Heads up, homebrew FPS fans. PSP coder charnold has just released a new version for PSP Dungeons: Assault Run - 3D Editor, bumping up the version numbers to 1.0.3. It has a good number of changes to the bundled in game and some editor bug fixes. The full article has the complete changelog and more details.

Download: PSP Dungeons: Assault Run - 3D Editor v1.0.3
Visit: QJ's PSP Development Forums

 Charnold passed by the QJ.NET PSP Development Forums earlier to announce the release of PSP Dungeons: Assault Run - 3D Editor version 1.0.2. The latest release of this map editor app for your PC includes some new options for fog, among its other updates. The rest of the changelog is available in the full article.





Download: PSP Dungeons: Assault Run 3D Editor version 1.0.2 (Windows)
Download: PSP Dungeons: Assault Run 3D Editor version 1.0.2 (Mac OS X)
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development Forums

Charnold has released an update for the PSP Dungeons: Assault Run 3D map editor. This release doesn't include enemy AI yet, but there are a couple of new additions that should make it easier for users to create their own maps. Check the full article for the changelog.

Download: PSP Dungeons: Assault Run - 3D Editor update
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development forum thread

Homebrew developer BlackShark recently dropped by the QJ.NET forums and released the latest version of Aap Lander. The new build of the game takes care of a couple of bugs found on various maps. You can check out the other changes made to Aap Lander v.2 since our previous coverage of the homebrew game in our full article.

Download: Aap Lander v.2
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

Here's another new entry for the NeoFlash Spring Compo 2008 competition - developer BlackShark came up with a PlayStation Portable version of the classic Lunar Lander title with Aap Lander. This particular homebrew game comes with its own map editor as well as an option to play your own .mp3 soundtrack during gameplay. Check out the other features of the game by reading our full article.

Download: Aap Lander

Homebrew developer Merick passed by QJ.Net Forums today and released a new version of Lua Map Maker (LuMM). Before we proceed, take note that LuMM is actually a 2D tile map editor for Lua games compatible with your PlayStation Portable (PSP) units. Speaking of map editors, LuMM can generally handle three different map layers.

The Round layer should refer to the basic map area. The Object layer, on the other hand, assigns a number value to the current tile area. Lastly, the Overlay layer can be used for images that players can walk behind, or images with transparency that you want to be drawn over the base layer.

Ever since Lua Map Maker hit v0.5, it is already a stand-alone application meaning you won't be needing Lua player to run it. As for the improvements employed in v0.9, here's the official changelog:

• Found out that the version of lua player that I was using would sometimes crash and freeze the psp when loading images, so I've gone back to using Cool's mod 3.
• I've re-done the tile system to use tile sheets instead of loose tiles and have added a function to let you create a list of tile sheets to use.
• Only works with tilesheets where the tiles are all square and have the same size and do not have any borders between them.
• In order to display the tiles correctly, you must now set the tile size to the exact size of the tiles in the tile sheets.
• The format of the map table and the controls have been changed.
• Have added options to save the map as screen shots in PNG format ( the images created will be named as the project name followed by the x and y positions of each screen  and will be located in the project folder).

Download: Lua Map Maker (LuMM) v0.9
View: QJ PSP Development Forum

Homebrew coder Merick passed by the QJ.Net Forums earlier to let everybody know that the Lua Map Maker (LuMM) application has been updated to version 0.6. For the curious souls wondering what LuMM does, it's a PSP-based 2D tile map editor for homebrew lua games, and is capable of editing three map layers:

• Round layer: The basic map area
• Object layer: Assigns a number value to the current tile area 0 is not displayed in the editor. In my demo, I used 0 for walkable area and set 1 to indicated an impassable barrier
• Overlay layer: This layer is for images that the player can walk behind
  

Another important detail aspiring lua coders may want to know is that as of version 0.5, LuMM is a stand-alone application, meaning it won't need Lua Player to run. Now, as for this application's latest changelog:

• Fixed a small bug in the save menu
• Empty map locations are now set to nil
• Modified map drawing routines, drawing speed should now be noticeably faster on larger sized maps
  

Full usage instructions await in the bundle below, which should be the next stop for the guys wishing to try this homebrew application out. Also make sure to visit Merick's release thread over at the QJ.Net Forums as there might be extra details and pointers about LuMM. Enjoy the download!

Download:  LuMM (Lua Map Maker) v0.6
Visit: PSP Development Forum

Merick has dropped by our PSP forums today to inform us about the latest update to his 2D tile map editor, LuMM (Lua Map Maker). This PSP application boasts of map-editing functions on three layers: Ground layer (the basic map area); Object layer; and Overlay layer (for images the players can walk behind).

Using Soulkiller's mod, Merick's LuMM v0.5 is now a standalone app and thus can be installed directly to your PSP without the aid of Lua Player. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, or in mapping terms, just a scratch from the Ground layer. Here's the rest of the changelog straight from Merick's readme file:

• small change in control layout for menus - all menus now use start button to accept selection
• my previous method of referencing tile image was inadequate, any changes to the files in the tile folder would completely alter the order in which the images were referenced. To fix this, I've now made it so that the tile images are referenced by the image filenames.
• I've also made the tile loading function more intelligent,  it will now only attempt to load files that actually are images only .jpg and .png are
• Added a view checking function to the map base layer so that it only blits the tiles that are actually inside the current viewing area
• added a description of the map table format to this readme

Please don't forget to check the readme file inside the LuMM v0.5 download for more details. You can also go here for a detailed description on this Merick creation. For aspiring devs or for those who just want to tweak this 'brew, the download link's right below. You can also visit out PSP forums (link also below) for the chance to meet more PSP owners and some the PSP scene's more prominent developers.

Download: LuMM (Lua Map Maker) v0.5
Visit: PSP Development Forums

Merick from the QJ.NET Forums has just announced the initial release of his latest homebrew application called LuMM (Lua Map Maker). This application for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) will definitely be a big help to all the other lua homebrew developers out there, as LuMM is a 2d tile map editor for lua games. This edits a map in three layers.

• ground layer : the basic map area
• object layer : assigns a number value to the current tile area 0 is not displayed in the editor. In my demo, I used 0 for walkable area and set 1 to indicated an impassable barrier
• overlay layer : this layer is for images that the player can walk behind

As for its other features:

• saves / loads map info to a single data file
• map edit mode:

• start = brings up save/quit menu
• d-pad = change current map location
• square = put tile down
• cross = erase tile
• triangle/circle = cycle through tiles / object numbers
• right trigger = cycle through layers
• left trigger + d-pad left/right = change tile rotation (not implemented yet)

For this to work, you'll need to have the lua player installed, and then copy the LuMM folder to your applications folder. Merick says that tile rotation is still not working, but he adds that this is being worked on.

The file you'll be downloading has LuMM.lua which is the editor itself, and demo.lua which is a demo of how you can use the map data you've created using LuMM. However, the demo will not be enough to show you what you should do. Check out the readme for instructions, as that's really important for all applications you'll be running on your PSPs. It also contains more details on the features and controls of LuMM, and his thank-yous to a lot of other PSP developers who've helped him with his homebrew project. Enjoy the download.

Download: LuMM (Lua Map Maker)
Visit: PSP Development Forum

You might easily mistake it with the DS homebrew Earth Invaders given that they are made by the same person, but, Earth Invaders 0: Before the Attack is a homebrew made for the PSP and is smealum's entry to the Neoflash Summer Coding Contest.

He apologizes for not yet coming out with a polished version of the game because he unfortunately lost a lot of his initial work when the source file of the game got corrupted. Good thing he's a regular Mr. Brightside and sees this as an opportunity to make improvements in the game. Our main concern, and I think everyone will agree, is to have enemies that aren't our clones. Also, while playing the game, we fell through the obstacles and never surfaced - literally. We were actually waiting for the game to end, since we assumed that we've already died, but it's just not doing that. However, even if it's still unfinished, there are already a lot of things that you can do. Over here at QJ, we got a kick out of watching Gotenks get his Ki back. The opening sequence is also worth a mention.

Here's more of smealum's post about his entry:

That's why i'm presenting to you this incomplete version, i would like advices and i'd also like to know what things you like, don't like, or would like to have in the next version.

Also, none of the graphics (except the menu and the video....that i didn't finish actually, this is only a test video i made to test my "video player"....) are by me, i took the sprites from Dragon Ball : Hyper Dimension (SNES, 1994). You'll notice that the enemies look a little bit like you....  Undecided It won't be like this in the real version. Also, the "story mode" in this version is only the map browser...

You'll also notice a map creator, which isn't in its final version either - though it already works pretty well.

Download: [Earth Invaders 0: Before the Attack]
Download: [Earth Invaders 0 Map Editor]