PSP homebrew developer McZonk of Emergency Exit has just announced that the third Quake II PSP Multiplayer Beta has been released. Among major updates McZonk makes mention of is a speed boost, although this version will not  carry sound support:

• FPS increase
• Quake II PSP Multiplayer Beta 3 currently runs at roughly 30 to 60 frames per second. Also included are minor graphics bug fixes.
• New input methods
• The analog nub's acceleration can now be configured. Speed parameters will now also affect looking when used with digital keys.
• Sky support
• The sky is now drawn without clipping errors.
• No sound
• Beta 3 does not carry audio output. McZonk explains this had to be done due to detected sound engine bug. This has nothing to do with the increased frame speed.
  

McZonk notes that he's currently in the process of trying to maximize Quake II PSP's memory usage. The author is experimenting with cutting down on texture memory - see the image at the top - which should free up space for all of the multiplayer mode's sounds, and re-enable single-player mode. The latter feature should be available in Quake II PSP's later updates, with this current release expected to be the last of the multiplayer betas.

Download: Quake II PSP Multiplayer Beta 3

Here comes the latest update to McZonk's PlayStation Portable port of Quake II. Much like the previous build, emphasis was given to the game's multiplayer component because, as the homebrew developer put it, "this is the more capable type of gameplay for the PSP".

According to McZonk, a lot of bugs were fixed in this release and several new features were added as well. Here's a rough list of improvements to Quake II PSP Multiplayer Second Beta:

• .pak File Support: This will decrease the copy to memory stick rapidly. It also increases loading time a little bit.
• Sound: I have implemented sound in Quake 2 now. It is still very buggy and slow. During the game it is very nice even if not all sound data is loaded so far.
• Clipping: Even if clipping is not slow at the moment, there is a lot of potential to make it faster, by using the vfpu as example. Since I have an algorithm I am happy with, I can now start to optimize the speed.
• Flipscreen support: You can set gu_flipscreen 1 in the console to turn around the psp viewing by 180 degrees. So you can hold the psp upside down. I implemented this because I want to make Quake 2 as configurable as possible
• Master Server: I am trying this with my beta testers, but it is still not stable enough to use. So it is disabled in this release.

To serve as a preview, here's a video clip showing Quake II PSP Multiplayer Second Beta in action. The players featured in this game are McZonk himself, Stranno, and one of their friends.

The video clip and the download link after the jump!

In case you're waiting around for the latest update to McZonk's Quake II PSP port, we've got some good news and bad news. The homebrew developer has just announced that he's releasing an early version of the homebrew game's multiplayer setting (there's no single-player) for the community's perusal. We say early, as McZonk notes that it's still buggy and will require more tweaks in the near future.

This brings us to the bad news: McZonk explains he's releasing the game early because he'll be preparing for his exams - expect the coder to be very, very busy for the next few weeks. 

Of course, bug reports are welcome, although McZonk once again warned he'll only be able to address these reports when he's got the time. Installation and usage instructions for the Beta release should be available in the file's readme.

Download: Quake II PSP Multiplayer Beta

About a week ago, PSP homebrew developer McZonk released several details on PSP Quake II, specifically on why the game was encountering several bugs. The dev is updating with more information today regarding the latest fixes for the game's maps, controls, and multiplayer mode.

Regarding the matter of maps, McZonk explained that while PSP Quake II had base1, base2 and base3 for multiplayer gaming, their size and the player numbers (2 to 4 players) would make for very slow connections, which in turn ruined gameplay.

This is where the community comes in - the author's inviting willing and able devs to come up with Quake II multiplayer maps for the next game release. These new maPS should be built using textures from the demo, preferably small and balanced - check out McZonk's map to the right for ideas.

The second matter is regarding game controls. McZonk explained that he encountered movements problems while testing the game's multiplayer mode. This was remedied by rewriting the analog nub code, with further plans to test non-linear input, and speed accupolish thration to e game's handling further. Other tweaks included bug fixes and adding the "surrounding box when the opponent has quad damage."

   

The dev detail discusses the game's multiplayer mode. As McZonk commented regarding the multiplayer menu displayed above:

The first one is the multiplayer menu where you can select the wifi connection: none (for playing against bots), adhoc and the names of your saved connections. I will add the dialog to configure them in the future. The second and third one are the menus for creating and joining a server.

On a last note, McZonk is also in need of testers for PSP Quake II to help improve the game's movement and aiming functions. Guys interested in lending a hand to this project are invited to check out the source link for further instructions.  

Kudos to nebelspalter for telling us about this news!

McZonk, the developer of PSP Quake II, is back and is working on a new release. Some players have been wondering why Quake II runs smoothly on the first PlayStation while it hiccups on the PSP. Considering the power of the PSP compared to the console, it shouldn't happen. That's true, theoretically.

McZonk explained the problems that were encountered. First up, he said that most crashes on the PSP version were caused by memory problems. While the PSP does have more memory than the PS1, it should be remembered that the PS1 graphics for the game were actually watered down.

McZonk mentioned that in the game, "the models are reduced in polygon count, texture size and animation steps." It was said in the post that the developer leans towards to the Windows version of Quake II: they're not scaling the game up from the PS1 version, but down from the 50 MB to 100 MB of the Windows version of the game.

The crash problem he encountered is due to the lack of a memory management unit in the PSP. The Quake II beta occasionally crashed when loading a new map due to fragmentation. The newer version solves this by unloading everything when a player quits a map. The downside to this though is the fact that the loading time for the next level increases. Another thing that fans of the game will appreciate is the addition of sound in the game. He mentioned that he rewrote the sound engine and it should be up in the next release.

He gave too many details to adequately cover in this post, so if you want to know more, feel free to click on our read link. That said, welcome back McZonk, and we await the next release of Quake II for the PSP.

This just in from our "Whatever Happened To..." Department:

Team Emergency Exit (TEE) has released a host of WIP news about some homebrew apps that you may have been wondering about. Well, wonder no more. The absence of updates was caused by a bachelor thesis, which is way harder to make than homebrews.

But the team is back and here's the latest:

• Quake 2 will be the priority PSP project and the team promised to finish it.
• Homebrew Manager was a nice idea but due to lack of public interest and because TEE couldn't find a server that would host the homebrew he decided to shelve it. (Memo to TEE: QJ will be more than happy to host all your apps!)
• DualFlash is obsolete with the mod chip and was too expensive for the developers to play with the hardware. The project has also been dropped.

The score so far: One game on, two apps down.

However, you can expect a new game from Team Emergency Exit for the PSP and PC. Team member McZonk says it's not a port but a complete new game. So we'll keep an eye on that!