Hackszine.com: Gaming Archives

Archive: Gaming

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May 30, 2007

Turn your PS3 into a science lab

The beginning of an interesting series has appeared on IBM's DeveloperWorks:

The Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) processor has attracted a lot of fashionable attention for applications involving game playing and network data processing. However, there are many other, arguably more entertaining uses for this technology.

In this series of articles I will be using a Cell/B.E. processor -- resident within an off-the-shelf PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) -- to build a Linux-hosted piece of laboratory equipment...

By the time the series is finished, the author will have documented how to build a simple audio-bandwidth spectrum analyzer and function generator using Linux and the PS3 - [via] [image from] Link

May 4, 2007

Transfer and edit your Mii files

Mii Editor is a cool flash application that can edit and save Mii binary files. You can transfer your Mii to and from the Wiimote with MiiTransfer, edit it with the Mii Editor, or take screenshots and share your Mii file with friends.

Resources:

Mii Editor
Wiimote data transfer library (includes MiiTransfer utility)
Detailed info on the Mii data format
My Mii

April 27, 2007

Reader Request: Play 3D Games on an Unsupported Card

Michael K. wrote in, asking for a hack to "enable someone to play a game on a computer with an incompatible graphics card." Normally, I would have thought such a thing impossible, but I've been itching to try out Neverwinter Nights 2, and I don't have a graphics card that supports it. I recently learned that some clever users have found that the venerable 3D-Analyze program (used back in the day to play advanced 3d games on older Voodoo cards), is more than up to the task. I used 3D-Analyze to locate the nwn2main executable, selected "emulate HW TnL caps", and launched the game. It's pretty slow, but playable. Your mileage may vary depending on the speed of the CPU, the game you are playing, and other variables.

One warning, however: in the case of Neverwinter Nights 2, 3D Analyze is not compatible with the most recent patch (1.05). So I had to download two patches: 100788-to-104860 and 104860-to-104870 and install them manually (put the zip files in the Neverwinter Nights directory, disconnect your network connection so it reverts to offline patching mode, launch the most recently version of the NWN 2 updater, and let it patch the game with those two files). After I did that, it worked.

Neverwinter Nights 2 forum thread on 3D Analyze - Link

Related:

3D-Analyze download page - Link
NWN 2 individual patch files - Link
NWN 2 Offline Patch HOWTO - Link

April 17, 2007

Windows Gaming in Linux

For a lot of of Linux devotees, gaming has always been the reason for keeping an extra Windows machine, so it's pretty interesting to see this barrier crumbling. Hackszine reader Michael Becker writes:

I'd love for you guys to talk some about using Linux as an alternative to Vista. Personally I'll be using Linux with Beryl to get all those nice graphical goodies OS X and Vista user have and I'll have DirectX 9c support using
Cedega.

I know several people running this setup. I can't find any game I'd be
interested in playing that won't run under Cedega and it will run
faster to boot.

I haven't used Cedega, but it appears to be a closed-source fork of the WINE project with a more developed DirectX layer. So, like WINE, your games aren't being emulated, but are running natively on the Cedega libraries. This means that DirectX 9 games will play as fast under Linux as they do in Windows. It's peculiar, but according to some benchmarks, they actually appear to run faster than under Vista!

It's a subscription based service ($5/mo), but they are supporting a huge list of games that have been tested to play on the platform. Seems interesting, and worth checking out if you can't get your favorite game running under WINE.

And do try WINE first--it's no slouch. There are a lot of great games like Half Life and Counter Strike that will play nicely. I've included a link below for installation instructions, so give it a shot if you haven't already.

Are you a Linux gamer? Are we finally reaching the point where gaming is as good or better under Linux as it is in Windows? Tell us your experiences in the comments.

More reading:

April 14, 2007

GameCube Homebrew

The nice thing about console platforms is that they tend to get better with age, at least from a hacker's perspective. Discount prices, reverse engineered hardware, a mature development community, and still-available components make the slightly-aged console an armchair game programmer's best friend.

Before you retire your GameCube to the basement closet, take a stab at writing a game or two for it. Here are a few links to help you get started:

libOGC is a nice open source game API for GC development -Link.
Documentation for setting up a libOGC build environment -Link.
Running your homebrew games with SDload and an SDCard adapter -Link.
Or develop your game for the SDL/Linux environment-Link. (GameCube Linux Wiki)

March 24, 2007

Control Your Applications With a Wiimote

Chris Brentano sent us a tip for the Wii Loop Machine, a wickedly awesome music loop playing application that uses the Wii Remote as it's interface. As Chris puts it, "This looks like it could take laptop music battles to another level, or just make people look funny doing it. Either way, it looks super fun."

There are a couple of libraries available that will allow you to incorporate the Wiimote into your application. The Wii Loop Machine uses the Max/MSP plugin aka.wiiremote. If you're building some sort of music composing or performance system, it's worth a look.

Or you can read in the Wii Remote's raw sensor data and do whatever you like with it in your own applications. For general Wii input in OS X, Windows and Linux, check out the Wii Remote drivers list on the WiiLi Wiki. DarwiinRemote seems to be the predominant driver for OS X and GlovePIE offers similar functionality for Windows . There are a number of drivers for Linux, including a Perl driver!

It's really impressive, the cool things hackers are putting together with this device. If you've got a cool homebrew Wii project you'd like to share, just send us a tip or tell us about it in the comments!

January 25, 2007

Shopping Sniper: Score a PS3 or Wii Online

Xbox 360_Tracker.jpg

Posted before the holidays, Sean Alexander's article on how-to snipe a PS3 or Wii online (or, originally, an Xbox 360) should still be valuable for gamers who have yet to get their hands on the out-of-stock console of their choice:

Here's a fool-proof way to get notified when PS3/Wii/etc are available for online ordering--no online auctions required. I've tested it personally--and received my premium system in time for Christmas.

His method relies on configuring URLyWarning to notify you of status changes with retailer-tracking sites specific to the console you're still drooling over.

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