Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine (SCUMMVM) 0.10.0 has just been released and lets us play some older PC games created for this system, on just about any computer system, including Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile Devices.

Many of Sierra’s adventure games and LucasFilm games were designed with this system, meaning they can be played using SCUMMVM. All we need to do is copy the relevant data files across to our device and SCUMMVM will decode and run it, just like you would see on a desktop computer.

After the “Abandonware: What’s all that about?” article I put up on the site a few days ago, I got thinking that I could legally download some of these games, for free, and run them on my Windows Mobile Device.

I used to love playing many of the Sierra games as I was growing up. I can play them all again, at my own convenience, as they will always be with me on my phone. Even though they are 10–20 years old, they are much more enjoyable than what most Windows Mobile games offer us.

The games were released at a time when our desktop computers had similar power to the Pocket PC’s of today, making our devices a perfect tool for playing these games.

I tried out “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Beneath a Steel Sky” and both worked flawlessly. The graphics look great on a Pocket PC at full screen and the sound is also fantastic. Both of the screenshots were taken on my Ipaq rw6828.

1. To get it all running on your device, download SCUMMVM from scummvm.org.
2. Pick the download which is suitable for your device.
   Copy the SCUMMVM to your device.
1. Ensure your device is connected to your computer via Activesync or WMDC.
2. Unzip your download
3. Right click on the SCUMMVM folder on your computer and select copy
4. Open ActiveSync, select Explore.
5. Navigate to some free space on your device, probably your storage card, right click and select “paste”
3. Find a supported game using abandonia.com and scummvm.org
1. Check out SCUMMVM for a list of compatible games
2. Many are available from Abandonia
3. Download the game
4. Unzip the game
5. Copy it to the same location as you copied SCUMMVM
4. Navigate to SCUMMVM on your device.
5. Select “Add New”
6. Point SCUMMVM to the folder you copied the game to
7. SCUMMVM should then find the game, all you need to do then is select your game out of the list and select start.

I hope you have had success in getting this up and running on your device. If you are still having problems, have a good look around the SCUMMVM website as there is plenty of support available. Once you have successfully installed one game, you will find the next much easier.

The games are all quite long and well suited to Pocket PC’s. Ideal for train trips or a boring meeting.