King's Quest and Android ScummVM

Subforum for discussion and help with ScummVM's Android port

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SwingBlade
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:27 pm

King's Quest and Android ScummVM

Post by SwingBlade »

Hey folks!

I'm a huge nerd that is really excited to be able to get the KQ games running on my tablet. To the ScummVM devs, thanks so much for the awesome time and effort you've put into making this happen.

So, I have the ScummVM app installed, as well as the SCI plugin. One thing I haven't been clear on - can I use my King's Quest Collection files from Steam to install the games? Googling only turned up threads from 3-4 years ago, and I have no idea if developments have arisen on the matter. If not, it's worth it for me to pick it up on GOG (4-5-6 is my target, maybe 7-8 as well).

My next question is, once I have the files, *how* do I get them set up on my tablet? I couldn't find particularly clear instructions that I felt comfortable in my execution of them.

I greatly appreciate your time!
digitall
ScummVM Developer
Posts: 1172
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:40 pm

Post by digitall »

Firstly, it is highly recommended currently to use a Daily Build as the v1.5.0 in the Google Play store is very outdated:
http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Android#Daily_Builds

Secondly, no idea about KQ Collection from Steam and how it is packaged, but if you can extract the required SCI datafiles, then it should run in ScummVM:
http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Datafiles#SCI

As that notes, these can vary in name, but based on my KQ Collection CD (which I bought from Amazon), the files you need are RESOURCE.*, *CFG, *MAP and *DRV... though once you find this, just copy all the files in that folder as patches may be present i.e. *HEP, *SCR etc.

Thirdly, GOG packages KQ Collection with DOSBox IIRC. The large 640MB *.GOG file is actually an ISO image of the original game CD. You should be able to work out how to extract the datafiles from that with a standard CD image utility. IIRC even 7-zip works with these.
digitall
ScummVM Developer
Posts: 1172
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:40 pm

Post by digitall »

Ah... just re-read your message. Transferring the datafiles to your tablet is outside the scope of ScummVM, but basically you need to get the required game datafiles into a folder on the Android storage.

As the daily build notes state:
" you will need a file manager. The free and open source Ghost Commander is recommended which can also unzip the zip files if downloaded directly to the device. "

This can be found in the Google Play store and supports accessing windows SMB shares on the same network... so you can share a folder from your PC to your tablet over WiFi and then copy the files over.

Once they are present, start ScummVM and use "Add Game" button, then navigate the folder browser to the directory with your game files and the game should be detected.
SwingBlade
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:27 pm

Post by SwingBlade »

Thanks for the quick replies digitall!

When I asked about moving the files to my tablet, I mostly meant, to what particular location should they go, or does it matter?

Also, here is a cap of my Steam folder, does this look like it'd be about right?

Once again, I really appreciate the help!

EDIT: Apparently I don't have enough posts yet to actually link to an imgur picture of my folder. You can find it by going to imgur/7I9Nlkm
digitall
ScummVM Developer
Posts: 1172
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:40 pm

Post by digitall »

As long as they are in a folder on the External Storage, it should not be an issue as ScummVM asks for full file access permissions to the external storage... unfortunately, for newer versions of Android i.e. 4.1.1+, you may have some issues. See here for details and workarounds:
http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=13560
http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=13536

To be clear, this is not a ScummVM bug, but an issue with Android changes to External Storage which are broken by design *facepalm* :
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/02/17 ... ting-them/
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/03/21 ... -required/

Looking at your steam folder contents, it does look about right, so should work by default... To save space, you can probably remove the executables (*.EXE) and the various AVI files..
SwingBlade
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:27 pm

Post by SwingBlade »

Thanks again D! To be clear, does it have to be in External Storage (ie an SD card), or can it be on internal storage? I don't typically keep an SD card in my device. I'm presuming it doesn't matter based on your previous statement but who knows.
digitall
ScummVM Developer
Posts: 1172
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:40 pm

Post by digitall »

AFAIK, a folder on the internal storage would be fine... though we normally recommend external storage as usually larger and can be replaced (microSDHC card) if/when the flash wears out... which if you exchange lots of game data is all too possible.
SwingBlade
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:27 pm

Post by SwingBlade »

HOLY CRAP DUDE I'M PLAYING KQ6 ON MY FREAKING TABLET!

You are awesome and, should I ever find myself in the same room as you, I'm buying you a beer. Even if the place doesn't sell them. See if they can stop me.
digitall
ScummVM Developer
Posts: 1172
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:40 pm

Post by digitall »

Please calm down! :)

Seriously, you should thank the SCI engine authors:
http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/SCI

P.S. I'll happily accept beer, but as you appear to be USian, I doubt you will be in London soon! Maybe at FOSDEM :)
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