ScummVM has just entered a CVS freeze and testing, to prepare for an eventual 0.5.0 stable release (hopefully at the end of July). But we need *YOUR* help! Please click that little 'Documentation' option over there, and look at the [0.5.0 release checklist](http://www.scummvm.org/documentation.php?view=release). If there is a game that is listed as needing testing, and you happen to feel like playing it through with the latest development version of ScummVM, please do so and let us know the results. Further information is on the checklist page. Besides many fixes that will be in the upcoming 0.5.0, especially in the area of music, comes support for three new games: *Enhanced Maniac Mansion *Enhanced Zak McKracken ***Beneath a Steel Sky**, thanks to the support of Revolution In other news, Anonymous CVS is (and has been for some time) lagging behind the official development tree. If you want the bleeding-edge CVS (for testing, as an example), please use the 'Source Snapshot' on the Download page over Anonymous CVS. And of course, **Be Vigilant**
Version 0.5.0 of ScummVM, the classic adventure game interpreter, has just been released. This is our most tested version yet, thanks to everybody who answered our call for testing. Thanks! So what's new? Well, besides the usual bugfixes and improvements are: *Extensive overhaul of the music subsystem, more games now support music *Support for the Enhanced (V2) versions of Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken *Support for Beneath a Steel Sky, made possible thanks to Revolution Software supplying us with the original assembly source code! *Aspect Ratio correction added, by popular request A link to the release notes and a more detailed list of changes can be found over on the [downloads page](/downloads/), along with the downloads... and our special (worst kept secret :) surprise! As an extra SPECIAL bonus, the really really wonderful people at [Revolution Software Ltd.](http://www.revgames.com) have decided to allow us to make Beneath a Steel Sky \*freeware!\* You can download either the CD version (70M, includes speech) or the smaller Floppy version (8M), along with ScummVM 0.5.0, from the [downloads page](/downloads/). Enjoy! Oh, and there is that little donate button down there on the left. We need to buy our Dreamcast porter a copy of Simon the Sorcerer :)
Although ScummVM 0.5.0 is our most tested version yet, a few problems always slip through the cracks. Among some other minor issues, it has come to our attention that Beneath a Steel Sky may occasionally produce unusable save games. Although this is a timing issue, and very rare on most systems, a small group of people may discover this happening fairly often. A ScummVM 0.5.1 point release is planned in the near-future to fix this, and several other smaller issues which have came to our attention. Also, the manual for Beneath a Steel sky and possibly a scan of the included comic will be available for download later in the week. Thanks for everybody's support, and assistance in making our project even better!
ScummVM version 0.5.1 was released today, fixing several issues uncovered since ScummVM 0.5.0. The following changes are included in this release: *Beneath a Steel Sky savegame code completely rewritten, eliminating several situations where ScummVM 0.5.0 would produce unusable 'frozen' saved games *Several other Beneath a Steel Sky bugs have been fixed *Some Curse of Monkey Island actor graphical issues have been fixed *Some issues when running ScummVM fullscreen under MacOS X have been resolved *MorphOS port has undergone several critical bugfixes *Dreamcast port now supports Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2 We recommend all users upgrade to this release. Please note that whilst BASS saves from 0.5.0 are compatible with this release, we recommend restarting your game using the 0.5.1 save system if you continue to experience problems.
Welcome to yet another quasi-regular reminder that, yes, your favorite project is far from dead. So what's going on in the world of ScummVM? ScummVM 0.6.0, although not due out for a few months at least, is going to knock your socks off. Or at least, make them a nice shade of purple. Among the usual massive structural changes, bugfixes galore, and maybe even a new platform or two... we have recently (almost) finished support for the original V1 versions of Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken. This leaves the ever difficult Full Throttle as the only LucasArts game we do not support in it's mainstream form. Also, thanks once more to the gracious support of Revolution, the next version of ScummVM will include support for yet another of their wonderful innovative games - Broken Sword 2! These are both already present, in some form, in our developmental CVS and daily builds - however please remember they are experimental and still being heavily worked on. Please do NOT file bugs or pester anyone regarding them. And maybe, just maybe, we might have some more surprises in store before the next major release makes it to a SourceForge mirror near you!
Whilst we know that the end of the year is approaching, it saddens us to announce that the ScummVM project is closing due to personal reasons on behalf of most of the developers. Visitors to our forum, such as timofonic, have suspected this may be the case for some time and unfortunately I have been urged by einheitlix to tell the truth. It's been a great ride, and we had some really wonderful things in store for you, such as a new game we were planning to freeware for our next release, and the announcement that the oft-requested completion of support for Full Throttle was underway - although it would probably be in 0.7.0 not 0.6.0... but it's moot now. I was planning on holding back this news until after the festivities, but as it's just a hoax to see how many people actually read our news page and pay attention, I've decided to announce it now. ***In summary, in case people just skimmed that last paragraph: we are NOT really dead. We're very much alive and kicking, and will be bringing you lots-o-cool-stuff early next year!*** (not so hidden link... see whats in store for the [next version!](https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/raw/84247d9797ecee43205a5f64c1d5f555e8c69f3d/NEWS))
Everybody here at ScummVM Central, well, everybody still conscious, hopes that everybody is having (or has had) a good Christmas! As a vague attempt to start our new years resolution (of posting news more frequently) a bit early, here is a mostly pointless news post. First, a request. If anybody notices any article in the media about ScummVM (or indeed is from the media), please e-mail press \[at\] scummvm.org so we can add it to our press page. The release schedule for 0.6.0 has been pushed back a little due to various problems (such as reencoding Broken Sword cutscenes) and heavy development on certain features (like Full Throttles INSANE subsystem). In an effort to reduce the length of our pre-release testing phase, I would ask that anybody here who does use a daily or CVS build please report any bugs they find in every-day use. This includes (despite what we usually say) our 'new' games: Full Throttle, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Broken Sword 1 and 2. As we are calling for testers before we 'freeze' development for a new release, please ensure you test with the latest available CVS before reporting any bugs.
So, what has been going on in the world of ScummVM lately? Currently we are gearing up for our 0.6.0 release - this release will mark a major milestone in ScummVM history. As of ScummVM 0.6.0, ScummVM should finally support (at least the PC versions) of all LucasArts SCUMM adventures! However, we need some help. As part of our next release we are also adding support for the Revolution games Broken Sword 1 and 2 which will require specially reencoded versions of the in-game cutscenes, as well as releasing another classic adventure game as freeware. However, we are not yet sure whether SourceForge will be able or willing to host these files. So if anybody reading this news article happens to run, for example, a large bandwidth-plenty archive (http or ftp) that preferably doesn't require annoying registration methods (ala Fileplanet) and is willing to help... then please e-mail Ender (@ scummvm.org) and offer your assistance. Stay tuned for more information on our next release, as it happens.
Some people appear to think that yesterdays news post implies that Broken Sword 1 and 2 will be released as freeware. We would just like to clarify that this is not currently the case. We will be releasing cutscene packs for use with the ORIGINAL game data in ScummVM, and hopefully freewaring a completely different non-Revolution game.
Just a quick news post to let everybody know that ScummVM 0.6.0 is still in-progress. Unfortunatly, 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).
