 Yesterday, Google announced the list of accepted mentoring organizations and we have the great pleasure to be one of those. In previous years, we have primarily focused on adventure games. However, after discussing with our sister project ResidualVM, we are happy to announce that, this year, we will also be accepting RPG tasks. ScummVM and ResidualVM are now waiting for motivated students, willing to work during this summer on reviving adventure and role-playing games. Be part of it! Make History and join our best GSoC so far! Take a look at [our ideas page](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Summer_of_Code/GSoC_Ideas_2016) or bring your own idea, then contact us: we are waiting for you on IRC impatiently! One place: Freenode. Two channels: #scummvm and #residualvm
No, we do not want to make it a new rule to release ScummVM slower and slower! It has been many months since the last official release... but in that time, tons of work has been done, resulting in one of our biggest ScummVM releases to date! ScummVM 1.8 adds support for *ten* new games using eight brand new game engines: **Amazon: Guardians of Eden* **Beavis and Butthead in Virtual Stupidity* **Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars* **Labyrinth of Time* **Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender* **Sfinx* **The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo* **The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel* **Zork: Grand Inquisitor* **Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands* In addition to new game support, we've updated the MT-32 emulator to the latest upstream version of munt, and switched AdLib to Miles Audio for those games which originally supported it. This means games in ScummVM sound better than ever! We've also overhauled the graphics subsystem in AGI, basically replacing it. As a result game compatibility with old Sierra titles is high as never before, and even includes platform-specific system dialogs, palette and font for Apple IIgs, Atari ST and Amiga versions of the games. Game speed for Apple IIgs is handled properly now. And it's even possible to switch to the looks of another platform. New ports include GCW-Zero (yes, sev finally got one from the Kickstarter) and Raspberry Pi. Also, along the way we have moved to a new server and added translation capabilities to our main website. If you'd like to help with translation, [here](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/HOWTO-Translate_ScummVM_Web_Site) is the link with the guide. This list is far from complete. The more comprehensive version of it can be found in [the release notes](https://downloads.scummvm.org/frs/scummvm/1.8.0/ReleaseNotes) and the binaries for your platforms are available from our [downloads page](/downloads/). The porters are still building their packages, so please be patient if you do not see the up to date download for your platform yet. Don't get lost in the Labyrinth, and in the worst case call Mr. Holmes! (And we promise to release more often!)
You stumble upon an old handwritten book. It describes an island world named Myst. When you touch one of its last pages, you are transported to the island. As you explore Myst you learn about its inhabitants Atrus, Catherine and their sons Sirrus and Achenar. You quickly discover each son is trapped in a book. Will you solve the puzzles of the Myst ages and free them? The ScummVM Team is proud to announce that *Myst* and *Myst: Masterpiece Edition* are now playable in ScummVM using the [latest daily builds](/downloads/#daily), and are ready for testing. Reports of bugs and unknown versions are appreciated. They should go to our [bug tracker](http://bugs.scummvm.org/), and must follow our [bug submission guidelines](/faq/#question.report-bugs). You can help us fill our [screenshot gallery](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Screenshots) with captures from your playthrough. In addition to the main game, the making-of video and the [demo version](https://downloads.scummvm.org/frs/demos/mohawk/myst-win-demo-en.zip) are supported.
We are pleased to announce that John Carmack (yes, *the* John Carmack) will be joining the ScummVM and ResidualVM teams. We first met John at GDC 2016 and hit it off immediately. We had been feeling for a while now that we have to move beyond simply recreating old games and actively improving them, while staying true to their original spirit. We talked to John about our plan after a few tequilas and he was immediately on board. John's experience will be invaluable in helping us achieve our goal. Here is [screenshot](/data/news/20160401.jpg) of John's early work with Monkey Island - notice the improved combat system and the subtle tweaks to Captain Smirk's sprite, you'll see why we are so excited. So please join us in welcoming John! **UPDATE:** No, not really. This was a joke.
 On Friday Google announced the accepted projects for this year's Summer of Code. We are pleased to say that ScummVM will be mentoring four lucky students who will have to spend their summer in a dark room in front of their screen. We expect this will be an interesting Journey, passing through shadowy gates to visit scary dungeons under dark clouds. All while the mentors will be hunting three-headed monkeys on a tropical island, enjoying the sun, the beach and the grog. *Borja Lorente Escobar (a.k.a. blorente) will be working on porting the ***MacVenture engine*** to ScummVM. *Bendegúz Nagy (a.k.a. WinterGrascph) will work on adding support for ***Dungeon Master*** *Dmitriy Iskrich (a.k.a. Iskrich) will be working on a ***Macromedia Director*** engine, with focus on ***The Journeyman Project*** *Ткачёв Александр (a.k.a. Tkachov) will be adding **cloud storage integration** to ScummVM to allow sharing saves and game data between devices. Welcome to our students for what we hope will be a productive and interesting summer! You can follow their progress throughout the summer on the [ScummVM Blogs](http://planet.scummvm.org).
Since the 1.8.0 release we've been very busy with fixing small and big bugs in the newly supported engines, and now we are almost ready to present you the result in a form of the ScummVM 1.8.1. Please, help us to test a few games, especially those which were not touched for a long time, or those which have significant changes in their engine. We prepared a short list on [our wiki](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Release_Testing/1.8.1). Also from now on we encourage you to test any game which we support and report any bugs or your success on the forum so we can keep track of current state of affairs in the ScummVM Land. For testing the pre-release you need to download a [daily build](/downloads/#daily) of ScummVM. If you spot some glitches or bugs, please report them on our [bug tracker](http://bugs.scummvm.org/). If everything went smoothly, please report your success on [the forums](http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=14077), and we will instantly reflect it on the [wiki](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Release_Testing/1.8.1) (yes, you can be famous for your testing efforts!) You can find a guide on how to test a new release [here](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Release_Testing). A few games are still missing [screenshots](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Screenshots). Please help up complete our gallery.
It has been a couple of months since ScummVM 1.8.0, which means it’s time for a new point release! ScummVM 1.8.1 is now available with fixes for important bugs and support for even more platforms. One of the most important "features" of this release is a major upgrade to the Android port. This upgrade also adds support for the OUYA console. We are currently working on bringing this new release straight to Google Play, but for the impatient among you, feel free to go ahead and [install the APKs manually](/downloads). The Android port now comes in two flavours, our "classic" OpenGL-based one, and a new variant based on SDL. The SDL port has better compatibility with some Android devices and also works better with some engines. Please give it a try and tell us on [our forums](http://forums.scummvm.org/viewforum.php?f=17) or via the [bug tracker](http://bugs.scummvm.org/) about your experience. We will also be adding Nintendo 3DS support! As of release time, the new binaries have not yet been built by our new porter, but they should be available soon. Keep your eyes peeled! 64-bit Mac binaries now include experimental automatic update checking using [Sparkle](https://sparkle-project.org/). Auto-updating is selected as an opt-in during your first start up, and by default checks weekly for new releases. When version 1.9.0 is released, users of 1.8.1 will be presented with a nice dialog for updating. If you'd like to see a similar feature for Windows or other platforms, let us know! All the details on how the update process works can be found [here](https://sparkle-project.org/). No ScummVM release would be complete without game engine updates! ScummVM 1.8.1 includes fixes for *Drascula*, *Legend of Kyrandia*, *Labyrinth of Time*, localized versions of *I Have No Mouth*, *Broken Sword 2.5* and improvements to the Windows, OS X and GCW0 ports. The full list of changes included in this release can be found in [the release notes](https://downloads.scummvm.org/frs/scummvm/1.8.1/ReleaseNotes) and the binaries are provided on our [downloads page](/downloads/). Get ready, grab your beloved Android device, install ScummVM on it, and play!
While traveling through space in his spaceship, Gnap ran out of gas and crashed in the middle of a redneck farm. He's now lost on planet Earth and needs your help to fix his U.F.O. so he can continue his journey! The ScummVM Team is proud to announce that *U.F.O.s* aka *GNAP: Der Schurke aus dem All* is now playable in ScummVM using the [latest daily builds](/downloads/#daily), and is ready for testing. Please report any bugs as well as unknown versions you find in our [bug tracker](http://bugs.scummvm.org/), following our [bug submission guidelines](/faq/#question.report-bugs). As usual, we'll also love to see the [screenshots](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Screenshots) of your playthrough!
Thanks to the hard work of wjp, we have moved away from SF.net to our own tracker at [https://bugs.scummvm.org](https://bugs.scummvm.org). This new service should be faster and more reliable than the old SF.net bug tracker. All information has been migrated from the old bug tracker, including patches (though these days we encourage people to submit patches using a [GitHub Pull Request](https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/pulls) instead). For authentication, the new bug tracker uses GitHub accounts via OAuth2, which should make signing up safer and easier. We transferred all accounts from SF.net, but did not set up any e-mail addresses. Thus, after you log in for the first time, please make sure you specify your e-mail address in the preferences, otherwise we will not be able to get in contact with you.
Time flies quickly, and now it is time to start the release cycle for ScummVM 1.9.0. Two new game engines became production quality, and we would like to ask you to test the following games: **Myst* **Myst: Masterpiece Edition* **U.F.O.s* Also, our SCI engine team has been busy improving the ScummVM experience with Sierra games, particularly with fixing the original script bugs. Thus, we would like to ask you to test several of those games as well. The complete list of the games that require testing for this release can be found on [our wiki](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Release_Testing/1.9.0). Please use a [daily build](/downloads/#daily) of ScummVM for testing. In case you encounter any bugs, there is a place for them to be reported at our [bug tracker](https://bugs.scummvm.org/). Please, also track your progress on [the forum thread](http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=14161) and we can cross it out on the [wiki](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Release_Testing/1.9.0). Please make sure to follow our guidelines for release testing which can be found [here](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Release_Testing). Also we're still lacking some [screenshots](http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Screenshots), so please don't forget to snap some during your gameplay.
