Wishlist of Homebrew for Rejuvenate: Games (Part 1)
After breaking the news on VitaShell (which you should totally check out. Now. GO!) about a week ago, I think it’s time I continued the Rejuvenate Wishlist articles this week by talking about what we want more than anything on our Vita: games. This is a thorny topic to approach because some people are convinced that “the PS Vita has no games” even though this is blatantly untrue; not having all the games appeal to you personally is not the same as not having games. However, I feel there are some rules I feel I should lay down for this list so you know what you are in for here:
- This is a list about games. That means no emulators because if I included those they would probably make up the bulk of the list. I thought about making an article about emulators but that seems a tad redundant since that’s what we’re getting most on Rejuvenate, mostly through RetroArch builds. If you guys really want one though, I can scrounge up something.
- I will ignore things that are already being worked on, again, because that’s redundant. Quake and Doom ports are already out with sources available so people can work on those already.
- I will always try to point the source code of a game if it is available, just in case someone developing with Rejuvenate wants to give it a look.
- Some games may look unreasonable, but I will always try to have the specs of the Vita in mind when listing a game. There is no point in listing something like Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory if the chances of it working are slimmer than a top model.
- I will try and not talk about games that are already available on the PSP via homebrew. Asking for a port that might already exist also feels kinda redundant and unless I feel there is an actual advantage to using the native Vita resolution I probably won’t talk about it.
With all of this said, how about we get into the actual list shall we? Remember the following won’t be listed by any order of preference, it’s just as they happened to show up/come into my mind.
Aliens vs. Predator (1999) – Source Code Here
Remember Fox Interactive? You don’t? I don’t blame you. Fox Interactive was the videogame publishing arm of Fox and it created some of the games I most fondly remember from my childhood: No One Lives Forever (and its sequel!) and Aliens vs. Predator. They also had a hand in Die Hard Trilogy but most of their publishing portfolio is mostly movie/tv-show stuff and really not that good – not LJN bad, but still not even close to good. With this in mind it’s amazing that Aliens vs. Predator was even created: a fun first person shooter that has withstood the test of time (to the point it was remade in 2010) in which you take control of either an Alien, a Predator or a Colonial Marine (but really, why would you play as a human?) in either Story Mode or Multiplayer. The campaigns are simple but the meat of the game is the quality of the gameplay. In 2001, the developers Rebellion decided to open-source the game so that the community could continue to update it, but this has also spawned a port to Linux of the game. Now that the Vita has more solid FPS controls than the PSP did (mouse is still better but a man has to make due) and I’ve seen how solidly games like Quake can play on the Vita… why not this?
Pros: Solid gameplay, good graphics, great multiplayer if we could get it to work.
Cons: Even if the graphics don’t look stellar I’m not entirely sure if we could get it to work on the Vita, but it would probably need a good deal of optimization/updated SDK.
NetHack/Angband – Sources here and here
You expected me to post another PC Classic/unreasonable looking game for homebrew didn’t you? Come on, I know you did! Alas, for this one I decided to go with something a little less known to most people. I also decided to cheat and include two very similar games just that just differ on their settings. One is probably the most well-known “roguelike” game (maybe more than the game Rogue itself) and the other is a Tolkien version of it; both games put you in the shoes of an adventurer trying to clear a randomly-generated dungeon and are excruciatingly hard. Nethack has been ported onto every piece of hardware ever created from SymbianOS to the PSP. Angband has also been ported and derived from a lot, including a game that I really liked on the PSP called ToME. Even though Nethack in on the PSP, that’s based on a very old version that doesn’t even sport the cool looking sprites you can find on PC and Android releases so an update wouldn’t be too shabby (plus, don’t you want to some of those amazing sprites at native Vita resolution?!).
Pros: Great replayability, good gameplay
Cons: The graphics are non-existent/basic so that may turn people off.
Abuse – Source Code Here
Sometimes when making these sort of articles you find about games you never knew about that look and play really well; this is one of those cases. Abuse is a DOS side-scrolling platforming shooter that was released back in 1995. It was known at the time for its innovative use of the mouse as the aiming device for the character, much like we do now with twin-stick shooters. When it comes to the plot, you take control of an inmate named Nick Vrenna who finds himself needing to escape a prison where an experiment gone wrong has broken out and is turning everyone into monsters. I will admit I played the game just to see how it was so I could talk about it here and I found myself enjoying it more than I expected I would. It’s not mind-blowingly awesome but it is a game I could definitely playing on my Vita since emulating it on DOS is always a tad problematic.
Pros: Action-packed fun, good gameplay and a competent story.
Cons: It is not that well-known so I wonder how many people would play it.
OpenXCom – Source Code Here
With the release of the PC remakes incoming to the Vita one of these days, I decided that this would be as good a time as any to throw around the idea of creating ports of the original XCom and Terror from the Deep using the OpenXCom engine. For those of you not in the know, XCom is a classic PC strategy game where you have to organize the human resistance against those evil invading aliens. The original game was running on DOS but just like with Abuse, running them on DOS is not optimal because of all the quirks. It is known for being a hard game but the mechanics, for the most part, have stayed solid though the years; the engine did not however. The turn based strategy gameplay makes it perfect for handheld platforms, which is why the remake was also ported to iOS and Android. If you are worried about the viability of a strategy game on the Vita, remember we have a touchscreen and games like Open TTD were ported onto the PSP (and that was a real-time one).
Pros: Complex, fun and replayable.
Cons: Hard (and the graphics, if that is a turn off for you).
As I made this list, I found more and more stuff I wanted to talk about so I decided to split this into various articles so I can try and tackle all of them without writing a too long article that most of you won’t have the patience to sit through. As usual if there is anything you feel I left out mention it in the comments! I would also like to know if you guys want an emulator version of this wishlist. I honestly feel it may not be needed but you guys are the readership and if you really want one, I can try and do it. So until next game, sit tight and play on!
I got some suggestions emulator such as CPS3 or Final Burn Alpha, Open BOR and M.U.G.E.N. Java game emulator based on true 3D java games
Way to not read the article.
Yeah I know, but those games suck d0nk3y ***. 😛
Impostor are you a fan of my unique username what is your basis for using it please explain
Java emulator? We already have PSPKVM
Maybe like a virtual Qu’ran that could be burned over and over..
May you die a slow and painful death
Typical “religion of peace” response.
Oh please don’t bring religion wars into wololo!
Agreed! These animals are trying to ruin the wololo site.
i would play that game, heck i might even install rejuvenate just for it
Look who is trying to start the fight. A non muslim!
Chicken Invaders or if possible, redoing the old Pong Kombat 3 or Blood Pong
Not sure how possible it would be since the game may be too modern, but it does use the quake 3 engine, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
Uh… Half Life? https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife
You mean Xash3D ? http://www.moddb.com/engines/xash3d-engine
Would be hard but possible.
CSPSP with online multiplayer!
cut the *** and just post hacking/cracking related articles
Couldn’t agree more on OpenXcom. Used to thrash Enemy Unknown and TFTD with my mate back in the day. Vita is the perfect platform for it. Playing my way through Xenonauts atm, I don’t think it quite matches the classics, but they came pretty *** close, highly recommend.
DerClou (dosgame) is the best Game but i can nothing found At the World Wide Web… dsx86 (ä Dosemu for NDS) i work with some Probs…
At PSP IT work Not ….
Look AT the Game sourcecode is aviable
Hey! What about HOM&M3? With netplay especially!
Also, there’s one thing none of the dev’s wish to mess around this far – good stable netplay for any emulator. heck, even NES MP could be really fun!
Little Fighter 2 – can’t imagine better game which fits to Vita, and possibly can be easily ported.
Fallout Tactics – why not, for example, one of the cult games?
Jagged Alliance I & II – if we are talking of turn-based games…
Heroes of Might and Magic III Gold Edition – and so on…
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 – how about old strategic games?
Planescape Torment – another cult game,
Baldur’s Gate I, II -same as previous one
Icewind Dale I, II – same as previous ones
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I, II – but probably CPU resources, that Rejouvenate can access to aren’t high enough for that game.
Etc, Etc…
Rejouvenate has THAT great potential I’ve started to learn programming myself. Maybe someday I’ll port some game by myself, who knows 🙂
Little Fighter 2 – can’t imagine better game which fits to Vita, and possibly can be easily ported.
Fallout Tactics – why not, for example, one of the cult games?
Jagged Alliance I & II – if we are talking of turn-based games…
Heroes of Might and Magic III Gold Edition – and so on…
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 – how about old strategic games?
Planescape Torment – another cult game,
Baldur’s Gate I, II -same as previous one
Icewind Dale I, II – same as previous ones
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I, II – but probably CPU resources, that Rejuvenate can access to aren’t high enough for that game.
Etc, Etc…
Rejuvenate has THAT great potential I’ve started to learn programming myself. Maybe someday I’ll port some game by myself, who knows 🙂
That xcom game looks promising. There is something very appealing in older strategy games. I agree with Heroes of might and magic suggestion, that would be cool, be it 1, 2 or 3. Also Dink Smallwood would be interesting. Then Fallout 1 and 2 (I’m not sure if those are portable but they seem reasonably hw demanding to me), Then perhaps something like civilisation 1 and 2 maybe ? Or Deadlock from PC ? Also space empires IV feautures turn based gameplay so it should be good for PS Vita and then any other 90’s strategy would be nice or maybe Might and Magic IV, V and VI aaand much more, but everything is nice.
Term Vita has no games might theoreticaly be wrong but then again, situation of said console is terrible and it is also because of software, or better, lack of it in some genres and for some interest groups.
Why my replys are not showing up?
cause you got banned
Don’t worry. Your comment is pending but I do not have the power to approve them :/ You’ll have to wait for an admin to get here. Also, you double posted 😛
Because you are a predator
Because of your name
hmm happens to me very often, in the end i get approved but it takes very long, it will soon be or already was 24hrs since i posted it. i wonder if it is cause i have different forum name or cause i sometimes post from vita (works ultra slow recently tho, homebrew browser would be cool :])
Now that Quake has been ported, it’d be nice to get a Half-Life port for the Vita.
Brutal Doom. Thats all I want.
If you ported Wagic to Rejuvenate, would it run better than the PSP version? If so, Wagic.
Vita has more power than PSP. So obviously it would run better on Vita.
Pcsx2 lite vita nulldc and vita dolphin you make that happen and i”ll donote more bucks to devs.
Duke Nukem 3D and Fallout 2 would be sick.
There was a game like OpenXcom in good ol’ PSOne in many ways, except the game story happens in WW II. Now my nostalgy and I want know what was that game’s name >: Please, someone, try to help me because I’ve already searched a whole database of psx games looking for it but no luck so far.
How about Volgarr the Viking? It’s an Xbox One game recently ported to the Dreamcast. It’s a really good game.
System shock2 on the vita!
A free alternative to the PS+ online data backup fonctionality.
A homebrew that would periodically store the savedata on a FTP server or Dropbox account would be excellent for those who have lower firmware and cant use online functionality provided by only the latest OFW and PS+.
wishlist for howto tutorials programming for rejuven ale
from porting a dll
to writing a dependecy
vitatoolchain+vitasdk two tuts in One
+Tutorial Howto psphost via rejuven ale psvita remotecontrol games + windows mchdd
mxvvcxvm
Definitely Heroes of Might and Magic…
How about Voya Nui Online Game? (http://biomediaproject.com/bmp/files/gms/online/voyanui/) It’s flash based, so hopefully isn’t too demanding.
Would be nice to also see American Conquest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Conquest) ported.
Last, but definitely not least, would porting Skyrim be possible? Perhaps with heavy modding and texture resizing?
I wonder if they are going to put the older CODs in rejuvenate
im shocked no one has mentioned dosbox; If i were to play any tes game it would be daggerfall.
Original unreal for pc
half life. 1 and 2