While one of the hottest topics related to gaming in the last few days was the launch of the Google Stadia, the PSVita scene saw some good news thanks to 2 releases. In this article, we’ll be looking at the useful Volume_Profile plugin and a port of the popular Super Crate Box game albeit with some added stuff to make it even better!
Plugin Release: Volume_Profile by Marburg of Team CBPS
Recently, it seems that Team CBPS is on a roll when it comes to releasing plugins for the PlayStation Vita, first with the LOLITA500/444 plugins last week and now with Volume_Profile by Marburg (cuevavirus).
Volume_Profile provides a feature that you probably use without even knowing it as it’s available on iOS and other platforms (GIF can be seen in the GitHub link below)
This quality-of-life plugin, which is based on a pretty simple concept, automatically saves and switches volume levels whenever you connect or disconnect your headphones. In other words, the functionality of the plugin can be described as follows:
- If your PSVita is currently emitting sound from its speakers (i.e. no headphones are connected) and then you connect headphones, this plugin takes note of your current volume level and changes the volume level to the same level you had when you last used headphones
- As a result, you’ll avoid getting very loud sound blasted into your ears immediately when you connect headphones
- On the other hand, if your PSVita currently has headphones connected and you disconnect them, the plugin takes note of your current volume level and proceeds to change the volume level to the same level you had when you were last using the speakers
When it comes to installation, you can get volume_profile on your system by downloading it from the link below (in SUPRX form, as it’s a user-mode plugin) and putting it under the *main section of your taiHEN config.txt. The plugin supports FW 3.60 and 3.65-3.73 and AVLS functions normally when using this plugin.
To read more about volume_profile and download it, check out its thread on Team CBPS’ forums or its GitHub page.
Game Release: Super Crate Mod by JeffRuLz345 of Reddit – An enhanced port of Super Crate Box
Moving over to a game release, this time around we have Super Crate Mod which is an enhanced port of Super Crate Box, a game that was officially ported to the PSVita in 2012.
While Super Crate Boy has pretty simple gameplay mechanics, it’s not that easy to play and can keep you hooked for a while! (Screenshot from Super Crate Mod on my PSVita)
Super Crate Box, by Vlambeer, is a free 2D game with pixel-style graphics in which enemies continually spawn from the top of the map and you must kill them using an assortment of different guns which can be obtained from crates that spawn at random places in the map. Other than that, it also contains various unlockables such as maps and weapons so that it provides a sense of progression.
Switching focus to Super Crate Mod, its author has made the following changes compared to the official port which generated the ideal game for him:
- The game runs at 60FPS instead of 50FPS
- No more letter-boxing as the game runs at 16:9 (widescreen) rather than 4:3
- The Unused Challenge Mode and Napalm Launcher weapon have been restored
- Some features from the iOS version including the Vlambeer character and some modifications to the main menu
- The tutorial has been made optional and it’s been moved to the Level Select screen
- A memory leak was fixed
- Many other minor tweaks and fixes which can be viewed in the Reddit thread below
- From a short period of testing on my console, I can confirm that Super Crate Mod works extremely well and exhibited no obvious issues whatsoever
To learn more about Super Crate Mod and download its VPK, follow this link to its Reddit Thread. The game is also available on VitaDB but it crashed VHBB when I tried downloading it on my own device.
Conclusion
Switching over to other news, Google Stadia, which was released yesterday, seems to be receiving mixed reviews with Forbes saying that it’s a disaster when it comes to input lag but The Verge had somewhat better results although it’s disputing that the 4K stream is really 4K. Furthermore, Valve has announced that it’ll be unveiling Half-Life: Alyx on Thursday which might the long awaited Half-Life 3 sequel… just in VR.
The post PSVita News: Team CBPS releases Volume_Profile plugin which saves & switches volume levels for headphones/speakers & enhanced Super Crate Box port released! appeared first on Wololo.net.