[Phredreeke]

I notice there hasn't been any posts about this new emulator. It's by a former LucasArts and MAME developer and targets specific games as opposed to systems as a whole (currently 27 games are supported, mostly SCUMM games and Star Wars games, with a few others like Outlaws and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine)

I recently played through Outlaws using it, and it was a relief after my last playthrough (at that time using GOG's supplied Glide wrapper), with no annoying resolution switches. I've not really tested it with any other games, so I can't say how it compares to Dosbox.

https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/

[Morpheus Kitami]

Interesting, some of these games are a welcome relief to get an improved version for. It's been a long time since I played Jedi Knight, but I understand that has some weird issues on modern computers. Those late '90s games that aren't already covered by SCUMMVM really needed this. That said, I do hope he gets around to the flight sims they made as well as the more popular titles.

[Phredreeke]

I briefly tested Jedi Knight and my experience was that with 3D acceleration enabled the game ran locked at 30fps, seemingly stable but with texture filtering (I couldn't find an option to disable it, on Outlaws DREAMM has an in-game menu option to disable it though it also forces the game to restart)
With 3D acceleration disabled the game ran up to 60fps, however framerate would frequently drop below that

As for the flight sims X-Wing and TIE Fighter are supported, but not the later games in that series. It's kinda picky with what version it will run in regard to those two games, I have them on Steam, and while the floppy versions would install and run on DREAMM, I couldn't get the CD-ROM edition to work (it launched the setup program and when I closed it the emulator seemed to freeze) and when I tried to run the Windows version, DREAMM showed an error message that the game requires Steam to be present and to use the GOG version instead.

[Lunick]

If you're talking about Dark Forces 2, you can play it easily via OpenJKDF2 https://github.com/s...ire23/OpenJKDF2

[Phredreeke]

BTW, going by his Mastodon posts he's been adding older Lucasfilm games released for DOS

[jkas789]

Phredreeke, on 29 November 2023 - 05:52 PM, said:

I recently played through Outlaws using it, and it was a relief after my last playthrough (at that time using GOG's supplied Glide wrapper), with no annoying resolution switches. I've not really tested it with any other games, so I can't say how it compares to Dosbox.

The moment you mentioned Outlaws I was fucking sold. Gonna try it ASAP.

[Phredreeke]

Also, try it with an uncracked game with (manual-based) copy protection to discover a nifty little feature

[Phredreeke]

v2.1.2 released

Quote

Changes since 2.1.1
===================
* Added command line option -option <key>=<value> to control parameters from an external frontend
* Added -fullscreen and -window options as shortcuts for -option window/fullscreen=true/false
* Fixed launching Behind the Magic/Episode 1 Insider's Guide from the command line
* Fixed restart when launching from command line
* Fixed problem with verifying installed games when subfolders also contained games (e.g., DOTT)
* Disallowed direct launching of installers/upgraders from the command line (use -install instead)
* Added support for older ZIP compression types
* Added support for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (FM Towns) version 1.5.13
* Added support for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (Japanese)
* Added support for new verified Secret of Monkey Island (Spanish) version
* Added support for Jedi Knight (French) with incorrect CD 2 (which is how it seems to have shipped)
* Removed Zak McKracken (Spanish) as it is a fan translation

[NightFright]

I mean, on one hand it's cool to be able to play these titles exactly the way they looked like decades ago. However, considering what's possible with ports like DarkXL, I'm not sure if I want to experience all those classics again without some sort of polishing. I guess everyone needs to decide on their own. As far as that Jedi Knight port is concerned, MotS support seems to be very rough right now, so DREAMM might still be the better option there.

[Phredreeke]

> DarkXL

seriously?

[NightFright]

Yeah OK, TFE. I know DXL is officially retired since February at the latest, but that name was used for so long it got stuck in my head. For what it's worth, it's still used on the website itself, so it's not completely gone.

[Phredreeke]

DXL has been dead since 2015, and TFE was announced in 2020.

Anyway, DREAMM isn't a source port so there's not much it can add in terms of polish. It's nice to be able to play Yoda Stories for the first time in two decades though

[NightFright]

I'm still waiting for a dedicated emulator to play the X-Files game from 1998. Right now the only way seems to be through a Win9x emulator, which isn't the most elegant solution. At first I thought ScummVM may support it, but that would have been a long shot.

[Phredreeke]

I was gonna say DREAMM plays it, but then I saw you said X-Files, not X-Wing.

[NightFright]

Yeah. But speaking of X-Wing, I wouldn't try it before the CD version is supported. Same with TIE Fighter. Rebel Assault 1+2 could be interesting, though. Haven't touched those since ages. I wonder how playable these are w/o joystick these days. Then again, they were pretty much rail shooters where you just had some vague control over the crosshair. But I remember controls were still pretty spongy, anyway.

[Phredreeke]

The CD versions are supported, it's just the Steam version that's unsupported (Steam version comes with three versions, only floppy version works, DOS CD version says it doesn't recognise the version and launches the installer, which freezes at a blank screen afterwards, Windows version is also unrecognised, then gives an error inside the emulator stating the Steam version is unsupported). However, you NEED a joystick to play the Windows version.

There's no list of supported versions AFAIK. The original floppies and CDs (or these days, images of said media) are the best supported. GOG releases should work as long as the original EXEs are present (some SCUMM games arbitrarily omits them). Steam versions might or might not work (I don't have all that many LucasArts games on Steam, but of the ones I had I only had success with the original Dark Forces, and the DOS floppy versions of X-wing and Tie Fighter)

[NightFright]

Well, flight sims usually kinda suck w/o a joystick. From the top of my head I wouldn't be able to name one which plays well with mouse. Don't even know if trying Rebel Assault like that is such a good idea.

[Morpheus Kitami]

NightFright, on 11 December 2023 - 02:18 PM, said:

Well, flight sims usually kinda suck w/o a joystick. From the top of my head I wouldn't be able to name one which plays well with mouse. Don't even know if trying Rebel Assault like that is such a good idea.

Red Baron? Well, mind you I didn't play it that much with a mouse since I found the keyboard controls worked pretty well anyway. Dynamix worked really hard to make non-joystick methods of control feel nice in their flight sims.

[jkas789]

 NightFright, on 08 December 2023 - 01:41 PM, said:

I mean, on one hand it's cool to be able to play these titles exactly the way they looked like decades ago. However, considering what's possible with ports like DarkXL, I'm not sure if I want to experience all those classics again without some sort of polishing. I guess everyone needs to decide on their own. As far as that Jedi Knight port is concerned, MotS support seems to be very rough right now, so DREAMM might still be the better option there.

I get what your saying. On one hand it's great I can play Outlaws without the shit show that is the official port. However after playing TFE I'm not sure I can go back.

Very good port btw. It's a joy to be able to play Outlaws without screen tearing or mouse issues.

[Phredreeke]

Yes, I can't see many people going back to playing the DOS version from TFE. The game-changer IMO is for the Windows titles (no need to mess around with wrappers or VMs)

That said, DREAMM provides QoL improvements for the DOS games over Dosbox, installing from floppy disk images goes pretty smoothly (just drop a folder containing the disk images over the DREAMM window) and it's easy to setup various launch options/hardware configurations. Not to mention it detecting copy protection screens and giving you the correct response (then again you could easily just run a cracked version in Dosbox)

[Phredreeke]

List of games Aaron are adding to the next version

Quote

* New Lucasfilm DOS games supported:
- PHM Pegasus (1988)
- Battlehawks 1942 (1988)
- Strike Fleet (1989)
- Pipe Dream (1989)
- Their Finest Hour: Battle of Britain (1989)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (1989)
- Night Shift (1990)
- Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (1991)
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game (1992)
- Masterblazer (1992)
(NOTE: colors are broken in VGA mode)
- Super Star Wars prototype (never released)
* New Lucasfilm-related DOS games supported:
- Indiana Jones In Revenge Of The Ancients (Mindscape/Angelsoft, 1986)
(NOTE: copy protected version will not run; only hacked versions at the moment)
- Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (Mindscape/Atari Games/Tengen, 1989)

He's also adding a CRT shader, though its effects are pretty subtle when not playing an EGA game

[Phredreeke]

Edit: doublepost

Edit 2: Since I doubleposted anyway, I might as well use this to attach some screenshots of the CRT shader (last screen is running in VGA mode, see what I mean about it being subtle)

Attached thumbnail(s)

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[jkas789]

Oh you can use CRT shaders? Nice!

[Phredreeke]

Well, a CRT shader. It's embedded in the executable itself. Execution speed is now fixed for older games (I think Sam & Max and older?) LOOM playing at the new speed
The logo dissolves are now visible, and the messenger nymph isn't breaking the sound barrier anymore

[Phredreeke]

BTW does anyone own Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine or Afterlife on Steam?

I've made a compatibility list for digital releases for DREAMM, and I would like confirmation on whether those versions work or require Steam to be running.

[Phredreeke]

New beta release!

[Phredreeke]

Daniel Albu's new interview with Aaron Giles

[Phredreeke]

A new beta. This one adds support for a whole bunch of newly discovered demos https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta/

[Phredreeke]

DREAMM 3.0 is now officially out of beta https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/

Aside from the previously mentioned new games (since the last list I posted, Revenge of the Ancients has been yeeted, and Star Wars Chess and Star Wars Screen Entertainment has been added) and CRT filter, what's new is that CPU emulation speed can now be adjusted in the GUI (each game is tuned to a period authentic speed, but you can now raise it above that)

[Phredreeke]

New discovery on the DREAMM Discord. Just gonna quote what Aaron said on there

Quote

Was recently made aware that Amazon gave out a bunch of LucasArts games as part of their Prime Games thingy. I figured these would just be the GOG versions, but I was oh so wrong....

The Dig, Loom, and Indy FoA are actually early Steam releases from 2009, with the Steam DRM removed. These were based on my original Windows ports, and did an odd thing where the SCUMM index file was baked into the EXE instead of being separate.

This is I believe the first official appearance of a de-DRM'ed Loom Windows EXE!

Last Crusade is your typical ScummVM hackjob, with the original EXEs removed. This game was also part of the original 2009 set of Steam games, but I guess they prefer ScummVM because it has AdLib audio. When I did the Windows ports there was no good non-GPL OPL emulation, so I only supported Tandy sound. If I had known about CMS at the time, I might have supported that instead!

Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken, and CoMI are largely the same as the Steam/GOG releases.

Escape from Monkey Island is interesting because the EXE has been modified to write to a different part of the registry (HKCU instead of HKLM), and the scripts have been changed to save games relative to %USERPROFILE% instead of next to the EXE.

Currently working on a 3.0.2 bugfix update to DREAMM that will include support for these variants as well.