Hi folks -

Very early days with my Pi, which I've only had for about 48 hours- Time to have some fun.

I'm wondering if the LucasArts adventure game 'player' ScummVM and / or the FROTZ 'player' for classic Infocom text adventures have been ported for the Pi?

I'm still very new to Linux so phrases like 'it's in the repo' are pretty much meaningless to me at the moment, so:- I'd appreciate a walkthrough, either on obtaining the already ported programmes and installing them on the Pi, or on obtaining the source (if available) and compiling it into an executable which will run on the Pi.

I'm running the August 2012 Raspbian image, updated as far as possible on 3rd September 2012.

The Pi has an internet connection.

As to the games themselves, I have many of them scattered around in various formats and will sort out how to get the game files onto the Pi myself - I note that Beneath A Steel Sky is apparently available. That would be great to see as I never had that one. I played virtually every Scumm game by LucasArts - I missed out on some of the Revolution titles though.

SCUMMVM it's already in the repo, you just need to call:

Then copy your games to your Pi, run scummvm and add/run the games using the GUI.

Pendor wrote:SCUMMVM it's already in the repo, you just need to call:

Then copy your games to your Pi, run scummvm and add/run the games using the GUI.

I winced when I saw the words 'in the repo' in your reply, but then relaxed a little when you actually did tell me how to fetch one of the programmes I was looking for, so thanks for that.

But I have a further question... how did you KNOW that... where is the listing, directory, or telephone book which tells you which games (staying precariously on topic) are 'in the repo'... since I assume you already have to know the exact name of the file you're looking for in order for 'apt-get install' to work?

I'm not sure there's a definitive list of what's in the repo, but you can search it

apt-cache search scummvm

it will match partial names as well, so 'scumm' would return scummvm:

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ apt-cache search scumm
scummvm - engine for several graphical adventure games
scummvm-data - engine for several graphical adventure games (data files)
pi@raspberrypi ~ $

apt is the Advanced Packaging System. It uses dpkg (Debian Packaging Tool) as its base.

apt-get downloads and manages packages from the internet.

aptitude (in the repos) is a graphical package manager , thats
what you want
synaptic (in the repos) is more Windows (TM) - like and works under X11

If you google , you'll soon see that you can browse (nice !) /
download (messy ! ) debians packages online.

ghans

Predictably, I got myself into a knot-

I downloaded, installed ScummVM following the advice above and that's fine, but then I downloaded/installed what I thought were the game data files (beneath-a-steel-sky) and found that it was in fact a standalone version - it works, but if I run it from the command line it goes fullscreen and looks terrible (the original resolution doesn't look good when zoomed up so far) - if I run it from a terminal in LXDE it runs at its original resolution so it looks good, but is tiny. Yes! Fussy!

I'd rather run the game files in ScummVM as that gives more control over aspect, image size etc.

How do I UNinstall a programme which I originally installed using apt-get, etc? Is it just a case of locating the directory and deleting it, DOS-style? Or is there a proper uninstall procedure?

If it was installed through apt, you can remove it by running:
sudo apt-get remove packagename

Or to completely purge (remove all configs etc..) a package:
sudo apt-get purge packagename

Another useful command to see if you have something installed:
dpkg -l | grep packagename

smonkey wrote:If it was installed through apt, you can remove it by running:
sudo apt-get remove packagename

Or to completely purge (remove all configs etc..) a package:
sudo apt-get purge packagename

Another useful command to see if you have something installed:
dpkg -l | grep packagename

Brilliant! Thank you so much! I'll also look into 'Aptitude' as well, but I really wanted to know the 'native' way to do it first.

Really , everybody uses a package manager. Just try aptitude , it even
comes with tetris. Or synaptic if you don't need that.

EDIT: AFAIK ScummVM doesn't care wheter the game comes with a "engine"
or launcher. Just point it to the original data files -it will detect the game and
version.

ghans

ghans wrote:Really , everybody uses a package manager. Just try aptitude , it even
comes with tetris. Or synaptic if you don't need that.

EDIT: AFAIK ScummVM doesn't care wheter the game comes with a "engine"
or launcher. Just point it to the original data files -it will detect the game and
version.

ghans

ghans, thanks for your earlier information - I absolutely will try Aptitude but I don't think it does me any harm to gradually learn the command line way of doing things as well. One day I might step up to a linux machine which happens not to have a package manager on it.

I had the same thought - that ScummVM would just 'play' the game files if I could point it at them, but the only file I can find (in the 'games' folder, alongside ScummVM as it happens), is 'sky'. It's as though it's a single-file executable, unlike the original games which tended to come with a smallish executable and big 'story' files, the latter being what ScummVM expects to feed on, I suppose.

I might be barking up the wrong tree anyway- does ScummVM actually claim to be able to run the Revolution point and clickers? I may have just been assuming that it does!

SiriusHardware wrote:does ScummVM actually claim to be able to run the Revolution point and clickers? I may have just been assuming that it does!

Yes. At least these 4 games:

Lure of the Temptress
Beneath a Steel Sky
Broken Sword 1
Broken Sword 2

Yes, it does. I eventually found the files that ScummVM wanted here:

/usr/share/scummvm/beneath-a-steel-sky

I'm still unsure as to how they got there ,I may have downloaded the game data files which are also 'in the repo' but immediately forgot that I had because I had no idea where they had gone at first.

I like what I've seen so far - I had no idea Dave Gibbons (2000AD/Judge Dredd) had been involved with it but his art style is instantly recognisable on the opening movie.

So: Got Joey up and running, got the transporter robot running back and forth, got the sandwich, got the wrench, got stuck... time to go away and think a little bit more. (I love these games... even better when it's one I have never seen before).

ghans wrote:Really , everybody uses a package manager. Just try aptitude.

I followed your earlier steps to download it and was told, somewhat to my embarassment, that I already had it.

It's not tremendously intuitive to use (I found it more or less impossible to guess my way around the UI ) but it is still better than doing it laboriously by hand, I agree, so thanks for pointing me in that direction.

Synaptic might be easier to use for you.

ghans

SiriusHardware wrote:Yes, it does. I eventually found the files that ScummVM wanted here:

/usr/share/scummvm/beneath-a-steel-sky

I'm still unsure as to how they got there ,I may have downloaded the game data files which are also 'in the repo' but immediately forgot that I had because I had no idea where they had gone at first.

I like what I've seen so far - I had no idea Dave Gibbons (2000AD/Judge Dredd) had been involved with it but his art style is instantly recognisable on the opening movie.

So: Got Joey up and running, got the transporter robot running back and forth, got the sandwich, got the wrench, got stuck... time to go away and think a little bit more. (I love these games... even better when it's one I have never seen before).

I installed it and had a play for a while. Got stuck on the first screen - couldn't get down the gantry ladder without the guards killing me at the bottom

T.

ghans wrote:Really , everybody uses a package manager. Just try aptitude , it even
comes with tetris. Or synaptic if you don't need that.

EDIT: AFAIK ScummVM doesn't care wheter the game comes with a "engine"
or launcher. Just point it to the original data files -it will detect the game and
version.

ghans

or dselect for purely "text" display with a simpler curses UI...

texy wrote:
I installed it and had a play for a while. Got stuck on the first screen - couldn't get down the gantry ladder without the guards killing me at the bottom

T.

If you feel like getting a little further into the game:

At the left end of the gantry, right click on the bar half way up the wall to pull it out and add it to your inventory. At the right end of the gantry, look at the door, then move the pointer up to the top of the screen to reveal your inventory. Select the bar you just picked up and use it with the door. go through the door. Outside, take a quick look at the building opposite before a quick cut-scene unfolds. Go back inside, to the gantry. You'll see the guard leave through the door on the left. It's now safe to go down the stairs....