Procedural Rendering on PlayStation 2
Written by Robin Green, R&D Programmer, SCEA. The title is a bit misleading, because this paper is mostly about VU1 programming.
PlayStation 2 Clipping
Presentation by Colin Hughes, SCEE.
DOT3 Normal Mapping on the PS2
Written by Morten Mikkelsen / IO Interactive.
PS2 Programming Optimisations
Slides by George Bain from SCEE
Using the Z-buffer for special effects
From SCEE Research And Development
Texture and geometry syncing
From SCEE Research And Development
The Making of Shadow of the Collosus
Not a very technical document, but gives some insight into the techniques used for this game.
How to draw pixel perfect sprites on the PS2
Tutorial by jbit (James Lee).
TX79 Core Architecture
Manual for TX79, which is the same processor as the main CPU in the PS2, MIPS R5900 (Emotion Engine).
VU Instruction Manual
VU Manual by Bigboss. I made some additions/changes and converted it to PDF.
PS2DEV: PS2 Programming
Also check out and the Subversion repository. Many of the Subversion repositories are now also on GitHub.
PS2DEV forums
Local website mirror from 31th of August 2010.
PlayStation 2 Linux Community
A support site for the PlayStation 2 Linux kit. Has a lot of programming projects and helpful information in the forums. I recommend checking out the SPS2 project and digging through the forums for technical details posted by ‘sparky’ (Morten Mikkelsen).
The site has been shut down.
Dr HS Fortuna Playstation 2 Linux Games Programming
Even though this site is about PlayStation 2 Linux programming, it contains a lot information on the vector unit 1 and 3D graphics. Local website mirror from 15th of January 2009.
CDVDMANIA
CDVDMANIA is a private non-profit site dedicated to programming and reverse engineering for PlayStation 2 console and to in-depth technical information on its hardware components. Local website mirror from 7th of July 2010.
PS2DEV: Bios Details for Developers
Reversed engineered IOP modules and other files from [RO]man’s website “PS2DEV: Bios Details for Developers”.
Sps2demo – binary and source repository dump
Sps2demo files from http://playstation2-linux.com/projects/sps2demo/, released by sparky and exoticorn. Source code only compatible with PS2Linux. However there is some general PS2 code which could be used in PS2DEV if ported, such as the RGBA Indexer for post effects (blur, crashzoom, depth of field, fade to grey, glare), texture swizzling, DMA chain disassembler, GS VNC (remote desktop) and more.
VCL – (Vector Unit Command Line)
ps2dis Ver.0902090408
A great PS2 disassembler by Hanimar. Website with more information.
Oddments Demo (38.4 MB)
Breakpoint 2004 demo by adresd, emoon, jar, raizor and TyRaNiD. Music by Trinodia.
