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We've had a lot of successful student projects as part of Google's Summer of Code in previous years -- we hope to inspire you to work with us and (hopefully) add your own success.
We've had a lot of successful student projects as part of Google's Summer of Code in previous years -- we hope to inspire you to work with us and (hopefully) add your own success.


For all of these tasks, you'll probably need to already be comfortable with a basic level of C++. Some of the tasks might need more specialised knowledge (for example, working with ResidualVM may need you to understand some OpenGL and 3D math).
For any work on ScummVM, you'll probably need to already be comfortable with a basic level of C++. Some of the tasks might need more specialised knowledge (for example, working with ResidualVM may need you to understand some OpenGL and 3D math); we give our thoughts about this alongside each suggested task, below.


Most importantly, we'd like you to join our community. There are many previous GSoC participants who are still involved in our project, and whether or not you participate as part of Summer of Code, we'd love for you to get involved too.
Most importantly, we'd like you to join our community. There are many previous GSoC participants who are still involved in our project, and whether or not you participate as part of Summer of Code, we'd love for you to get involved too.


You should come to our [[IRC Channel]] and introduce yourself! We're friendly, and it's often the easiest way to ask questions about the tasks and the code in general. The channel is the main form of everyday communication for the project, and there will almost always be developers there who can discuss your project ideas, answer questions and help out.
You should come to our [[IRC Channel]] and introduce yourself! We're friendly, and it's often the easiest way to ask questions about the tasks and the code in general. The channel is the main form of everyday communication for the project, and there will almost always be developers there who can discuss your project ideas, answer questions and help out.
You can find more information about what we expect from you before you apply at [[GSoC Application]].


__TOC__
__TOC__


== Introduction ==
== Introduction ==
We have a list of potential tasks further down on this page, but before you look at them, perhaps you'd like to take a look at some of the successful projects from previous years! We encourage all of our students to maintain a blog during their summer work, which is a nice way to get some sense of what they accomplished.


One popular type of task is to improve our support for the games you love, whether this means a new game engine, or helping us to perfect an existing one.
One popular type of task is to improve our support for the games you love, whether this means a new game engine, or helping us to perfect an existing one.


Sometimes source code is available - in recent summers, students integrated code supporting games such as [[Sfinx]], [[The Prince and the Coward]] and [[Avalanche]] into ScummVM. In fact, our support for the [[Wintermute]] engine was not only started by a GSoC student, who integrated the code into our tree, but also [[Wintermute/Games|drastically improved]] by another student a year later.  
Sometimes source code is available - in recent summers, students integrated code supporting games such as [[Sfinx]] ([http://urukgsoc.blogspot.hu/search/label/CGE2 blog]), [[The Prince and the Coward]] ([http://lukaslwgsoc.blogspot.com/ blog]) and [[Avalanche]] ([http://urukgsoc.blogspot.hu/search/label/Avalanche blog]) into ScummVM. In fact, our support for the [[Wintermute]] engine was not only started by a GSoC student ([http://summermute2012.blogspot.com/ blog]), who integrated the code into our tree, but also [[Wintermute/Games|drastically improved]] by another student a year later ([https://icodelikeacow.wordpress.com/ blog]).  


[[File:GSOC_EMI.png|160px]] [[File:GSOC_zvision.png|160px]] [[File:GSOC_EMI_asm.png|160px]]
[[File:GSOC_EMI.png|160px]] [[File:GSOC_zvision.png|152px]] [[File:GSOC_EMI_asm.png|147px]]


A more challenging (but hopefully rewarding) idea is to start (or continue) reverse engineering a game where no source is available. Two good examples are the pair of students who drastically improved ResidualVM's support for Escape from Monkey Island, and the work on improving [[Operation Stealth]]. Another option is to work on merging someone else's reverse engineering work, such as was done with the [[ZVision]] engine.
A more challenging (but hopefully rewarding) idea is to start (or continue) reverse engineering a game where no source is available. Two good examples are the pair of students who drastically improved ResidualVM's support for Escape from Monkey Island ([http://diggingemi.blogspot.com/ blog], [http://akzgsoc.blogspot.com/ blog]), and the work on improving [[Operation Stealth]] ([https://buddhahacks.wordpress.com/ blog]). Another option is to work on merging (and improving) someone else's reverse engineering work, such as was done with the [[ZVision]] engine ([http://richiesams.blogspot.com/search/label/ScummVM blog]).


If you'd prefer to improve ScummVM more directly, there are even more options available there; in the past, students have improved our OpenGL support, added a testing framework, written a new GUI framework, improved sound format support and added support for high-colour (16bpp and above) graphics. It's difficult for us to imagine ScummVM as it was before some of these projects, you can make a huge difference!
If you'd prefer to improve ScummVM more directly, there are even more options available there; in the past, students have (to give some examples) improved our OpenGL support, added a testing framework ([http://jakimushka.blogspot.com/ blog]), improved our scaler code ([http://singron.blogspot.com/ blog]), written a new GUI framework, added loadable modules for embedded platforms ([http://tonypuccinelli.blogspot.com/search/label/ScummVM blog]), rearchitected our keyboard input code ([http://kenny-gsoc.blogspot.com/ blog]) and added support for high-colour (16bpp and above) graphics. It's difficult for us to imagine ScummVM as it was before some of these projects, you can make a huge difference!


== Tasks ==
== Tasks ==
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Difficulty level: Easy.
Difficulty level: Easy.


We have a wishlist for improved GUI widgets; we'd like better sliders, multiline text widgets, and an improved list widget. We also want proper widgets for our PopUp and List widgets.
We have a wishlist for improved GUI widgets; we'd like better sliders, multiline text widgets, an improved list widget, and better widgets for PopUps.


Also, several years ago, we switched to a new XML-based and vector-based GUI, but unfortunately during this transition number of nice touches were lost. In particular, the current GUI lacks soft shadows and antialiasing in number of places. We'd like them back!
Also, several years ago, we switched to a new XML-based and vector-based GUI, but unfortunately during this transition number of nice touches were lost. In particular, the current GUI lacks soft shadows and antialiasing in number of places. We'd like them back! At the same time, it would be nice to add support for transparent PNG files.
 
Finally, it would be nice to have support for a scalable GUI which looks good at modern resolutions, which would require changes to our theme format, among other improvements.


See [[OpenTasks/Generic/Improve GUI Look]] for more details.
See [[OpenTasks/Generic/Improve GUI Look]] for more details.
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Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need to understand JavaScript, as well as a good level of C++.
Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need to understand JavaScript, as well as a good level of C++.


The [http://seancode.com/webventure/ WebVenture] [https://github.com/mrkite/webventure engine] by Sean Kasun is a reimplementation of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacVenture MacVenture] engine from ICOM Simulations.  
It would be great to support games which were written for the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacVenture MacVenture] engine from ICOM Simulations.  It was used in the late 80s and in the early 90s for 4 games. The MacVenture games are still available for purchase from [http://www.zojoi.com/ Zojoi].


It was used in the late 80s and in the early 90s for 4 games. The MacVenture games are still available for purchase from [http://www.zojoi.com/ Zojoi].
The [http://seancode.com/webventure/ WebVenture] [https://github.com/mrkite/webventure engine] by Sean Kasun is a reimplementation of this engine, so we (hopefully) already know enough about how it works. Of course, the current code is written in JavaScript, which means we can't use it directly; a new engine needs to be written (in C++) and integrated into ScummVM.
 
The current code is written in JavaScript, which means it will have to be completely rewritten in C++ and integrated in ScummVM.


=== Wintermute 3D ===
=== Wintermute 3D ===
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In 2012, support for games using the Wintermute engine was merged into ScummVM, but it still lacks support for games which use 3D graphics. It would be great to be able to play these games in ResidualVM!
In 2012, support for games using the Wintermute engine was merged into ScummVM, but it still lacks support for games which use 3D graphics. It would be great to be able to play these games in ResidualVM!


See [http://wiki.residualvm.org/index.php/GSoC_Ideas#Wintermute_3D_port Wintermute 3D] for more details.
'''ResidualVM project.''' See [http://wiki.residualvm.org/index.php/GSoC_Ideas#Wintermute_3D_port Wintermute 3D] for more details.


=== In Cold Blood engine refactor ===
=== In Cold Blood engine refactor ===
Technical contacts: [[User:somaen|Einar Johan Trøan Sømåen]], [[User:aquadran|Paweł Kołodziejski]], [[User:joostp|Joost Peters]]
Technical contacts: [[User:somaen|Einar Johan Trøan Sømåen]], [[User:aquadran|Paweł Kołodziejski]], [[User:joostp|Joost Peters]]


Difficulty level: ???
Difficulty level: Medium/hard. You'll need to be able to understand the relevant parts of the engine.


ResidualVM project. See [http://wiki.residualvm.org/index.php/GSoC_Ideas#In_Cold_Blood_engine_refactor ICB engine refactor] for more details
'''ResidualVM project.''' See [http://wiki.residualvm.org/index.php/GSoC_Ideas#In_Cold_Blood_engine_refactor ICB engine refactor] for more details


=== Improve SCI support ===
=== Improve SCI support ===


Technical contacts: TBD
Technical contacts: Our SCI team; talk to us on IRC, or send an e-mail.


Difficulty level: Hard. Good C++ knowledge and some knowledge of x86 assembly.
Difficulty level: Hard. Good C++ knowledge and some knowledge of x86 assembly.
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ScummVM has stable support for the older Sierra SCI games, but the newer ones -- such as Space Quest 6, Quest for Glory 4, Gabriel Knight 1 -- still need extensive work. As this is also something we are very actively working on ourselves, please come talk to us if you would be interested in helping out with reverse engineering and re-implementation.
ScummVM has stable support for the older Sierra SCI games, but the newer ones -- such as Space Quest 6, Quest for Glory 4, Gabriel Knight 1 -- still need extensive work. As this is also something we are very actively working on ourselves, please come talk to us if you would be interested in helping out with reverse engineering and re-implementation.


== Infrastructure Tasks ==
=== Dink Smallwood engine (Cancelled) ===
 
Technical contacts: [[user:strangerke|strangerke]], [[User:dreammaster|dreammaster]]
 
Difficulty level: Medium. Good C++ knowledge.
 
<strike>Dink Smallwood is an action RPG video game, developed by Robinson Technologies, at the time consisting of Seth Robinson, Justin Martin, and Greg Smith. It was first released in 1998 before being released as freeware on October 17, 1999. The game has a small but constant fan following that continues to develop add-ons for the game more than 15 years after its release. The game is also notable for its humorous dialogue and surrealistic themes in various scenes between the gameplay.</strike>
 
<strike>The purpose of the task is to port the available sources of Dink Smallwood on top of ScummVM's OSystem framework and to make sure it also have a good support of fan's MOD. (about 350 games currently)</strike>
 
'''''This task has been cancelled due to the existence of the very good and active project [http://www.gnu.org/software/freedink FreeDink]. The scope of this project has been misunderstood when the task was added. All our apologies.'''''
 
=== Dungeon Master engine ===
 
Technical contacts: [[user:strangerke|strangerke]], [[User:dreammaster|dreammaster]]


Finally, there's always plenty of other practical tasks on our wishlist!
Difficulty level: Medium. Good C++ knowledge.


=== Improve Android port ===
Dungeon Master was released on 15 December 1987 on the Atari ST, and by early 1988 was a strong seller, becoming the best-selling game for the computer of all time.
It then was ported to Amiga, PC DOS and many other platforms, with the same success. It's considered nowadays to be a reference in RPG game, possibly the title who made the genre popular.


Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need some knowledge of C++, Java and ideally Android development and OpenGL.
The purpose of the task is to port Dungeon Master's engine and implement it on top of ScummVM's OSystem framework and to make sure it also have a good support of fan's MOD.


Technical contacts: [[User:Fuzzie|Fuzzie]]
=== Bring your own Adventure or RPG ===


The Android port needs various improvements, especially combined with modern versions of Android. TODO.
Technical contacts: Talk to us on IRC, or send us an email.


=== Improving the iPhone/iOS port ===
Difficulty: Hard. You'll need good knowledge of C++, as well as knowledge of (reading) assembly.


Technical contact: [[User:LordHoto|Johannes Schickel]], [[User:Sev|Eugene Sandulenko]].
Our project consists of re-implementations of classic games, and we have listed
a number of potential new game engines that you could work on here on our ideas
page. However, you may have a classic 2D Adventure game or Role Playing Game
(RPG) you are interested in yourself that is suitable for ScummVM that you
would like to reverse engineer and re-implement. If so, great!


Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need to know C++, Objective C, and have some experience with iOS development. You'll also need a (jailbroken) iOS device, preferably both iPhone and iPad, and the official iOS development environment (on a Mac).
Adding a completely new game engine is not easy, and you will have to convince
us that you are aware of the challenges involved, that the game you are
interested in is feasible, and that you have the necessary skills. Preferably,
you will already have done some preliminary investigation, into for example
data file formats, disassembly, etc.


The current iOS port, which we still label as iPhone, is functional but feels not really polished in a number of ways. The port comes from a time when the first two generations of the iPhone were still the top models. This, for example, makes it not as nicely usable on modern iOS devices because of resolution issues. Furthermore, while the gesture input serves as a great way to, for example, change control schemes, it also has some annoying issues. The most prominent example is that the "open global main menu" gesture sometimes causes the main menu to immediately close.
Please come talk to us to see if we have a mentor who would be interested in
working with you on such a game. We'd be happy to help out.


Build wise the iOS port is currently only supported by using a custom toolchain. Supporting the official toolchain and XCode as development environment in '''addition''' to the current toolchain is something we would really like to see. We already have a tool to auto-generate project files for Microsoft Visual Studio. The idea would be to take the currently WIP XCode support and finish it. Building with the official toolchain on command line would also be nice to have.
== Infrastructure Tasks ==


Essentially, this task requires working on various aspects of the iOS port. This includes graphics, GUI, input handling, but also build related aspects. Ideally, we want our iOS port to feel much smoother for the users, but also for developers working on it.
Finally, there's always plenty of other practical tasks on our wishlist!


=== Improve iOS port of ResidualVM ===
=== Improve Android port ===


Technical contacts: [[User:aquadran|Paweł Kołodziejski]], [[User:somaen|Einar Johan Trøan Sømåen]]
Technical contacts: [[User:Fuzzie|Fuzzie]]


Currently ResidualVM has an in progress Android port, but it lacks an iOS port. This task is about to make it for iPhones and iPads.
Difficulty level: Medium/hard. You'll need some knowledge of C++, Java and ideally Android development and OpenGL. Access to at least one Android device is probably also necessary.


See [http://wiki.residualvm.org/index.php/GSoC_Ideas#iOS_port_of_ResidualVM iOS Port] for more details
Our current Android port is in need of improvement, especially combined with modern versions of Android. We'd like to improve the GUI and the input code in particular, but hopefully you also have your own ideas if you've tried the port (if you haven't: do so!). There are some patches already available, and it should be possible to merge code from other projects (such as SDL 2). A native configuration GUI could also be an option.


=== Improve audio device configuration ===
=== Improve audio device configuration ===
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Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need enough C++ experience and knowledge to design a suitable solution.
Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need enough C++ experience and knowledge to design a suitable solution.


Our configuration currently doesn't support all audio and MIDI options we would like, and even common configurations cannot always be conveniently specified.
Our configuration currently doesn't support all the audio and MIDI options we would like, and even common configurations cannot always be conveniently specified.


See [[OpenTasks/Audio/Audio Output Selection]] and [[OpenTasks/Audio/MIDI Device Configuration]] for more discussion and some technical details.
See [[OpenTasks/Audio/Audio Output Selection]] and [[OpenTasks/Audio/MIDI Device Configuration]] for more discussion and some technical details of two possible tasks in this direction.


=== Hardware accelerated blitting ===
=== Hardware accelerated blitting ===
Technical contacts: Our IRC channel, our mailing list, or contact [[User:somaen|Einar Johan Trøan Sømåen]], [[User:LordHoto|Johannes Schickel]], [[User:Fuzzie|Alyssa Milburn]], [[User:Digitall|David G. Turner]]
Technical contacts: preferably [[User:LordHoto|Johannes Schickel]], otherwise [[User:somaen|Einar Johan Trøan Sømåen]], [[User:Fuzzie|Alyssa Milburn]] or [[User:Digitall|David G. Turner]]


Difficulty level: Medium. Some knowledge of graphics APIs (ideally OpenGL) would help, and ideally a mobile device of some kind which can run ScummVM, to experiment with.
Difficulty level: Medium. Some knowledge of graphics APIs (ideally OpenGL) would help, and ideally a mobile device of some kind which can run ScummVM, to experiment with.
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Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need to know C++ and Objective C (and ideally have some Cocoa experience), and have a Mac.
Difficulty level: Medium. You'll need to know C++ and Objective C (and ideally have some Cocoa experience), and have a Mac.


ScummVM's current OS X port is SDL 1.2 based, which is a dead project, having been replaced by SDL2, and Apple has a tendency to change and deprecate functionality with each version of their OS, as such, the current state of the OS X port seems to degrade with each new OS X release. Functionality added in newer releases of OS X, such as the new Full-screen modes introduced in 10.7 are also not available for use in ScummVM with the current SDL1.2 port.
ScummVM's current OS X port is based on SDL 1.2, which is a dead project (having been replaced by SDL2); this means that the current state of the OS X port seems to degrade with each new OS X release. Also, functionality added in newer releases of OS X (such as the new full-screen modes introduced in 10.7) are not available for use in ScummVM.
 
One option for solving this would be to create a backend for OS X that doesn't use SDL. This would mean writing/porting replacement code for the parts where SDL currently handles things (i.e. at least audio, video and input, and ideally other details too). Preferably, such a project would be to retain backwards compatibility with 10.2 as we have today, while also allowing for a good user experience on the very latest OS X versions.
 
=== Text to speech ===
 
Technical contacts: Our IRC channel, our mailing list, or contact [[User:Strangerke|Arnaud Boutonné]] or [[User:criezy|Thierry Crozat]]
 
We have two suggested tasks in the direction of text-to-speech:
 
'''Adding text-to-speech support in Mortville Manor'''
 
Difficulty: Easy (depending on how you want to approach the task); just knowledge of C++ and some experience programming should suffice.
 
The original [[Mortville Manor]] game used a speech synthesis system based on PC Speaker.
 
Our hope for this task would be to replace this obsolete speech synthesis with an external dependency which would allow the implementation of modern text-to-speech generation, in (at least) French, German and English. We have some ideas for which libraries would be suitable, but we're also open to suggestions (and offering the option of platform-specific APIs is also a possibility).
 
'''Adding speech synthesis of on-screen text for people with reduced sight or for learning to read'''
 
Difficulty: Medium. You'll need to be comfortable enough with C++ to be able to (quickly) understand enough of the existing engine code in order to add this functionality.
 
Using the same library used in the previous task, it would be nice to have similar text-to-speech generation for other games. The challenge here would (hopefully) be to add the necessary interfaces for providing the text, and any needed other information (such as timing), to individual game engines. Part of your preparatory work would be working out (with our help) which engines to target.
 
This task would allow people suffering from sight issues to play more games in ScummVM, and it could also be very useful to help people who are learning to read.
 
Alternatively (or additionally), you could consider adding other accessibility features.
 
=== Cloud integration ===
 
Technical contacts: [[User:Sev|Eugene Sandulenko]], [[User:uruk|Peter Bozso]] or talk to us on IRC or send an e-mail
 
Difficulty: Medium. You'll need knowledge of C++, and learn or know about APIs of selected cloud services.
 
Cloud integration would make it possible to transparently share savegame and game data files between devices. The more providers (Google Drive/Dropbox/OneDrive/OwnCloud/etc...) we could support, the better. ScummVM supports many platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, and many others), so any solution would also need to be sufficiently portable.
It would be also nice to have an option for users who don't want to use a cloud service or can't access their device's file system fully (for example on iOS), where they can configure their own server as the data provider.
 
=== SCI tools ===
 
Technical contacts: our SCI team; talk to us on IRC, or send an e-mail
 
Difficulty: Medium. You'll need to know or learn about SCI internals.


One option for solving this, is to create a backend for OS X that doesn't use SDL. This would mean writing replacement code for the parts where SDL currently handles things (i.e. atleast audio/video/input, but possible other details). A major aim of such a project would be to retain backwards compatibility with 10.2 as we have today, while allowing for a good user experience on the very latest OS X versions as well
We're in the process of reverse engineering modern SCI games (SCI32 games, from the generation of Gabriel Knight 1, Quest for Glory 4, Space Quest 6, etc.). For testing and debugging purposes, having access to good tools to study data files, resources, scripts, and run-time behaviour can be very useful. A number of such tools already exist, including some of our own tools, tools from FreeSCI which need porting to ScummVM, and a few external tools. You may identify gaps in the currently available tools, and in discussion with our SCI development team, propose ways of improving or integrating these tools, with the goal of making it easier to develop support in ScummVM for SCI32 games.
Uruk
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