A simple Hello World application for the Vita, build with VitaSDK via Docker.
While setting up VitaSDK manually isn't that difficult, doing it via Docker should lower the barrier to entry even further.
This repository contains the Hello World C++ example from VitaSDK as a proof of concept.
To get started with this example, simply follow these steps.
We first want to create the environment file that we will then use inside the container, this file contains information about your Vita console.
An vita.env.example file has been provided, so you only have to make a copy of it and fill it in.
Store the environment file as vita.env, this way it should be picked up by our container later on.
Now that you have an Vita environment file, we can enter information about our Vita console.
Tip
It's recommended that you assign a static IP address to your Vita console.
To use the build-and-test-app.sh script, your Vita also needs to have the Vita Companion plugin installed.
Simply follow the steps on their GitHub page.
Note
This is a fork of devnoname120's Vita Companion that also allows installing VPK files remotely.
Tip
Don't forget to also enable the "CMD/FTP Servers" option in the quick start menu, as otherwise you won't be able to connect to your Vita.
We should now be ready to start the container!
You can start it using docker compose up -d, it should automatically build the image if it's the first time.
Tip
If you need to rebuild the image, you can add --build at the end of the command.
While this step is optional, it is highly recommended to make the development experience a lot easier.
Note
In this example we will be using VS Code, but this likely will also work for other IDE's.
First, install the "C/C++" extension from Microsoft.
This can be installed by pressing CTRL + P, and then running ext install ms-vscode.cpptools.
Tip
If you can't find the extension, you might be running an unofficial build of VS Code that doesn't have Microsoft extensions.
You can install the extension manually by downloading the .vsix file straight from Microsoft's website.
Once you have the extension installed, simply run ./configure-intellisense.sh in a terminal on your host to copy the relevant files to your host machine.
Your editor should now be able to find the sources and provide you with proper Intellisense.
First, enter the Bash shell of the contain with docker compose exec builder bash.
You should now be inside the /src directory, in which is the source code of our application and 2 scripts.
If you only want to compile the application, simply run ./build-app.sh to receive the application in vpk form, which you can then copy to the Vita manually.
Note
./build-app.sh builds the application as a Release candidate, meaning it will have better performance.
If you also want to transfer it to your Vita console over the network with Vita Companion, run ./build-and-test-app.sh instead.
This should automatically transfer, install and run the application.
Warning
Running the build-and-test-app.sh script will close all running applications on the Vita, so keep that in mind.
Note
build-and-test-app.sh builds the application as a Debug release, meaning it has worse performance but with better debug information.
If your application crashes, you can use the vita-parse-core.sh script to parse the crash dump and get more information about what went wrong.
First, copy the crash dump file from your Vita and store it in the crashdumps directory.
Tip
If you have multiple crash dumps at ux0:data/, check the Vita error screen, as it should show the filename of the current crash.
Once you have copied the crash dump file over to your machine, once again enter the builder container.
Inside the container run the following command: vita-parse-core.sh /crashdumps/<YOUR_CRASH_DUMP_FILE>.psp2dmp build/<YOUR_PROJECT_TECHNICAL_NAME>
Here is an example: vita-parse-core.sh /crashdumps/psp2core-1720985303-0x0002492929-eboot.bin.psp2dmp build/hello_cpp_world