This is the message I get:
DEBUG: Can’t open data/keymap.txt. This may be a permissions issue.
Press spacebar…
And then this one:
DEBUG: Could not read data/raw/keybindings.json
Press spacebar…
What do I do?
I’v got the same issue. Sad, but Win versions don’t start either (using Wineskin).
I can confirm this, and I’ll post a github issue on it. That said I have no idea what’s causing it or how to fix it, so we’ll need to wait for a more experienced mac dev to chime in. 
confirmed, both that the mac build gives the same messages and the wineskin is not working
Mac OSX is in a tough position because IIRC there are no regular developers using Mac? Even Windows-related issues can be slow to resolve since most of the devs are on Linux.
Propaganda mode
Can’t play Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead? Switch to Linux now and enjoy the first-class experience!
but linux is bad cuz its free
You can get it running by opening terminal and opening the cataclysm file using cd command. Once that is done type ./cataclysm and it should start running. Sorry if my directions aren’t very clear…
jan blair thanks so much, that worked perfectly!
I’m happy it helped. I was trying to find an easier fix, but editing permissions of the Cataclysm directory or of keymap.txt seems to yield no results. So as of now you have to do that every time you want to start Cataclysm.
JanBlair, thanks, man!) Works perfect!
Williham here, responsible for creating the existing Mac OS X build.
Unfortunately, it seems it can only be run from the terminal, within the cataclysm directory.
As packaging improves, this will be resolved, but for this version, it’s a necessary evil.
I think I saw someone make a potential fix for this in the announcements thread, not sure if this helps but it might be worth checking out.
[quote=“nikola, post:51, topic:5262”]mac version uses start script with readlink -f which does not behave similarly as in linux
thus the game does not start
nikola
ps here i have patched together a quick and dirty starter for myself
http://pastebin.com/BGWe3Cw8
but i am no programmer[/quote]
It certainly fixed the problem in my case - one should make a executable shell script from the contents of the pastebin
nikola
ps. enjoying the 0.A very much, thanks devs.
Williham, any chance you could build the SDL tile version? 
None, what so ever.
Apple took some fairly heavy steps against static libraries, which is something cataclysm depends on to run. As such if you install the SDL libraries yourself you can compile a tiles version and get it to work, but unless you do that it’s not really possible (and at which point it’s only a small step to compiling your own version anyways).
Got it running from using manual terminal commands. Thanks!
Noticed two things while playing:
-
Cannot turn tiles off, which is ok I guess since theyre the tiles that look like ASCII anyway.
-
When I hold down a button to move, the screen intermittently flashes blank boxes all around the screen in a really glitch way. Whats up with that?
[quote=“dda, post:17, topic:5301”]Got it running from using manual terminal commands. Thanks!
Noticed two things while playing:
-
Cannot turn tiles off, which is ok I guess since theyre the tiles that look like ASCII anyway.
-
When I hold down a button to move, the screen intermittently flashes blank boxes all around the screen in a really glitch way. Whats up with that?[/quote]
Actually, I think you’ll find that you can’t turn tiles on.
The flashing relates to two things: Weaknesses in the CURSES library, and weaknesses in how the game uses the CURSES library.
Essentially, the game is hitting redraw speed limits.
Is there anything I can do about the redraw problem?
Also, I noticed that a ASCII is different. Theres a lot of items it seems represented by a blank space. Is this purposeful or a bug?