ScummVM 1.0.0's graphical user interface with the 'modern' skin | |
Original author(s) | Ludvig Strigeus, Vincent Hamm [1] |
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Developer(s) | ScummVM Team |
Initial release | October 5, 2001; 17 years ago |
Stable release | |
Repository | |
Written in | C++ and SDL |
Operating system | Cross-platform |
Type | Interpreter |
License | GNU GPLv2 or later |
Website | www.scummvm.org |
In general, ScummVM does not deal very well with multi-CD games. This is because ScummVM assumes everything about a game can be found in one directory. Even if ScummVM does make some provisions for asking the user to change CD, the original games usually install a small number of files to hard disk.
Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine (ScummVM) is a set of game engine recreations. Originally designed to play LucasArts adventure games that use the SCUMM system, it also supports a variety of non-SCUMM games by companies like Revolution Software and Adventure Soft. It was originally written by Ludvig Strigeus.[2] Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, ScummVM is free software.
ScummVM is a reimplementation of the part of the software used to interpret the scripting languages such games used to describe the game world rather than emulating the hardware the games ran on; as such, ScummVM allows the games it supports to be played on platforms other than those for which they were originally released.
- 1Features
- 2History
- 3Supported games
Features[edit]
ScummVM is a program that supports numerous adventure game engines via virtual machines, allowing the user to play supported adventure games on their platform of choice. ScummVM provides none of the original assets for the games it supports, and expects the user to properly own the original game's media so as to use the software legally. The official project website offers games that are freeware that work directly with ScummVM. Atop emulating the games, ScummVM enables players to save and load the state of the emulator at any time, enabling a save system atop whatever the emulated game may provide. It has also begun to work at providing alternate controls for newer devices, such as mobile devices with touch screens, which work atop the original games.[3]
While ScummVM appears to function equivalently as a game emulator, the ScummVM team does not consider it as such. Outside of some subsystems like audio engines which they are forced to rely on emulation, ScummVM recreates game engines from older languages into more portable C++ code, so that the high-level opcodes in a game's assets will execute in the same manner as from their original release, while improving the portability of ScummVM to numerous platforms. The ScummVM team consider this an improvement over simply running the older games and their executables through an operating system emulator, such as DOSBox, since ScummVM's implements are more lightweight and require less processing power and memory, allowing use on more limited processing environments like mobile devices.[4]
Ports[edit]
Portability is a design goal of the project.[5] Ports of ScummVM are available for Microsoft Windows, macOS and a variety of Unix-like systems including Linux (based on RPM, Debian, or source), members of the BSD family (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, DragonFly BSD) and Solaris. It has also been ported to console systems. Less mainstream personal computer ports include those to Amiga, Atari-FreeMiNT, Haiku-BeOS-ZETA, RISC OS, and OS/2.
A variety of game consoles have official ports. ScummVM has been ported to gaming machines such as the PlayStation 2, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii,[6] and to handheld consoles including the GCW Zero, GP2X, Nintendo DS, Pandora, PlayStation Portable and the PS Vita. Handheld computer platforms supported include Palm OSTapwave Zodiac, Symbian (UIQ platform, Nokia 60, 80, and Nokia 771090 phone series), Nokia's Internet Tablet OS (used by the Nokia 770, N800 and N810), Apple's iPhone,[7]MotoMAGX, MotoEZX phones and Windows Mobile. Platforms supported by unofficial ScummVM ports include the Microsoft's Xbox gaming console, BlackBerry PlayBook,[8]Zaurus, Gizmondo and GP32 portable device platforms. Mobile phones running Android,[9]webOS[10] or unofficial Samsung's bada OS are also supported.
History[edit]
ScummVM was created in September 2001 by computer science student Ludvig Strigeus. Looking to write his own adventure game, he looked to seeing how the mechanics of an existing game engine, specifically working to create an emulator to play Monkey Island 2.[3] At about the same time, Vincent Hamm was also looking to develop a SCUMM emulator, and though he had done deeper research into understanding how the SCUMM engine worked, found that Strigeus was much farther along, and the two joined together to craft the emulator.[3] While Strigeus finished the required emulation for Monkey Island 2, Hamm worked separately to prepare the engine for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and once completed, the two found some dis-coordination on their efforts but eventually got the emulator working for both games.[3]
News of ScummVM was picked up by the tech news website Slashdot in November 2001, drawing a large interest to the project, and several other developers became part of the project to help support other games. These developers often turned to the creators of the original games to obtain information in informal ways, to help create the emulation.[3] Further developers helped to support games that did not use SCUMM, such as Adventure Soft's Simon the Sorcerer; there was some debate about changing the name of the program at this point, but they ultimately kept the ScummVM title, believing that SCUMM was the most well-recognized adventure game engine.[3] Strigeus had built support for iMUSE, the sound software used by many LucasArts games, but feared including it due to potential backlash from LucasArts. Other developers on the project advised him that there should be no legal issues and it was eventually included.[3] Though Strigeus and Hamm would leave the project in 2002, by then it had a large enough development team to allow it to grow, led by James 'Ender' Brown.[3] Following this shift, the engine's source code was changed from C to C++, and a graphical user interface (GUI) was added.[3]
With increased awareness of the project, LucasArts sent a cease & desist letter to the project, believing they were using some of LucasArts' proprietary code. Brown worked over the next four years with LucasArts' legal representatives to explain the nature of the emulator and the source of their information to demonstrate that what they had created was legal. Brown considered that LucasArts was trying to be accommodating as ScummVM helped to raise interest in these titles. They ultimately came to a legal agreement to allow ScummVM to continue to be developed.[3]
The project would also incorporate other parallel efforts to make game emulators for other adventure games. Games from Sierra Online were of high demand for the project, requiring them to emulate the Adventure Game Interpreter (AGI) and the more advanced Sierra's Creative Interpreter (SCI) engines. AGI support was added in 2006 by incorporating efforts from the Sarien project, but efforts for SCI support were hampered by the parallel project, FreeSCI. Though both ScummVM and FreeSCI aimed to reverse engineer the workings of SCI, FreeSCI had stated they took a more clean-room approach to avoid any legal question about their reverse engineering, and believed the ScummVM project had run afoul of some of Sierra's approaches and thus were hesitant to work together.[3] However, FreeSCI began to languish in interest compared to ScummVM; after a developer took it upon themselves to make the FreeSCI engine work in ScummVM, the FreeSCI saw more participation in their project, and they agreed to merge their efforts into ScummVM. Initial SCI support was subsequently released in a 2010 version of ScummVM.[3]
ScummVM continues to add new games or game engines, though the process to create these is relatively slow. According to the team's project lead Eugene Sandulenko (as of 2017), game engines are chosen for inclusion into ScummVM either if they are given the source code that makes it easy to port into the software's architecture, or if one or more of the team members are passionate about bringing a game engine into the program to do the difficult task of reconstructing the game's code from the compiled versions.[4] The only restriction is that ScummVM will only include 2D game engines, leaving 3D games to be handled by the sister project ResidualVM.[4] The 2.0 version of ScummVM was released in December 2017, adding support for several full motion video games and some very obscure titles, such as Full Pipe and Plumbers Don't Wear Ties. With this release, ScummVM has support for 64 different game engines.[4]
An attempt to bring in Another World by Éric Chahi brought some internal stress within the project in 2004. Another World was not a point-and-click adventure game, and used polygon-based graphics instead of pixel-based ones most adventure games employ, and thus was considered a serious departure from the focus of ScummVM. Though the project was scrapped in a few days after Chahi requested its removal as he was preparing a 15th anniversary remastered for sale, the current leads of the project had to refocus the group and define the ideals that ScummVM should meet.[3]
ScummVM has also had difficulty in bringing games using the Adventure Game Studio (AGS), which is used frequently in indie adventure games, such as the Blackwell series. While the source code for AGS had been put into the open by its developer Chris Jones in 2010, the ScummVM team was met with a large backlash of complaints from developers using the AGS engine for their games, stating they did not want to see their games run in ScummVM. [4]
ScummVM has been a participant in the Google Summer of Code every year since 2007 except for 2015. A sister project, ResidualVM, was started to implement engines for three-dimensional adventure games, such as Grim Fandango and Myst III: Exile, named as such as these games reflect the residual of those not already covered by ScummVM.[11]
Developer support[edit]
With increased attention, ScummVM has entered into favorable agreements with adventure game developers to help bring their titles into the engine, or in some cases, being given source code and other assets to work from. Notably, Revolution Software helped the developers with source code and technical advice for their games, and once ScummVM supported their engine, they released Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky as freeware and provided assets from its first two Broken Sword games in an open media format.[3] The renewed interest in these games from younger players enabled Revolution to work on two more Broken Sword games.[3] Other developers that have worked closely with ScummVM include:
- Adventure Soft: provided the original source code of their adventure games, Simon the Sorcerer, The Feeble Files and Elvira series.
- Alcachofa Soft: Emilio de Paz Aragón released the original source code of the adventure game Drascula: The Vampire Strikes Back as freeware.
- Creative Reality: Neil Dodwell and David Dew from Creative Reality released the original source code for their adventure Dreamweb, and the CD-ROM and floppy disk versions of the game as freeware,[12] available for download on the ScummVM website.[12]
- Gray Design Associates: David P. Gray provided the original source code of the Hugo trilogy
- Interactive Binary Illusions: released both the CD-ROM and the floppy disk version of their adventure game, Flight of the Amazon Queen as freeware available for download on the ScummVM website.[13]
- Laboratorium Komputerowe Avalon: Janusz Wiśniewski and Miroslaw Liminowicz released the original source code of their adventure game Sołtys as freeware, available for download on the ScummVM website.
- Perfect Entertainment: John Young, Colin Smythe and Terry Pratchett provided the original source code of their adventure games, Discworld and Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?.
- Wyrmkeep Entertainment: Joe Pearce provided the original source code of their adventure game, Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb.
The digital storefront GOG.com which specializes in selling digital copies of older games, provides support to ScummVM, and sells titles that include the ScummVM engine as part of their distribution.[3] Disney, which owns the rights to LucasArts adventure games, released Maniac Mansion on Steam running off ScummVM.[4]
Mistic's GPL violations[edit]
ScummVM is distributed as open-source software under the GNU General Public License, enabling anyone to use the emulator as an engine for a game. For example, Revolution Software repackaged their Broken Sword games for a DVD release, using the ScummVM engine to support modern computers.[3]
In December 2008, the ScummVM teams learned that the recently released Wii ports of three Humongous Entertainment Junior Adventure titles, Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside, and Spy Fox: Dry Cereal, have all used the ScummVM engine without proper attribution. The games were published on request of Atari through Majesco Entertainment, who turned to Mistic Software to port the games. Mistic had used ScummVM for these, but failed to credit the developers. While the ScummVM team contacted gpl-violations.org for legal advice, Nintendo began to investigate the claims as their license agreements prevent the use of open-source software on the Wii. Upon discovering that the three titles indeed used open-source software, the firm threatened legal action against Mistic Software. A settlement was made in 2009, in which ScummVM would drop the investigation of the GPL violation, on the condition that Mistic would sell or destroy all GPL-violating copies of the games, make a donation to the Free Software Foundation, and pay the legal fees. As a result, this legal dispute significantly limited the availability of the Wii ports of these three titles.[3]
Supported games[edit]
The following games have support built into the current release of ScummVM.[14]
LucasArts SCUMM games[edit]
In order of the games' original release dates:
Sierra On-Line games[edit]
- Manhunter: New York (developed by Evryware)
- Manhunter 2: San Francisco (developed by Evryware)
Coktel Vision games[edit]
Adventuresoft-Horrorsoft games[edit]
- Waxworks (a.k.a. Elvira 3)
Humongous Entertainment[edit]
Various games by Humongous Entertainment use the SCUMM engine, and are therefore playable with ScummVM.
- Blue's Clues series (Blue's Birthday Adventure and others)
Games by other developers[edit]
ScummVM also supports the following non-SCUMM games:
- Living Books series (up through Stellaluna)
Games in development[edit]
The following games have not been supported in an official version of ScummVM but are in progress in the main code repository.[15] The engines may be in various states of operation.
- Might and Magic series
- Playtoons series
- many Wintermute Engine-based games
- many World Builder-based games
Operation Stealth and Future Wars support was added by integrating another stand-alone recreation of their engine: cinE.[16] TrollVM has also been integrated into ScummVM adding support for three pre-AGI games: Mickey's Space Adventure, Troll's Tale, and Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood.[17][18]
As of December 2017, ScummVM is developing support for Macromedia Director in coordination with some of the original developers. Macromedia Director was used for many mid-1990s video games such as The Journeyman Project.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/blob/master/AUTHORS
- ^history of ScummVM on ScummVM Wiki
- ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrMoss, Richard (January 16, 2012). 'Maniac Tentacle Mindbenders: How ScummVM's unpaid coders kept adventure gaming alive'. Ars Technica. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
- ^ abcdefgCobbett, Richard (December 22, 2017). 'How ScummVM is keeping adventure games alive, one old game at a time'. PC Gamer. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ^'ScummVM Portability guidelines'. wiki.scummvm.org. 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^Hinkle, David (2008-09-02). 'News on Gamecube/Wii ports'. Nintendowiifanboy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^11/26/07 8:25am 11/26/07 8:25am. 'Gizmodo news on iPhone port'. Gizmodo.com. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^'ScummVM for PlayBook'. Forum.kpda.ru. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^'scummvm-android'. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^'Webos Internals Team Ports ScummVM on WebOS'. Webos-internals.org. 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^O'Conner, Alice (December 27, 2012). 'Grim Fandango playable on modern PCs thanks to ResidualVM'. Shacknews. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
- ^ abStrangerke (2012-10-21). 'Home'. ScummVM. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
- ^sev (2008-09-06). 'Home'. ScummVM. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
- ^Not all games are completable or even playable. Some of them are still very much works-in-progress. For a complete, up-to-date list, see the official ScummVM compatibility chart.
- ^'Engines - ScummVM :: Wiki'. wiki.scummvm.org. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^'cinE - the cinematic Engine'. SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^'Old TrollVM Site'. Archived from the original on 2010-03-23.
- ^'#9661 (TrollVM project removal) – sourceforge'. Sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to ScummVM. |
- ScummVM on Google Play
- 'ScummVM MIDI Music Enhancement Project'. jameswoodcock.co.uk.
Discworld | |
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The cover features work by Discworld novel cover artist Josh Kirby. | |
Developer(s) | |
Publisher(s) | Psygnosis |
Director(s) | Gregg Barnett |
Producer(s) | Angela Sutherland |
Designer(s) |
|
Programmer(s) | |
Artist(s) |
|
Writer(s) | |
Composer(s) |
|
Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Mac OS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
Release | MS-DOSMac OS
|
Genre(s) | Adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Discworld is a 1995 point-and-click adventure game developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions for MS-DOS, Macintosh, and the Sony PlayStation. A Sega Saturn version was released the following year. The game stars Rincewind the Wizard (voiced by Eric Idle) and is set on Terry Pratchett's Discworld. The plot is based roughly around the events in the book Guards! Guards!, but also borrows elements from other Discworld novels. It involves Rincewind attempting to stop a dragon terrorising the inhabitants of Ankh-Morpork.
The game was developed because the designer Gregg Barnett wanted a large adventure for CD-based systems. A licence was difficult to obtain; Pratchett was reluctant to grant one as he wanted a Discworld game to be developed by a company with a reputation and who cared about the property. An original story was created due to Barnett having difficulty basing games on one book. Discworld was praised for its humour, voice-acting and graphics, though some criticised its gameplay and difficult puzzles. Discworld was followed by a sequel, Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?, in 1996.
- 5References
Gameplay[edit]
Discworld is a third-person point-and-click graphic adventure game.[1][2] An overhead map appears when leaving a location that allows the player to go straight to another.[2][3] Locations featured include the Unseen University, the Broken Drum (a pub), and the Shades (where the city's 'exciting nightlife' reside).[3] Locations outside Ankh-Morpork include the Dark Wood (where Nanny Ogg resides), the Mines (where dwarves tune swords), and the Edge of the World (where 'the world ends and space begins').[3] Items can be examined or used,[2] and can either be stored in Rincewind's pockets or in the Luggage.[1] To progress in the game, Rincewind must collect items, talk to people and solve puzzles.[4] Rincewind may also acquire special skills needed to perform certain tasks.[5] Characters featured include an Archchancellor, the Dibbler, the Librarian, and Death.[6] During a conversation, the player may choose to have Rincewind greet, joke with, vent anger towards, or pose a question to the character.[5]
The PlayStation version is compatible with the PlayStation Mouse, as well as the standard PlayStation controller.[7]
Plot[edit]
A secret brotherhood summons a dragon from its native dimension, so as to cause destruction and mayhem across the city of Ankh-Morpork.[8] Rumours of the dragon's rampage across the city reaches Unseen University. Since the Archchancellor wishes the involvement of at least one wizard in the matter, Rincewind is summoned to handle the problem. After acquiring a book to learn what is needed to track the dragon to its lair, Rincewind searches the city for the various components needed to assemble a dragon detector and brings them back to the Archchancellor. After the Archancellor lets slip that the dragon's lair is stocked with gold, Rincewind snatches the dragon detector from him, searches the city, finds the lair, and takes all the gold within it. Just before he leaves, the dragon stops him and requests his aid in removing the brotherhood's hold upon her, claiming they are using her for evil and are planning to make her go on a major rampage.[9]
To do this, Rincewind is told to discover who they are, and recover a golden item from each, since these items are what they use to control the dragon.[10] Learning that a book about summoning dragons had been stolen from the library at Unseen University the night before, Rincewind gains access to L-Space, allowing him to journey into the past, witness the theft, and follow the thief back to the brotherhood's hideout. After gaining entry in disguise, Rincewind learns that each member holds a role in the city — Chucky the Fool, the Thief, the Mason, the Chimney Sweep, the Fishmonger, and the Dunny King — and seeks to change the city so they can have a better future for themselves. Acquiring their golden items, Rincewind brings them to the dragon, only to learn it will not return to its dimension but seek revenge on the brotherhood before coming after him. Wishing to stop this, Rincewind decides to prevent the summoning book from being stolen, by switching it for one that makes love custard. In his efforts to be recognised for stopping the dragon, Rincewind gets into an argument with the Patrician over the existence of dragons, summoning the very same one back to Discworld. An annoyed Patrician tasks Rincewind to deal with it.[11]
Learning that a hero with a million-to-one chance can stop it, Rincewind searches for the right components to be that hero, journeying across the city, the Disc, and even over the edge, to find the necessary items, including a sword that goes 'ting', a birthmark, and a magic spell. With the components acquired, he returns to the city's square, where Lady Ramkin, the owner of a local dragon sanctuary, is tied to a rock to be sacrificed to the dragon. Despite having what is needed to combat the dragon, Rincewind fails to stop it, and so seeks out an alternative method.[12] Taking a swamp dragon called Mambo the 16th, and feeding him hot coals and a lit firecracker, Rincewind tries again, but Mambo stops working when he becomes infatuated with the dragon. Rincewind then throws a love custard tart at the dragon. The dragon falls in love with Mambo, and the two fly off to perform mating dances. Rincewind heads to the pub for a pint to celebrate the end of his adventure.[13]
Development[edit]
Terry Pratchett was pleased with the 1986 interactive fiction game The Colour of Magic, but criticised its poor marketing.[14] He was reluctant to grant Discworld licences due to concern for the series, and wanted a reputable company who cared about the property.[15][14] Other video game companies had previously approached Pratchett seeking a licence.[15] One such company was AdventureSoft, and their failure to obtain a Discworld licence led to the creation of Simon the Sorcerer,[16][17] which took inspiration from the Discworld series of books.[16][18]
When the creative director and designer Gregg Barnett sought out the Discworld licence, he intended to show Pratchett that he cared about Discworld, rather than seeking money (Barnett stated in an interview that Pratchett was more invested in how the intellectual property would be treated than money[19]). During negotiations, he offered to design the game before signing a deal. He did so, and Pratchett agreed. Gregg stated that the design showed respect for Discworld, and that was what persuaded Pratchett.[15] This took roughly six months, and Pratchett was impressed with a demonstration of Rincewind using a broom to get the Luggage off the top of a wardrobe.[14] Perfect 10 Productions developed an engine, which was developed in a separate location to 'keep the code clean'. The dialogue was refined by Pratchett. The character design was based on Barnett giving his interpretation of characters to a character designer who had worked for Disney. He stated that they 'went a bit slapstick on it'.[15] The backdrops were painted manually and digitised.[20]
Pratchett originally wanted the game to be based on The Colour of Magic and for the team to work in succession through the series, but Barnett believed that would be detrimental, and thought that it was difficult to make a game based on just one book (he also said in an interview that he was more interested in the Discworld itself than any particular book, and that this was so the story would not be restricted to a narrative thereof[19]). He explained that they wanted to licence all of Discworld. An original story was made, taking elements from various Discworld books, particularly The Colour of Magic and Guards! Guards!. Barnett stated that the team had 'effectively written a complete film script for the game'. The game introduced a new character: a practising psychiatrist (known as the psychatrickerist).[21] Pratchett initially objected to this, but later added his input, and the character became a retro-phrenologist. Barnett stated that he wanted to create Discworld as a flagship game for CD-based systems, and thought the Discworld licence was '100% suited'.[14]
Barnett stated that he wanted to improve the British comedy by hiring voice actors with 'British talent'. John Cleese was his first choice for Rincewind, but he rejected the offer saying that he did not do games. Pratchett wanted Nicholas Lyndhurst for Rincewind because he was physically based on his Only Fools and Horses character. Eric Idle was cast as Rincewind, who was tweaked to make him more like Idle from Monty Python. Other voice actors include Tony Robinson, Kate Robbins (who voiced every female character), Rob Brydon, Nigel Planer, Robert Llewellyn, and Jon Pertwee. Barnett wanted Christopher Lee as Death, but was unable to afford him. Brydon had already been recorded when he offered to voice Death.[15] Barnett initially believed that Rowan Atkinson 'would make a great Death'.[14] According to Barnett, they were all 'friendly, professional, and funny', and Idle was recorded during day-long sessions in Los Angeles.[19]
The concept art and background layouts were produced by Nick Martinelli, who, according to Barnett, was 'an excellent art director from the animation industry'.[19] These were illustrated and coloured by a professional team.[19] Barnett stated that he was 'intimately involved' with the graphics in the concept stages and initial production, but later stepped back.[19]
The game was originally due to be published by Sierra On-line. Their engine was obtained and worked on, but due to costs for another project, they cancelled all external development. An advert in Computer Trade Weekly attracted interest from companies such as Electronic Arts and Psygnosis. The latter approached Perfect 10 Productions and would not leave until a deal was signed. Psygnosis had offered Pratchett 'a big cheque', which he refused.[15]Discworld's engine was rewritten from scratch afterwards.[19]
The game was officially announced by September 1993 and slated for a Christmas release the following year.[22] It was released in 1995 for the PC, PlayStation, and Macintosh.[6][23][24] The Saturn version was released in Europe on 15 August 1996,[25] and in Japan on 13 December 1996.[26]
The game was released on both floppy disk and CD-ROM, with the CD version featuring a fully voiced cast of characters.[27] For the Japanese PlayStation and Saturn releases, all voice acting was redone by a prominent Japanese comedian, a major selling point for the game in Japan.[28] A port had been under way for the Philips CD-i in 1996, and had entered its final stages of development,[29] but was never released.[30]
Reception[edit]
Reception | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Discworld was a 'massive hit' in Europe and the United Kingdom, according to director Gregg Barnett. However, the game was less successful in the United States.[40] It received generally positive reviews. The humour and graphics in particular were widely praised, but some thought that the difficulty was too harsh. It tied for third place in Computer Game Review's 1995 'Adventure Game of the Year' award category. The editors noted its 'good voice work' and 'very nice animation', and praised its humour.[41]
Entertainment Weekly praised the voice-acting of Eric Idle, but criticised the PlayStation version, saying that it was difficult to navigate without the PlayStation Mouse and that the text was too small.[7] In their review of the PlayStation version, Electronic Gaming Monthly similarly commented that the PlayStation mouse is required for full enjoyment, but highly praised the voice acting, humour, and graphics.[23] Scary Larry of GamePro, in contrast to EW and EGM, said the standard joypad 'works just as well' as the PlayStation Mouse. He praised the humorous graphics, extensive voice acting, and script which 'will leave your sides aching from laughter', but found the gameplay too simplistic and lacking in challenge. He recommended it for players who were open to less serious gaming.[42]IGN called Discworld challenging and long, but criticised the long loading times.[4] The reviewer of Joypad [fr] described the game as 'very beautiful' and said that the PlayStation version has more colours than the PC version, but disliked the difficulty and the size of the save game files.[37]
Sega Saturn Magazine cited overlong dialogues, poor graphics, and 'largely non-existent' animation, but complimented the variety of locations to visit and their mediaeval backdrops, and described the dialogue as 'jokey' and 'sarcastic'.[34]The magazine's Japanese namesake agreed with this assessment of 'British' humour by describing it as ironic and amusing.[26]Mean Machines Sega's reviewers believed the Saturn version had lost some authenticity, and thought that the gags were not funny, but complimented the storyline.[36]
Reviewing the PC version, Coming Soon Magazine's reviewer believed that the graphics are colourful and liked the humour, but criticised the way the dialogue was handled.[35] David Tanguay of Adventure Classic Gaming described Discworld as 'one of the funniest adventure games ever made', but recommended that players use a walkthrough.[27]Computer Gaming World's Charles Ardai praised the humour and believed the writing was true to Pratchett.[32]PC Gamer's reviewer praised the speech, believing it greatly improved the humour, and also complimented the difficulty, saying the game cannot be completed within days. His criticisms included the overuse of dialogue in the first act, saying most of it is irrelevant to the story, and also thought the control system 'falters in certain areas'. He stated that Discworld is 'a worthy contender' to Sam & Max and challenged the hold LucasArts had on the point-and-click genre.[33] The graphics and animation were criticised as 'merely average' by Christopher Lindquist of PC Games, although he claimed that fans of Pratchett 'won't mind' the game and described it as 'A smart, funny--and long--gaming tribute' to the series.[38]F The Macintosh version was described by Génération 4 as 'the gag of the year!'; the reviewer liked the humour and decoration, but criticised it for only being compatible with Motorola 6800-based systems.[24]Adventure Gamers praised the voice acting, graphics, humour and story, calling it 'a wonderful game', but noted that 'it stops short of being a classic simply due to its sheer difficulty and the unwieldy nature'. Adventure Gamers also called the music 'serviceable at best, and fairly forgettable'.[2] In 2009 Eurogamer's Will Porter reviewed the game retrospectively, praising the game's cartoonish graphics and voice-acting, but criticising its puzzles and noting that 'Discworld commits every point-and-click crime you'd care to mention' (such as 'obtuse puzzles').[43] The game was reviewed in 1995 in Dragon by David 'Zeb' Cook in the final 'Eye of the Monitor' column. Cook praised the 'exceptional' animation and art, as well as the 'faithful' conversion of Pratchett's work to a video game, but criticised the testing and quality control as 'crappy'.[44]Next Generation recommended the game for fans of Douglas Adams or Monty Python.[39]
Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich in 2010 called the game an 'underrated point-and-click gem', saying that it was one of the games he wanted on the PlayStation Network.[45] In 2013, Retro Gamer cited Discworld as an example demonstrating that British developers produced a disproportionately large number of overly hard video games.[46]
References[edit]
- ^ abDavid Tanguay (15 October 1997). 'Discworld'. Adventure Classic Gaming. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
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- ^ abc'Visitor's Guide to Ankh-Morpork' (Map). Discworld Official Strategy Guide. 1995.
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- ^ abDiscworld Instruction Manual (PlayStation PAL ed.). Psygnosis. 1995. p. 11.
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- ^Perfect 10 Productions (1995). Discworld. Psygnosis. Scene: Introduction.
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Meanwhile, the Japanese software house, Media Entertainment, drew some interest with a conversion of Discworld, not least because the voice-overs are by a prominent Japanese comedian.
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Sources[edit]
- Glen Edridge (1995). Discworld The Official Strategy Guide. Prima Publishing. ISBN978-0552-144-391.
External links[edit]
- Discworld at MobyGames