Lich:Software/Mac Installation

Lich:Software/Mac Installation is a third party script and is not maintained by Simutronics. Simutronics is not responsible for the accuracy of the information presented on this page, nor is it liable for issues stemming from the use of the application on players' personal devices.

To install Lich on newer versions of Mac OS, you will need a bit of familiarity with the Mac Terminal application. Some familiarity with Homebrew will help, although you should be able to follow the steps below without any prior knowledge of Homebrew.

This guide installs Lich for use with Saga, the official Simutronics front end for Mac, Windows and Linux (currently in beta). Saga is now the recommended front end on Mac. Avalon and other front ends also work, and are covered in Front Ends below. The entire process will take 60-90 minutes to complete, but the time required will depend on how many prerequisites you need to install and how many errors you encounter. If you get stuck, see any errors or run into any problems, or for information about other front ends, please contact Doug (doug@play.net or Doug#6198 on Discord) for help.

Please note that this guide will involve changing settings on your device for the technologies involved. You will need to decide whether it’s safe for you to customize these tools to work with Lich. If you have no idea what any of these technologies are, then you probably aren’t using them for any other purpose, but proceed at your own risk.

Before You Start

You will need to install Homebrew first. (You will install your front end, such as Saga, at the end of this guide.)

1. Install Homebrew by following the instructions at the Homebrew site. You will be asked to supply your sudo password at least once, and perhaps a couple of times through this process.
2. The Homebrew setup will also install Apple's Command Line Tools. You will be asked to accept the Apple license.

When you are finished with these steps and Homebrew has installed, in the Terminal application you should run this command brew doctor

Your system should respond with Ready to brew. If you get any other result, please seek assistance.

The Process

There are three general steps to installing all the packages and software needed to run Lich on Mac.

• First we will install various packages through Homebrew. This will include installing a different version of Ruby. Apple's version of Ruby does not work well with Lich.

• Second, we will download and unzip the current Lich software.

• Finally, we will use Bundler to install the gems Lich needs (listed in Lich's own Gemfile) into the new Ruby that we installed.

To get started, enter these commands in Terminal, one at a time, and press ENTER. Allow the system to complete the command before moving on to the next one.

1. brew install gtk+3
2. brew install gobject-introspection
3. brew install rbenv
4. brew install adwaita-icon-theme
5. brew install openssl@3
6. brew upgrade ca-certificates

Now we need to set up your SHELL environment to take advantage of these packages.

Enter the following command to check your shell:

echo $SHELL

• If the Terminal displays /bin/bash, run the following commands:

  echo 'eval "$(rbenv init -)"' >> ~/.bash_profile

  echo 'if [ -z $DISPLAY ]; then export DISPLAY=:0.0; fi' >> ~/.bash_profile

  source ~/.bash_profile

• If the Terminal displays /bin/zsh, run the following commands:

  echo 'eval "$(rbenv init -)"' >> ~/.zshrc

  echo 'if [ -z $DISPLAY ]; then export DISPLAY=:0.0; fi' >> ~/.zshrc

  source ~/.zshrc

This completes the installation of the core packages you will need. Now we'll use rbenv to install the new Ruby. You're welcome to select a Ruby version if you are comfortable with any particular one.

Before we begin, let's check to be sure rbenv is working properly. Enter this command in Terminal and press ENTER.

• rbenv versions

This should return one line that looks like * system. If you see that line, you can proceed. If not, seek assistance. If you are proceeding, then enter these commands in Terminal, one at a time, and press ENTER. Allow the system to complete the command before moving on to the next one.

1. rbenv install 4.0.9
2. rbenv global 4.0.9
3. ruby -v

If everything worked, the last line will return the version of Ruby that is currently active. It should look something like this: ruby 4.0.9 (2026-10-23 revision 3e93b23afc) +PRISM [arm64-darwin25]

If you did not receive that line, or if you received a line like this: ruby 2.6.10p210 (2022-04-12 revision 67958) [universal.arm64e-darwin22] seek assistance (restarting the terminal you used to run commands up to this point may be required for `ruby -v` to show the proper, updated version of ruby).

The key is the ruby 4.0.9 part -> it needs to read 4.0.9

If your version reflects 4.0.9, proceed to get the Lich files:

1. Download the Lich5 files. (Windows/Mac all run the same files).
2. Unzip the file in your Downloads folder. This will create a folder called Lich5. Drag the Lich5 folder (not the zip file, the folder) to your Desktop.

Now we will install the gems Lich needs. Lich includes a file called Gemfile that lists them, so Bundler can install exactly the right set. The Gemfile also lists some developer-only gems (the development and vscode groups) that you do not need, so we tell Bundler to skip them. Enter these commands in Terminal, one at a time, and press ENTER. Wait for the system to finish before moving on to the next.

1. cd ~/Desktop/Lich5
2. bundle config set --local without 'development vscode'
3. bundle install

The bundle install step can take several minutes (building the GTK gems is the slow part). When it finishes you should see a line beginning with Bundle complete!. If you see an error instead, seek assistance.

Note: you may see other guides use bundle install --without development vscode. That flag has been removed from the version of Bundler that ships with Ruby 4.0, so use the bundle config set command above instead.

Now run a quick test to see if things work:

• Run the following command to start the Ruby shell (you will see the command prompt change):

  irb

1. Run this command to test if the first gem is working:

   require 'sqlite3'

   The system should respond true

2. Run this command to test if the second gem is working:

   require 'gtk3'

   This should also respond true in the Terminal. It might take a second or two.

3. Now, run this command to return to your regular shell prompt:

   exit

If all of these activities show the right results, the hard part is behind you.

Starting Lich

To start Lich on its own, run the following command in the Terminal:

ruby ~/Desktop/Lich5/lich.rbw

After a couple seconds, you should see the Lich login window. How you use it depends on your front end; see below.

The first time Lich connects to the game, it will automatically download the map database and associated image files. You will also see some new Lich-related text in the game window, including a repository error (normal).

Front Ends

Saga (recommended)

Saga is the official Simutronics front end for GemStone IV and DragonRealms, currently in beta. It replaces Wrayth and the old Simutronics launcher (SGE) with its own login screen, and it works with Lich.

Install Saga

1. Go to the Saga info page and click Download for Mac. Choose the Apple Silicon build for M1/M2/M3/M4 Macs, or Intel for older Macs. (Apple menu → About This Mac shows which you have.)
2. Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Saga into your Applications folder.
3. Start Saga from Applications. During the beta the Mac builds are not signed, so macOS may refuse to open it the first time. If so, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the Saga message.
4. Log in to the game from inside Saga once, without Lich, to make sure Saga itself works.

The Mac build of Saga does not update itself yet. Check the Saga info page now and then and download the newest version the same way.

Use Saga with Lich

Saga starts Lich for you:

1. Log in with Saga normally, then choose File → Enable Login with Lich.
2. Choose File → Return to login.
3. Click Connect, then Via Lich, and point it to your Lich folder (~/Desktop/Lich5).
4. If Saga asks where Ruby is, or Lich will not start, run rbenv which ruby in the Terminal and give Saga the path it prints (it ends in .rbenv/versions/4.0.9/bin/ruby). Apps started from Finder do not see the Ruby that rbenv set up in your Terminal.
5. Log in. The game will start in Saga with Lich running.

Once that works, you can also start from the Lich login window instead (see Starting Lich): select your character, choose Saga as the front end, and click PLAY. Lich will open Saga and Saga logs in with its own saved login, so make sure Saga has saved your account and quit Saga before you do this.

See the Saga page for more about Saga, including importing Wrayth settings.

Avalon

Avalon is the older official Mac front end. Install it from the Avalon info page, then:

1. Start Lich (see Starting Lich).
2. Enter your login information, and click CONNECT.
3. Select your character, select the Avalon Front End, and click PLAY.
4. The game will start!

Other Front Ends

Warlock is a third-party front end that also works with Lich. Configuration for Mac (and other OS types) is here:

https://github.com/sproctor/warlock3/wiki/Lich-support

Resources

• Lich scripting reference
• Playershops by Lich: https://ps.lichproject.org/
• Unofficial Support for Lich: http://forum.gsplayers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=104
• Popular Lich script thread: http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?81229-What-Lich-Scripts-Do-You-Regularly-Use