SCUMM/Versions
What is SCUMM?
The SCUMM language is a LucasArts in-house standard. The format was never designed to be public and so would change unpredictably from game to game to suit the task at hand. Therefore, many different SCUMM Versions exist today.
With Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, LucasArts developed a modular file format based loosely on the standard IFF format. This was used several times in various forms until The Secret of Monkey Island, where the SCUMM engine and file format was redesigned from scratch. The new format was used from then on, and vestiges of it are still visible in the latest LucasArts games such as Grim Fandango.
Sub Engines of SCUMM
The SCUMM virtual machine is made up of a number of sub engines working together. Strictly, the term SCUMM only refers to the scripting language itself. The official term for the virtual machine as a whole is SPUTM --- but getting people to change is probably a lost cause.
Here are all the engines used by the SCUMM virtual machine.
- SPUTM
- The 'real' name for the engine.
- SCUMM
- The actual scripting language.
- IMUSE
- The MIDI control system, allowing dynamic music.
- SMUSH
- A movie compression format and player.
- INSANE
- The event management system used in V7+ games.
- MMUCAS
- The memory allocation system used in The Curse of Monkey Island. V8 only.
SCUMM Versions
The Program version is simply a string found within the SCUMM interpreters included with each game.
The Engine version, however, indicates which overall SCUMM revision was used in the game, indicating the format of the data files as well as any special technology used (such as iMuse and INSANE).
| Program version | Engine version | Year | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| ? | 0 | ??? | Maniac Mansion (C64) |
| ? | 1 | ??? | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (C64) |
| ? | 1 | 1987 | Maniac Mansion (classic) |
| ? | 1 | 1988 | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (classic) |
| ? | 1.5 | 1990 | Maniac Mansion (NES) |
| ? | 2 | 1988 | Maniac Mansion (enhanced) |
| ? | 2 | 1988 | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (enhanced) |
| ? | 3 | 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
| ? | 3 | 1992 | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (FM-TOWNS) |
| 3.0.22 | 3 | 1990 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (256) |
| 3.5.37 | 3 | 1990 | LOOM |
| 3.5.40 | 3 | 1990 | LOOM (alt. version) |
| 4.0.62 | 4 | 1990 | PASS (LOOM, Indy3, MI1 DEMO) |
| 4.0.67 | 4 | 1990 | The Secret of Monkey Island (EGA) |
| 5.0.12 | 4 | 1990 | The Secret of Monkey Island (???) |
| 5.0.19 | 4 | 1990 | The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA Floppy) |
| 5.1.42 | 4 | 1992 | LOOM (256 color CD version) |
| 5.2.02 | 5 | 1991 | Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's revenge |
| 5.2.20 (?) | 5 | 1992 | Indiana Jones 4 and the Fate of Atlantis (Disk ?) |
| 5.2.28cd | 5 | 1996 | Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's revenge (CD) |
| 5.3.06 | 5 | 1996 | The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA CD) |
| 5.5.00 | 5 | 1993 | Indiana Jones 4 and the Fate of Atlantis (CD Talkie) |
| 5.5.02 (?) | 5 | 1995 | Indiana Jones 4 and the Fate of Atlantis (DEMO) |
| 5.5.20 (?) | 5 | ??? | Indiana Jones 4 and the Fate of Atlantis (? might be a wrong entry) |
| 6.3.0 | 6 | 1993 | Sam & Max (DEMO) |
| 6.3.9 | 6 | 1993 | Day Of The Tentacle (DEMO) |
| 6.4.2 | 6 | 1993 | Day Of The Tentacle |
| 6.5.0 | 6 | 1993 | Sam & Max (Disk) |
| 7.0.2 | 6 | 1993 | Sam & Max (CD) |
| 7.3.2 | 7 | 1994 | Full Thottle (DEMO) |
| 7.3.5 | 7 | 1994 | Full Thottle |
| 7.5.0 | 7 | 1995 | The DIG |
| 8.0.0 | 8 | 1997 | Curse of Monkey Island (DEMO) |
| 8.1.0 | 8 | 1997 | Curse of Monkey Island (DEMO) |
| 8.1.0 | 8 | 1997 | Curse of Monkey Island |
External Links
The information presented here is based on http://scumm.mixnmojo.com/?page=games, http://www.scummvm.org/docs/specs/introduction.php and on http://scumm.mixnmojo.com/?page=specs&file=scuminfo.txt.