Editing SCUMM (section)

== History ==
The original version was coded by [[Ron Gilbert]] (with some initial help by [[Chip Morningstar]] a.k.a. UnXman) in 1987,<ref>{{Citation |title=Classic Studio Postmortem: Lucasfilm Games |date=March 24, 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDvEFbh6I2g |publisher=[[GameSpot]] |language=en |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref>{{Rp|location=34:21}} with later versions enhanced by Aric Wilmunder (a.k.a., the ''SCUMM Lord'') and Brad P. Taylor. This is a token language that provided groundbreaking coding techniques. Tokens like P.R.I.N.E. were the first to be utilized.

The nature of SCUMM emerged from the background of most of the early programmers at LucasArts, including Wilmunder, who had been programmers for [[minicomputer]]s and [[Unix]] workstations. At the time, personal computers (PC) did not have large enough abilities or speed to edit and compile programs, so often the LucasArts coders would write code as cleanly as possible on a [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] workstation to remove all errors so that, while compiling on a PC would be slow, it would be less error-prone. This concept informed the idea of a scripting language that would be cross-platform.<ref name="scumm history">{{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-scumm-diary-stories-behind-one-of-the-greatest-game-engines-ever-made |title=The SCUMM Diary: Stories behind one of the greatest game engines ever made |first=Mike |last=Bevan |date=July 21, 2013 |access-date=May 30, 2024 |work=[[Gamasutra]]}}</ref>

SCUMM was developed to be a tool that converted human-readable commands into [[byte]]-sized tokens that then would be read by an executable interpreter program that presented the game to the player. For example, the SCUMM command <code>walk dr-fred to laboratory-door</code> would be tokenized to a 4-byte command. They did not want to have specific details about a game hard-coded into the script, so the tokenizer would be able to recognize actors by their name from the script instead of by internal numbers. The only exception was to display a character's dialog in a different text color for ''[[Maniac Mansion]]'' in which they had to include the number, but this was subsequently revised by the time ''[[Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders|Zak McKracken]]'' was released.<ref name="scumm history"/> The scripts included the ability to [[Computer multitasking|multitask]], such as having background actors enact behavior while waiting for foreground actions to complete.<ref name="scumm history"/> The combined tools enabled for [[rapid prototyping]] of a game. Scripters could work with preliminary character and background art drawn by the artists to hone their scripts while providing feedback to the artists.<ref name="scumm history"/>

The SCUMM program was responsible for tokenizing the scripts and gathering all other assets (such as art and sound) as a package. The reusable interpreter was called SPUTM, the ''SCUMM Presentation Utility (TM)'' which was renamed on shipment of the game to the name of the game's executable. SPUTM would interpret the scripts, load assets from disc, and handle the other user interactions with the game.<ref name="scumm history"/> SPUTM was not actually trademarked, but according to Wilmunder, they wanted "to name it after [[Sputum|another bodily fluid]]".<ref name="scumm history"/> SCUMM was subsequently reused in many later LucasArts adventure games being both updated and rewritten several times. According to Wilmunder, the version of SCUMM for ''Maniac Mansion'' had about 80% of the commands that would end up being used in the later versions of the engine, with most key commands requiring no modification.<ref name="scumm history"/> Other tools and engines were developed alongside SCUMM to aid in development, and named for other body fluids.<ref name="scumm history"/> SPIT was used to manage text fonts on different parts of the screen. FLEM was used to define a specific room, track objects within it, and specify [[Clipping (computer graphics)|clipping planes]] for character animation. MMUCAS was used with FLEM to compile a room and its objects into one file that would enable the scripters to make rapid changes without having to recompile the room's description. BYLE and subsequently CYST were used for character animations and scaling, the latter used for the more complex art in LucasArts' later games.

Following his departure from LucasArts and co-founding of [[Humongous Entertainment]] in 1992, Gilbert struck a deal with LucasArts which would grant Humongous a license to use the SCUMM engine in the development of their games, on the condition that he continue to develop improvements to the engine for use by both companies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nightdivestudios.com/interview-ron-gilbert/|title=Interview with Ron Gilbert|website=Nightdive Studios|date=June 22, 2014|access-date=October 16, 2023}}</ref> For the game ''[[Full Throttle (1995 video game)|Full Throttle]]'', the team worked to integrate SCUMM with the [[INSANE (software)|INSANE]] animation engine that had formerly been developed for ''[[Star Wars: Rebel Assault]]''. Though Wilmunder had gotten the two systems to work for shipment of ''Full Throttle'', the interaction between the two was not always stable, and spent time before ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island]]'' to have SCUMM work atop the INSANE engine, replacing some of the SCUMM engine parts to use that were native to INSANE.<ref name="scumm history"/>

Internally, much of the workings of SCUMM were undocumented, as Wilmunder believed that it was relatively simple to learn, but he changed this approach before ''The Secret of Monkey Island''. To train new hires on the engine, Gilbert put them through ''SCUMM University'', a week-long period where they were taught how to use the SCUMM engine. These new hires, called ''{{not a typo|scummlets}}'', then were given the opportunity to explore and expand on example work to help identify where they would best fit into the development team.<ref name="scumm history"/>

LucasArts finally abandoned the SCUMM engine in 1998 when they switched to [[GrimE]], using the [[free software]] scripting language [[Lua (programming language)|Lua]], for the games ''[[Grim Fandango]]'' and ''[[Escape from Monkey Island]]''. Humongous Entertainment continued to use the engine for all its PC games, including the ''[[Backyard Sports]]'' series, until the release of ''Backyard Soccer 2004'' in 2003.<ref>{{Citation |last=Cifaldi |first=Frank |title=The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert |date=2020-10-30 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikaqus5_QIg |work=[[Video Game History Foundation]] |language=en |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref>{{Rp|location=3:34:00|quote=I mean obviously the adventure games were done in SCUMM but the whole sports series of ''Backyard Sports'', I mean those were all done in SCUMM.}} Subsequent games would be developed on the [[Python (programming language)|Python]]-based YAGA engine, including ''[[Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise]]'' and ''[[Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff!]]'', the only Humongous adventure games to not be developed using the SCUMM engine.

In March 2016, Wilmunder revealed that he would share design documents for many of LucasArts' adventure games and the source code for the SCUMM engine, which he plans to provide in digital format via [[GitHub]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/scumm-co-creator-digs-up-game-design-treasure-trove |title=SCUMM co-creator digs up game design treasure trove |work=[[Gamasutra]] |first=Chris |last=Kerr |date=March 23, 2016 |access-date=May 30, 2025}}</ref>