Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes - why not for this long time

Nikioko · Post by **Nikioko** » Mon May 20, 2013 6:08 pm

I would really appreciate the Lost Files being supported. Especially the Rose Tattoo is one of the best adventure games ever.

a.borque · Post by **a.borque** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:56 pm

As some time (nearly half a year) has passed now:

Are there any news on this? Any progress in data-recovery?

Thanks an grettings
A.Borque

sirlemonhead · Post by **sirlemonhead** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 7:25 pm

No news that I can share really, other than we were making lots of progress. Things have been quiet lately as I think the person who's helping me get the source code has quite a lot on his plate at the moment.

So yeah, more waiting I think.

a.borque · Post by **a.borque** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 7:38 pm

As time goes by... after nearly 6 month just a short question:
Are there any news on this? Could the original files be restored by the developer or is there any other progress on an implementation?
Thanks!
A.Borque

Post by **Strangerke** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 9:24 pm

Same situation, but there's still hope.

a.borque · Post by **a.borque** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:25 pm

Good to hear! I really love the two "Lost Files" games!
Let's hope that the data recovery does not become something like Duke Nukem Forever...

Post by **Strangerke** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:30 pm

As Duke Nukem Forever has been released at the end... I hope we'll get the same result

a.borque · Post by **a.borque** » Sat Jun 07, 2014 6:51 am

With nearly six month passed it is time for the usual question (at least my calendar told me ;-) ):
Any news, any progress, any hope left?
If not: is there any chance to (how to) suggest Holmes-Support as a scumm-project in Googles Summer of Code (2015)?
Thanks and Greetings
A.Borque

sirlemonhead · Post by **sirlemonhead** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 7:44 pm

We needn't worry about data recovery as we have a source who has the full source code. My contact has been very busy recently so things are moving very slowly.

Nikioko · Post by **Nikioko** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:20 pm

Just being interested: is there any news on that? Lost Files on ScummVM would really be great news.

Post by **Strangerke** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:26 am

Situation unchanged.

a.borque · Post by **a.borque** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:23 pm

Hello!
As there seems to be a (slow?) access to the source code but none of the active developers is in touch with the project (correct me if I am wrong), may I propose adding the lost-files-games to ScummVM for the next Google Summer of codes if ScummVM participates again?
I mean there have been so many games and engines added, that this might be nice?
As I said before unfortunately I can not write a single line of C++-code and I do not know to suggest it as one of ScummVMs google-projects myself. So spending money to the project and joining discussions from time to time is all I can do.
Happy new year!
A.Borque

md5 · Post by **md5** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:26 pm

a.borque wrote:Hello!
As there seems to be a (slow?) access to the source code but none of the active developers is in touch with the project (correct me if I am wrong), may I propose adding the lost-files-games to ScummVM for the next Google Summer of codes if ScummVM participates again?
I mean there have been so many games and engines added, that this might be nice?
As I said before unfortunately I can not write a single line of C++-code and I do not know to suggest it as one of ScummVMs google-projects myself. So spending money to the project and joining discussions from time to time is all I can do.
Happy new year!
A.Borque

Proposing a new engine for GSoC is not an easy task. We can't ask potential students to reverse engineer code as a ask - this is something very hard to do, and not feasible to suggest for a potential GSoC project. So, suggesting this engine as a potential GSoC client won't ensure in any way that it'll be magically implemented by someone.

The engine-related tasks that have been suggested as GSoC projects were all based on original/reverse engineered code in some form or another (e.g. ZVision, Sfinx etc). There is no such code for this engine.

a.borque · Post by **a.borque** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:18 am

I am sure it is hard work to implement a new engine and it is difficult or even impossible for a single person in a single summer.
But as sirlemonhead stated at the beginning of 2013 (and again mid 2014) there is (very slow) access to the source, so this was, what I was hoping for when suggesting it for google.

Post by **digitall** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:08 am

a.borque: Slow is not quite the right English word here.

As far as I know based on his statements here, only sirlemonhead has got a copy of the original sources from the developer / rightsholder and he doesn't appear to have permission to share those with the rest of the team or a random GSoC student.

If he could secure a release for those as GPL-2, then the work of conversion, updating and refactoring them by a GSoC student would be possible.