SCI/SCI32 Mac Support Status

Status

This page is an attempt to track the state of ScummVM support for SCI32 Mac games. They are not supported yet. The work stalled for several years and it is unclear how much is left to do. I (sluicebox) gathered most of the Mac games to determine their current blockers. In the process I found several easy fixes that got some games to boot and play audio for the first time. Many of the others are one or two issues away from booting. We could be closer than we think.

Data Files

Extracting data files from SCI32 Macintosh CDs is particularly difficult. Unless a reasonable method is discovered and documented, it seems unlikely that the average user will be able to take advantage of ScummVM support.

Extracting Macintosh files is already complicated by resource and data forks. SCI resources are in the resource fork and many users have trouble with just that part. It's often necessary to use a real or emulated classic Macintosh at some point in the process. SCI32 CDs complicate this further by setting the Hidden flag on files and directories. The Macintosh Hidden file system flag is like the Windows one in that it prevents a file from appearing in Finder. The difference is that Macintosh has no Show Hidden Files setting. Instead, third party programs such as File Buddy must be used to reveal and copy these otherwise invisible files. Sierra hid all files that didn't need to be copied to the hard disk, which is all of the media files and most of the data files. As a final complication, some data files were duplicated between these hidden directories and the visible ones, and different data files use the same name on different CDs.

There is also a performance problem that needs to be solved for SCI32 Mac games. The CD versions contain as many as ten thousand media files which slows the loader to a crawl when starting a game. Each audio resource is in its own file instead of a resource volume and the loader is doing work on each.

General TODOs

• Determine how to name/detect the multi-disc Data files.
• Improve load times when faced with thousands of audio patch files.
• Native Mac cursors sometimes disappear after closing ScummVM overlay screen.
• Implement kPlatform Mac subops for saving and restoring in Lighthouse.
• Update version tests to handle that Mac versions of SCI_VERSION_3 games are SCI_VERSION_2_1_LATE (separate script and hunk)
• Add engine support for a library of standard MIDI files (SQ6 only)

SCI32 Mac Games

Game	Status
GK1	Game is completable
KQ7	Testing, the game seems playable.
LSL6 HI-RES	Testing, the game seems playable.
PQ4	Testing, the game seems playable. Inventory selection and cursors don't seem to work
GK2	Determine how to name/detect the multi-disc Data files
HOYLE5	Testing, the game seems playable.
MOTHERGOOSE HI-RES	Testing, the game seems playable.
PHANTASMAGORIA	Determine how to name/detect the multi-disc Data files
SHIVERS	Testing, the game seems playable.
SQ6	Music stored in resource fork of "Midi Library" as standard MIDI files
TORIN	Testing, the game seems playable.
LSL7	Testing, the game seems playable.
LIGHTHOUSE	Script crash when starting new game (multiple ExitFeature classes and one is broken) Audio crash at end of opening credits Requires kPlatform subops for saving and loading (see below) Determine how to name/detect the multi-disc Data files
RAMA	Determine how to name/detect the multi-disc Data files Error when saving additional saved games No transparencies on title screen
PQSWAT	Determine how to name/detect the multi-disc Data files No transparencies on title intro screen

kPlatform subops

kPlatform supports a handful of miscellaneous Mac-specific sub operations. The SCI32 ones are different than SCI16, and some changed between SCI32 versions. I have decompiled and audited all kPlatform calls in all SCI32 Mac scripts, so this is a complete list of who uses what outstanding operations:

• KQ7 does custom saving and restoring with subops 3, 4, and 5 to initiate, save, and restore files. Initiate is called when starting a new game. Initiate and Restore would display a native Mac save or open dialog with a hard-coded and misspelled prompt such as "Who's game?". The interpreter would remember the current save file, not the game scripts. These subops take no parameters.
• Shivers also does custom saving and restoring with subops 3, 4, and 5 but they take parameters similar to the normal kSave and kRestore functions. It appears the interpreter is no longer in charge of tracking the current save file.
• Lighthouse also does custom saving and restoring but just for fun it only uses subop 3 but adds a sub-subop parameter for the three operations. It appears that -1 initializes, 1 saves, and 0 restores.
• Mother Goose uses subops 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 for saving and restoring. These subops take parameters similar to kSave and kRestore.
• Phantasmagoria sets the music volume from the control panel with subop 12 and passes a volume parameter between 0 and 15.