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50548

Guest
Original poster
Apr 17, 2005
5,039
2
Currently in Switzerland
VERY simple question: I want to put an alias on the dock for Left 4 Dead 2, but can't find the exact app file...where is it on my Mac? I know about the Application Support folder, but still can't find the EXACT file to mirror...can anyone help me?
 
In Steam, go to your Library. Right click on the game in question and choose "Create desktop shortcut". It's as easy as that. :)
 
That's the right way to do it, because you can't actually launch the game executable directly, Steam has to do it. So you need the special shortcut that it will create.
 
Mostly I play Steam on Bootcamp/Vista. However I do have Steam installed on my Mac and have one game installed, Half Life 2. For fun I tried to go find the application. when I use the finder Spotlight, it says there is an application called Half Life 2 sitting in my Application folder, but darned if I can find it there. Then I went to my Steam Folder and looked in the SteamApps folder and although there is a Half Life folder there that holds a Hl2.exe file, I can't find it (something identified as a Half Life application) there either. I might have missed it in one of the folders.

Finally I had created a desktop icon for Half Life using the method described in this thread- launch Steam, go to your list of Mac games, right click on the desired game, in this case HL2 and select "create desktop icon". What is interesting is when I right click on the desktop icon and get info on it, it is not listed as an alias, but as an application.

I don't know if this is applicable, but I am one of those people who have my Steam Folder (with it's SteamApps folder) installed on an external hard drive vs sitting in my Application folder.

Some interesting stuff going on with this Steam application on Mac.
 
Take a closer look at the path listed in Spotlight's results, and I think you'll find that your games are actually in /Users/Huntn/Applications and not /Applications.

The "icons" that Steam places on your Desktop are actually application bundles containing functionality to launch the game. Steam completely manages its games and sort of hides it from the outside world. I don't know if it's a form of copy protection or if it's just to provide a controlled environment so its easier for it to install updates. Regardless, games installed via Steam aren't just normal applications; they require some launchtime magic by Steam to get them going when you want to play. Therefore, you can't simply poke about in the Steam Application Support folder and drag an alias from there onto your desktop.
 
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