This article was originally published in the March 1998 issue of Edge (E56).
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DEVELOP
VIDEOGAME CREATION UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Yaroze: let the games commence
Over the last year, Yaroze has picked up a substantial amount of publicity, both in dedicated videogame mags and the mainstream media. But those who have only skimmed articles praising Sony's programmable console may well have formed the impression that anyone can just plug it into their PC and have a Ridge Racer clone running in a couple of days. Sony, of course, is keen to stress the user-friendliness of the system, and there are packages – like CodeWarrior, for example – which promise to make the whole process of game development a lot simpler. However, the only people truly qualified to judge the technology are those who are actually using it.
At the moment, those people certainly seem to fall much more into the 'veteran coder' than 'curious newcomer' category. 'I got a sound grasp of computer architecture and C/C++ at university studying for my computer science degree,' points out James Shaughnessy, reflecting the experience of many who have bought into the Yaroze program. James Rutherford gives another familiar response, 'I have always has an interest in games programming ever since the days of the Spectrum, and thought this was a good way to learn.' Indeed, these experienced computer users feel that a few naive videogames players may be slightly out of their depth with Yaroze. As Shaughnessy puts it: 'It seems that people with little knowledge of programming thought, "Yeah, Tomb Raider, Tekken, V-Rally – dead easy!" So they bought a black PlayStation thinking it would be as simple as when they wrote BASIC programs on the C64. Only when they get the system set up do they realise that they know practically nothing about C. In the end, they try messing around with some example programs and then eventually give up.'
So how difficult is it to start developing games on the Yaroze? James Rutherford, who cut his programming teeth on Amiga AMOS and studied C prior to using Yaroze, admits he found it tough going initially: 'C wasn't too hard to grasp, but it took a long time for me to figure out how to get bitmap screen effects (quite a simple task). I like figuring things out for myself, so I hack away – I remember feeling elated when I realised I could get any feedback at all from my machine (a simple pad reading routine).'
Meanwhile, others who mastered the basics quickly encountered problems later on. 'Yaroze was no more dificult to learn how to use than any other API' claims Graeme Evans, 'what I have trouble in is the bigger stuff that no one talks about; the best ways to format data for converting to 3D objects and stuff. That sort of fear stops me from writing code.'
However, there seems to be a general agreement that programming for Yaroze is a much easier and more realistic means of gaining game development experience than tackling the mighty PC. 'It's a cliche to say that the days of the bedroom programmer are over' admits Shaughnessy, 'but since the PC took over the computing mass market from the 8- and 16bit machines it has been true. The Yaroze, however, returns to the "old skool" hardware structure; a basic memory map, separate video and sound RAM, all with fixed addresses – there is no need to worry about relocation and multi-tasking with other third party programs. Also, everyone has the same hardware spec, so you know your game will run the same on everyone else's machines.'
Even more encouragingly, Shaughnessy asserts that extensive programming knowledge and experience may not be quite as valuable as enthusiasm and dedication, 'Of course you don't have to know anything about C to begine learning, but you have to be prepared to put the effort in, and you'll eventually have to know it very well to make your own games'.
For those learners who do take the plunge, there is of course the Yaroze website to turn to. Here, Sony help-staff – along with plenty of altrusitic Yaroze veterans – are on hand to answer queries and proffer sample code. But how useful is this area of the WWW? Most opinion is positive.
'The newsgroup feature of the Net Yaroze package is priceless to the programming newcomer' Shaughnessy confirms, 'It offers invaluable help to those who have a simple query or cannot sort out a programming bug or problem. There are support staff on hand to explain things if you get in a pickle, and there's a lot of help and advice from other Net Yaroze members too'. Indeed, it is the collaborative essence of the website and accompanying news groups which seem to impress users the most. As Evans points out, 'The website has a lot of code to snarf. Plus I love fanzines, so the members' home pages are fun to keep up with.'
There are some reservations, though. A few users Edge spoke to felt that Sony could be less than forthcoming with some aspects of PlayStation programming ('especially stuff they think might count as a trade secret,' elaborates Rutherford), and many of the members pages are in various states of disrepair. Nevertheless, the general consensus is that if users know where to look then they'll find answers to most of their questions, eventually. Which more or less sums up the internet in general.
Whatever difficulties Net Yaroze members face, the amateur development community is proving both creative and productive. Everyone Edge spoke to has a demo nearing completion, ranging from experiments like James Rutherford's light synthesiser, to full games such as Shaugnessy's Gravitation – a version of the 8bit classic Thrust. Net Yaroze has its irritations (confusing documentation, erratic online assistance), but users who have the patience both to persevere with their own equipment, and to search the website for programming tips, have very few complaints. Except Evans. When Edge asked what he had managed to do with Yaroze he replied, 'run up £100 a quarter phone bills checking the newsgroups'. So, to paraphrase 'Live and Kicking', make sure you check with whoever pays the bills before embarking on an amateur programming career.
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ネットやろうぜ
