Homebrew Question Homebew apps with 3D graphics

[dotaku]

Is the any way to create Homebew apps that can display 3D graphics. A "engine" or something less advanced would also do. I googled and could only find stuff for 2D. Does that mean there's noting yet?

 

[CatmanFan]

Yes, homebrew apps with 3D graphics do exist. There's a classic Doom port, as well as 3D console RetroArch cores (Saturn, PSX, Jaguar) in the works.

 

[dotaku]

Yes, homebrew apps with 3D graphics do exist. There's a classic Doom port, as well as 3D console RetroArch cores (Saturn, PSX, Jaguar) in the works.

Thanks for the answer! but maybe my question was a little unclear. I was looking for some kind of engine to create new 3D games (like unity but ofc much much less advanced) if I am not wrong the ones you just talked about are only for emulation of existing games.

 

[Twistedziefer]

Thanks for the answer! but maybe my question was a little unclear. I was looking for some kind of engine to create new 3D games (like unity but ofc much much less advanced) if I am not wrong the ones you just talked about are only for emulation of existing games.

Once the full hardware is unlocked I'm sure we will have access to the use of 3d engines like unity and such we only have 1 core and software rendering atm

 

[dotaku]

Once the full hardware is unlocked I'm sure we will have access to the use of 3d engines like unity and such we only have 1 core and software rendering atm

Ah I see, thank you. I did not know there is only software rendering for now. Guess I just gonna have to wait than

 

[Twistedziefer]

Ah I see, thank you. I did not know there is only software rendering for now. Guess I just gonna have to wait than

The vulkan api is what is missing it's still very early for homebrew

 

[weatMod]

The vulkan api is what is missing it's still very early for homebrew

so if we get vulcan then you think UE4 would be doable since switch supports it anyways
would we see UE4 fan remakes playable

 

[Deleted-442439]

Getting 3rd party engines working on Switch is not as simple as just having 3D drivers, we can't use the official Switch SDK for Homebrew that would be illegal, and force the toolchain used for it to be shutdown. Most things need to be developed from scratch.

Then comes the issue of the game engine owners, I am rather sure Unity, URE etc. would not be happy about people using their engines for homebrew, any modifications to the engines themselves should be against their TOS, so having a working setup for any of this will be a legal and technical nightmare.

 

[weatMod]

Getting 3rd party engines working on Switch is not as simple as just having 3D drivers, we can't use the official Switch SDK for Homebrew that would be illegal, and force the toolchain used for it to be shutdown. Most things need to be developed from scratch.

Then comes the issue of the game engine owners, I am rather sure Unity, URE etc. would not be happy about people using their engines for homebrew, any modifications to the engines themselves should be against their TOS, so having a working setup for any of this will be a legal and technical nightmare.

how come nobody develops HB using official SDK and then just release on ISO sites then?
obviously they are beyond reach

 

[dotaku]

Getting 3rd party engines working on Switch is not as simple as just having 3D drivers, we can't use the official Switch SDK for Homebrew that would be illegal, and force the toolchain used for it to be shutdown. Most things need to be developed from scratch.

Then comes the issue of the game engine owners, I am rather sure Unity, URE etc. would not be happy about people using their engines for homebrew, any modifications to the engines themselves should be against their TOS, so having a working setup for any of this will be a legal and technical nightmare.

I already thought that getting the big engines work on homebew is very unlikely. Do you have any information how far we are away from getting 3D drivers? To create very basic engines running with openGL or vulkan?

 

[Deleted-442439]

how come nobody develops HB using official SDK and then just release on ISO sites then?
obviously they are beyond reach

The only official SDK that is publicly leaked is from January 2017 and you need to connect to several services with a valid Dev portal account to get everything working, most stuff is under NDA.

There is of course nothing stopping anyone from doing it, once a backup loader is out there is no need to sign stuff, so we could have "native homebrew", but if the developer is caught Nintendo's ninjas will sue him into oblivion.

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I already thought that getting the big engines work on homebew is very unlikely. Do you have any information how far we are away from getting 3D drivers? To create very basic engines running with openGL or vulkan?

The SDK has Vulcan support, but we can't use it as mentioned above.

I know people are working on nouveau drivers, but don't know the current status.

 

[dotaku]

The only official SDK that is publicly leaked is from January 2017 and you need to connect to several services with a valid Dev portal account to get everything working, most stuff is under NDA.

There is of course nothing stopping anyone from doing it, once a backup loader is out there is no need to sign stuff, so we could have "native homebrew", but if the developer is caught Nintendo's ninjas will sue him into oblivion.

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The SDK has Vulcan support, but we can't use it as mentioned above.

I know people are working on nouveau drivers, but don't know the current status.

I know how to program games in engines but I am a total noob when it comes to low level stuff. So here a hopefully not to dumb question. If the SKD has Vulcan support could someone who has access to it have a look at it and see how it works and rewrite it? Or would that also be illegal or would it be a insane amount of work?
And thanks for the info that people are working on nouveau drives, thats very interesting!

 

[CuriousTommy]

Then comes the issue of the game engine owners, I am rather sure Unity, URE etc. would not be happy about people using their engines for homebrew, any modifications to the engines themselves should be against their TOS, so having a working setup for any of this will be a legal and technical nightmare.

With Unreal Engine 4, anyone could be able to access the source code if they have an Unreal and Github account, so I don't think URE would be against people making modifications to their engine; however, they certainly won't endorse it.

 

[dotaku]

With Unreal Engine 4, anyone could be able to access the source code if they have an Unreal and Github account, so I don't think URE would be against people making modifications to their engine; however, they certainly won't endorse it.

That's a good point. But aside from it being legal it still sounds like a insane amount of work and challenge to actually do it :/

 

[Centergaming]

I know how to program games in engines but I am a total noob when it comes to low level stuff. So here a hopefully not to dumb question. If the SKD has Vulcan support could someone who has access to it have a look at it and see how it works and rewrite it? Or would that also be illegal or would it be a insane amount of work?
And thanks for the info that people are working on nouveau drives, thats very interesting!

That's a good question, wondering about that too. Like a developer can just look into the Vulkan code from the SDK and rewrite it. Rewriting the code isn't illegal.

 

[dotaku]

Rewriting the code isn't illegal.

Even for code under an NDA?

 

[Centergaming]

Even for code under an NDA?

Not sure about that one... I guess it's only for non-NDA

 

[sarkwalvein]

Even for code under an NDA?

But is UE4 code under an NDA?
That said, reimplementing UE4 for the SOON™ to be available homebrew Vulkan libraries would not only be reinventing the wheel and require a prohibitive amount of work, it would also sure end up in a buggy underperforming implementation if anyone even decides to take the senseless effort.

 

[Kallus]

Yes, homebrew apps with 3D graphics do exist. There's a classic Doom port, as well as 3D console RetroArch cores (Saturn, PSX, Jaguar) in the works.

Doom isn't 3D. It looks like it, but it's not.

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[sarkwalvein]

Doom isn't 3D. It looks like it, but it's not.

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Well, nothing shown on a screen is 3D... it looks like it, but it is not, you know, smoke and mirrors.