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XNA Game Studio Express out tomorrow. I am excited and you are too.
- Thread starter FightyF
- Start date
gollumsluvslave
Member
Installed C# Express and now the XNA Express Beta, and its working.
Created a project using the SpaceWar template and it all compiles fine.
First challenge - it would appear that the actual SpaceWar game only accepts gamepad input, so time to dig about and try and map controls to the keyboard!
Debugging through the game startup gives a nice feel for how the XNA Framework is leveraged, even for someon who has never done games development before - there are liberal comments and so forth.
Created a project using the SpaceWar template and it all compiles fine.
First challenge - it would appear that the actual SpaceWar game only accepts gamepad input, so time to dig about and try and map controls to the keyboard!
Debugging through the game startup gives a nice feel for how the XNA Framework is leveraged, even for someon who has never done games development before - there are liberal comments and so forth.
I haven't got my student license for the latest VS.net so I've got no probs with using VC#E as long as it works fine with VS.Net later.
So no one wants to work on Drinky Crow/MAF the platformer? Oh well.
Sp0rsk, I think I'm still confused on your game, does it auto scroll or no? Are we talking maybe Ikari warriors only with space ships and branching paths?
So no one wants to work on Drinky Crow/MAF the platformer? Oh well.
Sp0rsk, I think I'm still confused on your game, does it auto scroll or no? Are we talking maybe Ikari warriors only with space ships and branching paths?
gollumsluvslave
Member
If anyone else is playing with the SpaceWar stuff, then it's easy enough to get keyboard control by defining USE_KEYBOARD for conditional compilation.
All the XNA Keyboard and Gamepad stuff is in the GamepadHelper.cs file, and it's easy enough to work out what keys do what...
Would have been nice if was in the documentation though
All the XNA Keyboard and Gamepad stuff is in the GamepadHelper.cs file, and it's easy enough to work out what keys do what...
Would have been nice if was in the documentation though
gollumsluvslave said:If anyone else is playing with the SpaceWar stuff, then it's easy enough to get keyboard control by defining USE_KEYBOARD for conditional compilation.
All the XNA Keyboard and Gamepad stuff is in the GamepadHelper.cs file, and it's easy enough to work out what keys do what...
Would have been nice if was in the documentation though
Now I need to just make it sound I'm controlling one ship at a time
It seems a little buggy on my machine, not sure if it's just me or generally. Like some visual effects like the rocket's booster will be rendered in the wrong place, and the ship movement seems a little stuttery.
If anyone is having problems running the Spacewar demo, a bug has been found with the framework where it is not falling back to disable multisampling if it is not available.
To get Spacewar to run if you are having problems:
Add the following to line 20 in SpacewarGame.Designer.cs
graphics.AllowMultiSampling = false;
and change line 109 in SpacewarGame.cs from
graphics.AllowMultiSampling = true;
to
graphics.AllowMultiSampling = false;
To get Spacewar to run if you are having problems:
Add the following to line 20 in SpacewarGame.Designer.cs
graphics.AllowMultiSampling = false;
and change line 109 in SpacewarGame.cs from
graphics.AllowMultiSampling = true;
to
graphics.AllowMultiSampling = false;
pr0cs
Member
Downloaded and installed this stuff during my lunch break, you don't need the DX update unless you're messing with audio.
It's been a while since I messed with Visual Studio anything, I find it very strange (and quite compelling) that Microsoft is giving away some really decent tools for free, what happened to the behemoth I remember that gave nothing away for free regarding software dev tools.
The spacewars demo is pretty rough but there is enough good stuff there to start messing about and creating your own toys.
I just need to manage to find some free time to play further..overall I think it has a lot of promise.
It's been a while since I messed with Visual Studio anything, I find it very strange (and quite compelling) that Microsoft is giving away some really decent tools for free, what happened to the behemoth I remember that gave nothing away for free regarding software dev tools.
The spacewars demo is pretty rough but there is enough good stuff there to start messing about and creating your own toys.
I just need to manage to find some free time to play further..overall I think it has a lot of promise.
It's pretty stripped down, but hey, it works!
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualcsharp/download/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualcsharp/download/
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
Glee!
Now I have to find all those notebooks with my RPG spilled out. I just need an artist!
Now I have to find all those notebooks with my RPG spilled out. I just need an artist!
Here's a decent little introduction for those of you just getting into it:
http://www.xnaspot.com/Tutorial_GettingStarted.aspx
http://www.xnaspot.com/Tutorial_GettingStarted.aspx
pr0cs
Member
There really isn't a whole lot of documentation anywhere which I guess isn't surprising considering it's all beta.
Here are a few that might be of help :
http://www.thezbuffer.com/
http://learnxna.com/default.aspx (has some video tutorials)
My biggest complaint is that the help isn't all that helpful the docs seem really slim. It may be how I have my MSDN hooked up but the docs don't offer a lot of help regarding methods and their suggested inputs.
Here are a few that might be of help :
http://www.thezbuffer.com/
http://learnxna.com/default.aspx (has some video tutorials)
My biggest complaint is that the help isn't all that helpful the docs seem really slim. It may be how I have my MSDN hooked up but the docs don't offer a lot of help regarding methods and their suggested inputs.
pr0cs
Member
Suikoguy said:
if only it was that easy, the learning curve is pretty much vertical if you want to do anything really interesting because the documentation is so barren.
There is a lot of potential there though and everything being free means that you're likely to see a flood of new tutorials, samples, source and projects opening up over the next few months.
You should be able to use the foundation of the Spacewar game to start creating your own game.ezekial45 said:
Really, my only complaint with this release is the lack of the XNA Content Pipeline. AFAIK there isn't even an easy way to get your meshes into the system until someone writes a process to emulate what the pipeline is supposed to do.
KeithFranklin
Banned
pr0cs said:
Microsoft has been giving Dev Tools away for years. Reason I got on the MS bandwagon was because of this. Took a Professional Development Class back in 1994 and different development tool vendors showed off thier stuff (IBM, Borland, MS, etc.) and MS wasnt the coolest, but everyone in the class got a copy. IBM gave us a copy of a tool to scrape mainframe apps and Borland gave us nothing.
You can also go to local .NET User Group events and possibly get free copies of tools ( I run the Chicago .NET Users Group and give away copies of Visual Studio 2005 Professional all of the time ). Or you can also go to some of the local MS events that are free or nearly free and they give away copies all of the time.
Ash Sparrow
Banned
I'm having fun with this, pretty cool.
Teknopathetic
Member
I've been playing with it a lot. I'm a little surprised at how much I'm able to understand it.
Ash Sparrow
Banned
Yeah it's just how i was hoping it would be, this caters to my modest experience.Teknopathetic said:
pr0cs
Member
KeithFranklin said:
I've been dev'ing on Windows since '93 and this is the first time I've ever seen them give a studio away for free that was worth something. Yeah I've taking courses where they gave away .NET for free but the studio was either cripped by a limited time license or was missing most of the features / docs that it was pointless to use outside the course material.
Hopefully they expand the docs soon and often to cover the more interesting possibilities like grabbing the back framebuffer and modifying the pixels directly, it's not obvious from the docs if thats entirely possible in managed mode but it looks like it.
m0dus said:
Oly Fark I so needed a 3D mech modeller for a project I was working on! I'll get in touch with you once that ball resumes rolling.
Ecrofirt said:
Yeah, I think that this will be a great collective learning experience that we could use in our own personal projects later down the road. Secondly, it the one project that may get the most attention and interest from gamers.
Random thoughts:
-We've been talking about 8 way movement and such...but can't we also allow for infinite degrees of movement with scaling and rotation?
-If someone made a 2D hockey game, that utilized the full widescreen for the whole ice...that would be kinda nifty. Heck, a Mutant League Hockeyish remake would be awesome.
-This whole time I've been thinking about handdrawn art when it comes to making a platfomer or shmup...but know I come to the obvious conclusion that we can use CG art for these, and it would be far faster to do so. It would allow for 30 fps animation to boot. That would look siiick.
-The thought of 2D HD games makes me horny.
-I made a very simple fun 2D game with some 2D game maker program (I think it was by Clickteam), though I think I lost it in an HDD crash. If I can find the executable, I'll post it on here. If enough people like it I'd like to try to make that my Hello World project.
-Buying the Garagegames engine is something I'd look into, but I just don't know how long it will be before it's available. I do think it's somewhat limited as well.
-2D games + shaders = OMG?
Attack You
Member
I know it's not the most productive position to offer, but if anyone needs it: give your ol' Uncle Tacky a holla for all your design doc editing needs. I'll help you convey your ideas for clarity to avoid pesky confusion and misinterpretation, recommend reference games a-plenty, and make your shit smell like fresh spring daisies.
What I WON'T do:
1] Make suggestions for the game design. Wanting to do something simple and concise, only to have the help chime in with "why aren't there more cars?," "where are the rocket launchers?," "so, how are you doing the cutscenes?" and so on only upsets Uncle Tacky -- and I reckon it would bunch your britches, too. Also, I don't have time to properly explore my ideas. I'll be too busy working on yours.
2] Write the whole damn doc for you. Hey, I'm only here to doll your baby up, not pass it through my loins.
3] Visual aid. No photoshop mock-ups or pdf magic on my end. Tacky's got a full-time class load this semester and owes some very awry critters a lot of borrowed bill/tuition money at the same time.
If there's anything else, I'll give you a heads-up before I take a crack at your doc. PM me here. Thank ya kindly.
What I WON'T do:
1] Make suggestions for the game design. Wanting to do something simple and concise, only to have the help chime in with "why aren't there more cars?," "where are the rocket launchers?," "so, how are you doing the cutscenes?" and so on only upsets Uncle Tacky -- and I reckon it would bunch your britches, too. Also, I don't have time to properly explore my ideas. I'll be too busy working on yours.
2] Write the whole damn doc for you. Hey, I'm only here to doll your baby up, not pass it through my loins.
3] Visual aid. No photoshop mock-ups or pdf magic on my end. Tacky's got a full-time class load this semester and owes some very awry critters a lot of borrowed bill/tuition money at the same time.
If there's anything else, I'll give you a heads-up before I take a crack at your doc. PM me here. Thank ya kindly.
Ninja Scooter
Member
im willing to lend a hand. Ask ecrofit, my character designs are impeccable.
wow, some guy just posted a completed game on the XNA forums (if you guys don't read it). He calls it "Asteroid Defense" sort of a top down simple shooter. What's impressive (to me at least, since I really only know Scheme haha) is that he did it in about 24 hours of work and 601 lines of code. Screen and forum below.
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=691183&SiteID=1
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=691183&SiteID=1