Cursor disappears on version 2.6.1

[DragonBoy]

Hello awesome people!
I've just tried the latest version of ScummVM (2.6.1) and whilst in the game, if I try to open a ScummVM menu, the in-game cursor disappears. Do you think that's a bug or I need to do something?

Thanks

[Tsomi]

Hi,

Does this issue still happen with the 2.7.0 release? It's going to be officially released soon, but you can get a test build here: https://buildbot.scummvm.org/#/dailybuilds.

Also, please note that reporting bugs on https://bugs.scummvm.org/ is preferred. Bug reports made on the forums may go unnoticed.

Thanks!

[RunningSnakes]

Yes, this issue still exists in 2.7.0. In fact, this has been an ongoing issue since at least 2.2.0 on the Wii.

I am still using 2.2.0git (Nov 4 2019 16:17:40) because of Wii port issues. While it lacks some compatibility, it is the last stable Wii release i know of. Too bad this hasn't been fixed since the invisible/disappearing cursor is a long known issue.

[Tsomi]

This needs to be reported on the bugs.scummvm.org platform given above. I plan on getting a Wii this spring, but it may take time and I’m not sure I’ll be able to fix that myself. Reporting it on the Bugs platform means that some other developer might look into it.

Please also test a nighty build in case it has been fixed in the development version since then.

Thank you!

[RunningSnakes]

I tried the nightly/daily build from 03/15/23 and 03/20/23. Both builds code dump while trying to install any game, so it is not possible to load/launch any game to test.

This is also a common issue in my experience, nightly/daily builds crash while trying to install any game. The stable releases however, i have never had an issue with install or loading.

I am registered at git and will try to log in if i can remember my credentials . I'll give the latest daily build a try & if it fails, I'll try to post on git.

[RunningSnakes]

Tried latest 2.8.0 git build and 2.7.1 build, both will not install any game. Furthermore, 2.7.0 also has the issue, like all other stable releases, where pressing Home button doesn't present the menu screen which gives options for the user.

All said, obviously the Wii port is a mangled mess. ScummVM cannot be fully enjoyed after 2.2.0git as for now through the Wii, Hopefully it can be fixed.

[Tsomi]

Thanks for your tests.

Well, ScummVM is run by volunteers doing this for free on their free time, so yes, some ports may be in better shape than others, sometimes. Having a look at the Wii port myself is in my personal todo-list, but I can't guarantee anything.

In the meantime, you can continue using the older release that's known to work on your system; it should already cover many games.

Since this is all a volunteer project, some problems may take months or years to be solved. Problems needs to be reported, and then someone needs to fix them… all for free…

Thanks.

[RunningSnakes]

I did not mean to be offensive in any way. I respect and value all that goes into the ScummVM project from the developers. If the Wii port never gets updated again, i think it is pretty damn good. I am only stating issues that maybe could be handled if one were inclined to do so.

[digitall]

RunningSnakes: Note that there is a workaround for v2.8.0 nightly / daily builds to work on Wii as per this bug:
https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/14390#comment:10

You need to remove some of the engine plugins i.e.
5.3 MB ultima.plg
4.6 MB glk.plg
4.3 MB ags.plg
4.1 MB tsage.plg.

The remaining ones will then work to detect games and run...

This is still under investigation, but it appears to be an issue with memory usage of the plugins during detection, but hard to pin down.

[digitall]

RunningSnakes: Can you give an example of a game where this disappearing cursor bug occurs easily to replicate? Using one of the free games such as Beneath a Steel Sky, Flight of the Amazon Queen would be good i.e. trying to work out if this is specific to a particular engines mouse handling or the Wii backend?

[oakoak]

RunningSnakes: Can you give an example of a game where this disappearing cursor bug occurs easily to replicate? Using one of the free games such as Beneath a Steel Sky, Flight of the Amazon Queen would be good i.e. trying to work out if this is specific to a particular engines mouse handling or the Wii backend?

Pressing the (1) button on the Wii remote and closing the global option menu (not sure if its called like that) with the -(minus) button or clicking cancel makes the in-game cursor disappear (also i can't remember if the Global Main Menu does that too). Tested with The Dig, Broken Sword 2, Fate of Atlantis and Full Throttle. And just like @RunningSnakes I had to go back to 2.2 to enjoy the games.

[digitall]

Thanks for that. I have been able to replicate with both GMM and Wii specific Options Dialog. It looks like the mouse cursor data / visibility is cleared on dialog exit and not restored. There is a workaround, which is to change scene i.e. blind point to a screen exit, as the scene change will restore the mouse pointer value / visibility. Will see if I can work out a fix.

[digitall]

RunningSnakes: Have managed to sort out a debugging solution that is workable for Wii i.e. Use Up+Button 1 to enable / disable console overlay which has the output from printf() / debug() statements so can use this to get some data on this kind of issue.

The cause appears to be associated with loss of the palette data since the GMM pointers are RGBA, rather than CLUT8 paletted and when the Wii backend switches the mouse cursor texture, it loses the palette data as a sideffect. This is only restored in most games when the scene / screen is changed to require a palette reload. This will also only affect games which use CLUT8 type mouse cursors, rather than RGBA. A nasty one to pin down.

There is a bug for this as https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/13895 so will update there with my findings and see if I can work out how to rework the backend to avoid this situation.

[RunningSnakes]

Thank you for your reply. I will keep my eyes on any update and or progress.

[digitall]

RunningSnakes: Thanks to fracturehill providing a patch to the code, I have tested a local build and the problem should be fixed by:
https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/comm ... bc8da79615

Please feel free to test with the next nightly build from the buildbot from branch master and confirm here if this fixes the issue for you:
https://buildbot.scummvm.org/#/dailybuilds