6 ms·

ScummVM 2.0 released

219 points by jsheard 9y ago

JonDav 9y ago
Ah Christmas, the time of year to snuggle with a cup of cocoa and play games of Phantasmagoria and Leisure Suit Larry. In all honesty thanks so much to all the people that work on this project.
- nottorp 9y ago
  Decisions decisions... do I wait for the people at GoG to pack Phantasmagoria with ScummVM for Mac or do I do it myself?
lstyls 9y ago
What are good ways to acquire these game ROMs legally? A google search brings up a lot of not-completely-legit-looking sites, and I'd hate to give money to some pirate. These games are amazing and I'd love to support the authors if possible.
- jsheard 9y ago
  GOG and Steam sell many of them legitimately: http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Where_to_get_the_games http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Where_to_get_the_games The publishing rights for some games are stuck in limbo though, so you just have to dig up a used physical copy or pirate them.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  I've bought a lot from both gog.com and Steam. Even in the latter case, you can just point ScummVM to the game data.
  - sebazzz 9y ago
    In case of Freddy Fish and Pyjama Sam ScummVM is actually bundled with the game. I don't think it has any use updating that version because the bundled version has been tested.
- jadbox 9y ago
  Simply buy the games: the raw game files is used by Scumm.
  - shakna 9y ago
    Where does one buy a game whose developer and publisher haven't existed in 10 years?
- JonDav 9y ago
  I do not know if ROMs is the right word but I copied the files of the floppy disk or CD that the original game came on (yay for keeping floppy disk organizers and CD wallets). If you don't have the disk in hand it would be tough to get legally since they can be hard to find and possibly contain one or more bad disks. As others have said you can some rereleased on gog/steam.
- clinth 9y ago
  GOG is a good curator/vendor for old games. A fan put together a list of scummvm-compatible games here: https://www.gog.com/mix/games_compatible_with_scummvm https://www.gog.com/mix/games_compatible_with_scummvm
- djsumdog 9y ago
  As others have said,GoG et. al. have republished a lot of them (a lot of them just repackage the game using Dosbox or ScummVM; you'll see the license in the download). I kinda wish they wouldn't though. A lot of these should just fall into the real of abandonware. A lot of these licenses just get sold off to big companies who try to do some long-tail nostolgia sales. Some /really/ old titles are actually out of copyright (or the publisher has gone under and the license has been lost), but they're still sold through some services cause that's how public domain works.
  - bhaak 9y ago
    > Some /really/ old titles are actually out of copyright (or the publisher has gone under and the license has been lost), but they're still sold through some services cause that's how public domain works. Nobody has been dead long enough for any computer game to enter public domain by the lawful way of inaction. There are some games that have been made available by the license holder. Like "Beneath a Steel Sky" which was released as freeware.
- shmerl 9y ago
  GOG is the best source (DRM-free): https://www.gog.com https://www.gog.com Some ScummVM supported games like The Neverhood however never got a new digital release. So you'd need to buy a used CD on Ebay for example.
- shmerl 9y ago
  > I'd love to support the authors if possible. Just for the reference, in most cases, those games are now owned by some publishers, and original authors aren't going to get anything.
- roryisok 9y ago
  Gog is great, but my favourite way of getting these is to buy the originals on ebay, then you get the cool box to put on your shelf :)
jadbox 9y ago
Finally Scumm officially supports Riven, one of the best puzzle adventure games produced. It's a shame it's never been natively updated or re-released in a modern HD version (like Myst).
- jamesfmilne 9y ago
  That’s great news! Now I’ll have find something with a DVD drive to actually read my Riven DVDs...
  - LeoPanthera 9y ago
    There's two versions of Riven, the multi-CD version and the single-DVD version. The DVD version has (slightly) improved visuals and a couple of extra (cosmetic only) locations, and is quite rare.
    - jamesfmilne 9y ago
      Aha. You are correct, LeoPanthera. Just dug out my copy of Riven and it is indeed on CD.
- LeoPanthera 9y ago
  Cyan claims the source and original assets have been lost. The Starry Expanse project is recreating them from scratch. http://www.starryexpanse.com http://www.starryexpanse.com
djsumdog 9y ago
I think it's interesting how ScummVM originally just supported the old LucasArts games and now it looks like it supports several versions of Sierra's engines, the Zork engines, plus tons of obscure game engines here and there. It's truly a great project that lets you play all those old classic CDs you have laying around without needing Doxbox.
- roryisok 9y ago
  *Dosbox, in case anyone decides to go searching
- agf 9y ago
  While I know the parent comment is a positive one, it's really underselling the breadth of games ScummVM supports these days. There are many games (or versions of games) supported by ScummVM that you can't run in DosBox for the simple reason that they're not DOS games (or even x86). The number of "obscure game engine" games actually outnumbers the LucasArts and Sierra games combined, and include some of the most popular and famous games of the era, like Myst and Riven (as well as the mentioned Zork games).
digi_owl 9y ago
Hmm, Starship Titanic. I recall reading about it back in the day, but never got the chance to play it.
- rvanlaar 9y ago
  Nice catch that it's supported. I encourage you to get a hold of the game. It's a nice puzzle gem that incorporates the humor of Douglas Adams. One of the main parts is language, talking to the staff, actually typing, and communicating with them.
  - seanwilson 9y ago
    > One of the main parts is language, talking to the staff, actually typing, and communicating with them. How well does this work? I can't think of any other game that has even attempted this since. It would be interesting to see what the state of the art could do with this. I think combining this kind of gameplay with voice to text for input and using either text to voice or voice actors for the character talking back could be super immersive.
    - rvanlaar 9y ago
      It's fun and doesn't get in your way. It works.
butz 9y ago
Where's the zip version for Windows? I can only see installer download.
- WillPostForFood 9y ago
  Builds (zip) here: http://buildbot.scummvm.org/builds.html http://buildbot.scummvm.org/builds.html Source here: https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm
MegaLeon 9y ago
Surprised to see Plumbers don't wear ties on the list. For those unaware of this masterpiece, I recommend watching this AVGN video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyaF_gCKWsI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyaF_gCKWsI
- crtasm 9y ago
  I'm currently re-watching the 90s UK TV series Gamesmaster - they did a feature on this game in their usual sardonic style. I didn't realise there was so much more to enjoy, thanks.

219 points by jsheard 9y ago

Ah Christmas, the time of year to snuggle with a cup of cocoa and play games of Phantasmagoria and Leisure Suit Larry. In all honesty thanks so much to all the people that work on this project.

nottorp 9y ago
Decisions decisions... do I wait for the people at GoG to pack Phantasmagoria with ScummVM for Mac or do I do it myself?

lstyls 9y ago

What are good ways to acquire these game ROMs legally? A google search brings up a lot of not-completely-legit-looking sites, and I'd hate to give money to some pirate. These games are amazing and I'd love to support the authors if possible.

jsheard 9y ago
GOG and Steam sell many of them legitimately: http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Where_to_get_the_games http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Where_to_get_the_games The publishing rights for some games are stuck in limbo though, so you just have to dig up a used physical copy or pirate them.
khedoros1 9y ago
I've bought a lot from both gog.com and Steam. Even in the latter case, you can just point ScummVM to the game data.
- sebazzz 9y ago
  In case of Freddy Fish and Pyjama Sam ScummVM is actually bundled with the game. I don't think it has any use updating that version because the bundled version has been tested.
jadbox 9y ago
Simply buy the games: the raw game files is used by Scumm.
- shakna 9y ago
  Where does one buy a game whose developer and publisher haven't existed in 10 years?
JonDav 9y ago
I do not know if ROMs is the right word but I copied the files of the floppy disk or CD that the original game came on (yay for keeping floppy disk organizers and CD wallets). If you don't have the disk in hand it would be tough to get legally since they can be hard to find and possibly contain one or more bad disks. As others have said you can some rereleased on gog/steam.
clinth 9y ago
GOG is a good curator/vendor for old games. A fan put together a list of scummvm-compatible games here: https://www.gog.com/mix/games_compatible_with_scummvm https://www.gog.com/mix/games_compatible_with_scummvm
djsumdog 9y ago
As others have said,GoG et. al. have republished a lot of them (a lot of them just repackage the game using Dosbox or ScummVM; you'll see the license in the download). I kinda wish they wouldn't though. A lot of these should just fall into the real of abandonware. A lot of these licenses just get sold off to big companies who try to do some long-tail nostolgia sales. Some /really/ old titles are actually out of copyright (or the publisher has gone under and the license has been lost), but they're still sold through some services cause that's how public domain works.
- bhaak 9y ago
  > Some /really/ old titles are actually out of copyright (or the publisher has gone under and the license has been lost), but they're still sold through some services cause that's how public domain works. Nobody has been dead long enough for any computer game to enter public domain by the lawful way of inaction. There are some games that have been made available by the license holder. Like "Beneath a Steel Sky" which was released as freeware.
shmerl 9y ago
GOG is the best source (DRM-free): https://www.gog.com https://www.gog.com Some ScummVM supported games like The Neverhood however never got a new digital release. So you'd need to buy a used CD on Ebay for example.
shmerl 9y ago
> I'd love to support the authors if possible. Just for the reference, in most cases, those games are now owned by some publishers, and original authors aren't going to get anything.
roryisok 9y ago
Gog is great, but my favourite way of getting these is to buy the originals on ebay, then you get the cool box to put on your shelf :)

jadbox 9y ago

Finally Scumm officially supports Riven, one of the best puzzle adventure games produced. It's a shame it's never been natively updated or re-released in a modern HD version (like Myst).

jamesfmilne 9y ago
That’s great news! Now I’ll have find something with a DVD drive to actually read my Riven DVDs...
- LeoPanthera 9y ago
  There's two versions of Riven, the multi-CD version and the single-DVD version. The DVD version has (slightly) improved visuals and a couple of extra (cosmetic only) locations, and is quite rare.
  - jamesfmilne 9y ago
    Aha. You are correct, LeoPanthera. Just dug out my copy of Riven and it is indeed on CD.
LeoPanthera 9y ago
Cyan claims the source and original assets have been lost. The Starry Expanse project is recreating them from scratch. http://www.starryexpanse.com http://www.starryexpanse.com

djsumdog 9y ago

I think it's interesting how ScummVM originally just supported the old LucasArts games and now it looks like it supports several versions of Sierra's engines, the Zork engines, plus tons of obscure game engines here and there. It's truly a great project that lets you play all those old classic CDs you have laying around without needing Doxbox.

roryisok 9y ago
*Dosbox, in case anyone decides to go searching
agf 9y ago
While I know the parent comment is a positive one, it's really underselling the breadth of games ScummVM supports these days. There are many games (or versions of games) supported by ScummVM that you can't run in DosBox for the simple reason that they're not DOS games (or even x86). The number of "obscure game engine" games actually outnumbers the LucasArts and Sierra games combined, and include some of the most popular and famous games of the era, like Myst and Riven (as well as the mentioned Zork games).

digi_owl 9y ago

Hmm, Starship Titanic. I recall reading about it back in the day, but never got the chance to play it.

rvanlaar 9y ago
Nice catch that it's supported. I encourage you to get a hold of the game. It's a nice puzzle gem that incorporates the humor of Douglas Adams. One of the main parts is language, talking to the staff, actually typing, and communicating with them.
- seanwilson 9y ago
  > One of the main parts is language, talking to the staff, actually typing, and communicating with them. How well does this work? I can't think of any other game that has even attempted this since. It would be interesting to see what the state of the art could do with this. I think combining this kind of gameplay with voice to text for input and using either text to voice or voice actors for the character talking back could be super immersive.
  - rvanlaar 9y ago
    It's fun and doesn't get in your way. It works.

butz 9y ago

Where's the zip version for Windows? I can only see installer download.

WillPostForFood 9y ago
Builds (zip) here: http://buildbot.scummvm.org/builds.html http://buildbot.scummvm.org/builds.html Source here: https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm

MegaLeon 9y ago

Surprised to see Plumbers don't wear ties on the list. For those unaware of this masterpiece, I recommend watching this AVGN video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyaF_gCKWsI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyaF_gCKWsI

crtasm 9y ago
I'm currently re-watching the 90s UK TV series Gamesmaster - they did a feature on this game in their usual sardonic style. I didn't realise there was so much more to enjoy, thanks.