ScummVM 3DS

ScummVM 3DS
ScummVM 3DS
General
Author	ScummVM Team
Type	Other Emulators
Version	2.8.1
License	GPL-3.0
Last Updated	2024/04/23
Links
	[3DSX-build - CIA-build Download]
	Website
	Source
	Support Author

ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the game, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed.

Originally it was designed to run LucasArts' SCUMM games, such as Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle or Sam and Max. SCUMM stands for Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion, which was the first game for which LucasArts designed this system. And much later it gave its name to ScummVM (VM meaning Virtual Machine).

Over time support for a lot of non-SCUMM games has been added, and ScummVM now also supports many of Sierra's AGI and SCI games (such as King's Quest 1-6, Space Quest 1-5,...), Discworld 1 and 2, Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2, Beneath A Steel Sky, Lure of the Temptress, Broken Sword I and II, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Gobliiins 1-3, The Legend of Kyrandia series, many of Humongous Entertainment's children's SCUMM games (including Freddi Fish and Putt Putt games) and many more.

Installation

Available in 3DX and CIA formats.

3DSX - Copy the extracted files to your SD card into the /3ds/scummvm/ directory. Launch ScummVM using the Homebrew Launcher.
CIA - Use any CIA installation software to install the scummvm.cia file.

Note that CIA format requires a DSP binary dump saved on your SD card as /3ds/dspfirm.cdc.

Transfer game folders onto the SD card, you can find a list of required data files for each game from the wiki entry for that game (read more).

The exact location for the game data files is not important. For ease of use, you can create a dedicated games folder into which folder containing game files can be copied. The resulting directory structure will look somewhat like this:

scummvm/
 |-Day of the Tentacle/
 |    |-MONSTER.SOU
 |    |-TENTACLE.000
 |    |-TENTACLE.001
 |-Flight of the Amazon Queen/
 |    |-QUEEN.1
 |    |-queen.tbl

ScummVM for the Nintendo 3DS also has cloud functionality. See Connecting a cloud service.

User guide

Compatibility List

You can find a full list with details on which adventures are supported and how well on the compatibility page. ScummVM is continually improving, so check back often.

Please note that ScummVM is still under development and you may encounter crashes or occassional problems. That being said, some of the games have been supported for a long time and should work fine with any recent stable release.

Hover mode

When using the touchscreen, hover mode simulates the movement of the mouse.

You can click with taps, however you can’t drag or hold down a mouse button unless you use the buttons mapped to the right/left mouse buttons.

Drag mode

Simulates the click and release of the mouse buttons every time you touch and release the touchscreen.

At the moment, this is only a left mouse button click.

Magnify mode

Due to the low resolutions of the 3DS screens (400x240 for the top, and 320x240 for the bottom), games that run at a higher resolution will inevitably lose some visual detail from being scaled down. This can result in situations where essential information, such as text, is indiscernable.

Magnify mode increases the scale factor of the top screen back to 1, but the bottom screen remains unchanged. The touchscreen can then be used to change which part of the game display is being magnified. This can be done even in situations where the cursor is disabled, such as during full-motion video segments.

When activating magnify mode, touchscreen controls are automatically switched to Hover mode mode to reduce the risk of the user accidentally inputting a click when changing the magnified area with the stylus. Clicking can still be done as in normal hover mode. Turning off magnify mode will revert controls back to what was used previously. It will also restore the top screen’s previous scale factor.

Magnify mode can only be used when the following conditions are met:

In the 3DS config menu, the Use Screen option is set to Both.
The horizontal and/or vertical in-game resolution is greater than that of the top screen.
You’re playing a game.

Magnify mode cannot be used in the Launcher menu.

Paths

Saved games are at sdmc:/3ds/scummvm/saves/.

Configuration file is located at sdmc:/3ds/scummvm/scummvm.ini.

Settings

For more information about Settings, see the Settings section of the documentation. Only platform-specific differences are listed here.

Show mouse cursor - Toggles a visible mouse cursor on/off.
Stretch to fit - Stretches the image to fit the screen
Snap to edges - The 3DS touch screen has difficulty reaching the very end of the screen. With this option enabled, if you’re within a few pixels of the edge the cursor snaps to the edge.
Use Screen - Sets whether ScummVM uses the Top, Bottom or Both screens.
C-Pad Sensitivity - Sets the sensitivity of the Circle Pad.

Audio

Supported audio file formats are:

MP3.
OGG.
OGG.
Uncompressed audio.

Controls

Circle Pad - Moves the cursor

R+Circle Pad - Slow Mouse

A - Left mouse button

B - Right mouse button

X - Opens the virtual keyboard

Y - ESC (skip cutscenes and such)

Control Pad - Keypad cursor keys

L - Toggles magnify mode on/off

R - Toggles between hover/drag modes

Start - Opens global main menu

Select - Opens 3DS config menu

Media

ScummVM-3DS - Broken Sword 1 (Jack DeMar)

Known issues

Some games are not playable due to the slow CPU speed on the 3DS. If there are any games that run really slowly, this is considered a hardware limitation, not a bug.

External Links

Official website - https://www.scummvm.org
ScummVM Wiki - https://wiki.scummvm.org
Read the Docs - https://docs.scummvm.org/en/v2.5.1/other_platforms/nintendo_3ds.html
GitHub - https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm
SourceForge - https://sourceforge.net/projects/scummvm