I remember the sad, sad day I found out I couldn't play Monkey Island 1 on my new computer. I didn't know what to do with myself, I felt like I had lost a close loved one forever... That is until I found the open source program known as SCUMMVM. After a download and an install and a few short steps I was now able to play all my old LucasArts favorites on my computer again, and best of all they had a Mac build so once I upgraded computers again and changed to Mac I still had access to all my beloved games.Now in case you're wondering "What is SCUMMVM?" I'll start by telling you what it stands for, and that is "Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine". I bet you are still confused, but that's ok. SCUMM was the utility used to create the LucasArts adventure game known as Maniac Mansion and was later used for amazing LucasArts games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and the Monkey Island Series. Since SCUMM was created in 1987, it eventually became obsolete and no longer ran on any newer computers or OS's. So along came the SCUMMVM open source program, which is where the 'VM' or Virtual Machine part comes in. A Virtual Machine is basically what it name says, it creates a virtual platform on a computer for certain programs to run in, this one specifically for old LucasArts games.
So if you are in the same boat I was in, check out www.scummvm.org! And you too can get back to all those awesome games!
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2 comments:
I have this program too! I use it to play the Indiana Jones Fate of Atlantis.
not to date myself too much, but "Tie Fighter" was the most amazing space flight sim game when I was an undergrad. I loved being on the side of the Empire, and the plot was thoroughly engaging. In my estimation, one of the tragic flaws in most educational games is that they are not transparent. That is, most people realize they are playing something that is educational, and so even if it is "fun," there is that nagging feeling like "okay, I'm learning something." I don't mean that in the good way. All of this is to say that I think there needs to be more of the "Tie Fighter" model in game design, at least in terms of the plot and achievement recognition which can breed desire to continue and, hopefully, create more transparency.
I just realized that I perhaps got my transparencies mixed up, but can't reason that out in my head without a bit more coffee. Oh well. You know what I mean.
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