Goodbye Homebrew - How the psp scene is dying and what could save it!

[GuitarGod1134]

Sure I agree. I also think that posts like these (especially in a forum where the topic is programming) dont benefit the society (homebrew community) at all. Nor will they make a difference in what people release. I also think that no matter the crappy homebrew the scene will not die. Good apps/games take time and efforts and unfortunently more than 75% of the people in the world have more important things to do then make games for thier systems (just guessing but it makes sence tying in jobs, school, family, friends, parties). I open up devcpp or notepad probably 1 - 4 times a week and maybe spend 2 hours total all together.

[slicer4ever]

^^agreed^^

[catfish24]

I agree with you Zettablade

OT: Has anyone else noticed that ps2dev has been shut down indefinitely?

[iball®]

Another day, another "PSP hombrew is dead" thread.

Honestly, I'm happy with playing PS1 games on my PSP.
There are very few homebrew software applications out there for the PSP that are any good, and most of those are emulators.
Like Access_Denied said, there need to be more EXPERIENCED coders.
But most of those don't visit these forums. I guess they're all hanging out over at PS2DEV and actually working on something rather than running around any video gaming forums.

And another thing, the PSP is a damn video game handheld! All I care about it actually doing is playing video games!
I give a rat's ass about any chat clients, web browsers, RSS feed readers, podcasting clients, text readers, egg timers, file managers, VoIP or anything that doesn't have to do with actually playing video games.
For those doing those types of things on-the-go I have a Nokia N800 and N80i.
Only the little kids who can't afford anything but the PSP itself want it to do everything that nice dedicated network devices like the two I mentioned above.
To them I say: Save your pennies and buy the real thing.

[kEnnY GpRS]

I actually wouldn't mind VoIP on my PSP.

[Raphael]

What we need is a team of developers and artists that are focused on one idea. Imagine having InsertWittyName, PSMonkey (if he was still able to make homebrew ), MR[ICE], SG57, Zettablade, Yaustar, and a few others that I have forgot (who have expertise in 3D technology) teamed working on one game. ...

i just think that people like SG57 should ask for additional developers to speed the process along

I find it funny how everyone hypes Sg57 and praises him for his "3D expertise", and coding skills though he just started doing some 3D things and played with some of the basic 3D tutorials and pulled a Md2 loader and a skybox together into a 3D-'FPS'.
That's no real "expertise" whatsoever, and tbh I doubt he's fit yet to really work on a commercial quality 3D game (and that's what I'd expect from a team like that). No offense meant, he's doing great progress and learning steadily, but already naming him together with people like IWN, PSMonkey, MR[ICE] or Yaustar is an offense to the latter IMO ;P

[yaustar]

The psp scene is probably the biggest console homebrew scene ever. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but the truth is, the homebrew sucks. Why? Because, the psp community is pretty much a bunch of different people getting together with no vision at hand! Without a vision or goal, it drifts aimlessly!
How should the psp scene be? First off, it needs to be more open source. There is far too much proprietary homebrew out there! But when people do go open source, idiots who don't actually understand open source make their own releases of that homebrew!
What we need is two simple things!

1) A better understanding of open source!
What should happen when someone releases something as open source (under gpl of course), is that other people help to improve the code. By improve, I mean tell the author or maintainer what could be done better by giving them better snippets of code to improve a function, to add features, etc. Then they decide whether or not to include it, and if the decided it's good/doable, then implement it, updating the current development release with the new code.

2) A vision!
We don't need 500 stupid button testers or 800 audio converters or 4583490732 xmb editors! What the psp needs is better applications! It needs a powerful audio player! It needs a powerful video player! It needs a better image viewer! It needs a complete and total replacement for the xmb! It needs better online integration! Better homebrew distribution system! It needs better games! Better browser! Better text reader/editor! It needs better homebrew!
The psp homebrew scene should be committed to providing the best possible homebrew, to eliminate the need for Sony's junk! It needs to work together to create and further projects devoted to completely replacing the xmb with applications that can do just about everything!

If the scene worked together as a whole and got organized, it's completely possible to eradicate the need for Sony and save the psp and it's homebrew scene!

You should look at the GP2X scene which has done pretty much what you have said here.

The problem I see with the scene is that most of the developers have the mind set to learn specific things:

"How do I write to flash"
"How do I Show an image for X seconds"
"How do a I do AI"
"How do make a jump function"

Which is fine (sort of) but what isn't fine is that they just get the code, somehow get it in their heads that the code can only be used for that one task and don't extract the concepts so they can apply the code for another task. Rather then making a model out of base lego bricks, they use big custom pre-made blocks instead. [RANT] What pisses me off even more that only 1 out of every 10 people actually truly listen to advice and follow it. The amount of times I say: Read this book or Read that book is stupid. Don't even get me started on software code layout standards[/RANT]

The other problem is that in a way, we have beginners teaching other beginners which is anti productive as well. What is really needed is a mentoring program or project but the problem is very few of us actually have the time.

Another (rather elitist) idea is to have a REALLY private developers area where source code (under SVN or similar) can be posted without fear of being "ripped off" and forums to match. For example, I have this funky set of macros that IWN knows about and I am sure that Raph and Zetta will understand how it works and why it would be used but will draw blank faces here.

[Bronx]

I find it funny how everyone hypes Sg57 and praises him for his "3D expertise", and coding skills though he just started doing some 3D things and played with some of the basic 3D tutorials and pulled a Md2 loader and a skybox together into a 3D-'FPS'.
That's no real "expertise" whatsoever, and tbh I doubt he's fit yet to really work on a commercial quality 3D game (and that's what I'd expect from a team like that). No offense meant, he's doing great progress and learning steadily, but already naming him together with people like IWN, PSMonkey, MR[ICE] or Yaustar is an offense to the latter IMO ;P

Doh, I did I fail to mention you Raphael, that was definitely a fault on my side. I mentioned SG57 not because of he was as good as the above mentioned, but better than most around here, and (seems) to be willing to learn. He definitely isn't the calibur developer you, IWN, PSMonkey or Yaustar is.

[Raphael]

Well I've got to prove my 3D "expertise" too still ;)

[Bronx]

Well I've got to prove my 3D "expertise" too still ;)

Don't we all?

[covandy01]

ALSO... have you all noticed as soon as a competition with prizes pops up the amount of new homebrew that appears maybe if somehow we could come up with awards or something for new apps and games that are fully accomplished. also i like the idea of a project manager and an all star dev team kind of thing

[hallo007]

so a request link do you mean

[Raphael]

Which is fine (sort of) but what isn't fine is that they just get the code, somehow get it in their heads that the code can only be used for that one task and don't extract the concepts so they can apply the code for another task. Rather then making a model out of base lego bricks, they use big custom pre-made blocks instead. [RANT] What pisses me off even more that only 1 out of every 10 people actually truly listen to advice and follow it. The amount of times I say: Read this book or Read that book is stupid. Don't even get me started on software code layout standards[/RANT]

Fully ack. Also, they not only just don't listen, they are too lazy to read through some threads and search for answers to already be given. But that's a common online forums problem.

The other problem is that in a way, we have beginners teaching other beginners which is anti productive as well. What is really needed is a mentoring program or project but the problem is very few of us actually have the time.

And that's probably the biggest problem in this scene.

Another (rather elitist) idea is to have a REALLY private developers area where source code (under SVN or similar) can be posted without fear of being "ripped off" and forums to match. For example, I have this funky set of macros that IWN knows about and I am sure that Raph and Zetta will understand how it works and why it would be used but will draw blank faces here.

I like that idea actually. However, I see a problem with how to decide who gets access to that area. It obviously cannot be non-developers as is currently the case with the 'developer' title currently. However, designating a number of already 'elite' devs who get to decide on that will probably create a pure elitist community that won't let newcomers in easily (see Linux Kernel dev community/Wikipedia community/etc.).

[yaustar]

I like that idea actually. However, I see a problem with how to decide who gets access to that area. It obviously cannot be non-developers as is currently the case with the 'developer' title currently. However, designating a number of already 'elite' devs who get to decide on that will probably create a pure elitist community that won't let newcomers in easily (see Linux Kernel dev community/Wikipedia community/etc.).

At the moment, psp-programming forums and IRC are the only places where I see (psp) programming being taken seriously. This most likely due to the numbers and developer 'ranking' ratio compared to here.
-= Double Post =-
One thing that would help and love to see more are sprite/graphics and music/soundfx packs like spritelib ( http://www.flyingyogi.com/fun/spritelib.html ). This would definitely help a lot of developers.

[hallo007]

Another (rather elitist) idea is to have a REALLY private developers area where source code (under SVN or similar) can be posted without fear of being "ripped off" and forums to match. For example, I have this funky set of macros that IWN knows about and I am sure that Raph and Zetta will understand how it works and why it would be used but will draw blank faces here.

i like that idea
so other trusted people look to your code and give your tips :)

[SuperBatXS]

Dude, i promise you guys that once i release G-Pack v.3 shell, you guys are going to love it. I am working very hard for your enjoyment!

[hallo007]

I am working on the 4583490733th xmb editor xD

but FA is still the best for 3.03 OE-C+ ( i hope)

[SuperBatXS]

I am working on the 4583490733th xmb editor xD

but FA is still the best for 3.03 OE-C+ ( i hope)

Could you make a prx music player for OE firmwrares? I have used other prx music players, but you can only play them in the XMB (playing them everywhere else also would be cool).
-= Double Post =-

What the psp needs is better applications! It needs a powerful audio player! It needs a powerful video player! It needs a better image viewer! Better homebrew distribution system! It needs better games! Better text reader/editor! It needs better homebrew!
The psp homebrew scene should be committed to providing the best possible homebrew, to eliminate the need for Sony's junk!

Dude, i didn't notice this part earlier, but that is EXACTLY what i am making in G-Pack v.3. Seriously, we have 7 developers trying to make your life less boring. :dj: :Punk: :Jump: Those are my expressions.

[hallo007]

the mp3 moudle for 2.71 SE still works fine for me on OE while playing games;)

[Fallout_Boy]

Sorry to jump in, since it's my first post here.


I've been a passive member of these forums for a few months (registered only few days ago) i have never posted before because there wasn't anything to say that hasn't been said already, and I feel a part of the problem is that a lot of people post when they shouldn't.

Many newcomers don't know/want to use the search function, and post the same questions over and over again. That just clutters the forums and stops people from talking about important things.


I might be new to this forum but I'm not new to the developers scene, you can't imagine how many versions of Pong, Breakout and Pacman I have seen, and quite frankly I'm sick of them, it's fine if you want to start learning and make one of these but don't go barging around saying:

"ZOMFG, look at my beautiful PongXtremeMaddnes!!!!!!!! !!! I made it blue, thats what makes it so different!"


A "wise man" once/many times said if you don't have anything smart to say just be quiet, that should also stand for releasing homebrew.

I'm not bitter or anything, it's just that because of these reasons i left other forums and i don't want see it happening here.


Anyways hello!

[youresam]

Sorry to jump in, since it's my first post here.


I've been a passive member of these forums for a few months (registered only few days ago) i have never posted before because there wasn't anything to say that hasn't been said already, and I feel a part of the problem is that a lot of people post when they shouldn't.

Many newcomers don't know/want to use the search function, and post the same questions over and over again. That just clutters the forums and stops people from talking about important things.


I might be new to this forum but I'm not new to the developers scene, you can't imagine how many versions of Pong, Breakout and Pacman I have seen, and quite frankly I'm sick of them, it's fine if you want to start learning and make one of these but don't go barging around saying:

"ZOMFG, look at my beautiful PongXtremeMaddnes!!!!!!!! !!! I made it blue, thats what makes it so different!"


A "wise man" once/many times said if you don't have anything smart to say just be quiet, that should also stand for releasing homebrew.

I'm not bitter or anything, it's just that because of these reasons i left other forums and i don't want see it happening here.


Anyways hello!

omg <3 fallout boy ...wtf?

[SuperBatXS]

Lol, just warning you, but it's going to happen a lot (even from me). I post a lot of pointless posts, but i think discussion is a great way to express yourself.

[Fallout_Boy]

Lol, just warning you, but it's going to happen a lot (even from me). I post a lot of pointless posts, but i think discussion is a great way to express yourself.

Of course it's a great way to express yourself, I'm not for gaging people , my point is people should think twice before posting something irrelevant. There are places (threads) for small talk and places (threads) for... well dev-talk .

omg <3 fallout boy ...

Why do you asshat me yoursam? <--me posting something irrelevant ;)

[dx169]

Well I don't view the scene as lacking I already think it's good. But I do agree with your view of all this. I completely agree that we do need more things completely different from the PSP Sony has given us. Something that makes it more than just movie viewing or playing games but a tool that can be entertaining and helpful at the same time.

[Raphael]

Dude, i promise you guys that once i release G-Pack v.3 shell, you guys are going to love it. I am working very hard for your enjoyment!

I fail to see how that is relevant to the thread topic in any way. And that is apart from the fact that a hand full of very good Shells already exist, so I doubt the scene lacks another one of those.

[parm289]

How many times have you actually had fun with a homebrew game or app? As much fun as you had with a new UMD game?

Your answers should (hopefully) tell you that the main purpose of homebrew is for fun. If anything, youresam's button tester was a really entertaining piece of homebrew, and i actually enjoyed it. Breakthrough was another game that I enjoyed playing. What I'm saying (and i think a lot of other people mean) is that we need homebrew that we can get addicted to and have fun with. Homebrew is not only made for recognition in the scene - it's made for entertainment. It shouldn't take competitions and/or prizes to motivate coders to make homebrew, although those do help increase the rate of release.

The homebrew scene is not anywhere close to dying. However, if you think it is, or you want to start coding, remember the purpose of homebrew - fun.

[SuperBatXS]

I fail to see how that is relevant to the thread topic in any way. And that is apart from the fact that a hand full of very good Shells already exist, so I doubt the scene lacks another one of those.

............seriously, you are really pissing me off now. I don't even know you, and you are being pretty rude. Yes, that is relevant to the thread topic, it is good homebrew. I don't care if there are good shells or not, but i care about developing and personal success.
Germans always tend to be racist....

[newone757]

No GRAVITY is a perfect example of the quality we need

[SuperBatXS]

No GRAVITY is a perfect example of the quality we need

Yea! Definitely! ;)

[parm289]

No GRAVITY is a perfect example of the quality we need

Yes, another fun and addictive homebrew game.