A few folks have asked me to summarize what a new user should know about running VG on a Mac. I've been using VG on a total of 3 Macs during the past 2 years. The first Mac was an old Mac Pro -- a model 1,1 from about 2007 I think. Next a MacBook Pro 17" 2010 model. Last year a mid-range Mac Pro -- black can. I've used VG under every OSX from 10.7 up.

Basic Advice:

If you have only one user account, just install it and run it. Let it put all its files in the default location. It should run just fine. No special settings needed. Check the Software Options in the Advanced part of the Settings tab. You may wish to change some of the defaults. If you don't know what some of the checkboxes do, post a question to this thread.

If you have multiple user accounts:

Do not do the default install. That will put the VG app in the root level applications folder and result in creating duplicate data files in each account. Those files will grow quite a bit as you buy cards.

Instead, ***** the VG app into the applications folder of the one user account where you will run it.

After you've run VG for a while in one account, I can explan the options for running in multiple accounts. It isn't so hard, but it can be a bit tricky and you may have to try more than once.

Difference between Mac and Windows version:

The only important difference is that VG on the Mac stores its persistent settings in a preference file on the Mac while the same settings are stored in the Registry under Windows. I'm pretty sure the same properties are stored under the same names for both operating systems. The Mac preference file is com.totem.vghd.plist

Reinstalling the VG software:

You shouldn't ever need to do this. I haven't heard of a case where a clean reinstall was really necessary. Normally, installing a new copy of the VG app on top of the old one is all you need. In a few cases you may need to trash the preference file and let the VG app build a new preference file. You'll loose all your custom setting doing that. To trash the preference file 1) Quit the VG app. 2) Move the preference file to the trash. 3) Reboot your mac! Trashing the preference file is not enough. If you wish to do a clean install, install a new version of the VG app after your Mac boots up and before VG runs for the first time. To prevent VG from starting at boot, you must first turn off that checkbox in Advanced Settings.

I have bought very recently a MacBook Pro and am trying in those days to have all my VG stuff running back on it.


By default, the cards (both models and data folders) are installed in <user roor folder> / VirtuaGirl
I have tried to chage the folder in the application settings, but only the models part is moved. Is there any way to move the data part as well ? I remember that on Windows, this was possible


Second remark I can do : when I play a card, the girl is partially hidden by the dock. I know it is possible to hide the dock but I am wondering if there is a possibility to ***** the girls to have fun on top of the dock :)

By default, the cards (both models and data folders) are installed in <user roor folder> / VirtuaGirl
I have tried to chage the folder in the application settings, but only the models part is moved. Is there any way to move the data part as well ?

Yes, but you'll need to modify the preferences file. That's what I did, but I had a bunch of reasons for doing it and I went through a lot of experimenting to make it work. What benefit do you see in moving your data folder?

Here is the simple how to, but it may not work:

1. In the VG application in the Advanced Settings, be sure VG is set not to "Start at boot"

2. Shut down the VG application. Check your dock to see that it is really off.

3. Copy your current data folder to where you want it to be.

4. Open your Library folder. You can do this by holding down the option key and selecting Library from the Finder's Go menu.

5. Open the Preferences folder in the Library folder.

5. Make a copy of the com.totem.vghd.plist preference file and put it on your desktop as a back-up.

6. Double click the com.totem.vghd.plist preference file in the Preference folder, NOT the desktop. This will probably open the Property List Editor if you have either OSX 10.10 or 10.9. Some older versions may open in Text Edit.

7. Find the system.DataPath property. It's about half way down. Notice that this path is formatted as a POSIX path, not an Apple path. It uses "/" as the name separator not ":". Also the path to a secondary drive must begin with "/Volumes/"

8. Note that the path to the models folder is two lines below. You can probably use that as a sample. Type or paste in the path to your new data folder. Be careful not to make any mistakes. Compare what you enter to the models folder path to see that the formatting is the same.

9. Save your revised preference file.

10. Close the Property List Editor.

11. Reboot your Mac.

12. Move your old data folder to the des