We have just received word that developer SiberianSTAR has recently release the source codes for the LTE Game Engine v2.2 for the PSP. LTE is developer's kit built to help PSP developers create their own batch of homebrew applications and games. This latest release will enable developer to customize the engine according to their needs. More details are be available in the full article.

Download: LTE Game Engine 2.2 source codes
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development forum

Earlier this week, LTE Studios released version 2.2 of their LTE Game Engine program. The LTE Game Engine is a full-featured game engine that allows PSP users to program games or applications without having to fight any of the pspsdk calls. You don't even need to know how the PSP system works to create games with LTE Game Engine. The engine manages input/output, 2d and 3d hardware accelerated graphics and audio.

Here are a few short how-tos from the readme file as well as the changelog:

Requirements
To use the LTE Game Engine you must have Toolchains installed, if you are running under win32 you can find the downloadable compiled version here:

http://xorloser.com/PS2DevWin32.zip

PSPGL is included in this archive, you need to use this version of PSPGL because I've fixed some bugs in it.

If you have any questions or encounter any problems, click on the 'via' link below to check out the LTE Studios website. There's a whole lot of info that can help you in their forums. Kudos to Soulkiller for the heads up.

To see the changelog and instructions, click on the "Full Article" link below.

Download: [LTE Game Engine 2.2]

LTE Studios showed their support to budding and even seasoned homebrew developers when they took the wraps off a free, custom made 3D engine- the LTE 3D Engine. Now, they continue to show that support as they have recently updated this helpful app to version 2.0. Aside from that, the app now sports a different name, so let us all welcome the LTE Game Engine 2.0.

The first release was not free of some bugs and the recent version definitely provides a remedy to most of its known issues. To start using this app, you can refer to our earlier report as the process is still the same. It also wouldn't hurt if you read the provided readme file, and while you're at it, go ahead an also read the license file that comes with the download. The latest version has a lot of features and general speed improvements.

And on a more personal note, we would like to thank Alexmae for the tip. So with all that aptly mentioned, let's go over the changelog:

• Changed name from LTE 3D Engine to LTE Game Engine
• Added support for Mipmapped textures. Mipmapping gives an high speed improvement. By default all textures are mipmapped, you can disable this feature with driver->setTextureCreationFlag(video::ETCF_CREATE_MIP_MAPS, false);
• Clipping comes necessary when your meshes has big triangles, but for model and object meshes (like the character) this is not necessary. By default now clipping is not enabled by default: if you need the engine to clip your mesh type node->setMaterialFlag(video::EMF_CLIPPING, true);
• Mesh triangle subdivision: Now it's possible to subidive the triangles of your meshes wich sides are greater than a value. You can do this using the Mesh Manipulator: SceneManager->getMeshManipulator()->subdivideTriangles(YourMesh, MaxSideSize)
• Added support for rendering into textures. This feature is very common, and the engine now can do it. Look at the RenderToTexture example for further information.
• Multitexturing is now supported. This feature is limited because it doesn't support multi texture coordinates, and it takes one more rendering pass (PSP GPU doesn't support one-pass multi texturing). Look at the SpecialFX example for further information.
• Added Sphere mapping: this effect is now supported. To enable sphere mapping for your scene node type node->setMaterialType(video::EMT_SPHERE_MAP).
• Added B3D Mesh support with full bone animator.
• Added celshading effect for your IAnimatedMeshSceneNode. To enable this feature for your scene node simply do: node->addCelshadingSceneNode(). Look at the documentation for further information.
• Added support for Dynamic Shadows. Look at the Dynamic Shadow example for further  information.
• Added ATRAC3 Audio support. Note that you can set position, get position, get duration, only for mp3 audio files.
• Now the File Browser sort the list pushing the folder on the top of the list.
• The speed of the mouse cursor is proportional to the current frame rate, this allows to use the cursor also at lower framerate.
• General speed improvement
• A Lot of Bug fixes
• Changed the intro logo screen and music effect

Download: [LTE Game Engine 2.0]
Link: [LTE 3D Engine Official Documentation]

It has been quite a while since we have given you an update about Stefano Russello's homebrew application, PSPBrew. For those of you who have forgotten what this does, it is a very useful tool to install, manage and edit the homebrew apps on the PSP. It's also a good app to split a game's eboot to install it in your 1.50 PSP.

The 0.90 version will feature a few minor bug fixes and support to the newest discoveries (like the %__SCE__), but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Apparently, the good developer, after a conversation with the guys from LTE Studios, has decided to update PSPBrew with a new function about parameters. This new feature makes possible to transform a user-friendly app to a flexible and powerful module at the developer's command.

What happens is that once PSPBrew is installed, it will be possible using the command line to tell the PSP Brew module to install or convert an EBOOT, and with the LTE Editor it will be useful to create and transfer EBOOTs ready to be executed on the PSP after being compiled. What can we say, the app, just like a good bottle of wine, just keeps getting better and better in time. Here's the changelog:

Changelog:

- Spanish language fixed
- Now hides corrupted data with __SCE__ method
- Automatic save system on Memory Stick for firmware 1.0-2.x and 1.50
- Automatic recognise if the EBOOT is the DATA.PSP instead of giving error
- It can be run from batch or command prompt with the following syntax:
pspbrew.exe /p [path eboot] /h [homebrew name] /d [dir name] /n [hide corrupted data] /u [psp unit] /f [firm 1.5] /s [hidden mode]
/p [path eboot] path source EBOOT.PBP
/h [nome homebrew] Homebrew name, if empty it doesn't change
/d [dir name] Directory name, if empty it uses the homebrew name
/n [hide corrupted data] 1 yes 0 no
/u [psp unit] psp unit (es. e: ), if empty it searches it by itself, if it can't find it uses one of default
/f [firm 1.5] 1 yes 0 no (1 Firmware 1.5 , 0 Firmware 1.0-2.x)
/s [hidden mode] 1 Doesn't show any messages 0 Shows all the messages
Example: pspbrew.exe /p C:Documents and SettingsStefanoDesktopeboot.pbp /h PSPtoJOYPAD /d JOYPAD /n 1 /u G: /f 1 /s 1

On a more personal note, we would like to thank Alexmae for the heads up!

Download: [PSPBrew 0.90]

LTE Studios has has rolled out the latest update of 3D Engine SDK. Developed by SiberianSTAR and Ky@, this homebrew application features:

• 3D Engine
• Mixed 2D + 3D
• Powerful and customizable 2D GUI
• Character animation system
• Particle effects
• Billboards
• Dynamic Lights
• Powerful 2D with alpha, blend, etc..
• Six image formats supported
• Eight mesh formats supported
• Fonts support
• Collision and physics integrated
• Powerful terrain system

The latest version, LTE 3D Engine SDK v1.1, changelog includes:

• Fixed buffer overflow which was making PSP crash
• Improved the engine virtual mouse and keyboard
• Added three new style for the fps camera
• Added the audio driver for audio playing

Installing:
It's always good to read the readme file before installing this or any other application, you must read it especially when you're running under win32 and are planning to use this one. To use the LTE 3D Engine you must have Toolchains installed.

Run the Makefile contained in the same directory of this file, and include files and libraries will be installed in your computer.
You can find documented examples in this archive that will explain you the basic of this engine here. To run examples you have to extract the media.zip in your ms0:/ folder. Compile the example doing 'make' or 'make kxploit'.

Download: [LTE 3D Engine SDK v1.1]

We earlier reported that LTE Studios has released their custom made free 3D engine for homebrew developers complete with corresponding documentation. In return, homebrew developers have been busy creating games using this app. TedZero is one of them; in fact, he has just released a game called Shooter, with the use of LTE Studios.

The game is pretty simple. Basically, when the dummies come out, you just shoot them. There are about five dummies for you to annihilate, you use the analog stick to move and aim the gun then press 'X' to fire away. If you still haven't had enough, press 'Start' to reset and shoot away again.

TedZero's Shooter is still pretty basic since you just shoot away at defenseless targets, plus there isn't a scoring system in this one. But as the good developer puts it, "every first program is a 'Hello world'', so surely in its next release, we could expect more things and actions that could be enjoyed by you, lucky PSP gamers. Just a little reminder from the developer: the files must be extracted to the root to be able to play this game.

With all that said, don't hesitate to hook us up with your comments, suggestions, opinions and other what-nots through your comments.

Download: [Shooter: Using LTE Studios]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

Just a few days ago, LTE Studios had taken the wraps off their custom made free 3D engine for homebrew developers. Although it was just a demo, it did show a lot of promise.

Today, we've just realised that they've released the first version of their SDK, and the corresponding documentation. I've checked out the online documentation and I can say that it is just awesome. All you C/C++ devs will feel right at home checking out the docs generated by doxygen.

Since the SDK is still in its infancy, you can expect a few bugs here and there. Here's an official list:

Known Bugs:

• Software clipping algorithm is slow
• Collision detection is slow and buggy
• Terrain data generation takes too much memory, i've to decrease details

Even then, the creators have sucessfully ported almost all the functions of irrlicht. In case you've just joined us, here's a list of features of the LTE 3D Engine:

• 3D Engine
• Mixed 2D + 3D
• Powerful and customizable 2D GUI
• Character animation system
• Particle effects
• Billboards
• Dynamic Lights
• Powerful 2D with alpha, blend, etc..
• Six image formats supported (.bmp, .png, .jpg, . pcx, .tga, .psd)
• Eight mesh formats supported (.md2, .bsp, .x, .3ds, .obj, .dmf, .dae, .ms3d)
• Fonts support
• Collision and physics integrated
• Powerful terrain system
• and much more...

You have to note that the 3D engine is released under its own license. Although nothing much of a problem, I suggest you guys have a look at it here.

Download Link: [LTE 3D Engine SDK v1.0]
Link: [LTE 3D Engine Official Documentation]
Link: [LTE 3D Engine Official Forums]

This just in! A small team called LTE studios, headed up by SiberianSTAR, have been working on a free 3D engine for the Sony PSP. And today's the big day! They've just released the first demo of their product, which they've been working very hard on.

So you might not be a developer, and you might be wondering what the big deal is... Well, for starters, this will encourage a lot of developers to venture into making games. Until now, if you wanted to make a proper homebrew game, you would need an engine to handle everything. In case of 2d beat 'em ups, it was pretty simple. But if you wanted to create a proper 3D game, you'd need to program everything to handle all the data/models/sounds using an engine. And trust me, making a game engine is one of the hardest programming challenges.

Apart from finding a way to load/handle all the stuff, you also need to program the physics and a lot of other really technical details, just so that the separate objects can interact just the way you want. If you want an example, how about I give you one about a racing game. Suppose you're one of the guys behind Need For Speed; apart from building the cars, tracks and other things, you'd need to build an engine to actually make it possible to implement all that art and beauty into a game. Another example would be the Source engine made by Valve, or the Doom3 engine made by iD Software.

By now, I'll assume that you know quite a bit about making games. Which brings us back to this great piece of news. These guys have been working for months, to bring us an engine which almost any C/C++ homebrew game developer can use to make a fully fledged game. The talk gets a little technical now...Don't worry if you don't understand all the mumbo jumbo. If I were you, I'd expect a lot of great homebrew games coming out in a few weeks.

For the programmers, here are a few technical details/features:

• 3D Engine
• Mixed 2D + 3D
• Powerful and customizable 2D GUI
• Character animation system
• Particle effects
• Billboards
• Dynamic Lights
• Powerful 2D with alpha, blend, etc..
• Six image formats supported
• Eight mesh formats supported
• Fonts support
• Collision and physics integrated
• Powerful terrain system
• and much more...

Read through the list and you'll notice a lot of pretty awesome stuff in there. There's features in there which are mirrored around in a lot of paid and pretty expensive engines. I'm sure everyone here is curious to see the engine working. You're in luck! The LTE studios guys have been kind enough to provide a demo of the engine; a kind of a proof of concept, if you will... The final version, or the SDK will be released soon.

SiberianSTAR would like to thank Ky@ for his work on the editor, Jeremy Fitzhardinge for PSPGL, and PSMonkey. Oh, and by the way, thanks to PSMonkey for the heads-up too!

Download Link: [LTE 3D Engine Demo]