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ScummVM

ScummVM is a collection of virtual machines and re-implementations of game engines for point-and-click adventure games. KNULLI includes ScummVM by default. If you want to find out if your games can be played with ScummVM, we suggest to have a look at the compatibility chart at the ScummVM website.

Point and click

By default, the cursor of your ScummVM game can be moved with the dpad and/or the left analog stick while L1 and R1 will correspond to left and right click. The Start button will bring up the ScummVM main menu which will allow you to save, load, and edit some settings.

However, KNULLI also supports connecting a mouse via Bluetooth, as explained in the Controls section.

Standalone and RetroArch ScummVM

KNULLI comes with two different ScummVM emulators: The RetroArch-integrated ScummVM core (libretro:scummvm) and the standalone ScummVM (scummvm). Both work fine on most KNULLI-driven handhelds, however, some of the more demanding games might run a little better on the standalone version.

Both versions come with the ScummVM launcher which relies on a scummvm.ini file to keep all the game-specific settings, however, both versions work slightly different:

  • Standalone ScummVM
    • keeps its scummvm.ini in system/.config/scummvm.
    • will only launch games from EmulationStation which have been added to scummvm.ini
      • either by manually editing the file or
      • by adding the games from the standalone launcher.
  • Libretro ScummVM
    • keeps its scummvm.ini in bios.
    • will launch games from EmulationStation without adding them to the scummvm.ini.
    • will not memorize game-specific settings for games which are launched from EmulationStation.

Updated version coming soon

We already adopted a recent update to Batocera, which improved the behavior of the libretro ScummVM emulator. With every KNULLI build after August 19th 2024, libretro ScummVM will memorize game specific settings if the game was added to scummvm.ini, either by manually editing the file or by adding the games from the standalone launcher. To call the came as configured in the scummvm.ini, the .scummvm file needs to contain the exact launcher ID.

Adding ScummVM games

Unlike most other systems, your ScummVM games need a little adjustment to be run on your KNULLI device. This guide will help you to set up your ScummVM games properly. To do so, it is required that you understand the difference between the game ID and the launcher ID of ScummVM.

Game IDs

Within ScummVM, each game has a dedicated game ID that consists of two parts: The ID of the engine (or developer) and the ID of the game within that engine. Those two values are combined, separated by the : character. For example, classic LucasArts adventures run in the SCUMM engine, which has the ID scumm. Within that engine, "Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis" by LucasArts has the ID atlantis. Consequently, the game ID of "Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis" is scumm:atlantis.

The game "Atlantis: The Lost Tales" by Cryo also goes by atlantis, however, the engine for that game has the ID cryomni3d, so the game ID of "Atlantis: The Lost Tales" is cryomni3d:atlantis.

Launcher IDs

When adding a game to the ScummVM launcher (e.g., on your computer or on your emulation device), the game receives another ID - the launcher ID. By default, the launcher ID usually corresponds to the game-part (the part after the :) of the game ID, sometimes followed by a set of modifiers that indicates a language or other version information.

For example, "Broken Sword" has the game ID sword1:sword1, the german Windows version of the game gets the launcher ID sword1-win-de by default. However, it is also possible to add the same game multiple times to the ScummVM launcher. In this case, the launcher ID receives a numerical suffix, for example, a second instance of "Broken Sword" would receive the launcher ID sword1-win-de-1.

Step 1: Find out the (default) launcher ID

To run your ScummVM game on KNULLI, you will need to find out the (default) launcher ID of the ScummVM game. You can do this by adding the game to the ScummVM launcher on your computer or on your handheld device. Afterwards, go to the Game Options, find the Game tab and take a look at the ID field.

Open ScummVM launcher on your device

The launcher will pop up automatically if you try to launch a game that does not exist. For the standalone ScummVM launcher, you need to make sure that Emulator is set to scummvm in the Game Settings (or System Settings). Likewise, you will need to set Emulator to libretro:scummvm if you want to configure the RetroArch-integrated ScummVM. In both cases, create a .scummvm file for a game you know not to exist (e.g., scummvm-launcher.scummvm) and launch it from EmulationStation to bring up the launcher.

Step 2: Add your game files

In the userdata folder, go to roms, then go to scummvm. Inside this folder, create a subfolder for every game you want to add. You can name the folder however you want.

Depending on the game, you will need some files from your original copy of the game to run it with ScummVM. Have a look at the Supported Games section of the ScummVM wiki to figure out, which files you will need to run your game and add them to the folder you just created, just as explained in the ScummVM wiki.

Step 3: Create the ScummVM file

After you have added all the game files for a game, create an new text file in the folder of each game. Now, you need to rename this file exactly like the default launcher ID of this game. So, for example, for the German version of "Broken Sword" for Windows, the file should be named sword1-win-de.scummvm. This will allow the RetroArch-integrated ScummVM to launch the game from EmulationStation.

However, if you also want to be able to use standalone ScummVM or if you want to be able to save game-specific settings in the RetroArch-integrated ScummVM, you need to take an additional step and edit the text file, so that it contains the same default launcher ID the file is named after.

So, for the German version of Broken Sword, you will have a file sword1-win-de.scummvm which contains the following text:

sword1-win-de

Saving game-specific settings in RetroArch-integrated ScummVM

Saving game-specific settings is only supported in KNULLI builds which have been released after August 19th 2024.

Step 4: Update gamelists

Press Start to bring up the main menu, go to Game Settings and pick Update Gamelists to scan for your newly added games. Afterwards, you should find your ScummVM games in the ScummVM category.

Step 5: Add the game to the ScummVM launcher

Depending on your previous steps and the emulator you chose, you might be led directly to the ScummVM launcher when you try to lauch your game for the first time, because it could not be found within the respective scummvm.ini. If so, pick Add Game in the ScummVM launcher and add the game by browsing to its folder and following on-screen instructions. Afterwards, Quit the launcher and try to launch your game again. If it still does not work, go to the Game Options within ScummVM, take a look at the ID in the Game tab and make sure to have the very same ID in your .scummvm file and its name.

Step 6: Scrape media

By default, each ScummVM game will be named after its .scummvm file in your EmulationStation GUI. Since this is not very user-friendly, we recommend scraping for artworks and media. Since the scraper will most likely not be able to identify games based on their sometimes pretty cryptic ScummVM IDs, you may need to do scrape manually as explained in the Scraping section.