# PalPlayer

> PalPlayer runs Desktop Pals from small pal pack files. Install it once, then double-click a .pal file to add a pal. Mac, Windows and Linux.

Install PalPlayer once, then add pals as small pal packs – a few megabytes each instead of a whole app every time. For Mac, Windows and Linux.

## How it works

1. **Get PalPlayer** for your computer (below). On a Mac it sits in the Dock and the menu bar while it runs; on Windows and Linux it’s in the system tray.
2. **Get a pal** from the **Get pals** tab in PalPlayer’s Library – or download a pal pack from any pal’s page (the file ends in `.pal`) and double-click it, use **Import pal…**, or drag it onto PalPlayer. You’ll see who the pal is and what it’s allowed to do, then choose **Add**.
3. **Start it** from the Library or the menu. Start at login, mute and quiet hours are set per pal – as many quiet times as you like, on the days you choose – and herd pals like the Norns show their whole herd on their card, where you can add another or send one home.

The pack is copied into PalPlayer, so you can delete the file you downloaded.

## Get pals

PalPlayer’s Library has a **Get pals** tab: every official pal, with a picture, what it’s like and how big it is, and whether you’ve already got it. Choose **Get** and PalPlayer downloads the pal and shows you the same card as any other import before anything is added. Each download is checked – a pal pack that isn’t a genuine, untouched official pal is turned away. PalPlayer only fetches the list of pals (one small public file from this website) when you open Get pals.

## Why a pal pack is so much smaller

A standalone pal carries its own copy of everything needed to draw and run it – that’s most of its 80–95 MB. PalPlayer carries that once, so each pal pack is only the pal itself: its art, sounds and lines. Dot is under a megabyte; the Norns, with all 30 breeds, are about 14 MB.

## Pals meet each other

With several pals in PalPlayer, the ones that live in herds can meet: Norns, Grendels and Ettins wander over and say hello, just as they did in Creatures. Pals that keep to themselves – like Dot – stay out of it.

## Official and community pals

- **Official pals** come from WhiteFish Creative and are signed, so PalPlayer knows they’re genuine and haven’t been changed.
- **Community pals** are made by other people with PalStudio Community. PalPlayer runs them too, and always labels them **Community** so you can tell them apart. They’re made by their authors, not by us.

## Updates – and what they send

PalPlayer keeps itself and your official pals up to date. To do that it fetches one public file from this website now and then. That request carries no ID, no account and no information about you or your pals. You can switch automatic updates off in PalPlayer’s settings. Pals themselves still only go online for the feeds they tell you about when you add them.

If a PalPlayer update means an older pal can’t run any more, the pal says **Needs an update** instead of misbehaving – official pals update themselves, and community pals will tell you to ask their author for a new version.

## Download PalPlayer

**Download status:** PalPlayer is available free for Mac, Windows and Linux from https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/palplayer/.

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From PalStudio – Desktop Pals by WhiteFish Creative Limited. Web page: https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/palplayer/ · The whole site for AI assistants: https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/llms.txt