DOSBox = runs the original executable with possibly some bugs, as it was on a real DOS PC
ScummVM = uses it's own engine, fixes bugs, adds features

Graphics, sound and music can be pretty much the same on both. ScummVM might be easier to use for someone who doesn't know DOS/DOSBox (unless they use a DOSBox front-end).

ScummVM can also add his own bugs and some features can be missed (depends on the games)

I'd always prefer ScummVM, because of less overhead and its savegame features...

I don't know...for me it depends on the game...

See, with ScummVM I will always play stuff from Lucasart using it, but then when I want to play Loom through the Roland, I do that through Dosbox? not sure why..I just do? I also tend to still play the sierra stuff more through Dosbox although ScummVM is making this easier and easier all the time.

I basically still use Dosbox more for most of the games I play.

lukeman3000 wrote:

I've been away from the scene for awhile, but I'm aware that ScummVM has recently updated with greater support for Sierra games and etc.

What I'm wondering is, what are the considerations to be made when deciding to use DOSBox or ScummVM for any given game? Why might I prefer one over the other?

Try playing the Amiga or FM Towns version on DOSBox.

SVM also has MT32 emulation built in - with DB you need to run Munt separately.

Which could be a minus or a plus depending on your viewpoint.

And there are builds of DOSBox with Munt.

collector wrote:

And there are builds of DOSBox with Munt.

Which is what I also use...or at least will until my MT-32 arrive sometime next week hopefully.

DOSBox/WinUAE run DOS/Amiga games as written by the original game authors. ScummVM runs them as partially rewritten by the ScummVM team without the original source code. One is the original game, the other is a recreation. This applies of course to any game engine recreation that is not based on the original source code (i.e. unlike the id Software source ports). Depending on the game, the difference between original and recreation may range from "too subtle for the casual observer to notice" (SCUMM v3+) to "I hope nobody ever sees my favorite game looking/sounding like this" (e.g. AGI). Since you are not going to know this in advance, it's best to try games you don't know on their original (emulated) hardware first. Also note that the list of games that ScummVM will play is "curated" according to questionable standards, while normal computer emulators will play any game version or fan game without you having to get the emulator author's approval.

NewRisingSun wrote:

"I hope nobody ever sees my favorite game looking/sounding like this" (e.g. AGI).

what AGI games exactly, dont look or sound like their originals? As the original author of the AGI engine in scummvm, things were pretty much exact between all the agi interpreter versions many many years ago when I imported the codebase from Sarien into Scummvm.. There are options for tweaking Amiga colour palettes and tandy sound, but they are optional.

ScummVM's Tandy sound used to be a complete and utter disaster "many years ago", sounding like a stadium organ reenacting the music in AGI. Nowadays, it's merely bad --- extremely aliased and with a ridiculous noise channel that sounds like a laser gun in AGI games (I just re-checked SQ2), wrong low frequencies in Zak McKracken's intro (but with a somewhat usable noise channel there, indicating that the Texas Instruments SN76489 chip was implemented several times, differently, for different game engines).

My biggest hatred of ScummVM however is due their endorsement and support of the god-damn awful James Woodcock remixes of Simon the Sorcerer's original MT-32 music. They're optional for desktop users, I suppose, but the only ones available when using the mobile versions, at least as far as I have been able to determine. A disgrace that most people now are only going to hear the game like this!

NewRisingSun wrote:

ScummVM's Tandy sound used to be a complete and utter disaster "many years ago", sounding like a stadium organ reenacting the music in AGI. Nowadays, it's merely bad --- extremely aliased and with a ridiculous noise channel that sounds like a laser gun in AGI games (I just re-checked SQ2), wrong low frequencies in Zak McKracken's intro (but with a somewhat usable noise channel there, indicating that the Texas Instruments SN76489 chip was implemented several times, differently, for different game engines).

I dont recall if Sariens tandy driver was imported into Scummvm or we used theirs. I dont remember it being bad, but this was 20 years ago and I'm no musician.