OpenScreamer 0.6.0b

OpenScreamer: Screamer (Graffiti / Virgin Interactive, 1995) and now Screamer 2 (Milestone / Virgin Interactive, 1996), both MS-DOS, reimplemented from the original programs. New in this release: Screamer 2.

Beta. Please report problems in the issues.

What is in it

Screamer 2 (new)

• The game's own 3D menu with its rooms, team and name, arcade, the championship's four leagues with the league report, time attack with its ghost car, best times, replays.
• The seven tracks with their weather, the cars' set-ups (CUSTOMIZE), damage, the attract race, the pause screen with its CD player, the mirror.
• The race is the game's own: every routine rewritten by hand and checked against the original program and against the original running in DOSBox.
• Its sound, and the CD's music from files (see below).
• 320x200 or 640x400, as its two original programs (RESOLUTION in the GAME SETTINGS page of the options room).
• Keyboard or game controller, with rumble.

Screamer: as before: the whole game, its sound and FM music, 320x200 or 640x400, keyboard or controller.

With both games there, a first page asks which one to play; -game 1 or -game 2 starts one straight away.

You need

The original games. Nothing of them is included. Copy each game's folder (the one that holds its DATA and GFX folders) next to the program, named screamer and screamer2.

Screamer 2's music was the CD's audio tracks: put them in a folder music inside screamer2, one file a track named by its number on the disc: track_02.ogg, track_03.ogg, ... (.ogg, .mp3 or .wav). Without them the game plays without music.

Windows (10 or 11, 64-bit)

Unpack openscreamer-0.6.0b-windows-x86_64.zip, put the games' folders in it as screamer and screamer2, double-click openscreamer.exe. Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: More info, then Run anyway. Settings, saves and openscreamer.log are in %APPDATA%\openscreamer.

The Windows build has been tested under Wine only (the same race as Linux, frame for frame), not yet on a real Windows machine: reports are welcome.

Linux (x86-64, 2018 or later, with SDL2 installed)

sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0      # or: sudo dnf install SDL2 / sudo pacman -S sdl2
tar xzf openscreamer-0.6.0b-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd openscreamer-0.6.0b-linux-x86_64
# put the games' folders here as "screamer" and "screamer2", then
./openscreamer

./openscreamer --help lists the options, keys and controller buttons. Settings and saves go to ~/.config/openscreamer.

Known limits

• Screamer 2: no two-player game, no network game, not the 65,000-colour versions; replay files saved by the DOS game itself are not read.
• Screamer: no network game.
• Tested with the retail CD versions of the games, not yet the GOG or Steam ones.
• For the MiSTer FPGA there is a core of its own (Screamer only so far): openscreamer_MiSTer.

OpenScreamer 0.4.31b

OpenScreamer: Screamer (Graffiti / Virgin Interactive, 1995, MS-DOS) reimplemented from the original program. New in this release: a Windows build. The Linux build is the same game as 0.4.30b.

Beta. Please report problems in the issues.

What is in it

• The whole game: intro, the 3D menus, six tracks and their reversed versions, normal game, championship, time attack (with ghost), cone carnage and slalom, replays, records, commentary.
• The original's sound, and its FM music played the way the game's own driver played it.
• 320x200 or 640x400 (OPTIONS in the game's menu).
• Keyboard or game controller: analog steering, accelerator and brake, and rumble.
• Reads the original game's files as they are; nothing to unpack.

You need

The original game. Nothing of it is included. Copy the folder that holds its DATA and GFX folders next to the program, named screamer.

Windows (10 or 11, 64-bit)

Unpack openscreamer-0.4.31b-windows-x86_64.zip, put the game's folder in it as screamer, double-click openscreamer.exe. Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: More info, then Run anyway. Settings, saves and openscreamer.log are in %APPDATA%\openscreamer.

The Windows build has been tested under Wine only (same pictures and the same robot lap as Linux), not yet on a real Windows machine: reports are welcome.

Linux (x86-64, 2018 or later, with SDL2 installed)

sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0      # or: sudo dnf install SDL2 / sudo pacman -S sdl2
tar xzf openscreamer-0.4.31b-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd openscreamer-0.4.31b-linux-x86_64
# put the game's folder here as "screamer", then
./openscreamer

./openscreamer --help lists the options, keys and controller buttons. Settings and saves go to ~/.config/openscreamer.

Known limits

• No network game.
• Tested with the retail CD version of the game.
• For the MiSTer FPGA there is a core of its own: openscreamer_MiSTer.

OpenScreamer 0.4.30b

First downloadable build of OpenScreamer: Screamer (Graffiti / Virgin Interactive, 1995, MS-DOS) reimplemented for Linux from the original program.

Beta. Please report problems in the issues.

What is in it

• The whole game: intro, the 3D menus, six tracks and their reversed versions, normal game, championship, time attack (with ghost), cone carnage and slalom, replays, records, commentary.
• The original's sound, and its FM music played the way the game's own driver played it.
• 320x200 or 640x400 (OPTIONS in the game's menu).
• Keyboard or game controller: analog steering, accelerator and brake, and rumble.
• Reads the original game's files as they are; nothing to unpack.

You need

• The original game. Nothing of it is included. Copy the folder that holds its DATA and GFX folders next to the program, named screamer (or start with -data <folder>).
• x86-64 Linux of 2018 or later, with SDL2 installed (sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0, sudo dnf install SDL2, sudo pacman -S sdl2).

Run

tar xzf openscreamer-0.4.30b-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd openscreamer-0.4.30b-linux-x86_64
# put the game's folder here as "screamer", then
./openscreamer

./openscreamer --help lists the options, keys and controller buttons. Settings and saves go to ~/.config/openscreamer. The README.txt in the archive has the rest.

Known limits

• No network game.
• Tested with the retail CD version of the game.
• For the MiSTer FPGA there is a core of its own: openscreamer_MiSTer.