Hi I need to talk to someone about ps2 formatting a game.

Discuss the development of software, tools, libraries and anything else that helps make ps2dev happen.

Moderators: cheriff, Herben

bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Hi I need to talk to someone about ps2 formatting a game.

Post by bobby1989 »

Hello, I am making a game.

I came here because this is the only place I know with peole who program for the ps2.
I have faith in this place. I was wondering if anybody would mind
taking a look at my game and convert it to a ps2 format for me please.
I really need this to happen. my sister has two little boys who have seen
my game on the computer and have always wanted to play it at their house
If they could play it on their ps2 it would make them the two happiest
children in the world. Also I sometimes visit friends, and if I could play
it on a ps2 you would not only make my day, but you would make my whole life a lot better. If you want to negotiate on something that is fine.
But please take this in consideration. I am a very patient person and I could wait for it to be done. Please help me out. This are my only hope.

Please respond as soon as possible. my e-mail is [email protected] or you can try [email protected] Please respond as soon as possibe. I really need some help. I know that there has gotta be some nice people out there. And like I said I am a very patient person, I could wait for it to be done. Please!
User avatar
Neil Stevens
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:22 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Post by Neil Stevens »

Do you have legal access to the game's sources?

What libraries or APIs does it use?
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

it is not a game made with and ps2 devolepment program. But I know it can be converted to ps2 format. here let me show you what is in the folder that the game is in. The game is made with similar programming to c+. http://www.iownjoo.com/freeimghost/bobby1989/Image2.gif
User avatar
Neil Stevens
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:22 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Post by Neil Stevens »

Allegro?

Well, hm, it doesnt' look like you have the sources at all, judging by that shot, so a port would be impossible. A rewrite would be, but obviously that's a lot more work.

I wonder if you even have permission to redistribute the data files there.
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

yes permission is ok, I do not want to sell the game, I just want me and my kids to enjoy it. Maybe selling is in the future but I would have to check with that. Also if anybody wants my game I will be happy to give. Just do not sell it. Unless you check with me, Then I will check with other sources. Please do not give up anybody!

A rewrite explain?

Also maybe just maybe a conversion to ps2 is possible, without rewriting?

Maybe just change or add a few lines of code to make it compatible ?
mharris
Posts: 155
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 2:26 pm
Location: Annapolis, MD, USA

Post by mharris »

bobby1989 wrote:Also maybe just maybe a conversion to ps2 is possible, without rewriting?

Maybe just change or add a few lines of code to make it compatible ?
Oh, man. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Short answer: porting any game to the PS2 using the homebrew tools and libs is an extraordinary amount of work.
pixel
Posts: 791
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2004 11:43 pm

Post by pixel »

Well... it depends on the game and how it was coded :P If it's a 2D game with a nice abstraction layer which would only require changing a few functions, that'd okay.

Anyway, I'd rather say you should try to learn how to do it yourself, instead of asking somebody to do it for you. It'd be much more entertaining, and you'll learn something new :)
pixel: A mischievous magical spirit associated with screen displays. The computer industry has frequently borrowed from mythology. Witness the sprites in computer graphics, the demons in artificial intelligence and the trolls in the marketing department.
J.F.
Posts: 2906
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:41 am

Post by J.F. »

If you're wondering what it is, here's a FAQ on MUGEN. From the screenshot, he's playing WINMUGEN, the Windows version.

http://www.maximummugen.hpg.ig.com.br/faq_mugen.html

Note that this is not an open source project. In fact, the original authors have taken down the main site because an illegal (?) hack to Windows was released (which is what he's playing). I'd be leery about this. The original poster needs to provide proof he has legal right to possess the source and to commission a conversion. This isn't something off sourceforge. This is a closed source program with restrictions on how it can be distributed.
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

yes as J.F said it is windows version of mugen, but it is not illegal, the authors of mugen actually made the version themselves and the authors actually took down their site because they said they hit a problem with mugen and are working on it.

Also as pixel said Well... it depends on the game and how it was coded :P If it's a 2D game with a nice abstraction layer which would only require changing a few functions, that'd okay.

and guess what it is a 2d game, so it would be easier.like he said you would just have to change a few things.

Also this is from the authors documents "You can't sell MUGEN betas or redistribute them without our permission. What you do with the characters and files is your decision.

So pretty much what they are saying is that If I wanted to sell the game I would have to check with them.

But I do not want to sell the game. I am not a bad person coming to this forum. Iam just asking a favor. Please. And Thankyou.
User avatar
Drakonite
Site Admin
Posts: 990
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 1:30 am
Contact:

Post by Drakonite »

You are going to need to learn how to program and port it yourself or build up some cash to throw at the project because no one else is going to want to do your dirty work for you.

To be a bit helpful to you getting to your goal if you decided to take it up yourself -- you need the source code. You don't have the source code. Without source code you might as well give up now.
Shoot Pixels Not People!
Makeshift Development
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

Fine I just thought that there were some nice people out there. It seems you always have to give cash to someone for them to do a favor for you. Or somebody is always telling you to do it yourself. And by the way we are not all genuises. I can't just sit down and do it. If I could do u think that I would have come here in the first place. I came here thinking that there would be atleast one nice person who wasn't greedy and wanted cash or stuckup and said do it yourself. I came here just to ask a favor. Anyways I guess i'll look elsewhere. I am not going to let those chilldren down. If there is anybody who still has a heart, please speak up now. By the way I could still learn from u doing it. And I will never give up.
ooPo
Site Admin
Posts: 2023
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 9:56 am
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by ooPo »

Never surrender!
mharris
Posts: 155
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 2:26 pm
Location: Annapolis, MD, USA

Post by mharris »

I have a broken down car, and my kids would really like to go for a ride in it. I don't know what's wrong with it, and I have no manuals. In fact, the car might even be stolen, but I really don't care about that.

If there's someone who's nice enough to come over to my house and fix it on their own time and at their own expense, it would make my children really happy. It could be as simple as just putting in a new engine, or making the old engine work. If you're unwilling to do this for me, you are either stuck-up or greedy.

In case you need me, I'll be on the couch watching TV and drinking a beer. I don't really want to know how to fix cars, I just want someone to do it for me.
J.F.
Posts: 2906
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:41 am

Post by J.F. »

mharris wrote:I have a broken down car, and my kids would really like to go for a ride in it. I don't know what's wrong with it, and I have no manuals. In fact, the car might even be stolen, but I really don't care about that.

If there's someone who's nice enough to come over to my house and fix it on their own time and at their own expense, it would make my children really happy. It could be as simple as just putting in a new engine, or making the old engine work. If you're unwilling to do this for me, you are either stuck-up or greedy.

In case you need me, I'll be on the couch watching TV and drinking a beer. I don't really want to know how to fix cars, I just want someone to do it for me.
LMAO! Very well put. Don't let us go you too down bobby1989. We may seem harsh, but it's mostly to discourage people who are asking things they shouldn't, or people who really don't care much about what they want. If you can stand the initial hazing, the group here can be very helpful.

That is a pretty cool fighting engine. If you could point me to LEGAL source code, I'll look it over to see what needs to be done to make a conversion. Fighters are my second favorite kinda game - right after first-person shooters. It would make a really nice addition to what is out for homebrew PS2. Some of the add-ons and character files I saw were way wicked too.
pava
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:18 pm

Post by pava »

Well.There is a project called "Open M.U.G.E.N" with source code available...and yes...mugen rocks :D

http://openmugen.sourceforge.net/

Saludos
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

Ok I'm sorry and yes I'm new here. And no you guys aren't stuck up. I just got my hopes up and they got shot down. You know how that feels.

And yes open mugen does have a legal source code. And thankyou J.F for caring and helping to make a conversion. use the link that pava just posted, you'll find the source code. And again thanks. And I am sorry Everybody.

Also and believe me I want this bad. I have been wanting this for years, not days, not months, but years.

This is my dream. Thankyou.
J.F.
Posts: 2906
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:41 am

Post by J.F. »

Well, if you check, openmugen is currently not playable. It looks like it's progressing, but not there yet. I'll keep an eye on it.
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

could you use it's source code for my mugen somehow?
User avatar
Drakonite
Site Admin
Posts: 990
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 1:30 am
Contact:

Post by Drakonite »

bobby1989: I'm not trying to be rude, nor am I implying things only get done for money... I'm just trying to bring home the point that you are underestimating how much work is required.
Shoot Pixels Not People!
Makeshift Development
J.F.
Posts: 2906
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:41 am

Post by J.F. »

bobby1989 wrote:could you use it's source code for my mugen somehow?
If all you want to do is look at the characters, yes. If you want to actually play the game, no. It's not that far along as the screenshots clearly show. I'm afraid you're stuck for now. It's irritating, but just think of all the people waiting on the Quake 3 code. That was supposed to be out for last xmas, but due to a last minute licensee, they are holding back the code a little longer, making Q3 fans everywhere drop from stress. :)
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

yeah, I know how much work it takes, and unfortunately it does take alot of work. I guess I will just have to wait for open mugen to be playable. Damn, oh well that's life. Sometimes you just have to wait. Well thanks anyways guys.
soks
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 1:25 am
Location: Chicago, IL

AH!

Post by soks »

The quake 3 source wasn't realeased!

I didn't now this happened... good thing I never really cared... or I would be dropping from stress.
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

hey J.F you said if all I wanted to do was look at the characters then yes. Well that is fine for right now will you convert it so I can look at the characters. Please.
boomint
Posts: 80
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 2:21 am
Location: Sheffield, UK

Post by boomint »

What a fantastic thread - it's been a long time since I genuinely LMFAO! :)
--( someone stole my sig! )--
pixel
Posts: 791
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2004 11:43 pm

Post by pixel »

Myeah, I thought he wrote the game at first, but it seems I completely got it wrong...

*sigh*

No, you can't just take a random PC game and magically convert it so it runs on the PS2. Nothing will do that, ever. It requires source code (or a solid Reverse Engineering knowledge), and work, work, and work.
pixel: A mischievous magical spirit associated with screen displays. The computer industry has frequently borrowed from mythology. Witness the sprites in computer graphics, the demons in artificial intelligence and the trolls in the marketing department.
J.F.
Posts: 2906
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:41 am

Post by J.F. »

bobby1989 wrote:hey J.F you said if all I wanted to do was look at the characters then yes. Well that is fine for right now will you convert it so I can look at the characters. Please.
Okay, I'll look over the current code to see what needs to be done and report back.
bobby1989
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:31 pm

Post by bobby1989 »

Ok thankyou. You are a very nice person. and again thankyou.
J.F.
Posts: 2906
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:41 am

Post by J.F. »

Well, looking at the code yields the following observations:
1) It's mostly C++. I don't think that's a problem with PS2Dev - I seem to remember a few threads on C++ where most all the issues got worked out. If I'm mistaken, please correct me.
2) SDL is used for the timing and graphics. It is my impression that SDL for PS2Dev is pretty whacked at the moment. So to get this going, one would have to either help work on SDL first, or replace all the SDL code.
3) FLEX and BISON are used to generate the compiler which compiles the character files. I'm really not very familiar with this... maybe someone else can chip in something about it here, but it looks like it makes files to parse and lexically analyze the character files, then generate tokens which are handled by the VM. I'm not sure if this will work properly in the current toolchain. At first glance, I think it might since it doesn't seem to be generating machine code.

So it looks initially like the most work would be in the SDL code. Wasn't someone working on a new port of SDL for PS2Dev? How far along is that?
pixel
Posts: 791
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2004 11:43 pm

Post by pixel »

1) Should be okay. Scummvm has quite heavy C++, and it compiles and runs (mostly). I've found quite a few issues with it though. As with virtual members. They "have" to be declarated virtual for all derivated classes. Don't know why, but, our ee-g++ doesn't behave the right way when it's not like this.
2) Should be quite okay, if it only uses basic layers. Ask gawd.
3) Lex & Yacc are code generator. They generate plain ansi C code. Only problem is, the generated code generally utterly rely on unputc. That's not nice since it's not supported by our current libc. Otherwise, it's okay, just generate code, it'll compile for PS2.
pixel: A mischievous magical spirit associated with screen displays. The computer industry has frequently borrowed from mythology. Witness the sprites in computer graphics, the demons in artificial intelligence and the trolls in the marketing department.
mharris
Posts: 155
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 2:26 pm
Location: Annapolis, MD, USA

Post by mharris »

pixel wrote:3) Lex & Yacc are code generator. They generate plain ansi C code. Only problem is, the generated code generally utterly rely on unputc. That's not nice since it's not supported by our current libc. Otherwise, it's okay, just generate code, it'll compile for PS2.
There is an option you can use in flex, %option nounput that supresses creation of the unput(c) macro. I think unput() is only used if your scanner's grammar requires it.

You will need to build a PS2-EE version of libfl.a though, IIRC.

And, as pixel said, both flex and bison generate C code, so you should be good to go (there are options to generate C++ also, but default is C). Both tools are standard under Linux and OSX, but I don't know if they're part of the standard Cygwin distro -- if not, they're available in source from the usual sources.
Locked