If you caught wind of last week's Weekend Warrior feature and thought that you were finally free of all the new homebrew updates which added support for CFW 4.00 and up, then think again. Fortunately, that isn't the only thing that we have for you in this week's edition of the PSP Homebrew Weekend Warrior.

Many familiar names make a comeback in many of the homebrew updates that were recently released. Some of these include some new homebrew projects, as well as updates to some good old reliable apps, which are all now available for download.

Don't let us keep you waiting, though. You can read the rundown of the entire week as we reported it below.

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Return of the veteran coders

A lot of veteran homebrew developers have recently let their presence felt in the community once again. Each coder brings a mixed bag of homebrew goodies for everyone this week.

Hellcat's Pandora installer gets a quick revision, updating the app for use with the custom firmware 3.xx kernel. Anyone who has even the slightest inkling of the PSP homebrew scene will admit that this is definitely a good thing for users packing in custom firmwares in your handhelds.

Dark AleX also made an appearance this week with the introduction of USB Version Fake. Those who are not familiar with it, this plugin basically bypasses the firmware version check on the PSN downloader by faking the firmware your PSP is using.

Link: Pandora Installer for 3.xx revision 4
Link: Dark AleX's USB Version Fake: avoid firmware version check on PSN

It's also been a long while since we've last heard of Raphael's analog nub plugin, JoySens. The latest build of this long-time homebrew finally bumps up the version number to 1.41 and introduces several new improvements. However, perhaps the most important change in this version is the support for custom firmware up to version 4.01 M33-2.

Another returning homebrew developer is homemister, who was finally able to roll out the official release of LuaPlayerHM8. Following up the release of the version 8 driver a couple of weeks ago, LuaPlayerHM8 comes with a hefty list of new functions and changes since its previous version.

Link: PSP homebrew: JoySens v1.41 - for sticky analog nubs and fixing sensitivity
Link: LuaPlayerHM8

On the development side of things, Red Squirrel has come up with the latest version of RSPsar Dumper. Version 3.5 of the app supports the new firmware 4.05, with the developer noting that this will be the final public update for RSPsar Dumper. Regardless of the lack of future updates, this release is still useful for developers who want to make use of the latest firmware's code for their own homebrew projects.

Link: RSPsar Dumper v3.5 - support for FW 4.05, last public update

One of the more interesting releases which caught our eye this week was a demo of the Soft Body Physics library ported to the PSP. Entitled "JelloPhysics", it gives objects generated by the engine a Jell-O-like consistency, which can be played around with using an on-screen cursor. The main article includes a video of the physics engine in action. Hopefully, someone will be able to pick this up and turn it into an interesting LocoRoco-like homebrew game.

Link: JelloPhysics demo - Jell-O physics engine for the PSP

Our winners for the "usual suspects" award this week go to developers J.F. and Torch, as they released new updates to their respective homebrew projects, Basilisk II and Hold+. The updates to each program share similar natures as well, since they focus on squashing bugs found in their previous releases. In particular, Hold+ v2.61 takes care of a problem with the plugin's analog feature, while Basilisk II test release 19 made some major changes to its input mapping features.

Link: Basilisk II PSP Port test release 19 - added major changes to input mapping
Link: Hold+ v2.61

  

Fun and games this week have been rather sparse, although we were still able to dig up a couple of gems. MadMax11 continues building the epic space RPG Maelstrom, with its third alpha release introducing even more missions and systems into its vast universe.

For those who want to play something a little more casual, you can always go head-to-head against the best racers in the Mushroom Kingdom. Coder SeanPaul223 recently released the latest version of the Mario Kart 64 port for the handheld, throwing in a couple of additional game modes and even more racers to choose from.

Link: Maelstrom Alpha3: now with random missions
Link: Mario Kart 64 V3 - added new game modes, characters, graphics

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Continuing the legacy

It's always nice to hear from the more senior homebrew developers who've seen the early birth pangs of the community. At the very least, this proves that the PSP homebrew scene is still alive and kicking.

With the handheld continuously updating itself (through both the official and custom firmware updates), it's mostly thanks to the veteran developers that the younger coders have a solid base to work with. Hopefully, this sort of practice will continue to inspire even more devs into making more homebrew projects for the PSP.

As for the surprise we have for the homebrew community, it should be ready come next week. We don't want to give out too many spoilers, but we're asking the homebrew devs to put their respective thinking caps on for what we have in store in the coming month.

That's all we have for this week's Weekend Warrior update. Drop by again next week when we compile the latest PSP homebrew news in the next issue of the PSP Homebrew Weekend Warrior.