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Developing for the Playstation 2?
Kentai asks: "Im thinking of building my final year CS project around developing a piece of software for the Playstation 2 and I am wondering what various pitfalls I should expect. Bringing our own software to the living room on nice hardware seems like a whole new computer medium that would be fun to exploit. Problems I am expecting so far include: issues like obtaining a compiler (pretty important), the whole Playstation 2 CDR issue and legal issues. What compilers can one use to develop PS2 software, and how much does each solution cost? Also, has anyone had any luck or placed any hope on a Java VM for this platform?"
I could just do a google search, but maybe this will spark discussion... Why the JavaVM for the ps2? Aren't the graphics libraries sub par? I have yet to see a "good" java game on standard wintel hardware. If gaming isn't the goal, then I assume some sort of cheap service platform is.
Just curious about the reasons for Java on the ps2, and the potential it holds...
Thanks,
Andrew
You might want to get in contact with the people doing this...
http://www.jcp.org/jsr/detail/134.jsp
JDK1.4 allows double buffering and full screen control, so start with that as a base (it's in beta at the moment)
If you do decide to use Java, go for something simple that is 2D based and tries to engage the mind rather than blister the fingers.
Good luck!
-- "Gookin! Why do you lie amongst the cheeses?" www.dyingearth.com
Yep, designing an entire game is probably more effort then you want to put into a school project.
OTOH, ever thought about doing a game port? Nethack is GPL'ed, and while the text version would suck on a playstation (trust me, text on most TV is icky), there is a version with isometric tiles that looks pretty nice, and, due to being a deriviative of nethack, is under the GPL with the source code available. Just do a google search for "Eagle Eye Nethack" and you should find it.
Of course, I'm biased. I want a good game ported to another platform. Plus, since you save some time by porting an existing game, you have time to add more tiles to the game, which eagle eye nethack desperately needs.
Just my $.02
As the PlayStation 2 is backwardly compatible, you could try the official NetYaroze development kit for PS1 - this will create fast, efficient code. Unfortunately, with the release of PS2 Sony have stopped making them, but you can probably get a second hand kit from ebay or somewhere. You develop Yaroze programs in C on your PC - you can then burn them onto a CD. There is also a lot of interest groups and free code out there (NetYaroze license means you can never charge for your software). For the PS2 to play these CDs you will have to have it "chipped" which will invalidate your warranty (not something I recommend, but very popular I believe 8-).
Alternatively you can try YaBasic, Sony's "replacement" for Yaroze, which should come on the CD with your PS2. You can save YaBasic programs to memory card (so, small apps), and they will be slower (interpreted). YaBasic is a little simplistic - you will struggle to create anything impressive without extra tools (and a USB keyboard is essential). Like most people, I glanced at it once, then got onto playing DVDs and games, but I am sure others could support you here. PS2 magazine in the UK are currently running a series of YaBasic tutorials that can get you started though. I'll try and dig out some URLs for you.
With the emerging HD/modem for PS2, I believe Sony are releasing a Web Browser CD - which hopefully means a Java Virtual machine. You could investigate this option as it also opens up the wider Internet PC/Digital TV alternatives.
The next thing up is to get a PS2 professional developers' kit which you could only justify if you were seriously thinking of making a business out of this project, and could get financial support to see it through. It is a nice idea, so I wish you luck.
Python runs fine on PS2.
As it has good bindings to C++ performance critical stuff can be moved outside of the scripts.
By the way, see http://www.asbahr.com/papers.html
for some info on python used in Ultima Online 2.
-------------- I don't speak for my boss. My boss can speak himself.
Why not just code on the gameboy advance there's a lot of utils and examples out there in fact you could use good old GCC compiled for the ARM processor. Then you could use the linker from Lik Sang. A good page to start is http://www.devrs.com/gba/.
Not for the PS2, but you might want to check out Stanford's video game competition . The games are all full 3D, and many have simple, but effective, AI, not to mention great gameplay! The results are incredible: after only 3 weeks, 3 people.
Erwin Coumans and I have (independently) ported Python to the PS2, and I'm currently working on a project which allows designers to create game logic in a GUI tool and automatically generate Python code for the control of PS2 agents. I probably *will* be releasing the PS2 patches to Python shortly, and I hope to be able to detail some of the GUI work in a paper at the upcoming Python conference.
Next up: Python for the GameCube!
Jason
jason at asbahr dot com