GSKIT

  ____     ___ |    / _____ _____
 |  __    |    |___/    |     |
 |___| ___|    |    \ __|__   |              gsKit Open Source Project.
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 Copyright 2004 - Chris "Neovanglist" Gilbert <Neovanglist@LainOS.org>.
 All rights reserved.
 Licenced under Academic Free License version 2.0
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Introduction

gsKit is a library that provides a C interface to the Playstation 2 Graphics Synthesizer. It is low level in nature, implimented using the PS2SDK and inline assembly. This project does not aim to be all inclusive, rather a "lean and mean" interface to the GS hardware.

The following list is of things that, when complete, gsKit will be capable of when it reaches it's mature stages. It is currently in the early stages of development. Read the STATUS file for detailed information.

gsKit aims to provide the following functionality:

• Multi format GS initialization. (NTSC, PAL, DTV, VESA)
• HalfBuffer Support (NTSC_I and PAL_I modes)
• VSync, Double Buffering, Anti Aliasing, and Z Depth Test.
• Render Queue Support, with different drawing modes. (GS_ONESHOT, and GS_PERSISTANT)
• Overlay and multi-context support utilizing the "Merge Circuit".
• Basic primitives as per the Sony documentation. (Line, Tri, TriStrip, ...)
• Extended primitives support. (Quads and GL Style Vertex Lists)
• Simple texture loading and handling.
• Font and printing support for FNT and TrueType formats.
• GS debugging and diagnostic functionality.
• C accessibility of all documented GS functions.

gsKit also includes a library named dmaKit. dmaKit provides C routines for DMAC usage by gsKit. The aim of this library is also for eventual inclusion in PS2SDK. For now, it will remain part of the gsKit project while it matures.

This library is designed for integration into the PS2SDK when it becomes mature. As such, it is also designed to link and compile against the PS2SDK. Support for PS2LIB and other support libraries is untested.

Project Layout

A source or binary release of gsKit will include the following directories:

• gsKit/lib - gsKit compiled libraries.
• gsKit/doc - gsKit documentation.
• gsKit/examples - Example projects demonstrating use of gsKit.
• gsKit/ee - ee root directory.
• gsKit/ee/gs - gsKit source root.
• gsKit/ee/gs/include - gsKit include files.
• gsKit/ee/gs/src - gsKit source files.
• gsKit/ee/dma - dmaKit source root.
• gsKit/ee/dma/include - dmaKit include files.
• gsKit/ee/dms/src - dmaKit source files.
• gsKit/vu1 - VU1 assembly files.

Installation

1. Install PS2Toolchain In order to install gsKit, you must have previously installed the PS2Toolchain (which automatically install also the PS2SDK)

2. Edit your login script Add this to your login script (example: ~/.bash_profile)
   export GSKIT=$PS2DEV/gsKit

NOTE: You should have already defined in your login script the $PS2DEV variable

3. Compile and Install Run the next command make && make install

Important Notes

There are several small notes that need to be made about gsKit operation.

• As of version 0.3, gsKit no longer uses the scratchpad, so you are free to use it in your application.

• There is a default drawbuffer size of 2MB for oneshot, and 256KB for persistent. If they are filled beyond capacity, bad things will start to happen. (Compile with -DGSKIT_DEBUG to get warnings about it at the expense of performance or just uncomment section in Makefile.pref) You can tweak these values with the GS_RENDER_QUEUE_(OS/PER)_POOLSIZE macros. (Look in ee/gs/include/gsInit.h)

• Most gsKit routines (prim pushing, TEST/CLAMP mode setting, etc) will queue their execution into the drawbuffer. Texture data sends however, are the exception to this. They happen immediately upon calling, however this behavior will be changed so they are also queued into the drawbuffer in a future version.

• By default gsKit's active drawbuffer is Oneshot.

• You can specify some external libraries in Makefile.pref (just uncomment what you need)

Feedback & Questions

You can usually find the developers on freenode in the channel #ps2dev. You can also use the forums at http://forums.ps2dev.org,

Credits

See AUTHORS.