Compiling your code directly from the Homebrew Channel

The recommended method for compiling BennuGD games in your Wii is by using wiiload to both upload your code and to execute commands there.
If your Wii is not connected to your Wifi network (or you don't have one) things get a bit more complicated and previously I created a method for compiling that was a bit complicated. Today I'm going to show you a simpler one.

First of all, make sure that your Homebrew Channel is updated as this method requires one of the latest versions available.

Then, we'll create two entries in your Homebrew Channel: one for the game itself and another one for compiling.
The first one is created just normally, and the boot.elf file that you must put there is the normalbgdi.elf file, as found in the latest available BennuGD release and you'd just copy all the game's resources there, as usual. The meta.xml file for that entry would be something like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<app version="1">
    <name>Fancy Game Runtime</name>
    <coder>Your name</coder>
    <version>Version number</version>
    <release_date>Release date</release_date>
    <short_description>A short description.</short_description>
    <long_description>A longer, more detailed description of your game.</long_description>
</app>

Now, in the other entry (just another directory in the "APPS" folder of your SD card) you'd place your game's source code. The boot.elf file corresponding to that entry would be bgdc.elf from the release and the meta.xml file would go as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<app version="1">
    <name>Compile Fancy Game</name>
    <coder>Your name</coder>
    <version>Version number</version>
    <release_date>Release date</release_date>
    <short_description>A short description.</short_description>
    <long_description>A longer description for the entry that'll compile your code.</long_description>
<arguments>
             <arg>boot.prg</arg>
             <arg>-o</arg>
             <arg>/apps/fancy_game/boot.dcb</arg>
     </arguments>
</app>


Where, obviously, "/apps/fancy_game" corresponds to the location in your SD card for your game's runtime (the first entry in this example). Also, "boot.prg" is the name of your main source code file.

If everything went fine, you can now insert your SD card in your Wii and you should now see two entries: one called "Fancy Game Runtime" and another one called "Compile Fancy Game". When you click on the compilation entry, your code will be compiled and the DCB file will be generated -assuming BennuGD liked your code- in the runtime entry, which you can click right away to test your code.

This process won't save your from having to grab the SD card from your console, copying the new files and putting it back in your Wii, but I'm sure it'll somehow make testing easier for you.

Hope you liked it!

PS: Remember you can win a Nintendo 3DS console just for coding by entering the Nintendomax Wii Dev Competition 2011! Good luck to everyone!

Nintendomax Wii Dev Competition 2011

The guys at Nintendomax (most of the gameplay videos I post come from their site) have organised a new Wii Homebrew development contest and it's certainly looking interesting!

You can use any programming language you want to for the game, so why not use the best one around?. You might want to use the newly released rc1 version that include mod_chipmunk physics to create stunning games very easily. It feels great and has helped bring very cool games to the Wii ;)

Prizes:
They're giving out two Nintendo 3DS consoles, accessories, 150€ in cash and more. See the link below for details.

Rules:
Here are some of the rules for the competition, but be sure to read the whole thread linked below for more info.

- Everyone can participate, regardless of the country.

- All games or applications must be totally new for the Wii. This implies that no projects have been submitted shall be posted on another site before the competition closed, the projects involved in the Homebrew Bounty taking place at the same time are accepted.

- The project progress can be posted during the contest period (WIP, Previews, videos, etc.).

- A Splashscreen will be posted april 11, 2011 after a competition for designers organized by us.

- The splashscreen will be the first image to appear in the project and will be posted at least 5 seconds. Transitions and all types of effects are allowed.

- Participants may submit 1 or more projects.

- Ranking of the contest will be defined by a jury. No public vote is held.

- The classification criteria are multiple (originality, graphics, life, gameplay, personal notes, stability / bug, etc ...), a report will be posted after the vote.

- Competition results will be posted June 30, 2011.

- The Loader or applications that enable piracy of games is prohibited.

Read all about the contest here [en] or here [fr].

Hope to see your entries soon!

BennuGD for Wii RC1+ (mod_chipmunk integrated!)

Today I'm refreshing the BennuGD for Wii binaries with a very nice addition: Chipmunk physics library integration. Just in case you missed earlier posts, mod_chipmunk is a wrapper for BennuGD created by Prg that allows you to unleash the full potential of the Chipmunk physics library with a BennuGD friendly syntax.
You can see some examples of what Chipmunk can do in this video:

The cool thing about this library is that creating a reallistic physics simulation is quite complicated even for those with a clear understanding of what's going on and this library manages all the physic interactions easily and effectively.
I've adapted one of the examples Prg includes in his package so that you can run it directly from the Homebrew Channel in your Wii.

Download Chipmunk physics demo

I'm asking if any of you can create a little video of this demo, so that I can embed it in this post. I cannot do it with a good quality myself so I'd thank it if anybody can help me with that.

You can get the refreshed BennuGD binaries with mod_chipmunk integrated here:

Download BennnuGD for Wii RC1 Refresh

Please, understand that physics simulation can be a very processor-intesive process. If your game slows down too much, try reducing the number of active processes.