BeebSCUMM

[SarahWalker]

Meant to open a thread about this weeks ago...

As some people noticed at the last ABUG, I've been working on a SCUMM interpreter for the Master (note - MASTER, not B+, B w/ SWRAM, or any variety of Electron!). This is a port of SCUMM v1, which is the original (non-enhanced) PC versions of Maniac Mansion :

and Zak McKracken :

So far it has room plotting, character plotting + masking (though the animation system needs a rethink), object plotting (still slightly bugged) and character pathfinding. I'm trying to work up the nerve to implement script handling, which should allow these games to be actually played!

There's also various optimisations to be done, plus colour mapping needs some work I think.

[leenew]

Ooh! Good work so far Sarah
2 of my favourite adventures
Maybe John Blythe has 5 minutes spare to sprinkle some magic dust on the graphics

Lee

[SarahWalker]

Maybe John Blythe has 5 minutes spare to sprinkle some magic dust on the graphics

Unfortunately, to avoid potential legal issues with the Disney corporation, I'm using the PC data unmodified. So no fancy new graphics I'm afraid.

[leenew]

Ah! That's a good point

Lee.

[daveejhitchins]

Wow! . . . Another great project - but Sarah, we need to have a serious talk about this >

(note - MASTER, not B+, B w/ SWRAM, or any variety of Electron!)

Dave H

[sbadger]

<cough> NULA version

[SarahWalker]

You could concentrate on what's actually being written, rather than talking about adding more work...

It's a little demoralising that the only posts so far are basically saying 'add more stuff!'.

[danielj]

I, for one, am impressed

[leenew]

Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!
It's just the enthusiasm taking over as usual
This is a project I am honestly really looking forward to playing.
Err... did I say sorry? If not.. then sorry

Lee.

[Lardo Boffin]

Beyond awesome! I will have to get my Master fixed.

[lurkio]

I've been working on a SCUMM interpreter for the Master ...

Looks great!

[daveejhitchins]

Wow! . . . Another great project - but Sarah, we need to have a serious talk about this >

(note - MASTER, not B+, B w/ SWRAM, or any variety of Electron!)

Dave H

And I'm only teasing . . . So take no notice of my continual Electron comments whatsoever, I know the games you work-on will, probably, never be Electron compatible - If only I could contribute, I would - I think the work you do is way above and beyond -

Dave H

[davidb]

And I'm only teasing . . . So take no notice of my continual Electron comments whatsoever, I know the games you work-on will, probably, never be Electron compatible - If only I could contribute, I would - I think the work you do is way above and beyond -

I read your comment as more of a to-do list item for yourself, Dave. When are we getting our add-on that gives the Electron all the features of the Master 128?

Looking forward to seeing how BeebSCUMM develops. With this, the Prince of Persia port and Kees's Atomic AGD, it's like the old days when we got ports of hits from "mainstream" platforms to the Acorn.

[VectorEyes]

It looks fantastic!

I'm quite curious what implementing the scripting system entails. Is it the most complicated part of the code?

[SarahWalker]

It looks fantastic!

I'm quite curious what implementing the scripting system entails. Is it the most complicated part of the code?

I don't think the script interpreter is massively complicated (though the fact that it's multitasking will be fun...). It's more the fact that it's going to show up every incorrect assumption I've put in the engine so far, which will probably be a lot!

[marcusjambler]

Looking like this will be epic Sarah

[RobC]

Looking like this will be epic Sarah

Agreed - it'll be great to see such a seminal game on the Beeb

[sbadger]

You could concentrate on what's actually being written, rather than talking about adding more work...

It's a little demoralising that the only posts so far are basically saying 'add more stuff!'.

Fair cop, sorry, not intentional at all, rest assured it's a truly exciting project

[z0m8ied0g]

Of what I saw at ABUG it looks great already. Keep up the good work.

[jbnbeeb]

Hi,
Late to the thread..but just to say I was well impressed when I saw the WIP conversion at the Hampshire ABUG, even if I couldn't remember the name of the game.

This is a port of SCUMM v1, which is the original (non-enhanced) PC versions of Maniac Mansion :
.

As ever, I do have a question !
You reference PC version.. so my question is, are you basing the conversion on PC version or C64 (and if the former, why, given that C64 shares essentially same CPU as the Beeb)?

I for one would look forward to playing this on the Beeb, having looked upon the game in envy at my Commodore-owning friend's house when I was a teenager!

[SarahWalker]

This is based on the PC version, for a few reasons :

• The PC version uses the same engine for both Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken. The C64 uses an older v0 engine for MM.
• The PC files are somewhat easier to get at - the C64 version looks to be using a non-standard disc format
• There are comments in the ScummVM source suggesting that the timing on the C64 scripts depends on the engine running at the same speed as on the C64 - delays look to be real time on the C64 whereas the PC version delays by frames
• PC Maniac Mansion has two lines for text, as opposed to one for the C64, which makes conversations much easier to read
• And before anyone asks, I'm not basing it on the Apple II version because that version lacks scrolling and is generally a bit crap

Since I'm rewriting the engine from scratch, whether the original version was written for 6502 or x86 makes no real difference. I would definitely get sued by Disney if I tried to reuse & modify the original code!

[cmorley]

Applogies if I missed it. What are you doing the bulk of the coding in/with? BeebASM or something higher?

[trixster]

Great project! Looks fab

[Dave Footitt]

Wow, looks fantastic Sarah, great work

Hopefully see it in the flesh next time we meet!

[Dethmunk]

Whoa.... been a while since I was here and this looks incredible. These type of games I was convinced couldn't ever exist on the Acorn machines. But then White Light & Prince of Persia came along and well nothings impossible I reckon.

As for someone saying if I can add any graphics, I dunno, Sarah gave a very sensible answer but even if she wanted me to, they look pretty swish as is to be honest.

Keep going with this Sarah.... these were decent games back in the day, would be nice to see them on the Master.