User Manual

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WORK IN PROGRESS, HELP NEEDED

If you want to contribute, send us a sample of text you'd write for the new manual, and we will consider adding you an account. You can work on the manual in the Wiki, but if you prefer, working on the DocBook version or supplying us with HTML or TeX sources is fine, too (we will then translate them for the Wiki and into DocBook).

Introduction

What is ScummVM?

ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the game, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed!

Some of the adventures ScummVM supports include Adventure Soft's Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2; Revolution's Beneath A Steel Sky, Broken Sword 1 and Broken Sword 2; Flight of the Amazon Queen; Wyrmkeep's Inherit the Earth; Coktel Vision's Gobliiins; Westwood Studios' The Legend of Kyrandia and games based on LucasArts' SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) system such as Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max and more. You can find a thorough list with details on which games are supported and how well on the compatibility page. ScummVM is continually improving, so check back often.

Among the systems on which you can play those games are Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Dreamcast, PocketPC, PalmOS, AmigaOS, BeOS, OS/2, PSP, PS2, SymbianOS/EPOC and many more.

At this time ScummVM should be considered beta software, and is still under heavy development. Be aware that whilst we attempt to make sure that many games can be completed with few major bugs, crashes can happen.

If you enjoy ScummVM feel free to donate some money to help us. This will help us buy utilities needed to develop ScummVM easier and quicker. If you cannot donate, help and contribute a patch!

Reporting bugs

To report a bug, please create a SourceForge account, then use our bug tracker to file a report (you can also reach it via the "Bug Tracking" link from our homepage. Please make sure the bug is reproducible, and still occurs in the latest daily build/current SVN version. Also check the bug doesn't already exist on the bug tracker, and have a look at the compatibility list on our website for that game, to ensure the issue is not already known.

Also, please do not report bugs on games that are not listed as being completable in Appendix: Supported games, or in the online compatibility list. We already know those games have bugs.

Please include the following information:

• ScummVM version (PLEASE test the latest SVN/Daily build)
• Bug details, including instructions on reproducing
• Language of game (English, German, ...)
• Version of game (talkie, floppy, ...)
• Platform and Compiler (Win32, Linux, FreeBSD, ...)
• Attach a save game if possible
• If this bug only occurred recently, please note the last version without the bug, and the first version including

the bug. That way we can fix it quicker by looking at the changes made.

This should only take you a little time but will make it much easier for us to process your bug report in a way that satisfies both you and us.

Contacting the developers

The easiest way to contact the ScummVM team is by submitting bug reports (see reporting-bugs) or by using our forums. You can also join and email the scummvm-devel mailing list (see [1]). Or chat with us on IRC (channel #scummvm on irc.freenode.net).

Please do not ask us to support an unsupported game -- read our FAQ for an explanation.

Getting started

Requirements

TODO: List Requirements (in terms of required/optional libraries, CPU power, memory, ... In particular it would be nice if we could e.g. say what PalmOS devices support ScummVM; not necessarily a list of all supported Palm models, but more a list of what OS you need how much memory, colors, etc.)

ScummVM is known to run on the following systems:

• Unix-like (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, etc.)
• Windows
• Mac OS X
• Windows Mobile (WinCE / PocketPC / Smartphone)
• PalmOS
• Dreamcast
• MorphOS
• GP32
• GP2X
• Symbian based smartphones
• PlayStation 2
• PlayStation Portable
• Nintendo DS
• BeOS
• AmigaOS 4
• Atari/FreeMiNT
• Solaris
• OS/2
• Opie

Besides these, there have been many more unofficial ports in the past. Since they were not done by us, we can not say anything about their reliability, legality, or availability, nor can we provide support for them. Use them at your own risk!

Among those officially unsupported systems are:

• XBox
• RISC OS

If you plan to compile ScummVM yourself, you will need certain additional libraries. More on that in Compiling from sources.

How to obtain ScummVM

Basically you have two choices on how to get ScummVM: either you download one of the binaries we built for you (probably the most convenient way); or you can compile it yourself from source. For beginners, we strongly recommend using our prebuilt binaries.

Binaries

You can download official binaries of ScummVM from our downloads page. Go there with your favorite web browser and download the binary for your platform. If none is available, you may have to build ScummVM yourself, refer to the next section for instructions on how to do that. Alternatively, some third parties are providing unofficial ScummVM binaries for further platforms, but naturally, we can not make any statements about the quality of such unofficial builds - use them at your own risk!

We always ship pre-built binaries of ScummVM for the following platforms (note that it can take some time after a release for all binaries to be available):

• Linux (Fedora Core)
• Linux (Debian)
• Windows
• Mac OS X
• Windows Mobile (WinCE / PocketPC / Smartphone)
• Symbian
• Dreamcast
• PlayStation 2
• PlayStation Portable
• Nintendo DS
• GP2X

In addition to these, we try to provide more binaries, but which depends mostly on how many volunteers we can find to help us out. In the past we have shipped binaries for these systems:

• Linux (Mandrake)
• Linux (Slackware)
• Solaris
• BeOS
• AmigaOS 4
• MorphOS
• OS/2

Compiling from sources

TODO:

• Point to the Compiling ScummVM page, resp. integrate that here.
• List all required libs; where to get them; how to install them
• List all optional libs etc.
• We could separate this by OS, or by compiler/dev system. I think the current split in the README (section 9.0) isn't too bad.

Installation

After you have obtained ScummVM as described in the previous section, you will probably want to install it on your system. The steps required for that differ between the various operating systems. In the following we try to cover all the systems we officially support.

Debian

From the downloads page, download the Debian .deb package. To install it, you need to be root and type dpkg -i packagename.deb into a virtual terminal near you.

Fedora Core / Redhat

TODO

Slackware

TODO

Amiga OS4

From the downloads page, get the AmigaOS4 package. You will download a packed archive (.lha). To open it, double click on it and UnArc will unpack right away or ask for the installation path. Once it is unpacked, you can move the whole drawer where ever you wish to store it.

Windows

From the downloads page, download either the Win32 .zip file or the Win32 .exe file. If you download the .zip file, you will need a program such as WinZip to open it. After opening the archive, copy it to the folder where you want to put it. If you download the .exe installer, you will get options where you want to install it. Choose the location to where you want to install it. Also, the installer places a shortcut in the Start Menu.

Mac OS X

From the downloads page, download the "Mac OS X Universal Binary" file. You will download a disk image (.dmg). To open it, double click on it and Disk Copy will mount the image. Once it is mounted, copy the files inside to a folder where you wish to store it.

Windows Mobile (WinCE / PocketPC / Smartphone)

Create a folder on your device to put ScummVM into, e.g. "\My Device\SD-MMcard\ScummVM". From the downloads page, download the "Windows CE ARM package" zip file. Extract everything from this file, and place it all in the folder that you created on your device (using ActiveSync or similar: note that if your chosen location is short of space, the only absolutely required file is "scummvm.exe"). To run ScummVM just tap on "scummvm.exe" in File Explorer: you may wish to copy a shortcut of "scummvm.exe" to your Start Menu to allow for easier access.

PalmOS

From the downloads page, download the "PalmOS 5 binary" or the "PalmOS Tapwave Zodiac binary" and unzip the files to your computer. Using your hotsync tool, install the scummvm-frontend.prc and skin.pdb files to your device. Launch ScummVM to create the /PALM/Programs/ScummVM/ folders and subfolders on your memory card. Using a card reader, copy the engines you require to play your games to the /ScummVM/Mods/ folder on your card (scumm.engine for scumm games, queen.engine for FOTAQ, etc.)

Symbian / EPOC

TODO

Nintendo DS

TODO

Dreamcast

From the downloads page, download either the Dreamcast .zip file or the Nero image file. If you download the .zip file, you will need a program such as WinZip to open it. After opening the archive, copy it to the folder where you want to put it. The Nero image can be burned automatically to a CD using Nero Burning ROM or any other program that accepts NRG formatted disc images.

GP2X

TODO

GP32

TODO

PlayStation 2

TODO

PlayStation Portable

TODO

Running and using ScummVM

How to use ScummVM, including both graphical and command line usage

Configuration

Changing the options of ScummVM so that it runs games exactly the way you want it to

Appendix: Supported games

The list of games supported by the most recent stable version of ScummVM can be found on the Compatibility page, or the games supported by the current unstable version can be found on the SVN Compatibility page. The Engines page in the wiki also lists these things, along with the engines that are still work-in-progress.

Appendix: Tools

A list of the tools available for use with ScummVM (e.g. for compressing audio), along with a description of their usage