I understand your reqyest, but from a commercial point of view doesn t make sense to GOG to do an update.

They will, in time, when SCUMMVM will stop working (or present some major issues) and they could not sell their games anymore.
Perhaps.

Why not make it better when it could be made better, though? ScummVM 2.1.0 is definitely a major improvement over the 2 years-old previous stable release. There's more features (even including netplay capability built into the core, a feature version 2.0.0 lacks), it's faster/has better performance, higher compatibility and stability, and some of the issues which were present in 2.0.0 were fixed in 2.1.0, so it's an all-around superior version in comparison to that of the clearly stale and irrelevant (almost deprecated) 2.0.0 now.

The only downside of 2.1.0, as I personally see it, lies in the fact that they still haven't integrated xBR rendering even two years later. IMHO, literally the only last three things which are left to add to make official ScummVM builds absolutely perfect, is xBR, Vulkan API support (though this one's very debatable in consideration of performance benefit a good old game might have with inclusion of this...it'll probably won't be all that big, if any at all), and custom texture injection (for 'dem juicy modern day AI enhanced graphens).

Sure, naturally there's a merit to the "if it just works right now, then why bother with any upgrading at all?" point when it comes down to mere factor of playing a good old game on the modern hardware/OS at all, but...if there's a definite increase in performance/stability/compatibility (which inevitably leads to overall improvement in quality and comfortableness of usage for any potential buyer/player), and there clearly is when going from ScummVM 2.0.0 to 2.1.0, then why GOG's users must be denied that on a base (default) level of the service's own systems? That's just seems illogical and consumer-unfriendly, in my personal opinion.

That would be silly because the game wouldn't work at all without ScummVM, and GOG support would be swamped with support calls "why doesn't your game work?!? I want my money back! In fact, I want everyone's money back!". Same with DOSBox games, GOG doesn't give an option not to install DOSBox with the game because then the game wouldn't run at all.

The games NEED ScummVM in order to work, hence it is included with the install. That is just common sense. And, the game does not install ScummVM system wide, so no it will not affect your already-installed ScummVM.

Such a complicated system will easily break in the future when something changes in either ScummVM and/or Windows, and such a quasi-smart system would misdetect the presence of ScummVM. It wouldn't take more than e.g. ScummVM simply changing their version numbering, making it impossible for such a "smart" system to understand if the already-installed ScummVM is newer or older version.

The current, self-contained, way GOG games handle e.g. ScummVM and DOSBox is simpler, much more foolproof and future-proof, less likely to break. Plus, as GOG explained elsewhere, some things they've done may be also version dependent (of ScummVM or DOSBox).

Too much useless information will just confuse most customers. They don't even know what ScummVM or DOSBox is, and it isn't even necessary for them to know. They just want the game to work.

GOG could just as well list with each MS-DOS game which sound cards the game supports, but again that just confuses most people who have no idea what is a Roland MT-32, SCC-1, Gravis Ultrasound or Adlib Gold. To me such information might be useful, but not to 99% of customers.
GOG is a business. Like any business, they try to avoid doing unnecessary work because that costs them money. They have to pay wages to the people who are supposed to update the ScummVM version on all those GOG games which use it, and thoroughly re-test those games that the new version does not cause any unforeseen problems.

There should be some real benefit in going through all that extra work, a benefit which would turn into more sales with those old games. I am pretty sure you will not re-buy all those ScummVM games if GOG updated the included version to 2.1.0.

How "better" it is for every user is subjective and goes on a game by game, person by person basis.....also most games appear to run just fine without the update(I played through several on the old Scumm version without problem).

As for netplay....I myself don't need it and some might not want such a feature, so how does that make it better for everyone?

(Also based on your wording it appears you have some bias going on which could be tied to how some think "Higher number always means better"....not saying you're doing such, but it could be a factor in your judgement)

Custom texture injection(I assume this means custome graphics?) would only appeal to those who don't mind changing game's looks radically, and many Scumm users likely use Scumm with the games at or near how they originally looked for purist/nostalgua reasons.

I am not saying it wouldn't be nice to have such, but for many it's likely not desired.

That improvement being objectively better....could you cite proof of that? I am not trying to be rude, btw, but those claims seem anecdotal without proof.

Also it's not hard for consumers to update their own Scumm, so to me I don't see it as consumer unfriendly....to me that'd be if they gave you just the old installer files(disc images) without OS fixes and expected you to make it run yourself. AT least here they try to make it so that most people can play the games.

I think you mistook him....he wants a checkbox/etc on Scumm game installers(already checked by default I assume) which one can use to install without Scumm if need be.

To me, this would be reasonable.....and also I don't think people would be un-checking those boxes in large numbers and all demanding refunds....and for those that do a simple line or tow of text next to said checkbox("Warning: Do not uncheck this box if you are not using your own version of ScummVm!" or similar text) would suffice.

(Heck, we already have a custom install folder option and such for games, and not many have trouble with that and end up in stalling their games to the windows folder/etc in large numbers. If people still stupidly didn't get what that meant and called for refunds then that's partially on them & they need to start using their brains a bit more)

Agreed somewhat, though I have yet to see any "version dependent" games on gog that use Dosbox/Scumm(they all seem to play fine in any recentDosbox version when configured correctly).

Agree that too much info would be likely worse in general, but imo we need to stop thinking everyone is a moron and cannot look up/should have to look up terms if they don't know them. Basically we should make it easy for people to understand and use some things but I think it's worse to outright baby/coddle some people....it often discourages mental growth and makes people dependent more on their tech/other sources & less independent.

Heck, I was totally in the dark when I started using PCs and over time I learned how to do things and "got good" with many things and can now use such info in the future when needed.....contrast that with my brother and others who didn't bother to learn some things and who now have to rely on google/etc for basic information and fixes because they have grown reliant on being spoon fed such information.

That's a different story...most new games use any sound chipset, and older games can be run in programs which auto select the best emulated sound device automatically, so that info wouldn't be needed by most people.

Agreed 100% and well said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfGZweO9o5I and/or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkknEuP5AB4, as a prime example.
Are you seriously (without any irony whatsoever, with a completely straight face) would still say "it's undesired by most" after seeing something like that? In this modern day and age, especially? If anything, it's actually quite the opposite: things such as these (examples shown above) are EXACTLY what most of the "neophyte" gamers are seeking for, when it comes down to "being exposed to" some of the especially old very good games. The so-called "normie" gamer (the modern day "casual") would highly likely NOT play a good old game in it's vanilla form, while being completely fine with AI enhanced rendition of it. AI is the future of old gaming.

It's not really a question of whether it's desired, it's simply not relevant to GOG. GOG won't be selling games with anything like this pre-installed, so that in itself is not a reason to include a different version of ScummVM. Changing the version of ScummVM yourself is trivial if you feel you need it. When I install a ScummVM based game from GOG, I simply import it into my "proper" ScummVM installation and enjoy. I leave GOG's included version of ScummVM where it is and lose no sleep over it whatsoever.

The entire premise of this thread is ridiculous.

I don't see much of a difference, tbh.

(I am being totally serious here, btw, and not trying to be flippant when saying such)

Many who shop here, though, are purists or are people who don't need the extra bit of graphics boost.....for them they either do not desire such or don't need such.

Also, for many here the story and gameplay are more important...especially as many of those who come here are interested in non-altered versions(as I said before) for various reasons, and are less the newer crowd who seem to want bigger and shinier games over substance.

A game like Zork Inquisiton was updated voluntary by gog to a superior DVD version and the ScummVM version was the stable build at the time (2.0). The problem was that the game does not run the hires videos that version offers because Scummvm 2.0.0 didnt managed it.

It was solved in developer versions but it is normal Scummvm didnt added it because of the alpha/beta state of that version. But now Scummvm 2.1.0 is an official uild that runs properly the Zork HD Videos offered by GOG.

So, Whats the point in no updating some GOG games with the new ScummVM? The raw testing process use to be done in the SCUMMVM forums.

I have put an example but there are more examples that fixes a lot of titles, 2.1.0 specifically fixes some issues in a bunch of titles GOG sells. (Sierra Point and click games specially because the emulation has been improved a lot)

maybe not gamebreaking important fixes, and not al the games would deserve being updated but convenient to make the games run much closer to the real DOS experience.

In this case I'd contact GOG Support to let them know. It's reasonably to expect they'd update that one. Perhaps they're not even aware of the issue.

The theme exists in the zork forums since a lot of time ago apporting user made optional solutions and info etc.

But the point is that the game runs fine apparently but only shows the CD videos making the DVD upgrade pointless and only losing space in the Hard Disk: So probably it is not percived as a critical problem or a gamebreaking one.

Likely for legal reasons they still have to test such new versions with those games.

Again they would have to test them first, to be legally covered/make sure the fixes work when they test them.

I agree they should update them after testing, if they have time that is.....for now, though, most games seem to run fine(barring the one or two odd examples as you mentioned).

Without any irony and with completely straight face I can say that I see the difference and like the original version much better. Can speak only for myself of course, but for me such a feature is unnecessary and undesired.

But anyway, don't you think you blow the problem completely out of proportion? How much disk space is needed for SCUMMVM? And how many games that need it have you normally installed at one time? For me it would be more of a hassle to check every time, if I already have installed a version at the moment than let GOG install a second or a third version for a game that needs it.

ScummVM 2.1.0 was released at the start of October. We are at the latter part of the second half of November right now.
They (GOG's operators/system handlers) had more than a full month worth of time to test/update/improve these things, if anything. ...it almost feels like you didn't read thoroughly what have been said initially/previously by me, before you decided to post this.
Because, if you'd were to read it, you'd see that my gripes with this whole thing lie in other factors than the one you're mentioning.

Quite frankly - I couldn't care less about the application's size due to my main gaming drive (which is also a PCI-e NVMe SSD, BTW FYI) being large enough in it's capacity to host almost the entire catalog of GOG's current library (maybe not counting newest entries and some of the especially large AAA titles, but definitely everything that's older than 8+ years). What I'm bothered with in regards to this entire thing is the facts that the installation process of ScummVM is not transparent at all, that it's clearly forced, that it messes up the drive/system with multiple instances of the same program being installed each and every time you decide to buy and install any new good old game which might utilize ScummVM so that it can work with modern day hardware/OS, and that the version of ScummVM that is being bundled is an inferior old release. It really does feel like a shovel ware at that point. A thing that's being forcefully shoved down each and every potential buyer's/player's throat with no prior consent or approval given from any user whatsoever beforehand...and that's clearly consumer-unfriendly or maybe even bordering on being shady (remember Raptr?), in this modern day and age. It feels like this distributing system, at least when it comes down to handling/installing good old games of DOS era, is still operating on principles that were considered "fine and tolerable" in early and mid 2000s...but need I to remind you that we're living at the very end of 2010s and that the year 2020 is almost upon us? The world has changed a lot since GOG's first years. When I see some games being given out completely for free during giveaway periods or being sold for extremely low prices during clearance/black days (not GOG necessarily, but in general, including even physical stores) I personally tend to buy several titles in a bulk-like fashion. And, again - it's not about the size of any files. It's mostly about the mere notion that doing things like that is going to make a clutter out of my system and that there's no ability to control this, that I can't opt out of it as a buyer/user/consumer/player. I prefer for my PC to be organized well and for my gaming experience to be pristine, not for it all to be a disorganized mess.

Naturally, I can keep it all clean/pristine by doing everything manually, but that's not/wasn't the point of my initial message to begin with. What my main problem is with this whole thing, is that this (keeping things cleanly pristine, proper, correct) should be done by the system itself on a default level during the installation. I, (or any other potential buyer/user/player for that matter) as an end user of this video game distributional service, shouldn't bother with what's happening to the ScummVM and what version it is, when a good old game is being installed onto my PC, and I as an end user of this service sure as hell shouldn't be bothered to "manually clean up" the cluttered mess that was made by the said service in the process of any good old game's installation/updating/fixing. But, as of this current moment, that's clearly not the case at all. And hence why I've made my initial post and this thread to begin with. This should NOT be tolerated/swiped under the rug, because it's NOT a good/proper way to do things, especially not in 2020.

They have many other jobs to do than just test those games, you know.

It doesn't "mess up your drive"(clutter wise or writes wise) that much(mountain out of a mole hill logic is what you are using here), the old ScummVm version being inferior is subjective(for some games), etc.

It's not being forced on anyone, and you agree to using it when you click to install(with or without reading the game store pages/other pages). Also this is very hyperbolic.

You need to relax and stop worrying(to such a high degree) about your system.

Cluttered mess? Compared to how some old games used to install this is nothing.

Also we already told you why gog likely isn't using the new version right now, and to file a support ticket to ask/tell them about it. Until they do something you either have to do what the rest of us do or not buy, but stop complaining over this as if someone shot your dog.