ScummVM 0.6.0 Released With Freeware Bonus

busfahrer writes "The ScummVM team has announced the release of version 0.6.0 of their famous SCUMM Interpreter. It allows you to play your old LucasArts adventures on non-MS systems and/or recent hardware, and requires the original media to play. This release marks a milestone in the history of ScummVM because as of now, all SCUMM-based games created by LucasArts are now supported by the engine. Together with this release, they announce the release of the rather old, but fun adventure Flight Of The Amazon Queen as ScummVM-compatible 'freeware', having got permission from the original creators."

Sam n Max

[martone66]

Now that the new Sam n Max game has been cancelled, perhaps I'll dig through my closet and salvage the floppies from the original game to play through again...

SCUMM authoring?

[dpilot]

A few quick searches, now and in the past, have only ever shown one SCUMM authoring system, called SCRAMM. But the link to SCRAMM is dead and gone.

Anyone know of a (preferably OSS) authoring system for SCUMM? As SCUMMVM gets more mature, this gets more interesting.

Re:SCUMM authoring?

[meanfriend]

Anyone know of a (preferably OSS) authoring system for SCUMM?

An interesting idea but see what the SCUMMVM FAQ has to say about this [scummvm.org]

Quote:

Can I use ScummVM to make new games?

While it is theoretically possible to write a new game that uses ScummVM it is not advisable. ScummVM has many hacks to support older games and no tools geared towards creating content usable by ScummVM. Potential game authors are encouraged to look at open source technologies such as libSDL for a cross platform DirectX like library, and the Lua and Python scripting languages for game logic.

Re:SCUMM authoring?

[dpilot]

How outrageous, reading the FAQ.

I was thinking more of a vehicle for my son to try some games programming. He's more into the art side than the software side. I was hoping to find something more tailored to right-brainers.

Though, I suppose the right libraries or construction kit might make the job reasonable. In the old days, rapid gratification was possible with entry-level effort. These days our expectations have risen so high that meaningful entry-level exercises can be downright difficult to define.

Re:SCUMM authoring?

[The_Rift]

I would suggest you take a look at the engines used by the "underground" adventure game writers.

Adventuregamers.com recently ran a feature showcasing some of the best of these [adventuregamers.com].

The engines used are amongst others
AGS [adventureg...udio.co.uk] and SLUDGE [hungrysoftware.com]

I think these are the kind of things you're talking about, rather than SCUMMVM which as the name implies is a VM, not a dev kit.

implies is a VM, not a dev kit

[dpilot]

That's why I wouldna thunk to look in the SCUMMVM FAQ about development resources. I did check their web site, google, etc. I dug out PyGame last night, and may try running some of those (+source) past my son.

SCUMMVM is impressive

[meanfriend]

Coincidentally I just installed SCUMMVM two weeks ago so I could revisit Sam & Max and Day of the Tentacle without having to mess around with boot floppies or other shenanigans.

The fact that I easily found rpms to run under Linux was just a bonus. I have experienced a few crashes in Sam & Max (all occuring in the same room), but the gameplay is intact. One mini-game doesnt work properly but the game should be playable from beginning to end.

But I havent heard mention of one of the best reasons to use SCUMMVM: save states. With a point and click adventure, it may not be as critical as save states in say, a SNES emulator, but it's still be a convienence, and only costs 100k/save

To see how well your favorite LucasArts SCUMM game is supported, check out the compatability chart [scummvm.org]

Re:SCUMMVM is impressive

[kundor]

I used scummvm to play the game Beneath a Steel Sky, which I actually bought a long time ago but never finished.

Now it's freeware, available from the scummvm people, and it's a great game. Highly recommended. It worked perfectly, no crashes or anything.

Re:SCUMMVM is impressive

[jmt9581]

I have experienced a few crashes in Sam & Max (all occuring in the same room), but the gameplay is intact.

Sounds like a problem with your room. Have you tried redirecting your X11 display to another computer and playing games from a different room?

:D

Flight Of The Amazon Queen

[Jacek Poplawski]

OMG, I have seen article about this game more than 10 years ago, in polish gaming magazine... And IIRC game was available for Atari ST, and I had just Atari 800XL. I remember amazing screenshots, and interesting review... Now I will play it, to finnally see what is this game :)

What's the remaining 0.4?

[Anonymous Coward]

If it plays everything, what's the version number doing stuck at 0.6? Just because MS has version number inflation doesn't mean we have to look down on ourselves.

Re:What's the remaining 0.4?

[Wuukie]

Seeing that they use a lot of hacks to various games to make them work, I'd guess they are trying clean up the interpreter.

OTOH, maybe the original games were using a lot of hacks too. I don't think there is official documentation of the SCUMM bytecode floating around anywhere. Is there?

Re:What's the remaining 0.4?

[Thornae]

Well, if you have a look at their compatability list [scummvm.org], you'll see that there's still a number of games that don't make it to the ideal 95% mark. I imagine they'll think about calling it 1.0 once that list is all (or nearly all) at or above 95%.

Actually...

[Ndr_Amigo]

The original goal for ScummVM was obviously to run all LucasArts/LucasFilm SCUMM games.

This is the first release with all SCUMM games supported. The next release will probably be 1.0, once we have fixed some remaining major bugs (mostly in the later games, such as new addition Full Throttle which is, obviously, new and the main reason this isn't release 1.0)

- James 'Ender' Brown
Co-Project Leader, ScummVM

Re:Actually...

[Thornae]

Well, you can't get much more authoritative than that. (=

Thanks for the info, and especially thanks for the fantastic job you guys have done. I'm definitely going to be digging out my copy of "Full Throttle" next time I have a free weekend.

Re:What's the remaining 0.4?

[ScarletEmerald]

If it plays everything, what's the version number doing stuck at 0.6?

They didn't say it plays everything, just that it supports all LucasArts/LucasFilm SCUMM games. There may be games by other companies that aren't supported, and the ones that are supported might still have some problems.