_Soldier Boyz_ is the newest supported game of the [Hypno engine](https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=Hypno), and it’s ready for public testing! Released in 1997 by Hypnotix and published by DreamCatcher Interactive and MCPA Interactive, this full-motion rail shooter is based on the 1995 film of the same name. The game starts when the daughter of an American billionaire is kidnapped by a group of Vietnamese terrorists. Then, it’s up to Major Howard Toliver, ex-Marine and highly decorated Vietnam veteran, to gather a deadly team for the dangerous mission of rescuing her. He recruits six prison inmates serving life sentences for a chance at a full presidential pardon. Keep the body count rising to survive five territories by playing as each Soldier Boy (and Girl), but beware and don’t waste a “friendly” since they provide vital survival information! ScummVM currently supports the English release of the game (which is the only one we know about) and features more responsive controls than the original. We couldn't find a demo but there is [a trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COKWms0UBL8). Please [contact us](https://www.scummvm.org/contact/) if you have a demo or any other release. To play the game with ScummVM, you will need a [daily development build](https://www.scummvm.org/downloads/#daily). As always, please submit your bug reports to our [issue tracker](https://bugs.scummvm.org/).
The first two installments of *Syberia* are now ready for testing in ScummVM! The acclaimed series from Benoît Sokal follows Kate Walker, a lawyer from New York as she initially tries to complete the sale of the Voralberg toy factory. But quickly Kate is drawn into a search for the owner which takes her on a journey of discovery.Join her as she uncovers the owner’s fascination with mammoths, the secrets of Syberia, and a love for adventure. You will need data files from the *macOS* version of the games, and a new [daily build](/downloads/#daily) of ScummVM.The ScummVM Wiki pages for [*Syberia*](https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=Syberia) and [*Syberia II*](https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=Syberia_II) include instructions on obtaining those files from Windows or Linux.Please file any issues you discover in the [issue tracker](https://bugs.scummvm.org).
 On Thursday Google announced the list of participants accepted for this year's [Google Summer of Code](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/) and we are happy to report that 5 contributors have been accepted to work on various parts of the ScummVM project this summer. * Ankush Dutt will work on an automated system for packaging freeware games with ScummVM for various platforms. The project includes two main objectives: help create standalone game packages bundled with ScummVM, and implement a new mechanism to let users download and install freeware games directly from the ScummVM launcher. You can follow the progress for this task on [Ankush’s GSoC blog](https://blogs.scummvm.org/ankushdutt/). * Harishankar Kumar will work on improving Director 4 Compatibility. The goal is to reach full support for Total Distortion & The Journeyman Project. You can follow the progress for this task on [Harishankar’s GSoC blog](https://blogs.scummvm.org/hsk/). * Kartik Agarwala (aka hax0kartik) will work on porting the CRAB engine to ScummVM. The CRAB engine was developed by Pyrodactyl Games and was used in several of the games which the studio released, most notably [Unrest](https://www.mobygames.com/game/74307/unrest/), a story-driven adventure RPG set in ancient India. You can follow the progress for this task on [Kartik’s GSoC blog](https://blogs.scummvm.org/hax0kartik/). * Abhinav Chennubhotla (aka PhoenixFlame101) will work on a system for verifying game file integrity, validating their checksums against those present in a central database. It will also let users contribute the checksums of game files not on the database. You can follow the progress for this task on [Abhinav’s GSoC blog](https://blogs.scummvm.org/phoenixflame101/). * Wyatt Radkiewicz (akaeklipsed) will work on a smaller project to optimize color blending code for the AGS engine thus making games more smooth and run better, especially on lower-end systems. You can follow the progress for this task on [Wyatt’s GSoC blog](https://blogs.scummvm.org/eklipsed/). Please give them a warm welcome, and visit our [Discord server](https://discord.gg/4cDsMNtcpG) if you want to discuss those projects. After a four week Community Bounding period, the coding period will start on May 29 and you can expect regular updates on these projects on their respective blogs. The team is very excited about the upcoming weeks – and we hope you are as well.
For many years, the GOG.com affiliate program has been a great way to support the project. By using our affiliate links to buy your favorite games, you granted us a small commission from GOG.com – without having to spend more than the original price. Earlier this year, GOG.com announced the discontinuation of its old affiliate program. Instead of using a simple referral link, they are now using two external affiliation networks that contain cross-site tracking, as considered by many ad blockers. Since we have been affiliated with GOG.com since 2009, we were able to use the legacy referral links for a couple of months after they initially discontinued them. Unfortunately, our affiliate links were put to rest effective November 22nd, 2023. Since we don't feel comfortable that you would have to use external affiliation networks just to support the project, and because tracking users is against our project policies, we decided not to join the new program. We still value GOG.com as an excellent source for legally purchasing games supported by ScummVM. Even though we are not affiliated with them anymore, we'll continue to support their releases, e.g. by adding and updating the game data files' signatures for the ScummVM supported games that are available for purchase from GOG.com in our detection database and providing links to their releases in [our list of available games](https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=Where_to_get_the_games). Thank you GOG.com and everybody who used our affiliate link for your support over the last 14 years!
We are proud to announce the last release of the year 2023. Please welcome ScummVM 2.8.0 – “Mysteries, Mammoths, and Muppets”. ## New games The team was quite busy working on new engines and enhancing existing ones. The list of supported games grew noticeably, and we now support these additions: * _Adibou 1_ * _Classical Cats_ * _The Dark Eye_ * _Dark Side_ * _Escape From Hell_ * _Gadget: Invention Travel and Adventure_ * _Gobliiins 5_ * _The Excavation of Hob's Barrow_ * _Kingdom: The Far Reaches_ * _Might and Magic Book One_ * _Muppet Treasure Island_ * _Nancy Drew: The Final Scene_ * _Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion_ * _Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill_ * _Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger_ * _Nancy Drew: Treasure in the Royal Tower_ * _Primordia_ * _Reah: Face the Unknown_ * _Schizm: Mysterious Journey_ * _Shardlight_ * _Strangeland_ * _Syberia_ and _Syberia II_ (macOS versions only) * _Technobabylon_ * _The Vampire Diaries_ * _Whispers of a Machine_ * _Wrath of the Gods_ and four other Director titles. * 14 AGS titles by _Stranga_ and _Cloak and Dagger_ All together, we’ve introduced 50 new games and five new engines. ## New platforms We are happy to see the RetroArch port being properly rewritten, and the port is now part of our source code. The Atari port has also been redone from scratch and now talks natively to the hardware, skipping SDL as an intermediate layer. That made many more games playable on the platform. The Atari FireBee port is still using the SDL library, though. ## Speed-optimized graphics Thanks to the work of one of the GSoC participants this year, Wyatt Radkiewicz (a.k.a. eklipsed), we now use CPU-specific SIMD instructions such as SSE, AVX2, and NEON for drawing graphics in the AGS engine and in some generic routines. This led to 4-14x speedup in drawing for many cases. ## Networking games This year, we merged with the [Backyard Sports Online](https://backyardsports.online/) project, which made it possible to play _Backyard Football_, _Backyard Baseball 2001_ and _Backyard Football 2002_over the internet with other humans. Also, the _Moonbase Commander_ support is in active playtesting mode, though not yet ready for prime time. ## Notable engine enhancements The AGS engine has been brought up to version 3.6.0.53 from upstream. For many engines, we added support for numerous Chinese and Japanese game variants. Believe it or not, we implemented a lot of native GUI dialogs for SCUMM games, bringing them closer to the original experience. We also rewrote the sound code for the SCUMM Humongous Entertainment games, making them flawless. We performed a deep review of the _Broken Sword 1_ game engine, implementing some small, previously unnoticed things like scene transitions, in-game menu peculiarities, accurate fonts, idle animations, and more. Now, the game is absolutely faithful to the original. ---- The full [Release Notes](https://downloads.scummvm.org/frs/scummvm/2.8.0/ReleaseNotes.html) contain a comprehensive summary of the changes and enhancements; it is about 3 pages long with this release. On [our downloads page](https://www.scummvm.org/downloads/), you can find the downloads for various platforms. If you are using Windows, macOS, or either the Ubuntu Snap or Flatpack packages, the autoupdater will assist you in updating to ScummVM 2.8.0. Android port will follow up very shortly, as we are currently in the Open Beta phase. Play the games, and enjoy ScummVM! _Ah, one more thing…_ ScummVM is coming to [the Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scummvm/id6446184412). Please leave us with good reviews and report any problems on our [Discord server](https://discord.gg/4cDsMNtcpG), which includes an [iOS support channel](https://discord.com/channels/581224060529148060/1149456560922316911).
_Moonbase Commander_, one of the very last games ever created in the SCUMM engine, is now finally supported and ready for public testing! Although not an adventure game, _Moonbase Commander_, developed by Humongous Entertainment (creators of _Putt-Putt_, _Freddi Fish_, _Pajama Sam_, _Backyard Sports_, etc.) is a turn-based strategy game that isn’t like any other strategy games at its time.The main objective is to prevent your opponents from taking over a planet before you can.Its unique aim, timing of your power, and launch aspect makes this one of the most “easy-to-learn, hard-to-master” type games.You can easily spawn other hubs from your central hub, spawn collectors at the energy pools, fire projectiles at your opponents’ hubs, the list goes on!It even has a custom map editor, which allows you to create your own maps and share them with other players! Even though the game can be played via single player Skirmishes and Challenge mode, you can also play multiplayer games either with other people online, or through other devices connected to your Local Area Network, both of which are fully supported!Just click on Multiplayer in the game’s menu and you can create a game and let your friends join!Easy as that! Tired of playing the same maps over and over again?We have incorporated the map generator from the popular fanmade tool [Moonbase Console](https://github.com/michaelbarlow7/moonbase-console) and all of its algorithms and configurations within ScummVM!You can enable this feature by downloading the latest [daily build](https://scummvm.org/downloads/#daily), go to the Game Options dialog and click on the “Generate random maps” checkbox.This will generate a new randomized map when starting a Skirmish or a Multiplayer game.This can be disabled at any time by unchecking the same checkmark. Dedicated players have organized a Discord server, where you can find people willing to play online and discuss all things _Moonbase Commander_ You can purchase the game on [ZOOM-Platform](https://www.zoom-platform.com/product/moonbase-commander?affiliate=c049516c-9c4c-42d6-8649-92ed870e8b53), [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/254880/MoonBase_Commander/), or [GOG](https://www.gog.com/en/game/moonbase_commander), or download and try the [demo](https://downloads.scummvm.org/frs/demos/scumm/he/moonbase-win-demo-us.zip), both multiplayer and the map generator are supported there as well! Many thanks to the current IP holder [Rebellion](https://rebellion.com/) for providing access to the game’s source code to the team!