Homebrew developer cools dropped by the QJ.Net PSP Forums earlier today and unloaded Lua Player Mod 4. It should be remembered that Mod 3 was based on LuaPlayer v0.20. This release, on the other hand, was based on v0.16 which should make it faster. cools also mentioned that Mod 4 was built using the latest sdk and lua 5.1.2.

Lua Player is a script player for your PlayStation Portable. Needless to say, it can run can run applications written in Lua, and it makes writing Lua code both faster and easier than writing for the PSP directly.

With Mod 4, cools received a lot of help from other developers alatnet, youresam, blah, and soulkiller. Given all those devs, one can expect that a lot of new things have been added to Mod 4. You won't be disappointed because that is indeed true. For the full list of functions, refer to the Read link below. For starters, here's a rough overview:

• System Functions
• MP3 Functions
• Ogg Functions
• Gum/Gu Functions
• HPRM Functions
• WLan Functions
• FastBlit Functions

Each file below has its own Readme files, with one dedicated to those who are new to this application. There's also a Readme file for coders and another one for LuaPlayer core developers. Be sure to first browse through the document that applies to you.

Download: Lua Player Mod 4 (source code)
Download: Lua Player Mod 4 (FW 1.5)
Download: Lua Player Mod 4 (FW 1.00 to FW 2.xx)
Visit: QJ PSP Development Forum

It's been quite a while now since we last posted anything about Alatnet's Gmax2PSP app. Well, today he came out with a new version of Gmax2PSP, bumping it up to version 6. Here's what Alatnet has to say about how this update came about:

After a while of working on my Ultimate Battle MMO game, I came to a small snag... While wracking my brain on the physics engine, I thought about working on Gmax2PSP and figured that the old versions of Gmax2PSP were grossly ineffecient and decided to recode it. Now it seems to work a bit better and is a lot smaller than the previous versions.

That's some really good news for all Gmax2PSP users out there. Here's the changelog for version 6:

• Completely redesigned.
• Reformatted the code.
• Disabled CC++ exporting (temporary).
• Now is able to export normals (Needs actual testing to see if the exported normals actually work right).
• Able to preview the format of the vertex before exporting.

If you haven't tried out Gmax2PSP before but would like to give it a shot, check out this tutorial by Alatnet. For bug reports, suggestions, and whatnot, click on the "Visit" link below.

Download: Gmax2PSP v6
Visit: QJ'S PSP Development forums

Ever wanted a handy-dandy giant robot to destroy your enemies without any assistance from you? Well, this definitely isn't the app that'll help you fulfill that burning desire for robotic revenge, but it's an interesting diversion while you amass the technology to build a mech.

This, dear friends, is Picto Cube. Phantom X made his first LUA application on one of these well-known designer cubes. Early on, we had Alatnet with his 3D Cube app on LUA. Months later, Insomniac197 made a demo for 3D cube rendering on TIFF. Well, Phantom X's Picto Cube, while being a new version of the said application genre, has its own little claim to fame.

In the case of Picto Cube, it serves as a basic image viewer. As you can see from the two screenshots above, it does a pretty nice rendition of the pictures he's included. More than anything else, the ice cube looks rather relaxing to look at. You'll need to set the pictures as 256x256 pixels though, or you'll be getting a pretty ugly looking cube.

Of course, Picto Cube isn't without its shortcomings, especially for a new LUA app. There currently isn't any capability for zooming in to get a better view of the pictures. The basic picture set into the system is the tutorial that tells you to choose a d-pad direction to view a picture, but without a zoom function, it can be pretty hard to read. If you've checked out the above mentioned predecessors of the Picto Cube, you'll also be hoping that future versions will include functions for changing the size of the cube and the spin. Perhaps more importantly, it's not really a cube if you can only see four of the sides. Then again, those are things that the homebrew community can help with.

To install this LUA application, unzip the file, and then place the unzipped folder into the Applications subfolder of the LUA Player folder in your PSP. Other than that, just be careful and always check with the forums to see what you'll need to run your version of LUA Player. Other than that, congratulations to Phantom X on his first try! Enjoy the download, and let him know what you think on the forums.

Download: [Picto Cube]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

We missed Alatnet and his uber-useful 3D modeling application Gmax2PSP. He recently came back into the fray with version 4 of his program and less than 48 hours later, he's come up with Gmax2PSP v5.

For those who haven't heard of it, homebrewers can use this to make custom content for their games, so long as they're gmax-enabled. The big addition to version 5, as a result of popular demand, is the ability to export models from C/C++. Yes, homebrewers, it's the programming addition you've been waiting for, and it's ready for you to pick up and use at will.

Now, some words of advice. You'll want to check out the version 4 forum thread for instructions on installing and using the program. It's always a good idea to know what you're getting into, else you could run the risk of harming your PSP. That being said, if you want to give him props for version 5, visit the v5 discussion thread, and if you want to report bugs and other errors that need addressing, visit the v4 discussion thread. Enjoy!

New Features:

• New layout.
• Export 3D models to CC++ code format:

Check out the full changelog aftedr the jump!

Download: [Gmax2PSP v5]

After quite some time of being quiet, homebrew developer Alatnet has updated his free 3D modeler application, Gmax2PSP. The last time we talked about this was way, way back in May and certainly, there has been a lot of changes with the app.

So what does it do? Well, basically, it is a 3D modeler that will allow gamers to create their own content for some game titles, provided that they are gmax enabled. It gives you the freedom to incorporate all the things you like into some of your games. Cool.

You can download the file through a provided link at the forum release thread. We also suggest that you read Alatnet's entire forum post as he provided a very useful how-to for this application. With all that aptly mentioned, here are the app's features and changelog.

Features:

• Export 3D models to lua code format:
• Export options include:
• Export models by world pos instead of by object pos.
• Export models that have textures.
• Export Target Cameras.
• Export models that have use Standard Materials or Multi-Materials.
• Export models with helpful or detailed information such as:
• How many Vertexes, Edges, and Faces the model has.
• Labels where the materials are.
• Labels when the code of the model starts and ends.
• Labels the vertex of the model code.
• Export the code to a file (3ds max only!) or to the listener.

New Features:

• The ability to have the utility in a window or on the side panel.
• Export 3D models to lua code format:
• Export options include:
• Export Target Cameras.

Features to come:

• Export 3D models to CC++ code format.
• Export 3D models to PSPGL code format.
• Export Spotlight to Lua, CC++, or PSPGL code format.
• Export grouped 3D objects (whether model, camera, or spotlight).
• Export Animated Scenes.
• And posibly some more stuff.

Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

 

"To provide an object with animated picture along the time with a sequence of pictures," Such was the vision of alatnet when the first version of the class library was made. As a testament and sign of dedication to the craft, this lua developer came out today with an updated version of the library, with improvements of course and a few minor bugs fixed.

Accordingly, the draw function now checks if the sprite is indeed being drawn on the screen or not. In the event that it isn't, it will not draw and display on the screen at all. Also, reverse sprite animation can now be used. Alatnet is also happy to announce that the image reloading bug in function AnimatedSprite.addImage(img,name) is already fixed.

AnimatedSprite ClassLibrary v2.1 includes a new feature in the requireC function. Checking if the requested lua file works fine or not is now easier. When the file is not working properly, the program writes the problem to a text file called stderr.txt. With all these updates, you should be off to sprite-animation-land by now. At any rate, practice makes perfect as always.

Download: [AnimatedSprite ClassLibrary v2.1]
Discuss: [Release Forum Thread]

I'd advise you to free up some memory stick space on your PSP right now as I can see that an influx of Lua games and applications will be coming your way very soon. It's time for the second Lua library released of the day, and this time it's coming from alatnet.

This alatnet-made library focuses on completely different area or coding compared to Glynnder's ssLib screensaver library. This library will help Lua developers with Sprite animation, an area which some new coders find pretty hard to grasp. To use the worlds of alatnet, "The goal of this classlibrary is to provide an object with animated picture along the time with a sequence of pictures."

If you are a complete newbie to PSP homebrew, then using this - coupled with Dragula96's Lua Script Generator - should make coding a brand new Lua project so much easier, giving you more time to work on other areas such as graphics. alatnet has said that he may be releasing more classses/libraries in the future if he finds something which he believes will be beneficial to the community. Stay tuned for more updates!

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UPDATE: Just as alatnet promised, here is another update to this wonderful Lua library. Lua Animated Sprite Class Library v2.0 includes another classlibrary called FPSCounter and a useful function called requireC. Make sure you read the enclosed readme.txt  before using any of the code you find in this Library!

Download: [Lua Animated Sprite Class Library v2.0]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

Heads-up! Homebrew developer alatnet is back, and this time, he's got a Lua command prompt to share with you guys. This is the same guy who made the PSPSDK Makefile Creator, a program that promises to put your "How do I make my own makefile?" questions to rest, by simplifying makefile creation for CC++ homebrew.

According to the developer, you can expand the commands by making Lua files and placing them in the bin folder. He also mentioned that TwinTail Input Methods (from ttlde) was used for text input, so you might want to take note of that.

It seemed that a lot of users liked it (basing from your comments in the forums), but that doesn't mean alatnet's going to stop working on his nifty app. He said that there will be more commands and scrolling in the future, so you might want to pass by our site regularly for updates.

Meanwhile, why don't you check out alatnet's latest creation? Just click on the download link below and you're good to go. And while you're downloading, maybe you might want to check out the fun Japanese McDonald's TV ad as well.

Download: [Lua based command prompt]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]