PS3 Homebrew Development Getting Started Tutorial!

[bpear96]

if i learned c++ would that help me in developing apps on psl1ght? is that the language it uses or do i have no idea what im talking about?

[LeonBlade]

Leonblade how do i use my own icon0.png in the pngtest ever time i "make pkg" it gets overwritten ?

I know you already fixed this problem, but for those of you that might be reading who want to know how to fix it, in the Makefile you'll see this line:

include $(PSL1GHT)/Makefile.base

Inside there is where the global PSL1GHT icon is defined as ICON.
If you put in a new declaration of ICON after it, it will override the one in the base and allow you to have your custom icon, for example:

ICON := ICON0.png

This would get the ICON0.png located in the same folder as the makefile.

leonblade i really liked your tutorial and made my own pngtest which you already know, but maybe you could make another tutorial making a simple game like hmmmm... maybe tic tac toe or something lol it would really help me out.

Tic Tac Toe is pretty boring, and actually is slightly more difficult for beginners than something like pong (talking about AI of course).
For for a beginner tutorial, I'll make a video on how to make pong.

But that video wont happen right away though, I've been very busy with work lately, plus, I'm going to look into PSGL, although, I don't know exactly where it is...

I actually have a project in mind using it, but for now, that will remain a secret
I'll give you a hint though, it has to do with existing homebrew on the Wii, but that's all I'll say.

if i learned c++ would that help me in developing apps on psl1ght? is that the language it uses or do i have no idea what im talking about?

Yes, C/C++ you need to learn in order to develop homebrew applications. There are plenty of resources out there to get you started, make sure you start small and work your way up. It takes more than just understanding code to be a successful programer. You're going to need to learn how to research problems you might be facing, how to read documentation, etc. Remember, programming isn't for everyone. You need to think very logically, and you have to be very patient. But don't let that get you down, there are plenty of other places you can help out in a team if you don't happen to have the knack for programming. You can design graphics for homebrew, or sound, whatever you're good at. So don't get too discouraged if it's not for you. Also, if you think you understand but it's a little too much to take in, try a smaller language out there like PHP or even JavaScript (web based programming). Hope that helps.

Also, for everyone that's supporting me, thank you very much. I appreciate it a lot, it means a lot to me that you guys like my tutorial enough to back me up here. Thank you, xPreatorianx and Slynk.

And for you, mеdi01. Like they said, a lot of people are visual learners. I feel that it's easier to grasp concepts when you have someone right there showing you what needs to be done. A lot of time, through text, things get lost or skipped over. When you have someone there speaking to you and showing you on screen what the steps are, it makes so much more sense. It's a more hands on experience then just reading plain text, and I want to help people out in any way I can.

Thanks for all your comments everyone, my next task is to get some PSGL shit working on my PS3.

[Slynk]

Tic Tac Toe is pretty boring, and actually is slightly more difficult for beginners than something like pong (talking about AI of course).
For for a beginner tutorial, I'll make a video on how to make pong.

Boring? Yes. More difficult? Eh... depends on if you actually WRITE AI or not lol. My tic tac toe is. Generate number 0-8, access board array, if already taken, generate new number, else place piece. BAM stupid "AI" for tic tac toe lol.

I might make a tic tac toe tutorial for people. And then I can expand on it. It could be fun. I make it text based. Then in the next tutorial add graphics. And in a third tutorial add background sound and state changes (menu screen -> game screen -> collective results screen (wins, losses, and ties)... Something simple that could also teach good game code design in the process.

As far as the programming section of your post. Don't forget a lot of time will be spent debugging debugging debugging. I know in school they say the hardest bugs to get rid of are runtime errors but they LIE. Those are REALLY easy to debug with some simple debug prints to the screen to see the change in variables. Now the COMPILE errors half the time are STUPID and don't know where the hell they are even coming from. Oh there are errors in the function definitions of all these functions? Wait I'm missing a semi-colon in a separate file? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS COMPILER RAWR!

[OliverReed]

This is looking like an interesting thread, better dust off my C programming!

A PSGL tutorial would be cool.

I've played around with the samples a bit in my spare time then went hunting for definitions in the header files. Does anyone know if there's documentation for psl1ght? I've been on the wiki but could do with function reference if it's out there.
I did have a go with doxygen but I can't get it to show functions. First time I've used it so I'm probably missing something.

Keep up the good work LeonBlade.

Slynk, your tutorial idea sounds good. My skills are mostly self taught so there's a lot of bad habits in there lol!

[Slynk]

Oh I'm sure I have plenty of bad habits myself. I'm self taught as well. But I read a LOT of programming books / tutorials / forum posts / blog posts / newsletters on programming & game development in my spare time since that's what I want to do with my life as apposed to it being a hobby. I'll have to find some time to make those tutorials. It'll be within the next few days but my girlfriend wants to hit 85 in WoW with me XD

Documentation... not that I've found. It's sad that there is no api doc ; ; I live to read them. I taught myself to program on the DS on the 2 hour trip home from an api document I downloaded lol They are extremely useful.

PSGL... does PSL1GHT support it? If so, just look up any opengl es tutorial. The functions are mostly 1:1 other than a few of them are prefixed with something like psglFunction() vs Function().

[LeonBlade]

Hey,

I got LittleBIGPlanet 2 Collector's Edition so I've been playing that lately
I'm going to take a break now to try to get PSGL working.

Also, no it's not included with PSL1GHT, I'm having a hard time finding it also actually...

[OliverReed]

No rush on the tutorials guys, real life comes first.
I only really get time at weekends myself.

[LeonBlade]

For anyone that has read this, my next tutorial is being held off indefinitely, I apologize.

[OliverReed]

For anyone that has read this, my next tutorial is being held off indefinitely, I apologize.

No problem. Hope everything's OK.

[Slynk]

For anyone that has read this, my next tutorial is being held off indefinitely, I apologize.

Aww, what was the snag >.< Sounded like a good project. Well my tic tac toe is almost done. I hope to finish and test it today, then write the tutorial. I'm no good with fancy video tutorials like Mister Leon here but I'll try and write a good text tutorial XD