Space Quest on Android

[Bowz]

I just discovered this in Google Play, you can download a ScummVM emulator, to play all the Lucas Arts games. But there is a plugin for SCI and AGI games, I loaded it up and copied Space Quest 4 to my phone, it runs really well!! I have a flight tonight and most of my time will be spent playing SQ. I don't know if this is old news or not, it's news to me :D!

[Frede]

ScummVM has a huge number of ports, but I've never tried any of them. Would love to get these games running om my phone, though. How does the point and click-interface work on a touch device?

[Decaffeinated Jedi]

I'd forgive Activision for everything if they released iPad ports of the Space Quest series.

 

Or, better still, turned over the rights to Guys from Andromeda LLC so they could do it.

 

Jess

[Collector]

There are also a couple of DOSBox ports for Android.

[tomimt]

Dosbox doesn't run that well on Android thought. And the key settings for older games might be a nightmare. ScummVM really is the best choice at the moment, as the game it support run fairly well.

[nockgeneer]

ScummVM on Android is great though of course has been tweeked compared to desktop versions. basically you have the choice to move a mouse around and then click (or hold-click for right-click simulation) which makes it easier to pin-point things (pixel-hunting anyone?) or direct tapping. The speed, scaling, and playability are all perfect in my opinion, that coming from beating BASS on it.

[Harquimm]

Just got myself a samsung galaxy note 10.1 and have been running all the Sq series fine. Takes a bit to get use to but i will be using it to play sq on my flight to sierra con.

[tomimt]

Don't know if anyone's interested about this anymone, but I recently purchased highly tweaked version of DosBox called DosBox Turbo for my Android tablet and I have to say it's thus far tthe best Android port of Dosbox out there. You can use absolute mouse positioning, though still experimental, on it, which makes playing point and click games pretty fun. I even managed to get Gabriel Knight working on it.

 

In comparision to other Dosbox ports for Android Turbo works very fast. Here's a Youtube video showing speed difference between different ports using Doom:

 

It's still not as easy to set up as ScummVM, so be prepared to tweaking autoexec files manually. It's a hassle, but it you've been looking for acutally working, good port of DosBox, then Turbo is pretty much the best choice.

 

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[ArmyGuyDan]

I was just on google marketplace and couldn't find it

[Capn_Ascii]

I just got an Android phone myself, and getting ScummVM on it was one of the first things I did. It really does run surprisingly well, at least for the moused games - although as always, the touch screen is a poor substitute for a real mouse IMHO. The direct-mapping option (where the pointer moves to the spot where you touch) *would* be awesome on a tablet, but on a smartphone screen, hotspots are usually too small for a big, meaty finger like mine to hit them accurately. :P And there's no zoom function to solve this, either.

 

As for the non-moused games, I've been having a problem that many other Android users have also been having. ScummVM, by default, uses a 'predictive typing' interface not unlike an old-school cell phone keypad. It's possible to bring up your device's virtual keyboard to type commands that way...except that the Android port of ScummVM requires you to hold down the MENU button to bring it up while the app is running. Problem is, many Android devices (like mine) won't let you do this - holding down the button is mapped to system functions. So far, the guys making the Android port have yet to offer an option to fix this beyond basically saying "set up your own exterior macro to bring up the keyboard", which is a rather half-assed way to do it IMHO.

[tomimt]

I was just on google marketplace and couldn't find it

 

A bit late, but here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fishstix.dosbox&hl=fi

 

Be sure to install the manager as well, as it makes things a bit easier.

[FroggyMe6581]

Wow, that's reallly awesome. ScummVM really would be the way to run SQ on a phone, I think, because then the program would be native to the OS and hardware, and mearly loading the game data files. This would probably give a smoother and more responsive experience. Is there ScummVM or an AGI or SCI interpreter for Pocket PC? Typing this on a 2003 Pocket PC right now, stylus and all! :)

[MusicallyInspired]

I can play most of the SQ games on my Galaxy S3. Pixel clicking is a nightmare with your huge thumb, though.

[Dat Engineer]

I can play most of the SQ games on my Galaxy S3. Pixel clicking is a nightmare with your huge thumb, though.

 

Oh jeez, I can imagine the EVA sequence in SQ5 where you have to dock against the Goliath being a huge hassle.

[MusicallyInspired]

Especially seeing as timed animations and sequences aren't slowed down properly in SCI1.1 games in ScummVM, of which SQ5 is.

[BlockMaster]

With an ipad, it should be just fine.