PSoXide

 The emulator above runs in your browser. Press run and the PSoXide Demo Disc streams in: nine homebrew programs on one bootable image, with the menu music playing off the CD. It boots on the first ~25 MB and loads the rest of the audio behind the menu.

Prefer real hardware? The same disc is a free download, ready to burn to a CD-R.

PSoXide is an open-source PlayStation 1 development stack written in Rust. It combines a PS1 emulator/debugger, SDK, runtime engine, asset pipeline, editor, and ISO builder into one vertically integrated toolchain.

The goal is to make real PS1 homebrew development more approachable while still targeting actual PlayStation hardware. Projects built with PSoXide can be exported as real PS1-compatible disc images, playable in emulators or on original hardware.

The editor is visually inspired by workflows from modern tools like Godot, but the stack underneath is custom. PSoXide is built specifically around the constraints of the original PlayStation: fixed-point math, VRAM limits, low-poly assets, PS1 GPU packets, CD-ROM output, and real hardware compatibility.

Current status

PSoXide is still early and experimental. File formats, editor workflows, and runtime systems are changing quickly as I optimize the engine and learn more about the hardware.

Right now the project is primarily focused on supporting the PS1 game I am building with it: a dark, PS1-era action-adventure / souls-like vertical slice. Broader engine features may come later, but the current priority is proving the full pipeline end-to-end.

What it is not

• Not a Godot fork
• Not a general-purpose commercial game engine
• Not a tool for importing and editing existing PS1 games
• Not beginner-ready yet

Included examples and demos

The repository includes runnable PS1 homebrew examples, engine showcases, and small demo games. These double as test cases for the SDK, engine, emulator, asset pipeline, audio pipeline, and disc builder.

SDK examples

• hello-tri: basic GPU setup and a moving Gouraud triangle
• hello-tex: CLUT texture upload and textured sprites
• hello-input: controller input and on-screen feedback
• hello-audio: SPU sound effects and voice playback
• hello-ot: ordering tables and DMA linked-list rendering
• hello-gte: GTE perspective transform demo
• hello-cdda: CD-DA / Red Book audio playback from a mixed-mode disc
• hello-memcard: memory-card saves and the card manager
• hello-pack: packed asset streaming from the disc
• cd-chain-probe, cdda-read-contention: CD-ROM timing probes

Engine showcases

• hello-engine: minimal scene/app example using the runtime engine
• hardware-tests: the conformance suite that checks the emulator against real-console measurements
• showcase-3d: lit 3D meshes using the PS1 GTE
• showcase-fog: textured 3D rendering with depth cue / fog
• showcase-lights: moving coloured point lights
• showcase-model: animated low-poly character models
• showcase-particles: fixed-pool particle rendering
• showcase-text: PS1 text rendering and font features

Mini-games

• game-pong: simple Pong built with the engine framework
• game-magikaaaaaarp-pong: music-themed Pong with CD-DA audio playback
• game-breakout: Breakout-style brick-buster demo
• game-invaders: Space Invaders-style arcade demo

Supported asset pipeline

• Model import from glTF / GLB and FBX
• Cooked runtime model format: .psxmdl
• Cooked animation format: .psxanim
• Cooked PS1 texture format: .psxt
• Cooked PS1 audio/sample formats for demos and runtime tests
• Final output as PS1-compatible disc images

Legal note

PSoXide does not include a PlayStation BIOS, commercial game discs, ROMs, or copyrighted Sony assets. If you use the emulator to run original PlayStation software, you must provide your own legally obtained BIOS and only use disc images or game files from games you legally own.

The included examples and demo games are homebrew projects built for testing PSoXide itself. They are not commercial PlayStation games.

Links

• GitHub repository
• Join the PSoXide Discord server
• More from Bonnie Studios

Support

Donations are appreciated, but they are mostly motivational rather than essential. You can support the project here: Buy Me a Coffee

PlayStation is a trademark or registered trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. PSoXide is an independent emulator, SDK and editor project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sony.