ScummVM on the App Store • Hacker News Board

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#91

Post by pixelpoet » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 6:42 PM UTC

nikolay wrote: post #88

awill wrote: post #41

This is fantastic. I consider iOS far superior in so many ways over Android. Except that it is locked down so much. If iOS becomes more open, there will be nearly no reason to get an Android.

It's not superior in any way. I have both an Android phone (Samsung) and an iPhone. Android rules except in one aspect - battery life.

> Android rules except in one aspect - battery life.

This is like saying Windows is better than Linux for battery life, which is obviously ridiculous because it's primarily about the hardware, not software. Put Android on Apple's excellent silicon and watch how suddenly "Android" has really good battery life.

Anyway, both are disgusting passive consumption oriented walled gardens, and phones in general are terrible computers as software goes.

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#92

Post by wronglebowski » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:00 PM UTC

tannhaeuser wrote: post #82

wronglebowski wrote: post #62

How’d this get past app review? Apple has allowed zero emulators of any type on the App Store. I bet this gets crushed.

“[Apple's codex] is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.”

Exactly, which is why if this gets any traction I believe it'll be removed. Apple does not allow you to consume your own content on their platforms without a tax or at least a little roughing up.

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#93

Post by dang » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:01 PM UTC

ScummVM 2.5 “Twenty years ago today” - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28812403 - Oct 2021 (43 comments)

ScummVM “Interactive Fantasy” 2.2.0 Sees the Light - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24619533 - Sept 2020 (52 comments)

ScummVM 2.1.0 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21231840 - Oct 2019 (38 comments)

ScummVM 2.0 released - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15946692 - Dec 2017 (31 comments)

ScummVM ported to HTML5 - play old games in your browser - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5861429 - June 2013 (34 comments)

Maniac Tentacle Mindbenders: ScummVM's unpaid coders keep adventure gaming alive - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3508909 - Jan 2012 (7 comments)

GPL, ScummVM and violations - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2108237 - Jan 2011 (11 comments)

Atari violates the ScummVM's license - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=675418 - June 2009 (11 comments)

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#94

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:01 PM UTC

toasteros wrote: post #64

unixhero wrote: post #37

There is also Dreamm https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/

DREAMM is a pretty significant project, and differs from ScummVM in a few ways. Primarily, ScummVM is an engine rewrite. They write new code that copies the behaviour of the original games. Aaron Giles worked at LucasArts and was instrumental in porting SCUMM to Windows (for Full Throttle and Curse of Monkey Island). DREAMM is a full x86 emulator that takes the original game code and runs it directly.[0] Amusingly en…

[deleted]

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#95

Post by bossyTeacher » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:11 PM UTC

alberth wrote: post #28

bossyTeacher wrote: post #13

What is the appeal with games that are this old? Is the audience people that played them in their childhood? I struggle to see kids (who are used to super colourful, hyper interactive, animated games) play GBC games let alone something like this. Any ideas?

It’s the same reason why Nintendo does so well relative to PS/XBox. It doesn’t have to be all about high-end graphics. Plot, game play, fun is what’s most important for a large segment of gamers.

Does that mean that you would be happy to pay a premium (think PS5 prices) to play new games that are in that format?

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#96

Post by myko » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:14 PM UTC

truegoric wrote: post #35

madmoose wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ScummVM isn't an emulator, it's a collection of game engines based on reverse engineering and, on occasion, original source code donations.

I stand corrected, although from a policy-making perspective ScummVM allows users to run software acquired through ways not sanctioned by Apple (or owners of the original IPs), which I believe is the major part of why emulators are not allowed on App Store and thus bears a similarity to them in that particular aspect.

It's trivial to purchase the games legally on GOG & Steam so this does not seem particularly relevant

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#97

Post by bossyTeacher » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:14 PM UTC

chongli wrote: post #39

bossyTeacher wrote: post #13

What is the appeal with games that are this old? Is the audience people that played them in their childhood? I struggle to see kids (who are used to super colourful, hyper interactive, animated games) play GBC games let alone something like this. Any ideas?

To turn it around on you: what's wrong with old games? Does anyone ask the same about books?: "What is the appeal with books that are this old?" Not very often from what I can tell. I do see the sentiment you've expressed regarding games much more often. Why is that? I'm not sure. Perhaps it's just a sign of the immaturity of games as a medium (compared to books, anyway).

Books and games are different. Books is just text (mostly) so there is no expectation of anything else. It is art.

Games are entertainment. So they are supposed to have higher levels of engagement over time

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#98

Post by orangecat » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:18 PM UTC

jraph wrote: post #30

gunapologist99 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In that case, I wonder why Google is so highly allergic to GPLv3 in its GCP marketplace.

Is it GPLv3 or AGPL? Their reasons (their excuses? At this point I'm not convinced at all) to ban AGPL are documented at [1]. [1] https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/using/agpl...

What doesn't make sense? They don't want AGPL code to accidentally end up anywhere that's publicly accessible, and a lot of the code in their monolith is used across many different products, so a blanket ban seems entirely reasonable.

What motivation do you think they have to lie about this?

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#99

Post by BSDobelix » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:20 PM UTC

sspiff wrote: post #5

Interesting. My 5 year old sons favourite app on his Android tablet is ScummVM. I bought all the Putt Putt, Freddy Fish, and Spy Fox games on Steam, and after copying the data files over to ScummVM on Android, my son has been enjoying them a lot. I'd much prefer him spending his time with these rather than these toxic mobile games that target young kids with repetitive loops locked behind countdown timers and in app…

And in 5 years when your for example on a long roadtrip you can buy him "The Longest journey" (don't forget the HD patches https://tljhd.github.io/)

Re: ScummVM on the App Store

#100

Post by debacle » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:21 PM UTC

"ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical adventure and role-playing games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the games, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed! ScummVM is a complete rewrite of these games' executables and is not an emulator.

ScummVM supports an extensive library of over 325 adventure games, including classic titles from iconic studios such as LucasArts, Sierra On-Line, Revolution Software, Cyan, Inc. and Westwood Studios. Alongside groundbreaking games like the Monkey Island series, Broken Sword, Myst, Blade Runner and numerous well-known titles, you can experience truly obscure adventures and discover hidden gems."

For those (like me) who didn't know what ScummVM was.

https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/