King’s Quest Retold freezing under ScummVM 2.9.0

[Grzechn]

Hello guys and girls. I am utterly enthusiastic about the ScummVM port being available in the AppStore, but the latest release has made it impossible to play one of my favourite games - namely King’s Quest IV Retold.

When Rosella delivers the Unicorn to Lolotte as soon as the henchmen have grabbed them to carry both to the castle, the game freezes completely. It happens just before the transition to Lolotte’s throneroom.

I have tried to play the game on all the hendheld devices that I have (2 iphones and 1 ipad) with the same result. The situation is definitely related to the newest ScummVM release. I heard from my friend that the same thing happens on the Android port. The official ScummVM release under Windows is free of this error though. Earlier versions of ScummVM on jailbroken devices also make it possible to play through the entire game.

The problem is that you cannot get back to the earlier version of ScummVM without jailbraking the phone and losing the warranty.

Please help me out, anyone! I’d really appreciate if you took this error into consideration before the next release.

[larsman]

Hi.
Sorry for the late response. Do you have a save game file to share when the problem happen?

[Grzechn]

Hi! Thanks a lot for your response:) I actually do have a savegame just before Rosella mounts the unicorn. I’m sending it in the attachment. I sure hope you’ll be able to do smth about it. Thanks in advance!:))

[Grzechn]

Unfortunately the problem persists in the version 2.9.1 of ScummVM on mobile devices. The game keeps freezing in the same spot while delivering the Unicorn to Lolotte (during the transition between the screen with the mountainside and Lolotte’s throneroom)…

[Praetorian]

Which version of the game are you testing with?

I see the latest is 1.0.5 (May 4, 2024).

I got this latest version for Windows and Mac and tried loading your saved game with ScummVM 2.9.1 and a local dev build of ScummVM 2.10.0git. Unfortunately, both throw an error (on the debugger) and then quit.

The error is:

Code: Select all

ERROR: Unable to restore the saved game.
Failed to restore the savegame component.
(#4) GUI, version 4, at offset 197572.
Saved content does not match current game.
Mismatching number of GUI Labels (game: 34, save: 22).!

This happens both on Windows and Android.

[criezy]

This sounds like the same issue that is reported with version 1.0.5 of the game in https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/f ... g636683499, so the issue may not be specific to ScummVM but also exist with the original AGS interpreter.

[Grzechn]

Well, I am actually playing version 1.0.4 - and it was saved under scummVM 2.9.0. Maybe the guy who was reporting it under Linux forgot to mention that he was playing the game under the current version of ScummVM? It seems like it.

[tag2015]

Well, I am actually playing version 1.0.4 - and it was saved under scummVM 2.9.0. Maybe the guy who was reporting it under Linux forgot to mention that he was playing the game under the current version of ScummVM? It seems like it.

Actually the user (Thunderforge) reporting the same bug says that he is playing version 1.0.5 on Mac. And I think he would have mentioned it if he was playing through ScummVM instead of the normal executable.
The Linux issue in the same thread is a completely different matter related to the download links on the AGS website.

Anyway, this game's been on my backlog for some time. I'll try to do a couple playthroughs and compare

[Grzechn]

My mistake. I meant Mac version, not Linux:). But in the meantime I’ve managed to get to the same point while playing KQ4 Retold 1.0.5 under the most recent ScummVM build (2.9.1) on my iphone and the same thing happens. The game freezes as soon as the Henchmen have grabbed Rosella and the Unicorn. Everything seems to indicate that this problem is related to the most recent versions of ScummVM (2.9.0 and 2.9.1) after all.

[Praetorian]

Do you have a savegame from your current playthrough on version 1.0.5?

Maybe we can find something through debugging (especially if it's not an AGS issue, but ScummVM specific).

[tag2015]

I tested the game now, using my ScummVM build (MSYS2 on Windows 11, built with default configure options and --enable-release)
Version 1.0.5 of the game, I can reproduce the issue. So this is not restricted to the mobile ports.
It should be noted that I'm playing the "easy" mode with no deadends, so it may work in "standard" mode.

Anyway, to clarify, the game itself is not frozen (if you move the pointer to the upper area of the screen the icon bar appears normally). It's the cutscene that does not end properly. If you open the menu, you can also cleanly quit back to the launcher.
This looks like some logic / script error, if it's not a problem in the game itself it may be a regression in the AGS engine.

I'll do another playthrough using the upstream AGS interpreter and see if the issue is there as well

[tag2015]

I attached a save a bit before the cutscene. Steps to reproduce:
- Go east
- Use bow on unicorn (quickly)
- Use bridle on unicon
- Use unicorn
- Let cutscene play

[Praetorian]

Right, I get the same results with my local 2.10.0git build; "stuck" at the point where Rosella is taken over to the castle by Lolotte's flying goons presumably just before the scene should change.

I guess the next thing to try would be indeed to play with the upstream AGS.

Debugging with Visual Studio and ScummVM (local build from recent master HEAD) didn't reveal anything outstanding (for me).

The game gets "stuck" waiting for something to happen, but whatever that is, it never does, so it keeps waiting.
Looks like it keeps calling GameLoopUntilValueIsZero() from: https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/blob ... .cpp#L1073

[tag2015]

The same thing happens using upstream AGS.
Opened a bugreport https://github.com/adventuregamestudio/ags/issues/2740

[tag2015]

Issue was fixed upstream, thanks to Mogilko aka CrimsonWizard. Pushed now to the ScummVM repository so it should be included in tomorrow's daily builds