This one takes customizing XMB icons to some entirely different level. xShad0w started this thread in our forums after a small WTF when his 3.03 OE-C PSP morphed... or mutated... or transubstantiated his XMB menu. His Network and Game icons got switched around (Network icon over Game menu, vice versa), plus an added EXTRA Network icon at the end that he could scroll to, but with nothing underneath it.

Confused? So was he at first, and we're still confused here. This is a result of xShad0w flashing the backup topmenu plugin after he was dissatisfied with the results of an icon theme (that much we're pretty confident of - and even then, that's stating things in very general terms).

The full thread, available for discussion below, is running in the direction of developing this "accidental discovery" into a "custom" homebrewed 7th XMB menu for... something.

We hope xShad0w doesn't mind if we use his photographic evidence of the what-it-is-in-question. Let's see where the discussion - and the devving - go from there. And thanks for the tip, pspgamer81!

Discuss: [Forum Discussion Thread]

 

If you're an avid reader of our PSP blog, you probably have stumbled across BlackShark's homebrew game, PvP Pong. The game got really good responses which made another coder by the name of Ricz make a football version of the game. So anyway, if you liked the Background Changer in v3, you'll be glad to know that BlackShark has added yet another cool feature to the game...online multiplayer!

Oh yes, v4 now comes packed with NetPlay, along with a bunch of new themes. Just a few notes on the online play though, BlackShark says that he hasn't implemented an online settings "chooser" yet so the only way you'll be able to connect is via the first router that appears on your WiFi settings. Not to worry though, he says that this should be fixed in his v5 release.

Changelog:

• Added ONLINE MULTIPLAYER
• Added more backgrounds and Themes
  
• fixed menu up a bit
• Better Credits page
• and as BlackShark says, "some other stuff im sure"
  

BlackShark also wants to give a shout out to the following people who helped him in PvP Pong v4: PinkTank and pspfreak9 for the graphics, Evil-Dog (for the eboot music), the Mod Archive (for the Background Music) and Doom 2 (for the menu music), AI for right paddle in single player mode, courtesy of GuitarGod1134, and pspgamer81 for getting him started in Lua. Also, Youresam for most of the Online code and NetLib 2.02 and to Zack Attack for the ideas and suggestions, without whom BlackShark says he might not have updated PvP Pong. And as usual, make sure you check out the readme, alrighty?

Download: [PvP Pong v4]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

BlackShark's PvP Pong may not be perfect but it's been getting good responses from people who've tried it. And the most common commentary about this new Lua-coded 'brew game is that it has "nice GFX" (that's from pspgamer81, who helped the developer learn about Lua). Now I'm pretty sure the basketball court-ish background was one of the things that made the GFX rock. But that doesn't mean we all can't use some tweaking and a new background, aight?

Ricz has just made a "Football Version" of PvP Pong. "Everything is the same," Ricz says, save for the background which was turned into neon green to adopt a football field-ish feel, the ball (now colored black for easy spotting vis-a-vis the original's white), and the paddles. So controls are still up-down for player 1/left paddle and triangle-X for player 2/right paddle.

Click away on the download link and if you have any feedback and suggestions, you know the drill - there's the comment section and the forum release thread. Have fun!

Download: [PvP Pong - Football version]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

It's always nice seeing coders helping out fellow coders - such camaraderie can only mean a good thing for the homebrew community. And when pspgamer81 (who's already coded a couple of demos for the PSP) decided to help out BlackShark in getting started with LUA, PSP owners were blessed with yet another promising homebrew game.

PvP Pong (or player vs Player Pong) is BlackShark's first game for the PSP and is coded in LUA (because, as the neophyte coder shared, "learning C/C++ and setting it up for the psp isn't easy"). The controls are pretty simple: player 1 moves the left paddle with the up and down controls, while player 2 takes charge of the right paddle with the triangle and X buttons.

The game may be incomplete, lacking in menu and AI (the game IS PvP) and having a scoring system that "goes on indefinetly", but some forum users commented that the graphics are already looking good. And you can bet that BlackShark will keep on improving this game: he intends to put single-player mode, Ad-hoc, and infrastructure in future releases.

So while we wait for all these goodies to be incorporated, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give this 'brew a go, aight? Go ahead and click the download link. If you do have any constructive criticisms, feel free to comment or visit the forum release thread.

Download: [PvP Pong]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

pspgamer81 has released Hyperspeed. It's not a homebrew game because there is no mission and its not a homebrew app that does something. It's more like a homebrew demo. Or a sneak preview of something exciting yet to come.

Hyperspeed is actually part of pspgamer81's bigger project called Starfield, which is a homebrew RPG set in space. While working on the game, Jomann gave him the idea for hyperspeed. He thought it was a brilliant idea decided to add hyper speed cut scenes and this is what Hyperspeed is all about.

It displays three types of hyper speed in slow, medium, and fast motion. "Then after doing it, I thought, Hey it would be a nice app to just view at... you can just sit back and go up, up, and away!" says pspgamer81.

Well, why not? Few of us can afford the price they charge to be a space tourist (around US$ 20 million a pop). pspsgamer81 plans to add more GFX (more space background and different planets) to Hyperspeed so we earthbound space travellers can have more places to visit.

To install:

• Tested with 2.71 SE-C
• Place the "Starfield" folder inside Lua player and run it from the lowser or browsR.

To use:

• Select a speed from the menu (Slow, Medium, Fast) Then enjoy! If you want to change speeds, simply press start and you will be taken back to to the menu.

Controls:

• Start = Exit

Download: [Hyperspeed  demo]
Discuss: [Forum release thread]

SuperBatXS made a post on our forums to announce the first release of PSPLua Game Pack v0.1. The pack is made by SuperBatXS, TacticalPenguin, PSPGamer81, Xandu, and Ninjax. Their dev team also has a site up already and you can take a look at the forum release thread to know more about their team.

If you want to check this pack out, be sure to follow SuperBatXS' advice and read the README file. Please take note that this release is a 1.0 EBOOT especially edited to be compatible with the SC-B' custom firmware.

The game pack contains SuperBatXS' button tester/guide (partially updated), TacticalPenguin's new release of Chase the Penguin, pspgamer81's release of Dance Dance 0.25, and Xandu's L:UA (Lua Utility Applications) v1.0.2 (no LUA player needed).

    

They're trying their best to update this pack as soon as they can, and they hope that in the future, they'll be able to add in more games and improve on the graphics. Good work guys!

Download: [PSPLua Game Pack v01]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

lua developer">Pspgamer81 released his lua game">PSP Dance Dance in LUA v0.01, a 'brew game that's in the earliest beta state. We haven't  had the opportunity to take screenshots or even play it (sheesh!) as the file glitches temporarily at the time of this post. However, other players have downloaded the file and were able to play, so let's see if you get it going on your PSP.

The file is included with LUAPlayer .20, so just place the two folders inside your ms0:PSP/GAME/ and start playing. There are still plenty of stuff to fix in the game but we think this is a promising one. Pspgamer81 plans on updating it in the coming week or so. As well, the real purpose of the beta version release is to let you guys know if you got something to say after you've downloaded and tried it out in your PSP. We welcome your comments at the QJ forum release thread linked below, so check it out.

---

UPDATE 2: Pspgamer81 is definitely on-track towards over-achievers land as he recently released another updated version of his LUA game, PSP Dance Dance in LUA. Now in v.25, the game now boasts of a new menu screen thanks to the help of fellow dev Yongobongo. Aside from that an Exit option is also present. Since this game is still in its infancy, it has it's share of shortcomings. For this version, the sound had to be removed "due to lack of starting up" according to the dev.

But before you dismiss this game, the dev promises to come up with a version 3 by Monday and he will try to add one or more of the following features, so you be nice because this guy is working hard to perfect his craft for all of you..

Features to be added:

• Slow down speed
• Add difficulty levels
• Add better background
• Add score system
• Add a nice menu
• Add difficultly levels
• Add more music
• Make playable on LUA .20
• Add a background

Download: [PSP Dance Dance in Lua v.25]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]