Ancestral Recall

Ancestral Recall is a mod for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction which can downloaded at Teknokyo's site at Planet Diablo.

If you play Diablo on a Macintosh and have any questions or problems, feel free to write and ask for help: orchid@csonline.net

My special thanks to Daniel Chiaramello for bringing the =>MPQ application to my attention and to Sylvan Korvus for the OS X instructions.

Installing Ancestral Recall on a Macintosh

Most game mods only work on PCs. Fortunately, Ancestral Recall can be easily modified to be used on a Mac. These instructions apply to the OS 9 version of Diablo. If you install the OS X Diablo II patch and would like to use AR, you will have to follow these instructions then further follow the OS X instructions here.

Obviously, you will have to first download the files from the Ancestral Recall site (scroll down to the bottom of the download page to access the free downloads). The files are zipped but you can decompress them using a modern version of Stuffit Expander or a variety of other free decompression utilities.

After you have decompressed the files, here are the steps you must take to make it work on your Mac.

Step 1
Back-up your regular Lord of Destruction "Save" folder and your Diablo II Patch file. I did this by creating a folder named "Original save & patch" and putting the "Save" folder and Diablo II Patch into that folder. I then created a new empty folder which I named "Save" to replace the old one.

Step 2
Open the folder you downloaded and find the "Patch_D2.mpq" file. Rename this file "Diablo II Patch" (without the quotes).

Step 3

The next step requires you to use Resedit or to download this little application: =>MPQ.hqx If you are uncomfortable with Resedit, download the file, decompress it and drag the Ancestral Recall Diablo II Patch onto the =>MPQ application and go to "Step 4" of these instructions.

If you're a "do it yourself type," you can use the instructions below to alter the file in Resedit yourself:

Open the now renamed (Ancestral Recall) Diablo II Patch file in Resedit. If you don't have Resedit, you can download it from Apple (you'll probably have to search for it). You will get a message warning you that opening the file will create a Resource Fork. Click "OK." Choose "Get Info for Diablo II Patch" from the "File" menu. In the dialog box, you need to change the Type and Creator codes as follows then save the file and quit Resedit:

Step 4
Copy the Diablo II Patch (the icon should now look like a Diablo file icon whereas it looked like a generic text file icon before) into your Diablo II Files folder. If you remembered to create a new empty "Save" folder, you're now ready to play. Launch Diablo as usual.

To switch back and forth between Ancestral Recall and regular Lord of Destruction, all you have to do is swap the patch file and Save files around. You might want to use the Mac OS's color-coded labelling system to visually link each patch and it's save folder. Also, you might want to create a second folder called something like "AR save & patch" to throw those items into when restoring your original patch and save to make sure you don't accidentally overwrite a file.

			Installing Ancestral Recall on a Macintosh

			Most game mods only work on PCs. Fortunately, Ancestral Recall can be easily modified to be used on a Mac. These instructions apply to the OS 9 version of Diablo. If you install the OS X Diablo II patch and would like to use AR, you will have to follow these instructions then further follow the OS X instructions here. Obviously, you will have to first download the files from the Ancestral Recall site (scroll down to the bottom of the download page to access the free downloads). The files are zipped but you can decompress them using a modern version of Stuffit Expander or a variety of other free decompression utilities. After you have decompressed the files, here are the steps you must take to make it work on your Mac.

	Step 1		Back-up your regular Lord of Destruction "Save" folder and your Diablo II Patch file. I did this by creating a folder named "Original save & patch" and putting the "Save" folder and Diablo II Patch into that folder. I then created a new empty folder which I named "Save" to replace the old one.



	Step 2		Open the folder you downloaded and find the "Patch_D2.mpq" file. Rename this file "Diablo II Patch" (without the quotes).

	Step 3		The next step requires you to use Resedit or to download this little application: =>MPQ.hqx If you are uncomfortable with Resedit, download the file, decompress it and drag the Ancestral Recall Diablo II Patch onto the =>MPQ application and go to "Step 4" of these instructions. If you're a "do it yourself type," you can use the instructions below to alter the file in Resedit yourself: Open the now renamed (Ancestral Recall) Diablo II Patch file in Resedit. If you don't have Resedit, you can download it from Apple (you'll probably have to search for it). You will get a message warning you that opening the file will create a Resource Fork. Click "OK." Choose "Get Info for Diablo II Patch" from the "File" menu. In the dialog box, you need to change the Type and Creator codes as follows then save the file and quit Resedit:



	Step 4		Copy the Diablo II Patch (the icon should now look like a Diablo file icon whereas it looked like a generic text file icon before) into your Diablo II Files folder. If you remembered to create a new empty "Save" folder, you're now ready to play. Launch Diablo as usual.

			To switch back and forth between Ancestral Recall and regular Lord of Destruction, all you have to do is swap the patch file and Save files around. You might want to use the Mac OS's color-coded labelling system to visually link each patch and it's save folder. Also, you might want to create a second folder called something like "AR save & patch" to throw those items into when restoring your original patch and save to make sure you don't accidentally overwrite a file.