How to run multi-disc games! (CoMI, Broken Sword, etc.)

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Graxer
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How to run multi-disc games! (CoMI, Broken Sword, etc.)

Post by Graxer »

I have noticed many people asking for help regarding multiple CD games. Examples of such games are The Curse of Monkey Island, Broken Sword 1 & 2, Discworld 2 and the 7th Guest.

I have decided to try and make a guide in this topic with the aim of cutting down on the amount of questions being asked. For the purpose of this guide I will concentrate on the Curse of Monkey Island, however I cover special cases like Broken Sword 1 & 2 / Discworld 2 renaming and will cover 7th Guest CDDA tracks in the future.

This guide will also help with single-CD games, even if it concentrates on multi-CD ones.


Putting the files in the right places

To get the games to work, as with all ScummVM games, you need to copy only the files listed for your game here from the CDs* into a folder on your hard drive:**

http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Datafiles

If you dont know how to copy files look here:

http://www.justbajan.com/computer/tips/ ... /index.htm

For example, for the Curse of Monkey Island I have:

COMI.LA0 (From CD1 or CD2, it doesn't matter)
COMI.LA1 (From CD1)
COMI.LA2 (From CD2)
RESOURCE (Folder) (Copy the RESOURCE folder from CD1, then copy the contents of CD2's RESOURCE folder into the folder as well)

You can create the main folder wherever you like, but I recommend one at "C:\[GAME NAME]". In that folder you should add the files mentioned in the link for the relevant game. So, for Curse of Monkey Island I have:

Image

In the main folder.

In the RESOURCE folder there should be:

Image

NOTE: It is not vital to place the contents of folders into identical folders. For example the contents of the RESOURCE folder could be alongside COMI.LA0, COMI.LA1 and COMI.LA2 in this case.


Running the game within ScummVM

If you haven't already, download the correct version of ScummVM for your platform (e.g. Windows, Mac or a Linux Distribution) here:

http://www.scummvm.org/downloads/

Once it has been installed, run ScummVM, and on the right hand side you will see a few buttons.

Select "Add Game".

Image

Select the folder where you put the game and select "Choose".

Image
This window may look very different depending on the platform you are using (e.g. PC, Mac, Android...) and also what version of ScummVM you are using.

If a version/language selection screen appears double-click on the desired version/language.

Then select "OK".

Image

After that just double click on the game's name to run it.


Special Cases

Specific game files not specified (e.g. SCI games) or game not listed on datafiles list (e.g. for games currently only supported in development builds)
In this case, copy all files from the CD/Floppy Disk. If the game is only supported in development builds at the moment make sure you have a development build from the https://buildbot.scummvm.org/builds.html. Games only supported in development builds may be buggy depending on how far along development is, but these bugs do not need to be reported unless there has been a request for testing and bug reports for the game in question on the ScummVM homepage.

Identical Files (With identical size) - The Curse of Monkey Island, Broken Sword
Sometimes both CD's have files with the same name, and the same contents. In such cases it doesn't matter whether you keep the version from CD1 or CD2. The Datafiles list will say if you have to do differently. (See the next special case)

Name Changes - Broken Sword, Discworld 2
Sometimes both CD's have files with the same name, but with different contents. ScummVM needs help defining the two which means a couple of simple filename changes.

Using Broken Sword 1 as an example, both CD's contain a file called "speech.clu" with completely different contents. Once you have copied the file from CD1, rename the file to "speech1.clu", then, once you have copied the one from CD2, rename that one "speech2.clu".

Broken Sword 2 also has a "music.clu" on each CD which will similarly need renamed to "music1.clu" and "music2.clu". The same rule counts for Discworld 2's english.smp, english.txt and english.idx files. (Name may be affected by region)

CD Audio - The 7th Guest
If you are using a game that requires CD Audio tracks, you will need to have the CD audio tracks from both CDs in the folder with the game. This means you will have to create compatable audio files to run in ScummVM.

For The 7th Guest you can get the basic info here of what is needed:

http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/The_7 ... dio_Tracks

As the wiki states you need the first audio track of CD1 and the only audio track of CD2. CD1's second audio track is blank and isn't needed.

For the purpose of this guide I will be using CDex for Windows. CDex can be obtained free from the official website here:

http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

I will also be converting into .mp3 format for the purpose of this gude, even though ScummVM does support other formats such as OGG.
More to be added

Other platforms

Although I can't give a deatiled guide for platforms I don't have, here are some recommendations from other users:

MacOS
Max
iTunes - Unconfirmed

Linux
K3B - Details quoted below:
bobdevis wrote:K3B > Tools > Rip Audio CD.
The ogg option is default and will do fine for ScummVM.
Alternatives for Windows
iTunes - Unconfirmed
Audiograbber

Blue's Birthday Adventure
Both CD's work as completely seperate games. A red and yellow version. This means you just add them as two single-CD games.


Running ScummVM on other platforms

In most cases running ScummVM on other platforms is very similar to running it on Windows. If you have a Wii for instance, you just need to place the same files in a folder on your SD card or USB drive.

Special Cases

Some other platforms may not be capable of running certain games, or may need you to make certain changes here are some examples:

DS
The DS can't play certain games, as it has very little memory. This means that it is best to check if your game is compatable before trying it. The best place to do that this is here:

http://scummvm.drunkencoders.com/#whichgames

You may also notice that that page has a "Supported By Build" column next to each game. This is because each game can only be run using a specific version of ScummVM DS. All versions are packaged with ScummVM DS and to make it easier should all be added to your DS. Just run the relevant version of ScummVM DS for the game you want to play and add the game as directed above.

Another complication with the DS version is CD Audio. When you rip the audio tracks of a game it is best to rip them with certain settings for optimum performance that can be seen here:

http://scummvm.drunkencoders.com/#cdaudio



*NOT THE FOLDER YOU INSTALLED INTO, INSTALLING OFTEN DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE REQUIRED FILES, AND IS ONLY NEEDED IN VERY FEW CASES

**DO NOT TRY TO RUN THE GAMES OFF THE CD AS THEY PROBABLY WONT WORK PROPERLY, OR WILL CRASH WHEN A CD CHANGE IS REQUIRED
Last edited by Graxer on Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:12 pm, edited 74 times in total.
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bobdevis
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Post by bobdevis »

I nominate this for a sticky.

Also, I'd like to mention Discworld 2
http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Dataf ... _....21.3F
Like the link explains, you need to rename some of the files before merging both cd's in the same directory.

Also, if merging directories is confusing, keep in mind that ScummVM doesn't mind if you strip the directory structure. This means regardless of what sub-directories exist on the cd's, you can just dump all files in the same directory and ScummVM will recognize the game just fine.
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Graxer
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Post by Graxer »

bobdevis wrote:I nominate this for a sticky.

Also, I'd like to mention Discworld 2
http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Dataf ... _....21.3F
Like the link explains, you need to rename some of the files before merging both cd's in the same directory.
Thanks! Discworld 2 is mentioned now and I will keep it in mind when I add the part about renaming.
Death.
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Post by Death. »

I have a problem finding the files.

Here is a screenshot of the folder when i've installed the game:

Image
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md5
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Post by md5 »

@Death.: You need to COPY the files off the CDs, you've just installed the game, which only copies the bare minimum files to your hard drive, hence ScummVM can't find the game
Death.
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Post by Death. »

Ah. How would i go about copying the files off the CDs?
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md5
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Post by md5 »

Death. wrote:Ah. How would i go about copying the files off the CDs?
... follow what Graxer has already written in the first post of this thread???

If you don't know how to copy files from one folder to another... a Google search could help you:
http://www.justbajan.com/computer/tips/ ... /index.htm
Death.
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Post by Death. »

I had read what he wrote but didn't know how to get at those particular files.

I've found it through that link though. Cheers.
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bobdevis
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Re: How to run multi-disc games! (CoMI, Broken Sword, etc.)

Post by bobdevis »

Aight, lets keep going to polish this up a bit;
Graxer wrote: CD Audio - The 7th Guest
If you are using a game that requires CD Audio tracks, you probably wont want to use the CD every time you play the game. This means you will have to create compatable audio files to run in ScummVM.
More to be added
You probably don't even want to mention that redbook audio will work with Scummvm. It may, but I smell platform dependent problems.
I suggest mentioning some very easy to use GUI ripping software for every platform that know how to handle mixed-mode cd's. The Readme talks about command-line tools like Lame, but considering our intended audience I would not recommend talking about those.
For Windows there is Audiograbber. For Linux there is Grip. I am not 100% on how Grip deals with mixed-mode cd's though. Some Mac-head needs to mention the proper OSX way of ripping (Itunes mp3 mode ??).
Graxer wrote: * DO NOT TRY TO RUN THE GAMES OFF THE CD AS THEY PROBABLY WONT WORK PROPERLY!
Make that "DO NOT TRY TO RUN THE GAMES OFF THE CD AS THEY PROBABLY WONT WORK PROPERLY OR BREAK HALF WAY TOUGH THE STORY"
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Graxer
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Re: How to run multi-disc games! (CoMI, Broken Sword, etc.)

Post by Graxer »

I have now taken Death.'s problems into account. Thanks for the link md5.
bobdevis wrote:I suggest mentioning some very easy to use GUI ripping software for every platform that know how to handle mixed-mode cd's. The Readme talks about command-line tools like Lame, but considering our intended audience I would not recommend talking about those.
For Windows there is Audiograbber. For Linux there is Grip. I am not 100% on how Grip deals with mixed-mode cd's though. Some Mac-head needs to mention the proper OSX way of ripping (Itunes mp3 mode ??).
I used lame originally, but for the purpose of this guide I was planning on suggesting CDex for Windows. I have found it to be a good, customisable, CD audio ripper. It is also what is recommended for ScummVM DS.

And yes, any recommendations from expierienced Mac / Linux fans would be useful.
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raina
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Post by raina »

iTunes is probably alright for people who don't have personal problem with it. On the other hand, for people like me, I recommend Max for Macs. :) hop -> http://sbooth.org/Max/
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bobdevis
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Post by bobdevis »

Linux
-----
Ok. I dug up a mixed-mode cd (7th Guest) and went testing.

I checked up on Grip and there seems to be a conflict with it and KDE 4.x. They seems to 'fight' over device access.
I guess Grip is too old.

But fear not, I also discovered that K3B (the very popular and up-to-date CD burning/iso handling tool) does an excellent job of detecting and ripping mixed-mode cd's.
K3B > Tools > Rip Audio CD.
The ogg option is default and will do fine for ScummVM.
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Graxer
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Post by Graxer »

bobdevis wrote:Linux
-----
Ok. I dug up a mixed-mode cd (7th Guest) and went testing.

I checked up on Grip and there seems to be a conflict with it and KDE 4.x. They seems to 'fight' over device access.
I guess Grip is too old.

But fear not, I also discovered that K3B (the very popular and up-to-date CD burning/iso handling tool) does an excellent job of detecting and ripping mixed-mode cd's.
K3B > Tools > Rip Audio CD.
The ogg option is default and will do fine for ScummVM.
Thanks, I removed Grip and added what you said.

Anyone who wants to test iTunes on the Mac would be a great help.
KuroShiro
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Post by KuroShiro »

Very nice guide. Maybe this will stop the interminable posts about CoMI, though probably not.
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MusicallyInspired
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Post by MusicallyInspired »

Sticky!
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