SCI: Shivers: No mouse cursor when game runs

[Purduecoz]

No mouse cursor shows up on the screen in either windowed or full screen mode, though the mouse and cursor are functional otherwise. If I can manage to click on the "Credits" option on the main menu, the cursor appears and seemingly is OK after that point.

Dell XPS 13 7th generation Core i7
Windows 10 64bit
Intel HD Graphics 620
Driver version 21.20.16.4627

[csnover]

Thanks for the report! Unfortunately, I am not able to reproduce this issue with the information provided, using ScummVM 1.10.0git-ga62e174, US English Shivers 1.02, testing on Windows (7 32-bit), macOS, or Linux.

I’m not sure offhand what would cause this problem, so to try to narrow it down, please provide some additional information:

• ScummVM version (scummvm -v)
• Language of game (English, German, ...)
• Version of game (open the game’s VERSION file in a text editor)
• Are you running the game with OpenGL graphics mode?
• How are you starting the game?
• Does the problem always happen?
• Are there any messages in the console?

Thanks,

[Purduecoz]

Thanks for looking into it... here's the info you requested:

ScummVM v1.10.0git3188-ga62e174
English version 1.02 of Shivers
Not sure about OpenGL - just running with default graphics mode in ScummVM
Starting the game by double clicking it once added to ScummVM
Always happens
No messages in console

Please let me know if there's anything else I can provide.

[Purduecoz]

I should note, this issue manifests initially on the main menu screen. No cursor at all, which results in me doing an "educated guess" as to where the invisible cursor might be. None of the main menu options except for "Credits" cause the cursor to be restored, including Start New Game. However, if I manage to click on the "Load Old Game" option and load a game where I had saved with the cursor already visible, the cursor is again visible after loading that game.

[csnover]

Two more questions, and then some debugging stuff:

• Where is your copy of Shivers from?
• Did you ever add any extra patches to the game?

Debugging stuff:

• Start ScummVM with scummvm --debugflags=onstartup
• Start Shivers as usual
• Type logkernel SetCursor on at the debug prompt
• Type go at the debug prompt
• Continue to the game’s main menu as usual

You should then have some things in the console that look like:

kSetCursor: 997, 0, 0 = 0005:16e1
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0005:1757
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0
kSetCursor: 997, 0, 0 = 0005:16e1
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0
kSetCursor: 0 = 1
kSetCursor: 1 = 1
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0

Please copy and paste all of that output here.

If everything continues to look normal, the next step will be for me to add more instrumentation in cursor code in a new build for tomorrow.

Thanks,

[csnover]

Oh, I forgot: if you can, it might be useful to send a video capture demonstrating the problem, just in case there are any clues there. I have used TechSmith Jing in the past for this.

[Purduecoz]

My Shivers game files came from an ISO that I ripped directly from my retail copy of the game. No patches at all have been added. Here is the output that you requested from the debugging:

User picked target 'shivers-win' (gameid 'sci')...

Looking for a plugin supporting this gameid... SCI [SCI0, SCI01, SCI10, SCI11, SCI32]
Starting 'Sierra SCI Game'

kSetCursor: 997, 0, 0 = 0005:16e1
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0005:1757
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0
kSetCursor: 997, 0, 0 = 0005:16e1
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0
kSetCursor: 0 = 1
kSetCursor: 1 = 1
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0
kSetCursor: 999, 0, 0 = 0

Thanks again!

[csnover]

I’ll get some instrumentation in place shortly and let you know when that is in a build.

One other question I should have thought of a while ago: does this problem happen in any *other* SCI32 game, or is it only happening in Shivers?

[Purduecoz]

I should have mentioned that earlier! Shivers is indeed the only SCI32 game where I have this problem.

[Purduecoz]

Update: I compared the files I'd copied to my hard drive to the ISO and realized that, for whatever reason, the MOVIES directory and its associated files didn't make it to the hard drive. So, the game was working just fine, but I wasn't getting any of the in-game movies. Replacing this directory allowed the movie to play right after the Sierra title screen, and then the cursor was visible, as it should be, when I got to the main menu.

I truly hope you didn't sink too much time into trying to track this down and I really appreciate the time and effort that you did spend!

[csnover]

I am glad you were able to determine the source of the problem, and that it was not a horrible ScummVM bug :). I will try to discuss with other team members the feasibility of improving game asset validation so crazy problems like this don’t occur in the future.