, the Steam app on your phone, ~45 GB free disk space, and your Mac password.

Install

1. Download Project-Reclaimer-Mac-Port.dmg below and open it.
2. Double-click Project Reclaimer. The first time, macOS blocks it: click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway (the disk image has a picture of this). Only once.
3. The window installs everything: scan the QR code with the Steam app, type your Mac password when asked, then press Play.

Already installed?

• On 1.1 or newer: open Project Reclaimer and it updates itself. macOS asks for your Mac password once, for the new network addresses below.
• On 1.0 (it asked for your Steam account name): open Project Reclaimer from this disk image and press Upgrade. It keeps your game files, mods and settings.
• Install stopped with "that Project Reclaimer release has no game client"? Run the installer again: it picks up where it stopped.

What's new since 1.2.1

• Project Reclaimer 0.9.18 and newer install again (1.2.2). 0.9.18 renamed its game file to project-reclaimer-client-v…exe, which stopped new installs with "that Project Reclaimer release has no game client" and stopped game updates for existing ones (#5).
• Voice chat: macOS now asks for the microphone. Before, it never asked, so the game got silence. The first time the game uses the microphone, click Allow (#1).
• Joins refused on newer Reclaimer versions: the network startup task now also adds the 127.3.2.x addresses 0.9.13+ uses, plus 127.3.3.x as spare room (#3).

Project Reclaimer Mac Port 1.2.1

Play Halo 3 through Project Reclaimer on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer, macOS 14+). You need Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam, the Steam app on your phone, ~45 GB free disk space, and your Mac password.

Install

1. Download Project-Reclaimer-Mac-Port.dmg below and open it.
2. Double-click Project Reclaimer. The first time, macOS blocks it: click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway (the disk image has a picture of this). Only once.
3. The window installs everything: scan the QR code with the Steam app, type your Mac password when asked, then press Play.

Already installed?

• On 1.1 or 1.2: nothing to do. Open Project Reclaimer and it updates itself to 1.2.1.
• On 1.0 (it asked for your Steam account name): open Project Reclaimer from this disk image and press Upgrade. It keeps your game files, mods and settings.

What's new in 1.2.1

• Controller warning: sometimes macOS's game controller service gets stuck. Bluetooth then shows the controller as connected, but no app can see it, the game included. The window now notices before you press Play and tells you to restart your Mac, which fixes it.
• Servers on an older Project Reclaimer: when a join fails because the server hasn't updated, the window offers Switch to 0.9.x and rejoin. The game restarts on that version and joins by itself, and the next time you open the app it's back on the newest. (Tools → Game version does it by hand.) This was in the 1.2 notes, but installs already on 1.2 only get it with this update.
• QR sign-in: a new code appears by itself when one expires.
• Help section renamed Problems joining or playing?, with a controller entry.

Project Reclaimer Mac Port 1.2

Play Halo 3 through Project Reclaimer on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer, macOS 14+). You need Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam, the Steam app on your phone, ~45 GB free disk space, and your Mac password.

Install

1. Download Project-Reclaimer-Mac-Port.dmg below and open it.
2. Double-click Project Reclaimer. It isn't from the App Store or a paid Apple developer account, so the first time macOS blocks it: click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway (the disk image has a picture of this). Only once.
3. The window checks your Mac and installs everything: scan the QR code with the Steam app (Halo 3 downloads from your own account, ~35 GB, with a progress bar), type your Mac password when asked, then press Play.

No Terminal needed. (The Terminal command in the README still works if you prefer it.)

Already installed?

• On 1.1: nothing to do. Open Project Reclaimer and it updates itself to 1.2.
• On 1.0 (it asked for your Steam account name): open Project Reclaimer from this disk image and press Upgrade. It keeps your game files, mods and settings and takes a minute.

What's new in 1.2

• Setup and upgrade in the app, with the Steam QR code and download progress in the window. The QR code renews itself until you scan it, and if anything fails the window says why in plain words; Try Again picks up where it stopped.
• Servers on an older Project Reclaimer: when a join fails because of the version, the window finds out which version the server runs and offers Switch to 0.9.x and rejoin. The game restarts on that version and joins by itself; next time you open the app it's back on the newest. (Tools → Game version does it by hand.)
• Automatic fixes: the network setup the game needs is checked before Play and repaired with one password prompt; after a crash the window explains what happened and offers Play again.
• Tools (gear button): force quit a frozen game, repair game files, see and remove mods to free disk space, restore graphics settings, switch Steam accounts, make a report to send, uninstall.
• Help built in for the game messages people hit most.

Project Reclaimer Mac Port 1.1

Play Halo 3 through Project Reclaimer on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer, macOS 14+). You need Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam, the Steam app on your phone, ~45 GB free disk space, and your Mac password once.

Easiest (no security prompts): open Terminal, paste this, press Return:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mattromano/project-reclaimer-mac-port/main/install.sh)"

Or download the disk image below, open it and double-click Install Project Reclaimer. It isn't signed by Apple, so the first time macOS refuses it: click Done, then System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

Upgrading from 1.0

Had the first version (the one that asked for your Steam account name)? Move to the new one once, and from then on it updates itself:

1. Quit the game if it's running.
2. Run the installer again: the Terminal line above, or Install Project Reclaimer from the disk image (the 1.0 disk image works too). It keeps your Halo 3 files, mods and graphics settings, so there's no 35 GB download and no QR code for the game files. It takes a minute or two.
3. Open Project Reclaimer. You now get the new window instead of the game starting straight away. If it shows a QR code, scan it with the Steam app (the old account-name login is gone), then press Play.

If you had moved the app out of your home folder's Applications folder (for example into the main Applications folder), delete that old copy: the new one is in ~/Applications, and Spotlight finds it there.

What's new in 1.1

• A launcher window. Opening Project Reclaimer now shows a small window that gets everything ready, then you press Play.
• Automatic updates. Each time you open it, it installs any new version of this Mac port and of Project Reclaimer (checksum-verified). The game's own in-game updater is turned off: it replaced the game file and restarted outside the launcher, which broke things.
• Steam sign-in in the window, for Workshop mods. If mods need you to sign in, a QR code appears right in the window: scan it with the Steam app. No Terminal, nothing to type. This fixes mod downloads that never started for some players: the old version asked for an account name, and anything other than the exact Steam login name (a display name, an email, different capitals) silently failed.
• Mod downloads you can see. While you play, the window lists mods downloading from Steam with progress, and a notification tells you when each is ready to press Try Again. The game's "not downloaded… Start Steam" message is expected for these, and the window says so.
• Help built in. "Problems joining a server?" explains the game messages people hit most (a server on an older version, a server with an outdated mod, and so on), with a Show logs button.
• Paste a Workshop link to download a mod before joining a server.

Project Reclaimer Mac Port 1.0

Play Halo 3 through Project Reclaimer on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer, macOS 14+). You need Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam, the Steam app on your phone, ~45 GB free disk space, and your Mac password once.

Easiest (no security prompts): open Terminal, paste this, press Return:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mattromano/project-reclaimer-mac-port/main/install.sh)"

Or download the disk image below, open it and double-click Install Project Reclaimer. It isn't signed by Apple, so the first time macOS refuses it: click Done, then System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

Either way, scan the QR code with the Steam app when it appears (Halo 3 downloads from your own Steam account, ~35 GB), then open Project Reclaimer from Spotlight or Launchpad.

What's in this version: Wine 11.18 + DXVK-macOS + MoltenVK 1.4.2, and spinfix, which stops Halo 3's engine thread spinning a CPU core between frames (on an M2 Max: ~1.5 cores at the menu, ~0.9 cores in a match, steady 60 fps).