Best Versions of supported Adventure-Games ??

General chat related to ScummVM, adventure gaming, and so on.

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dr.zeissler
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Best Versions of supported Adventure-Games ??

Post by dr.zeissler »

Hi,

i am a big fan of the scumm-project and i already could play some of my old dos-classic adventures, but scumm supports different versions of the same game. so i decided to get the best out of scumm.

so what are the very best versions out there (grafix, music, sound) that are supported by scumm and why do you think they are best.

e.g.:
Indy3 - best Version > fmtowns-version > 256 colors like the dos vga, but better music.

What are the best versions of (suported by scumm):
indy4, monkey1, monkey2, etc.

thx
doc
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Kroc
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Post by Kroc »

Well it goes without saying that for Broken Sword I & II, original PC discs are best, as the Sold-Out Software versions are distributed with re compressed videos and SCUMM VM v7
Arantor
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Post by Arantor »

I'm not sure the Sold Out versions are ScummVM based...? I have the Sold Out editions of both BS1 & 2 and neither have the files laid out in the way ScummVM would be expecting them, plus it has a Windows based engine and built-in installer, so as far as I can tell it is the original, with a Sold Out interface sitting above the installer.

If Sold Out sell games for £5 (US$10 equivalent), they aren't going to do that much in the way of rebundling, from the various Sold Out games I've seen (and own), it is usually a CD (or CDs) of the original game, plus manual as a PDF plus a Sold Out front end for launching the installer.

I would comment on the others but as my experience is limited to PC and Amiga, it's biased at best. (I've always found the 256 colour PC graphics look slightly better than the Amiga versions, but I preferred Amiga music. The talkie aspect to PC games is appealing though)
spacetroll
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Post by spacetroll »

It's mostly a matter of personal preference and often has to do with which version you played first. I played all the old SCUMM games on PC as a kid and therefore prefer them, but a lot of people who played Amiga versions say they like the music better. There is no objective criteria that would enable one to say that one version is "better" than another.

The only exceptions would be games like DOTT and Sam & Max, when you're talking about CD vs. floppy. The voice and SFX from the CD versions are truly fantastic, and not to be missed (as opposed to Fate of Atlantis, which has crummy voice acting which I turn off in ScummVM).

But I would go by the rule of whichever version you can track down. Any version of a SCUMM game is better than no SCUMM game at all :wink:
clem
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Post by clem »

November 2005 called, they want their discussion back :)
http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=263
Arkenholt
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Post by Arkenholt »

There have been at least two different versions of the Sold Out BS 1 & 2, I have the first versions which have the original installers and the original video files. This version came out before ScummVM supported BS 1 & 2. But after ScummVM added support they produced a version using ScummVM. Hope this helps clear things up.
dr.zeissler
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Post by dr.zeissler »

no discussion please, only short command

game / best version / why
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glokidd
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Post by glokidd »

you see... thats the funny thing about "general discussion" forums :wink: discussion is sort of a requirement :P

sorry to stay from the format but personally ive always been partial to the 16 color ega version of SMI :D The "sunset" on melee is classic (hehe)

[/smart-a** comment] :P

Honestly though, it its my favorite version, perhaps from nostalgia as its the first version i played and the one that got me inextricably hooked on the series. It also has some benifits such as animated closeups (ega only) and the stump joke (which is in all floppy versions but i have found the 16 color one easier to come by). Add in an MT-32 and you have Classic MI at its finest :)
spacetroll
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Post by spacetroll »

dr.zeissler wrote:no discussion please, only short command

game / best version / why
Any game / Any version / Differences are typically negligible and a matter of personal preference, and whatever you can find is worth playing

I think that covers everything :P
oduverne
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Post by oduverne »

Hello,

What about AGI games? Amiga? PC? Apple II?

Looks like Apple II games have the best sound, what about graphics?

Thanks
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exofreeze
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Post by exofreeze »

dr.zeissler - this is all a matter of personal opinion. If graphics are your thing, one version may be better then another. If sound is your thing, it could be completely opposite.

Telling people you don't want any discussion, only "commands" is ridiculous - ESPECIALLY when your asking an opinion based question.

It's not like there are hundreds of versions of each game, simply try playing the different versions and decide for yourself.
dr.zeissler
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Post by dr.zeissler »

thx, i thought there is a "eierlegendewollmilchsau" like we call it in german, but you are right; so i open the thread for discussion.

doc
laffer
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Post by laffer »

In my opinion, the Amiga version of Monkey Island has the best music.. that might be because it's the version of that game I played as a kid so I feel nostalgic about the music in that version.

And Maniac Mansion is also best on the Amiga I think.. the music and sound effects, while not by any means great, are better than PC speaker I think.

Monkey Island 2 is better on the PC (and FM Towns, they're pretty much the same) as the music is better in that it gradually changes from one tune to another.. well if you've played it, you know what I mean.

Loom.. now this is a tough one. I honestly haven't played the Amiga version but I suppose it has 32 colors and pretty good sound (like most Lucasarts Amiga games).
The PC floppy version is the worst version I think as it only has 16 colors and the sound isn't all that.
The PC CD version has speech but the trouble is that the speech is saved as audio tracks on the CD! As you can imagine, this takes up a lot of space on the CD and because of this, they had to cut dialogue from the game.
The FM Towns version is the one I prefer - it does not have speech and therefore it has all the dialogue from the floppy version.. however, it does have CD Audio music tracks so the sound is awesome. I would go for this version.

Zak McKracken is best on the FM Towns since it has much better graphics than the other versions.. and better music as well (though some of the background tracks can be slightly annoying).

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is best on the FM Towns as it has some great audio tracks instead of MIDI music.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is best on the PC (and FM Towns which is exactly the same I think) as it has speech and does not suffer from slowdown problems like the Amiga version did (well it did on my Amiga 500 anyway.. don't know if it does in ScummVM).

Sierra AGI games have better sound on the Amiga as the PC uses PC Speaker in these games.. however, the sound on the Amiga isn't good at all either so it's no big deal. I play the PC versions as these are the ones I played as a kid and they are more nostalgic to me.

Sierra SCI games have soundcard support on the PC but I think perhaps the Amiga versions might have slightly better sound.. don't quote me on that though.

Later Sierra games that were released in 256 color for the PC are *definately* best on the PC. The Amiga ports are incredibly horrible.. VERY lazy ports from Sierra.
fac
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Post by fac »

laffer wrote: Loom.. now this is a tough one. I honestly haven't played the Amiga version but I suppose it has 32 colors and pretty good sound (like most Lucasarts Amiga games).
The PC floppy version is the worst version I think as it only has 16 colors and the sound isn't all that.
The PC CD version has speech but the trouble is that the speech is saved as audio tracks on the CD! As you can imagine, this takes up a lot of space on the CD and because of this, they had to cut dialogue from the game.
The FM Towns version is the one I prefer - it does not have speech and therefore it has all the dialogue from the floppy version.. however, it does have CD Audio music tracks so the sound is awesome. I would go for this version.
The Amiga version of Loom has also 16 colors (see here some pics).

Some of this info is already in ScummVM wiki. In each Lucasarts game entry, search Game Variants section for this info. Unfortunatelly, not all games have this info available or it is imcomplete.
laffer
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Post by laffer »

Oh ok.. I assumed it had 32 colors since most Amiga games (especially when the PC version has 256 colors as the CD version of Loom does) have 32 colors.. but I guess they ported the floppy version then. Sorry about that :)
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