Autostart
Use the autostart feature to automatically start or add games. The available features and the way they work depend on the system on which ScummVM is running.
On most systems, such as Windows and Linux, ScummVM can detect and start a game located in the same folder as the ScummVM executable, as long as it is a game supported by ScummVM. It is the equivalent of using the --path and --auto-detect command line options. This also works on macOS when ScummVM is built as a command line application and not as a .app bundle.
There are two ways to use the autostart feature:
Rename the executable file to
scummvm-auto.xxx, where.xxxis the file type extension (if applicable).Create an empty file named
scummvm-autorunin the same folder as both the executable and the chosen game. Either leave the file empty, or use it to specify any further command line options. Specify one option per line.
The following information are only correct when ScummVM is built as a .app bundle. When ScummVM is built as a command line application it behaves as on Windows and Linux.
ScummVM can automatically detect and run a supported game included in the ScummVM.app bundle. The game files simply need to be in the ScummVM.app/Contents/Resources/game/ folder.
ScummVM can also automatically detect and add to the launcher supported games included in the ScummVM.app bundle. The games simply need to be in the ScummVM.app/Contents/Resources/games/ folder, or subfolders in that folder (you can for example use one subfolder per game).
A scummvm-autorun file can also be used to specify command line options to use, with one option per line. The file should be in the ScummVM.app/Contents/Resources/ folder.
In addition if a scummvm.ini file is present in the ScummVM.app/Contents/Resources/ folder, it will be used as initial config file if no ScummVM Preferences file exists yet. It is the equivalent of using the --initial-cfg command line option.
Finally it can be noted that the bundle name specified in the ScummVM.app/Contents/Info.plist file is used for the default config file name. For example by default, when the bundle name is ScummVM, the default config file where settings are saved is ~/Library/Preferences/ScummVM Preferences. But if you change the bundle name to MyGame, the default config file used is ~/Library/Preferences/MyGame Preferences
Thus to create a game bundle for a specific game you can:
Copy the ScummVM.app bundle for example to MyGame.app
Create a MyGame.app/Contents/Resources/game/ folder and copy your game data files to that folder.
Edit the bundle name and bundle display name in the MyGame.app/Contents/Info.plist file.
Create a new icons file in MyGame.app/Contents/Resources/ and edit the icon file in the MyGame.app/Contents/Info.plist file.
Create a MyGame.app/Contents/Resources/scummvm.ini file with the default settings for your game bundle (for example to set fullscreen to true).
Note that modifying a signed bundle will invalidate the signature. So the bundle needs to be signed again after for example adding a game folder inside the ScummVM.app bundle.
ScummVM can automatically detect and run a supported game included in the ScummVM.app bundle. The game files simply need to be in the ScummVM.app/game/ folder.
ScummVM can also automatically detect and add to the launcher supported games included in the ScummVM.app bundle. The games simply need to be in the ScummVM.app/games/ folder, or subfolders in that folder (you can for example use one subfolder per game).
A scummvm-autorun file can also be used to specify command line options to use, with one option per line. The file should be in the ScummVM.app/ folder.
In addition if a scummvm.ini file is present in the ScummVM.app/ folder, it will be used as initial config file if no config file exists yet. It is the equivalent of using the --initial-cfg command line option.
Note that modifying a signed bundle will invalidate the signature. So the bundle needs to be signed again after for example adding a game folder inside the ScummVM.app bundle.
Example of a scummvm-autorun file
--fullscreen
--shader=crt/crt-lottes.glslp
--path=./game/
--auto-detect