Running ScummVM in the browser through Native Client

ernestd · Post by **ernestd** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:24 pm

Hi,
I wanted to ask the experts in porting scummVM to other platforms how possible it would be to port scummVM to Native Client which let's you run C code natively inside the Google Chrome browser.
http://code.google.com/chrome/nativeclient/

If the proposal makes sense then I will file it as a feature request in the tracker.

md5 · Post by **md5** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:21 am

Well, the main work has already been done for this. Someone has ported SDL to NaCl (Native Client, though it does sound like Sodium Chloride

).

A repo of the port:
https://github.com/eugenis/sdl-nacl
and a patch on SDL 1.2.14:
http://code.google.com/p/naclports/sour ... DL-1.2.14/

Thus, the bulk of the work has been done, but someone is needed to actually gather all the pieces and turn this into a usable port.

Having said that, I personally don't see the real point in such a port. Yes, it looks cool and yes it's impressive. But how is this an improvement over running ScummVM on Windows or *nix or OSX (which are the main platforms that Chrome runs under)?

bobdevis · Post by **bobdevis** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 5:25 am

md5 wrote:[...]But how is this an improvement over running ScummVM on Windows or *nix or OSX (which are the main platforms that Chrome runs under)?

ChromeOS port?

md5 · Post by **md5** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:40 am

Good point

I forgot about ChromeOS

cyberix · Post by **cyberix** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:12 am

Installing a Chrome App is one or two clicks, after which the app upgrades itself automatically. That is a huge benefit, unless you specifically like hacking.

beatlefreak9 · Post by **beatlefreak9** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:34 am

A ChromeOS/Native Client port would be pretty awesome, I'm actually typing this on a piece of Cr-48 test hardware

bobdevis · Post by **bobdevis** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:09 am

cyberix wrote:Installing a Chrome App is one or two clicks, after which the app upgrades itself automatically. That is a huge benefit, unless you specifically like hacking.

The user would still need to rip and manage the game files himself because of legal issues though.

timofonic · Post by **timofonic** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:36 am

There's already a ScummVM port to NaCl...

http://code.google.com/p/naclports/sour ... 2.1/?r=409

http://nacl-scumm.appspot.com

https://github.com/arbenson/nacl-scummvm

Portable Native Client" PNaCl will make things even more interesting, as it's going to use LLVM bytecode instead specific CPU code: http://www.chromium.org/nativeclient/pn ... ive-client

Maybe the porter would be interested to merge the trunk codebase...

willrandship · Post by **willrandship** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 6:04 pm

You could have your games on your google account, or be loadable from the PC. Considering most of the games (excluding FM-Towns and CD Audio Ones) have very small file sizes it should be quite convenient.

Also, you would have scummvm on the go, on any pc. That's an improvement all its own.

NovaCoder · Post by **NovaCoder** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:58 pm

willrandship wrote:You could have your games on your google account, or be loadable from the PC. Considering most of the games (excluding FM-Towns and CD Audio Ones) have very small file sizes it should be quite convenient.

Also, you would have scummvm on the go, on any pc. That's an improvement all its own.

It's the future in fact

clone2727 · Post by **clone2727** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 2:04 am

NovaCoder wrote:It's the future in fact

The hell it's the future. I trust companies holding my data on their servers as far as I can throw Manhattan. I'll keep my data on my own computer, thank you very much.

If I want to have a portable version of ScummVM, I'll throw it on a flash drive and take it with me. In fact, that's what I do now.

Post by **sev** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:52 am

timofonic wrote:There's already a ScummVM port to NaCl...

http://code.google.com/p/naclports/sour ... 2.1/?r=409

http://nacl-scumm.appspot.com

https://github.com/arbenson/nacl-scummvm

Maybe the porter would be interested to merge the trunk codebase...

I contacted the author.

Eugene

lazylazyjoe · Post by **lazylazyjoe** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 6:17 am

Curious how this is going. Any response from the author?

Here is some info by some people who did the MAME port to NaCl https://developers.google.com/native-cl ... rting/MAME

DJWillis · Post by **DJWillis** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 4:58 pm

Does anyone know if the author updated the port beyond 1.2.1?

I started a quick and dirty port to native client as I needed to get my head around it's SDK for some work.

It's tempting to merge in Austin Benson's changes with mine and see if we can get it all working and into the main tree but I am not going to put the effort in if there is already someone looking after it

. I also don't want to bombard the author if others have

.