Just a quick news post to let everybody know that ScummVM 0.6.0 is still in-progress. Unfortunately, recent downtime and other issues with SourceForge.net have delayed the branching and final testing of this release, but we're still hoping to get it out as soon as we can! On another note, continuing the current rash of computer problems, all scummvm.org e-mail addresses are currently broken. We hope to fix this within the next few days, and no messages should be lost. If however you want to discuss something important with us, we really suggest talking to us in real-time on our IRC channel (#scummvm, on irc.freenode.net).
ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical adventure and role-playing games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the games, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed! ScummVM is a complete rewrite of these games' executables and is not an emulator.
ScummVM supports an extensive library of over 325 adventure games, including classic titles from iconic studios such as *LucasArts*, *Sierra On-Line*, *Revolution Software*, *Cyan, Inc.* and *Westwood Studios*. Alongside groundbreaking games like the *Monkey Island* series, *Broken Sword*, *Myst*, *Blade Runner* and numerous well-known titles, you can experience truly obscure adventures and discover hidden gems.
This is just a quick update to let everybody know we're still alive. Work on ScummVM is progressing as per usual, and we intend to release ScummVM 0.6.1 shortly. ScummVM 0.6.1 will contain several bugfixes for various games, as well as several sound and music enhancements for later SCUMM games (Full Throttle, The Dig, Curse of Monkey Island). Also, followers of CVS may have noticed that support for Another World was recently added. This provoked quite a bit of argument within the ScummVM team as to whether this is considered an adventure and within ScummVMs goals. After much debate, the engine author (cyx) decided that it would be more convenient to continue the project separate from ScummVM. It has now been removed, and future information and development will occur as part of the [RAW](http://membres.lycos.fr/cyxdown/raw/) project. To prevent any doomsday predictions, I should also point out that he remains a member of the ScummVM team.
Well, this is just to let you know we are not dead. There has been some amazing work happening in the last few weeks - with ScummVMs support for the HE SCUMM games improving in rapid bursts thanks to the combined talent of cyx, Kirben and Sev. And of course, there has been more development than just this. And now we would like to bring up the point that our side-projects Residual and ScummEX both need developers and contributors. We welcome patches from other programmers very much. With the help of ScummVM developers joostp and aquadran, salty-horse (a regular #scummvm'er) today submitted a patch for lipsync animations in Residual. Please see our 'subprojects' page and the 'Coding Guidelines' in our Documentation section. If you are interested in pursuing a particular problem, please e-mail the "-devel" mailing list or pop on IRC if you need advice or help.
Anybody wishing to enter the Website Revamp contest better get their entries in, only two days left! So far we have only five entries. That's not too bad, but I was hoping for at least another five more. So if you're still sitting on an entry, SEND IT IN! Please send all contest entries to [contest@scummvm.org](mailto:contest@scummvm.org). Further information on this contest is available a couple of posts down.
It's been almost two months since we started our website design contest, and I know some of you have been eagerly awaiting the outcome. Since the team couldn't quite decide on who should be winner, we let you, our dear users, have a word in the outcome of this epic battle. And finally, we are happy to let it be known that after about 1400 votes we do have a clear winner! And it is... [draven](http://www.scummvm.org/poll/draven.jpg), with a strong majority of 55% of all votes! Congratulations, draven! So what now? We'll be settling the issue of the prize(s) for the winning entry in the next few days, and start working on implementing the new design. We consider doing some further tweaks to it (like, some people suggested to actually use the logo of jeanm's submission; and we have some other ideas up our sleeves). This may take some time, partially because it's a holiday time for a lot of us. So I am afraid you'll have to be a bit more patient. Good things need time :-).
We are pleased to announce a long-awaited ScummVM 0.8.0 release. We, the ScummVM Team, have prepared a big pack of new features for you. Most outstanding amongst these are: *New improved launcher and in-game GUI *Support for [Inherit the Earth](http://www.wyrmkeep.com/ite/) and Gobliiins *Playstation Portable, Playstation 2 and EPOC/SymbianOS ports *CGA and Hercules rendering modes for some games *Preliminary support for NES and C64 LucasArts games *Much improved support for Humongous Entertainment children games (Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, Putt-Putt, Spy Fox, Fatty Bear, Backyard Sports and Buzzy) You may find a more detailed list of changes as well as files to download at our [downloads page](/downloads/). We encourage you to update to this latest and best ScummVM version as soon as possible. Along with this release, we are also pleased to announce the launch of our [new forums](http://forums.scummvm.org/). Located at the easy to remember address of [http://forums.scummvm.org/](http://forums.scummvm.org/), the new forums feature individual sub-forums for Ports, and many new functions for both the users and moderators alike. Please note that the SourceForge.net forums will be closed and archived within the next 48 hours. These archives will be available from the bottom of the forums' Main Index page.
In light of the 0.8.0 release, which requires the additional SKY.CPT file to run Beneath a Steel Sky, we've updated the archive of the freeware CD version to include this file, and while we were at it, updated the data files to the last-known released version of BASS, which should fix some text issues that appear when playing the game in non-english languages. You can download it from the [downloads page](/downloads/) (whenever the SourceForge mirrors pick it up), or download the SKY.CPT file separately [here](https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/raw/master/dists/engine-data/sky.cpt).
Rejoice, ScummVM 0.8.1 "Codename: missing" has just been released. You can now experience the latest official flavour of ScummVM. The main reason for this release is fixing several bugs that slipped into 0.8.0, some of these fixes are: *Much improved support for Humongous Entertainment games *Support the German version of Maniac Mansion NES (thanks to Joachim Eberhard for contributing the cartridge) *Fixed overflow when using control panel for the robot in the Dig *Fixed disappearing cursor when level password is typed in Gobliiins *Implemented more precise MD5-based game detection for Simon the Sorcerer *First non-beta PS2 port release For a complete list of changes see the [release notes](https://downloads.scummvm.org/frs/scummvm/0.8.1/ReleaseNotes). You can grab a build for your system on our [downloads page](/downloads/) Enjoy!
Due to a bug discovered in 0.8.1, which rendered Broken Sword 2 unplayable, we're forced to release ScummVM 0.8.2 "Broken Broken Sword 2". Also, we used this opportunity to fix the WinCE builds, as well as the MacOS X bundle. As usual, you can get builds for all supported platforms on our [downloads page](/downloads/)
Observant users have noticed that there is an updated version of Flight of the Amazon Queen on SourceForge but not, until now, on the ScummVM [downloads page](/downloads/). Apart from some minor typographical changes to the license to keep the legal beagles happy, the only difference compared to the old version is that it has been compressed using the latest version of the ScummVM tools. This should fix problems with clicks at the beginning of some speech, and speech being played a bit too slow. (ScummVM 0.12.0 already has a workaround for the latter problem, so you may not even notice the difference.)
You always wondered where to get games supported by ScummVM? Perhaps you were also asking, how I can help the project? You could find the supported games either on our [downloads page](/downloads/), or on our [Where to buy games](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Where_to_buy_games) page on our Wiki. For helping the project we have had a [PayPal button](https://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?group_id=37116) for some time. But now you can reach both goals at the same time! We are pleased to announce the start of an affiliate program with the excellent [Good Old Games](http://www.gog.com/?pp=22d200f8670dbdb3e253a90eee5098477c95c23d) service, also known as GOG.com. Just click on their button on the sidebar and you will be brought to the site. Register there and buy some games. You will get your game, cheap, fast and legally, and the ScummVM project will get a share of the proceeds. The main reason behind this is that [GOG.com](http://www.gog.com/?pp=22d200f8670dbdb3e253a90eee5098477c95c23d) uses ScummVM for several of their offered titles. Currently they offer *Broken Sword 2*, *Simon the Sorcerer 1*, *Simon the Sorcerer 2*, *Feeble Files*, *Waxworks*, as well as some of the free games which we offer too. Each release is nicely pre-packaged with ScummVM, is DRM-free, goes for just $5.99, and the most important thing, is completely legal, as those folks chase the original rights holders. Thus, watch their site, [buy](http://www.gog.com/?pp=22d200f8670dbdb3e253a90eee5098477c95c23d) the games, and help our project. ***PS:*** We will get the money only if you click on the provided button and register within a short period of time.
[](https://sourceforge.net/community/cca09/nominate/?project_name=ScummVM&project_url=http%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.net%2Fprojects%2Fscummvm%2F) The SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards 2009 have started. We invite you to support our little project by casting your vote. The natural category for ScummVM would be *Best Project for Gamers*, though if you feel that we could be *Best Project*, we wouldn't mind much; a project can be nominated for more than one category this year. The Scary Robot is the mascot of these Awards, and in order to vote for ScummVM, click the mascot or [this link](https://sourceforge.net/community/cca09/nominate/?project_name=ScummVM&project_url=http%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.net%2Fprojects%2Fscummvm%2F). We hope to see you in the finals! P.S. For the live photosession of the Scary Robot see [Fingolfin's blog](http://blog.quendi.de/2009/05/07/sourceforgenet-community-choice-awards-2009/).
[](http://conf.ellak.gr) The 3rd free/open source software developers [conference](http://conf.ellak.gr) ([EL/LAK](http://www.ellak.gr)) is taking place in Athens, Greece on June 19 and 20. Among the various open source software and related talks, this year ScummVM will also be participating with a presentation on June 20th. The presentation initially aims to cover basic principles on how ScummVM works, its internal architecture and developer team layout. But we can also talk about adventure games in general, Google Summer of Code, open source gaming subjects or what ever else comes up! So if you're around and interested, go forth and [register](http://www.ellak.gr/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=registers) for the conference and come by for a meet & greet. See you there!
To coincide with the updated ScummVM logo, ScummVM t-shirts have also received a touch up. The shirts sport the verb list from Maniac Mansion on the chest, the updated logo on the upper back, and the scummvm.org url on the left sleeve. Shirts are now available in sizes small through 3XL. If you need a larger size, please contact sales\[at\]combobreaker\[dot\]com with a request. Shipping to the USA and Canada is free, and shipping elsewhere is offered at a discounted rate. Head over to [Combobreaker.com](http://combobreaker.com) to pick them up!
