Easy Accelerated Image Rendering Lib is a homebrew application for image rendering designed to be an alternative to graphics.c/h. It was created by the_darkside_986 and some of its noteworthy features include a user-friendly interface and the ability to stretch and rotate images.

The homebrew coder dropped by the QJ.NET PSP Development Forum recently and released version 0.2 of Easy Accelerated Image Rendering Lib. According to him, this is a major improvement from v0.1 because it includes a lot of big fixes and is usable enough "to create entertaining homebrew that runs at over 60 fps." The complete changelog is as follows:

• Fixed idiotic dlist declaration (was supposed to be a char* not u32*)
• Fixed drawPartImage. It seems to actually work now.
• Fixed whatever bug was causing all the draw functions to fail randomly.
• Fixed the function printTextScreen. It now actually works as it should.
• Added function drawImageToImage.
• Added function printTextImage.
• Added function unswizzleImage. All functions whose height is evenly divisible by 8 are swizzled when created. One can use this function to unswizzle them (but I can't think of a good reason to do that.)
• Package has been reduced to only two files to reduce clutter: graphics2d.h and graphics2d.c.
• Lots of other stuff I don't feel like listing.

Easy Accelerated Image Rendering Lib v2.0 comes with a very detailed readme file that contains a lot of information about installation and other matters.

As always, you should read the readme first before you do anything else.

Download: Easy Accelerated Image Rendering Lib v0.2
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development Forum thread

 

the_darkside_986 dropped by our forums recently to announce a development library created by Hazed Mirror Productions. The library, called Easy Accelerated Image Rendering Library v0.1, is supposed to be an alternative to graphics.c/h for image rendering.

As noted in the readme, Easy Accelerated Image Rendering Library v0.1 is

...a library that is as easy but renders images using Vertices in ortho projection mode instead of using GU_SPRITES, so that faster render speed, rotation, and scaling could be supported.

This release is marked as version 0.1. It lacks some of the features that are in graphics.c like blitting images or text on to another image. These features might be added in the next release if I think they are useful enough. Or someone can add them and re-release this.

the_darkside_986 notes that people are free to add enhancements to the library, so the image rendering library can be a valuable resource for the community. In any case, if you're a programmer, why not give it a try and see if it helps you make better homebrew. Enjoy!

Download: Easy Accelerated Image Rendering Lib v0.1
Visit: PSP Development Forums

For an Alpha release that's coded in Lua, this is pretty well done. And to think, it's PSPokemon">sony_psp_player's very first homebrew game. It's called PSPokemon, and from the name itself, you'd know it's (in the developer's own words) "a Pokemon clone."

As of now though, all you can basically do in this baby-phase Alpha release is control the Godzilla-sized Ash around the map you see in the pic above. You can also enter the houses, but they're pretty bare. Try it for yourself; no one's stopping you. The download doesn't contain a readme, so we can't quite direct you to any. Basically, the developer just wanted to get this early version out so that people could reply with their feedback.

Is it a good project to pursue? Hands down, I've always been a Pokemon fan, and any Poke-exposure on the PSP is very much welcome for me. the_darkside_986 (of "Die Critters Die" homebrew fame) seems to agree with me and said in the forums: "I'm going to get a DS to play Pearl/Diamond. But this sounds interesting so I'll try it. I hope this project really goes somewhere. Good luck with it."

So, to sony_psp_player, godspeed and may way see the full version soon!

UPDATE: sony_psp_player released Alpha 2 of his PSPokemon game already, so feel free to try it out! Enjoy!

Download: PSPokemon Alpha 2 Release
Visit: PSP Development Forums

  

Think of Die Critters Die v0.5 as a moddable game of PSP roadkill. Run over critters to gain points, avoid cones to minimize damage, and keep running over the poor defenseless bunnies. Simple right?

Well, that's one way to look at it. the_darkside_986 notes that you can also easily add your own gameplay wrinkles by modifying the game's configuration text to add graphics, increase the spawn count of objects, and basically make your game more like a steamroller running over defenseless kittens and ponies rather than a car running over defenseless deer and bunnies.

the_darkside_986 assures us the future releases will also include audio. In the meantime, feel free to try the game out and let the developer know what you think of his app on the forums.

Download: Die Critters Die v0.5
Visit: PSP Development Forums

  

Okay, so apparently, the Die Critters Die game of the_darkside_986 has proven to be such an inspiration that having one expansion in the form of Ted Kennedy's Revenge isn't enough.

Now, we have yet another mod for the original Die game, and again, we have JEMdev to thank for it. Entitled Die Dolphins Die, it's pretty obvious who the targets are in this game. So how does this go? Ever creative JEMdev cooks up a little story where you happen to be a patient at the nuthouse. You get bored one day and opts to kill time by killing some other white meat. And no, humans just won't do this time.

So you trump over to Oceanworld, and there you have them friendly dolphins. The objective is simple. Killing a dolphin gives you one point while killing a dolphin with riders earns you two points. Now if you wanna go for the big kill, then go for shamu. It's bound to give you a hefty ten points, although, it's sure to damage your boat big time as well.

So there you go, you blood-thirsty, you. Oh, and says JEMdev, this time the mod comes fully ready to go with the eboot included, so there's no need for the original game.

Also, before any animal rights activists react violently, please keep in mind that this is just a game. No real dolphins were killed in the making of this homebrew, and here's hoping that the object of the game remains to be that--just a game.

Download: [Die Dolphins Die]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

We can only imagine how you guys are enjoying the_darkside_986's roadkiller homebrew Die Critters Die! It definitely serves as an outlet for the hungry, angry monkeys inside of us all. But there are really, really bad days when the desire to strangle the guy beside you just wouldn't subside. This is not to say that the game doesn't serve it's purpose of letting out pent up emotions, it's just that it seems some li'l thing is missing...

Coder JEMdev might have noticed it himself because he just came up with an expansion for the previous release. Actually, Koolio directed us to the new game and next thing we knew, the monkeys inside are quite full, scratching their big bellies and feeling a bit sleepy.

We have to warn you though that Ted Kennedy's Revenge, the title of the expansion, no longer focuses on critters. It actually involves the recently concluded elections especially democrat candidate Ted Kennedy. Apparently, Kennedy got drunk in one of their big victory parties, hijacked the ACLU van, and the road rage ensues.

The objective of the game is to kill as many Republicans and undecided voters as possible. Avoid the democrats and the Halliburton tanker driven by Cheney. Installation of Ted Kennedy's Revenge is rather easy as you only have to overwrite the previous title's GFX folder with the new one.

Download: [Ted Kennedy's Revenge]

The_darkside_986 from the QJ forums has released version 1.0 beta of his PSP Simple Calculator homebrew application coded in C. Now, you may start to moan because there are many homebrew calculators out there at the moment, but the_darkside_986 did do a little research before making this and describes his calculator as for users who do not wish to hassle themselves with using LUA player or the complexity of using and setting up a powerful graphic calculator.

If you are uncertain about the power of this calculator, the_darkside_986 describes it as the same as Microsoft's windows calculator when used in simple mode. It may not be great for high-level mathematics but it does work well and doesn't require any setting up, it's all just pick up and play.

Download:[PSP Simple Calculator v1.0 beta]
View: [Forum release thread]