COMMON: Allow Save/Load functions when interrupting action sequences.

[macca8]

Currently it isn’t possible to Save or Load a game while some form of activity is taking place on the screen. Usually this involves the playing of a cutscene, but simply transitioning between scenes has the same effect.

If an in-game menu (either the GMM or a game-specific menu) is called at this time, both buttons are disabled, making it impossible to either save or load. Keyboard shortcuts (if available) are also ignored.

It also appears that both functions operate in tandem… either both are enabled or both disabled, which doesn’t always make sense (for example, if no saved games exist, why is Load enabled?).

It’s also illogical that a user can exit a game during a cutscene, but not load a saved game directly. Based on my previous point, this is probably more about the Save function being disabled than an inability to load.

In the case of an interrupted cutscene, at the very least, it should be possible to load another saved game without first returning to the Launcher.

If the preference is for Save & Load functions to continue to operate in tandem, then the ability to save needs to be added as well.

As far as creating a save is concerned, a saved game that begins at a point within a cutscene isn’t desirable (and probably isn’t even technically possible).
A more realistic alternative is to create a saved game that reverts to the point immediately before the cutscene was triggered.

On a positive note, I’ve previously experienced this Save behaviour with ScummVM back in January 2015, albeit with a broken cutscene.

On that occasion, the cutscene literally played back frame by frame (around 3 minutes for a 15 sec cutscene).
Upon reaching the final(?) frame (no transition to normal image), the game hung indefinitely.
The only way to break the deadlock was to exit the game.
Fortunately, the GMM was still accessible & the Save option available, so I was able to create a saved game before exiting.

That saved game allowed me to continue the game from immediately before the (broken) cutscene, either in a different direction, or through the cutscene (when the bug was eventually fixed).

While I appreciate that this example doesn’t replicate interrupting a normal cutscene, it does indicate that it’s possible for ScummVM to produce the required save type… the trick is to find and tap into the appropriate code.

Is this worth the effort?
If considered in isolation, then probably not.
However, in the bigger picture, this request addresses a potential issue raised by bgk in my request for the introduction of a 'Prompt to Save' feature (refer #10133, updated to #10134).

Thanks for your consideration.

[sev-]

This is now done on purpose: several years ago it was possible to save/load at any place. But then we discovered that some engines get into an inconsistent state if interrupted at certain points. Thus, we added an option to the engine authors to specify when save/load is possible.

To sum up: when you see the buttons disabled, it was plainly not possible to implement without probably redesigning whole engine and patching the game scripts.

[macca8]

Thanks sev.
In the end, a fruitless exercise, but worth the effort.
I appreciate you giving your time to respond.