A List of Wii U Development Resources
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I see a lot of people asking things along the lines of "how do I get started developing for Wii U?" or "where can I go to speak to people in the know?" So I thought I'd make a bit of a list of the scene as I understand it, as of 2022-04-02.
Basics
- Wii U homebrew is nearly always written in C or C++. If you're coming from a weakly typed language (Python, JS, etc.) you should probably learn a little bit about using C for Linux first and come back. Strongly-typed language users (Java, C#, etc.) can probably work it out from reading other people's code.
- Wii U emulators are generally not quite up to the task of developing homebrew, you'll encounter lots of weird emulator-exclusive bugs and behaviours. You should have a hacked Wii U.
- Porting something without previous experience, especially something complex like a game, may not be a great place to start. Then again, my first app was a NES emulator, so if you want to go for it, do!
Written Resources
- devkitPro setup - C compilers, package management, etc. You want
wiiu-dev
. - ProgrammingOnTheU - Hello World, actually writing code, building applications, how to use OSScreen, VPAD
- wut documentation - Function signatures and sparse written documentation for the Cafe OS API
- WiiUBrew - Lower-level documentation of things like hardware registers and IOSU IPC commands. Very helpful when reverse-engineering
- Creating a homebrew environment on the Wii U - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 - Intensely deep dive into the boot process, security model, exploit strategy, and homebrew environment - a version of which should soon be released as Aroma
- wiiu-shaders - Guide to authoring GX2 shaders. Incomplete at time of writing.
Code Samples
- wut samples - Focused samples for various parts of the API. Please do not think you need to use
WHBMountSDCard
orWHBReadWholeFile
, c stdio works fine and is what everyone uses
- 2048_WiiU - Port of a simple-ish SDL game. Fireplace-WiiU is simpler, but the Makefile does not work with current tools
- Space Game - OG Wii U content. Simple 2D OSScreen-based game. Probably doesn't build with current tools, but touches lots of relevant APIs.
- ntrview-wiiu - 2D application using GX2. Renders textures and fonts using custom shaders.
- gx2-thing - 3D application using GX2. Actually renders 3D shapes and such. A bit messy, but I remember Gary found it helpful when porting a 3D game.
- Any open-source homebrew (most of them). If you see a homebrew doing something cool, you can go look at its code and work out how!
Social - Forums
- GBATemp - More users than developers these days, but it can be good to keep an eye on for the latest homebrew releases.
- browsedns - Could be a hub one day, but given this is the first post in the Wii U category, I can't really say yet.
- /r/WiiUHacks - Gets a lot of homebrew news, as well as the occasional cool hardware mod (GameCube ports, USB-C charging, etc.)
Social - Discords
- ForTheUsers - Major Wii U dev hangout, and backrooms host lots of development. Technical questions in #wiiu usually get answered. Also on Matrix - no space yet, ask in room for links to the other channels.
- Aroma - Supposed to be a project-specific server, but has turned into another hangout. Different vibe to ForTheUsers.
- Nintendo Homebrew - Primary user-support location. Not much for Wii U developers as far as I'm aware.
- devkitPro's future Discord - I'm told devkitPro plans to make their own public development discord. If this happens, it'll probably be a good spot for more "scene" folk that might not focus on the Wii U specifically.
Project-Specific Discords
- Pretendo Network - Nintendo Network online service replacement for Wii U+3DS
- decaf-emu - Open-source Wii U emulator (the one you can actually contribute to)
- linux-wiiu (also on Matrix) - port of Linux kernel
If you think there's any resources or social areas that the average dev would want to know about, feel free to let me know!
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This post is deleted!
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Wow thank you Like :)
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It's true about that.
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oh coooooooooool!
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why do you have 3?! i have one thats sh** it never charges and like the wii its services are goin down. its one of the reasons nintendo made da switch; cuz wii u's a failure
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@Lazr the wiiu used to be cool, but no one cares aboutt it no more. the only reason i still have mine is because i play zelda wind waker on there for the 1 hr of battery life i have on the dang gamepad
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yeah i guess ur rite, but i did hear somethin bout the eShop for the wiiu and 3ds... it may close this year
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But @Lazr u r rite it was a cool system and it had cools games too ( and maybe we should xD)
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no-one told me pretendo network existed lmaoooooo
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@Lazr
wii u Neapolitan icecream