With the usual sources of news being fairly silent today, we’ll be taking a look at some PSP homebrew releases that happened over the last few months. In this article, we’ll be looking at the just-released CMFileManager PSP 3.20, a port of ‘Legend Of Sword And Fairy’, the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R Portable and an update to CSPSP.
Homebrew Updates: CMFileManager PSP 3.20 and CSPSP 1.94
First off, we have an update to CMFileManager PSP which is a homebrew utility by Joel16 still getting updates every couple of months.
If you’re still using a PSP, then CMFileManager PSP is probably the best homebrew to use for any sort of file management!
As its name suggests, it’s a file manager themed around CyanogenMod (Lineage OS today) giving a similar appearance to other homebrew utilities by the same developer such as NX-Shell and 3DShell. Among its many features, we find basic file management operations, an image viewer, an audio player and an FTP server together with various others such as an EBOOT loader and Dark Mode.
Yesterday, version 3.20 of CMFileManager PSP was released and this includes:
- An improved EBOOT launcher menu which lets you dump ICON0 and PIC0 data
- A change to the configuration system as it now uses JSON parsing with a ‘config.json’ file
- An access toggle has been added to guard dangerous partitions such as flash0-flash3 and disc0
- The drivers (audio_driver.prx/display_driver.prx) that come bundled with the utility have been cleaned up
- Some minor fixes and under-the-hood changes which improve performance and code consistency
To grab CMFileManager PSP 3.20 and install it on your PSP, you may download it from this link. From my testing, CMFileManager PSP 3.20 doesn’t work on Adrenaline 6.9 (PSVita)!
Moving on to another homebrew update, we have CSPSP 1.94 which was released this July and is the oldest item in this article.
Even though it’s old, CSPSP still has some dedicated fans which update it from time to time so that Singleplayer Mode becomes more fun!
CSPSP, or Counter Strike PSP, is a Counter Strike Remake that’s been around for many years and has seen sporadic development in the last few years by some dedicated fans. This continued development has seen the addition of PSVita support, 3DS cross-play and numerous changes/improvements.
The most recent update, by MasterMen, is numbered 1.94 (with 1.93 being released shortly before it) and it brings along:
- Changes to many weapon textures including the MP4, M4A1 and Knife
- Together with version 1.93, 4 new maps
- A button to reset settings in Singleplayer
- The ability to change the amount of bots present in the map (1.93)
- Addition of some new soundtracks
- Some bug fixes and minor improvements to further improve the game for those who want to keep on playing it in Singleplayer Mode
To read more about CSPSP 1.94 and download it for your console, follow this link to its Wololo /talk thread.
Homebrew Releases: Legend Of the Sword And Fairy Port and S.T.A.L.K.E.R Portable
Legend Of The Sword And Fairy receives yet another port for the PSP!
Moving onto fully-fledged releases, we first have a port of ‘Legend Of The Sword And Fairy’ by OPL3ChipFan. Like the PSVita homebrew port by usineur, it makes use of SDLPAL and it was released this July with the most recent update made public on November 1st. This title, which has an English translation, was already ported to the PSP in 2010 but this port uses the improved SDLPAL 2.0 engine which provides a better experience. When it comes to the plot, this well-received game revolves around Li Xiaoyao who’s looking for a cure for his sick aunt and ends up falling in love with a maiden along the way.
To grab this improved Legend Of The Sword And Fairy port for your PSP, follow this link. The port is also compatible with the PSVita but you should probably use the native port linked above for that.
Last but not least, the last few months have also seen a small group of Russian developers passionate about the PSP remake S.T.A.L.K.E.R for the console.
Ever since its release, the PSP has always been a platform that developers like pushing the boundaries of and S.T.A.L.K.E.R Portable certainly fits the bill! (image from GBATemp Thread)
This group, who goes by the name QTeam, is using a highly modified version of the Quake engine together with Half Life 1 conversions of S.T.A.L.K.E.R models in order to create S.T.A.L.K.E.R Portable. As of right now, the game is at the following stage:
- It includes detailed environments and models with maps that are being recreated in lowpoly mode
- Currently, the team is working on map optimisations to make the game run better on real PSP hardware
- You can interact with NPCs
- It has a working inventory system and map
- Performance on the PSP won’t win any awards but numerous optimisations to the underlying ADQuake engine have been made to make the game playable
- Working Ambient music
- Working Medkits
- The ability to drive cars and do much more
- The last development update was early this month signalling that development is still on-going
To read about this ambitious project and download the Alpha build, check out its page on ModDB. Its thread on GBATemp is also worth reading since it includes many videos and information not on the ModDB page. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t seem to work on Adrenaline (PSVita)
Conculsion
Moving to the present-day, Stadia’s launch lineup has been increased by 10 titles, including high-profile title Metro Exodus, ahead of its launch tomorrow. To read more about Google Stadia and decide whether or not it’ll change your way of playing games, check out this article published in March.
The post Recent(ish) PSP Releases: CMFileManager PSP 3.20, Legend Of The Sword And Fairy Port, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Portable and CSPSP 1.94 appeared first on Wololo.net.