Wii Internet Channel and Nintendo DS/DSi Browser Homebrew

With the release of the Nintendo DSi and its Opera Web browser, I felt it best to take one of my first projects for the Wii's Internet Channel, HullBreach Online, and scale it to the dual screens to let gamers play on-the-go. This project would become HullBreach Online Lite.

While running tests on the Nintendo DSi Browser, I found that although there is support for the canvas object, it seems to be fairly crippled when concerning image data. Apparently this was meant to save RAM on the handheld by not caching off-screen data. Thus, I began working with ways to re-create HullBreach Online's mobile cousin by using nothing but image placement, background scrolling, and other standard DHTML features. From that comes a game that should for all intents and purposes be compatible with the older Nintendo DS Browsers as well.

To save on memory, images have been scaled and colors reduced. Players cannot see one another's ships, yet they can still chat with each other - even between both versions of HullBreach Online. Due to the lack of useful button input, the entire game is touchscreen-controlled. Moving between locations and travelling through hyperspace are both achieved by on-screen button clicks, which are accompanied by appropriate animations of the ship and motion of the map cursor.

With the exception of space combat (which would be difficult with button clicks), everything that was present in HullBreach Online is also present in HullBreach Online Lite: Missions, mining, scanning, trading, ship upgrades, etc.

HullBreach Online Lite is nearing completion, so get ready to join the close to 5000 members now! In the meantime, you can create an account to play the full HullBreach Online, message members through Twiiter on your Wii or Nintendo DS/DSi, or visit the chatroom at http:/dsoperasdk.com.

For the past year, the Wii Opera SDK has been hosted on a subdomain of http://hullbreachonline.com (since it was primarily created for HullBreach Online). Since the SDK has matured to the point of being used in several other projects, it has now been moved to its own website. On that website, I am going to set up a blog for news on Wii game development, both in the Internet Channel and through official means. (The blog will not cover hacks and modifications to the console.) The Wiki and the Forum will still be shared with http://hullbreachonline.com. The new website for the SDK is easy to remember: http://wiioperasdk.com.

I've made several updates to the SDK that further speed up the graphics. Since each individual update was probably too small to mention, I haven't posted about them in the past month, but as a group, they have probably added about another 15%-30% to the SDK. (I didn't keep track.) This updates 3D2.js, 3Dfps.js, and draw.js.

Also, to keep the Wii Opera SDK lean, I've dropped support for bezier curves and a few other primitives that have little to do with game creation. The documentation has been updated to reflect the changes. If anyone needs those added back in, let me know, and I'll send you a special version of the SDK drawing class.

http://hullbreachonline.com/sdk

One more thing as well: These updates have been incorporated into the 3D Mesh Demo Opera Widget at http://widgets.opera.com/widget/9101/ .

Some players have been asking about the special Christmas "present" that was hinted on the homepage of http://hullbreachonline.com. I won't tell specifically what it is, but let's just say to check the in-game credits.

Also, NPCs are starting to populate the game world. They will mainly be in the form of stationary ships docked at locations. Due to the speed of the Wii's Internet Channel, I cannot create the advanced AI that I had hoped. Still, seeing a few extra ships while playing is a nice addition. Oh yeah, try hailing the NPCs.

HullBreachOnline.com has a new Wiki website that will eventually encompass all the documentation and shared knowledge relating to the Wii Opera SDK; featured first-, second-; and third-party software in the Wii Software Gallery; the HullBreach MMO RPG; and all related aspects of those. If you would like to take part in the wiki project, let me know.