Preferred Games in ScummVM?

[Luinath]

Hello,

I don't have a problem using either DOSBox or ScummVM to play games that no longer run properly on modern systems, but are there specific games that works better on ScummVM than DOSBox in terms of stability?

I'm also curious if the following games run better on DOSBox, or ScummVM:

- Beneath a Steel Sky
- Full Throttle
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
- King's Quest 1-6 (From the KQ Collection Series) **
- Laura Bow 1-2 ((From the KQ Collection Series) **
- Leisure Suit Larry 1-6 (From the LSL Collection Series) *
- Loom (Talkie ver.)
- Maniac Mansion (Included in my Mac version of Day of the Tentacle)
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose (From the KQ Collection Series) **
- Monkey Island 2
- Sam & Max Hit The Road
- The 7th Guest
- The Curse of Monkey Island
- The Dig
- The Secrets of Monkey Island
- Toonstruck

* Excluding LSL6, I used the DOSBox Installer from here to get around the Copyright Question, since it gets annoying after a while to have to pull out the manual to find the answer to a question that isn't even solvable without the manual, but I'm not sure if ScummVM runs any of these games better than DOSBox.
** I just bought the KQ Collection Series, so I don't know if they have a similar obstacle to deal with before, or in the middle of the game that requires a manual for the answers like in LSL.

[Collector]

I generally prefer DOSBox to ScummVM in most cases. I can usually get better sound out of DOSBox with less effort. ScummVM has multiple sound settings, both per game and globally. Often these settings can be in conflict with each other and not give you the expected sound, at least if you run the game through their GUI. It also often uses defaults that are not the games' defaults, like when they added support fro the SCI0 games and forced the "anti-dithering" as default.

I will use ScummVM for the LA games and you have to use it for the supported freeware games as the download packages only contain game data and cannot be run in DOSBox. I use ScummVM for KQ6 to be able to run the Windows version for the high res dialog portraits. There are a couple of 16-bit Windows only SCI games, but these are not yet supported by ScummVM. The 32-bit SCI games can usually be made to run on modern Windows.

I also use ScummVM for the Coktel Visions games because in the past, the CD games had issues in both VDMSound and DOSBox, probably because they used the MSCDEX in nonconventional ways.

[Luinath]

Thank you for answering my question Collector. Seems like certain games are either easier to set up, or work better on one program, and it seems unfair for ScummVM to set undithering by default, even for the people who want to experience the way the game originally looked.

I guess it would make sense to play LucasArts games on ScummVM, since the program was originally made to run those games, similar to ResidualVM with Grim Fandango.

Is there anything different when playing the High-Res version of KQ6 on DOSBox through Windows 3.11 when compared to ScummVM?

[Collector]

I do not believe that ScummVM still has undithering set as default, but there was a bit of a fight to make it not so, but when SCI0 was first added, the only way to turn it off was through an undocumented INI edit.

The KQ6 intro scales in ScummVM while it does not in DOSBox. It can also be a bit of a pain to setup Win3x for MPU-401 instead of SoundBlaster. Without this the music will leave a lot to be desired. Granted, this is not a limitation of DOSBox, but of Win3x. If you do not already have 3x installed in DOSBox, some will find it a pain, but you only have to set it up once.You also have to go though a couple extra steps if you want to launch the game directly on start. Granted, this is not that hard, but it is more than writing an INI to launch ScummVM.

In the end, for my installers the Win3x in DOSBox route would not be that hard to do, but it would add quite a bit of weight to the installer. However, this is a non starter as Microsoft still has not freewared 3x.

[MusicallyInspired]

The one interesting thing about ScummVM is that it can do things that the original interpreter could not. In the case of Scumm games they can have both adlib and digital sound effects (where in dos it was one or the other and adlib effects had more sounds than digital) this option is available with the mixed adlib mode checkbox in one of the settings menus. In the case of KQ6 you get to have things like the hi res graphics with the dos colour cursors and the MT-32 soundtrack. But generally I agree with Collector that the Dos versions are better for at least Sierra games while I consider ScummVM just fine for Lucasarts games (what it was originally designed for).

[Luinath]

I will stick to using ScummVM to play KQ6 once I get my copy of King's Quest Collection Series in the mail. The only game I run on Windows 3.11 is Dark Seed II (wish the game was supported by ScummVM,) which took me a while to figure out how to get the game running with the voices and cutscenes.

The only game that I needed to use Mixed Adlib/MIDI mode is Monkey Island 2, since some of the sounds would not play properly in the game. I might try it out for KQ6, but what noticeable differences are there with Mixed Adlib/MIDI mode activated?

Thanks for the answers. I will mostly play games from Sierra, and others that aren't supported, or is unstable on ScummVM through DOSBox. I will play games from Lucasarts, the High-Res version of KQ6, and the games that are more stable to run on ScummVM than DOSBox. I originally had the Low-Res version of LSL6 on ScummVM with the sounds and voices from the High-Res version, but seemed unnecessary when I can run the High-Res version on DOSBox, and the settings set in the game don't seem to stay, with the exception of a save file with the preferred settings (it keeps the settings on DOSBox, except the subtitles.)

[Collector]

You were having issues with LSL6CD in DOSBox?

[Luinath]

It was years ago when I had the problem of not knowing how to properly set up games on DOSBox, which I had to play LSL 1-6 games on ScummVM, and LSL7 with SquirtTheCat's Installer, until I found the DOSBox installers last year from this site. The installers also helped me understand how to use DOSBox properly, which I managed to get other DOS games I had in the shelves for years e.g., The 11th Hour (does have a version to run the game without DOSBox, but it's sort of unstable.)

[Collector]

Though I have not played LSL6CD all of the way through in some time, it does seem to run without issue in DOSBox. If you know of any issues, I would like to hear about them, if the installer needs to adjusted to address them.

[MusicallyInspired]

The only game that I needed to use Mixed Adlib/MIDI mode is Monkey Island 2, since some of the sounds would not play properly in the game. I might try it out for KQ6, but what noticeable differences are there with Mixed Adlib/MIDI mode activated?

Actually, that only works for Scumm games.

[Luinath]

I haven't found any problems in the DOSBox version of LSL6 at the moment, as I managed to get through the whole game, but I can't find out why I'm usually missing the last 3 points in the game (witnessed everything that can be done in the game from what I remembered, but I might have to use a checklist for the score in my next game play,) but I'm encountering a minor problem in LSL7, where static noise is occurring along with the music and sound in the game at random until I either reload the game, or move to another area.

Sorry about that, thought that Mixed Adlib/MIDI mode would work with other games that aren't Scumm, seeing as the option is available for all the supported games.

[Maxor127]

I prefer DOSBox as well. I agree, DOSBox has better sound or at least used to. I think ScummVM might've finally caught up in one of the recent updates. But I don't like how ScummVM has its own save game files, and those files aren't guaranteed to work for updates. DOSBox is just easier to manage for me and has a wider variety of shaders and scalers and other tweaks.

I'll use ScummVM if a game doesn't run in DOSBox or runs better in ScummVM. I think Monkey Island 3 might've been a game that was too slow on DOSBox. It may have even frozen during the intro, but ScummVM played it fine. ScummVM is also good for non-DOS games.

[Luinath]

Didn't know that CoMI had problems running on DOSBox, but I've never tried playing the game on DOSBox, so I'm not sure if it would occur to me. I used to play CoMI with the installer on Quick and Easy Software, but it no longer works on my current PC due to color distortion, poor quality music and sound after playing for a bit, and crashing at random, which I ended up using ScummVM afterwards to run the game.

[Collector]

MI3 is a 32-bit Win DirectX game. To play it in DOSBox you would need to install to install 9x in DOSBox, which is not supported. The DirectX part also throws another wrinkle into the equation. It is possible to run the game natively in Win7 x64, but I would not know what problems or bugs you would encounter, let alone if the game would be completable. You could setup a VM with 9x, but why would you want to go through that much trouble.

[MusicallyInspired]

Sorry about that, thought that Mixed Adlib/MIDI mode would work with other games that aren't Scumm, seeing as the option is available for all the supported games.

Understandable. Their gui is a bit of a mess when it comes to engine specific settings. Some SCI game options, for instance, in the engine tab don't even work for some games.