PSO Blue Burst — setup & controls

How to download, install, and play the Blue Burst PC client for this server. The client is already pointed at the server — you just download, unzip, and log in.

Unlike the GameCube setup, Blue Burst needs no IP allowlisting. The client connects straight to the server's public address — there's no "send the admin your IP" step here.

1. Get a UserID

Blue Burst requires a login. Ask the admin for a UserID and password before you start — you'll enter them at the title screen.

2. Download

Grab your platform from the PC (Blue Burst) card on pso.joshkautz.com:

3. Install & first launch

macOS (Apple Silicon)

1. Double-click the zip → a PSOBB-macOS folder with PSOBB.app and setup.command inside.
2. macOS quarantines unsigned downloads. Clear it once for the whole folder — open Terminal, type xattr -drs com.apple.quarantine (with a trailing space), drag the PSOBB-macOS folder onto the window, and press Enter:

   xattr -drs com.apple.quarantine <drag the PSOBB-macOS folder here>
   

   Drag the folder in — don't type the path. Dragging fills in the exact location and escaping; the folder is often on the Desktop (not Downloads), and a re-download may have a (1) in its name, so a typed path usually misses (and a quoted ~ won't expand to your home folder). Clear quarantine before moving PSOBB.app to Applications — if you already moved it, drag /Applications/PSOBB.app into the same command too, or it stays quarantined and opens as "damaged." (No Terminal? Double-click an item, click Done on the warning, then open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway — once per item. The old right-click→Open trick no longer works on recent macOS.)
3. Run setup.command to save your login — it finds PSOBB.app right next to it in the folder; see Save your login. Then drag PSOBB.app to Applications (and onto your Dock if you like) and open it — a normal, resizable window.

Apple Silicon only — this build won't run on Intel Macs.

Windows

1. Unzip the download anywhere (e.g. your Desktop). Inside you'll find a PSOBB folder (with Psobb.exe in it) plus Setup.bat and Play.bat next to it.
2. Run Setup.bat first — this step is required. Double-click Setup.bat and type your UserID and password. It saves your login so the title screen pre-fills both (password stored encrypted, the same way the game does) and sets the client to windowed mode (required — the 2004 client otherwise starts fullscreen and closes instantly on modern graphics hardware; see Troubleshooting). If SmartScreen warns ("Windows protected your PC"): More info → Run anyway. See Save your login.
3. Play with Play.bat. Double-click Play.bat (not Psobb.exe directly) — it opens the game in a proper window with minimize / fullscreen / close buttons and drag-to-move, and Alt+Enter toggles borderless fullscreen (black bars keep the 4:3 aspect — no stretching). The game renders at up to 1280×960 — much sharper than the original 640×480 — automatically choosing the largest 4:3 size that fits your monitor. It connects straight to the server and handles the patch check itself. Click Yes on the one UAC prompt (the client is unsigned and requires admin — expected). On first run it drops a "PSOBB" shortcut carrying the game's icon on your Desktop; right-click it → Pin to taskbar for one-click play.

4. Log in & play

1. At the title screen, click the window so it has focus, then type your UserID and password and press Enter.
   • Tired of retyping it? The download includes a one-file setup helper (setup.command on macOS, Setup.bat on Windows) that pre-fills your UserID and password — run it once and type them. See Save your login.
2. First time in: create a character — pick a profession (Hunter / Ranger / Force), a type, and a look.

5. Controls

PSO is a 2004 console game, so the controls surprise everyone. Two things to know up front:

• There is no single "attack" button. Combat uses an Action Palette — a row of three slots you trigger with the ← ↓ → arrow keys. Ctrl cycles to the next palette. A Hunter's first palette is usually Normal / Heavy / Special attack.
• Movement is tank-style. W/S go forward/back; A/D turn you.

Keyboard cheat-sheet

Remapping

Main Menu → Options → Key Config. Pick a preset (Default 1–4) or Custom, then highlight a function and press the key you want.

A few keys — Decide, Cancel, Menu Open/Close, Select Up/Down/Left/Right — are locked (the menus depend on them); the config screen labels that page "Setting improper item" and beeps if you try. They can't be changed. On a Mac that just means the menu is Fn + Left Arrow (= Home) or F12.

A controller plays much better — PSO was built for one. Plug in any DirectInput/standard gamepad and map it under Options → Pad Button Config.

Troubleshooting

The macOS app bundles its own Wine engine, so there's nothing else to install.