Nintendo 3DS

This page contains all the information you need to get ScummVM up and running on a Nintendo 3DS.

What you’ll need

  • A Nintendo 3DS with a Homebrew Launcher or custom firmware. How to enable homebrew is outside the scope of this documentation.

Installing ScummVM

Download the Nintendo 3DS package from the ScummVM Downloads page. Extract the archive.

There are two ways to install ScummVM: using the 3DSX format, or the CIA format.

Using the 3DSX format

Copy the extracted files to your SD card into the /3ds/scummvm directory.

Launch ScummVM using the Homebrew Launcher.

Using the CIA format

Use any CIA installation software to install the scummvm.cia file.

The CIA format requires a DSP binary dump saved on your SD card as /3ds/dspfirm.cdc. This is not an optional step, because without this you will not have proper audio support. Documenting this process is outside the scope of this documentation.

Transferring game files

Transfer game folders onto the SD card. The exact location is not important.

ScummVM for the Nintendo 3DS also has cloud functionality. See Connecting a cloud service.

See Handling game files for more information about game file requirements.

Controls

Default control mapping

Controls can also be manually configured in the Keymaps tab. See the Keyboard shortcuts page for common keyboard shortcuts.

Game Controller Mapping:

Button

Action

Circle Pad

Moves the cursor

R + Circle Pad

Slow Mouse

Left mouse button

Right mouse button

Period (.)

Escape

Control Pad

Keypad cursor keys

L Button

Toggles magnify mode on/off

R Button

Toggles between hover/drag modes

START

Opens global main menu

SELECT

Opens the virtual keyboard

Hover mode

When using the touchscreen, hover mode simulates the movement of the mouse. You can click with taps, however you can’t drag or hold down a mouse button unless you use the buttons mapped to the right/left mouse buttons.

Drag mode

Simulates the click and release of the mouse buttons every time you touch and release the touchscreen. At the moment, this is only a left mouse button click.

Magnify mode

Due to the low resolutions of the 3DS screens (400x240 for the top, and 320x240 for the bottom), games that run at a higher resolution will inevitably lose some visual detail from being scaled down. This can result in situations where essential information, such as text, is indiscernable.

Magnify mode increases the scale factor of the top screen back to 1, but the bottom screen remains unchanged. The touchscreen can then be used to change which part of the game display is being magnified. This can be done even in situations where the cursor is disabled, such as during full-motion video segments.

When activating magnify mode, touchscreen controls are automatically switched to Hover mode mode to reduce the risk of the user accidentally inputting a click when changing the magnified area with the stylus. Clicking can still be done as in normal hover mode. Turning off magnify mode will revert controls back to what was used previously. It will also restore the top screen’s previous scale factor.

Magnify mode can only be used when the following conditions are met:

  • In the Backend tab in the options dialog, the Use Screen option is set to Both.

  • The horizontal and/or vertical in-game resolution is greater than that of the top screen.

  • You’re playing a game.

Magnify mode cannot be used in the Launcher menu.

Paths

Saved games

sdmc:/3ds/scummvm/saves/

Configuration file

sdmc:/3ds/scummvm/scummvm.ini

Settings

For more information about Settings, see the Settings section of the documentation. Only platform-specific differences are listed here.

Backend-specific options

../_images/config.png

These options are specific to the 3DS port, and can be set in the Backend tab.

Show mouse cursor

Toggles a visible mouse cursor on/off.

Stretch to fit

Stretches the image to fit the screen

Snap to edges

The 3DS touch screen has difficulty reaching the very end of the screen. With this option enabled, if you’re within a few pixels of the edge the cursor snaps to the edge.

Use Screen:

Sets whether ScummVM uses the Top, Bottom or Both screens.

Audio

Supported audio file formats:

  • MP3

  • OGG

  • OGG

  • Uncompressed audio

Known issues

Some games are not playable due to the slow CPU speed on the 3DS. If there are any games that run really slowly, this is considered a hardware limitation, not a bug.