What just happened? The developers of a program for running many classic PC games on modern computers recently released a big patch for its 20th anniversary. The update adds support for more games like Grim Fandango, adds new features, and significantly reworks some other things.
Over the weekend the ScummVM website posted the announcement, containing a lengthy list of changes and new features. It also linked to a sale GOG.com is running on classic games which ScummVM supports.
ScummVM, which stands for Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine, has been used to update hundreds of classic PC games, making them compatible with modern operating systems. Most of them are adventure games and RPGs. The first version was published in October of 2001.
The latest version, 2.5, adds support for 2.5D games to the desktop version including Grim Fandango, The Longest Journey, and Myst 3: Exile. In addition to the 2.5D games, the anniversary update adds support for titles like Little Big Adventure, Red Comrades 1 and 2, Crusader: No Remorse, Glulx Interactive Fiction games, and more. The release also enhances support for non-English versions of many games.
According to the announcement, a major rework of ScummVM's GUI has been completed, and it now supports Unicode characters everywhere, as well as high resolutions for HiDPI screens. More games support KeyMapper, and a large number of Wintermute games now support GOG and Steam achievements. The Nintendo DS port of ScummVM has been "significantly rewritten."
The GOG sale on ScummVM games includes titles like Blade Runner, Myst, Riven, The 7th Guest, Space Quest, King's Quest, The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and more.