DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by Mykre

Microsoft Releases XNA Game Studio 3.0

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:27:15 GMT

It is finally that time, Microsoft have released the next edition of XNA Game Studio.

Introducing the New Community Manager

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:27:24 GMT

For years now we have had the privilege of having the support of David Weller as our Community Manager for all things Managed DirectX and then XNA, but as David had to leave us to pursue other ventures we have been left without a conduit into the Microsoft World. Today the XNA Blog has Introduced the New Community Manager for the XNA Systems.

Kollectiv has Been Released

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:55:35 GMT

Kollectiv - A puzzle game written in C# using microsofts XNA Framework. This is an addicting cross between tetris and bejeweled and is playable via mouse, keyboard or gamepad (only on the XBOX 360).

Using Visual Studio Code Snippets for XNA Development

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:32:27 GMT

On the XNA IRC Channel this morning someone asked a question on how to use the Visual Studio Code snippets. I have been using these snippets for a long time, not normally for XNA but for other applications. But when the question popped up I thought I would put something together for the XNA Development world, in some cases the snippets functions could assist us with code that we seem to type all of the time.

Very Silly Games

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:33:11 GMT

Rob Miles has put together a new Web Site called VerySillyGames, with this site he plans to put together a collection of Very Silly Games that you can download that will include the full Source code.

New Content on the XNA Creators Site

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:47:33 GMT

Microsoft has released a new batch of Updated and New Content on the Creators Site, we have also been informed that there will be more released each Thursday for the next 3 weeks. If you have any questions or suggestions on Content you can post in the Content Forums on the Creators Site.

Tutorial Series - Creating a Game Engine in XNA

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:31:02 GMT

RoeCode over at Running on Empty has started a series of Articles that go through the process of creating a Game Engine using the XNA Framework. In this first article he starts of with the base classes to get the program running, this includes some helper classes that utilize the XNA Storage system for saving the game settings.

Use your Xbox 360 Controller in Powerpoint

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:28:57 GMT

Now here is a different use of the Xbox 360 Controller (With the help of the XNA Framework), Bruno has put together a simple office plug in for power point that will allow the user to use the Xbox 360 controller to control his presentations.

Xbox 360 Controller Component for Windows and WPF Applications

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:18:36 GMT

In my last post I talked about an Addin for Powerpoint that allowed you to use your Xbox 360 Controller to control the presentation. The addin uses a small component that wraps around the XNA Frameworks Gamepad class that allow the controller to be used inside any windows or WPF Application.

XNA Toolkit on Codeplex

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:18:07 GMT

The XNA Toolkit project on Codeplex has had it's first release, included in this release are several camera components, as well as audio and others.

XNA Dream Build Play Sample Entry for Silicon Minds

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:38:00 GMT

The guys from the Microsoft Research group have released a sample entry for the Dream Build Play warm up Comp "Silicon Minds". This sample goes through the basics of what the judges are looking for, for those who are entering please have a look at this as it may help you get a foot in the door.

XNA 2.0 has been Released

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:16:04 GMT

Well it has been a late night, early Morning, or a nice evening for some... but the XNA Game Studio 2.0 has finally been released.

XNA 2.0 Release - Good news for Students

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:28:40 GMT

With the up and coming release of the XNA Game Studio 2.0, Microsoft have announced some benefits that will be offered to faculty members and students in January.

Dream Build Play 2.0 - Warm Up Challenge Coming Soon

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:07:27 GMT

If you drop over to the Dream Build Play site you will notice that this years warm up challenge is coming soon.

XNA 2.0 Beta Ending Soon

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:04:08 GMT

Looks like the release of XNA 2.0 is just around the corner. The Microsoft XNA Team have announced that the Beta for XNA 2.0 will be ending soon.

Hello World in XNA

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:55:03 GMT

Nazeeh has posted a really good article that goes through a good introduction to the base game project that is shipped with the XNA System, he also takes you through a simple hello world example. For those who are interested in understanding the basic layout of the default template I would highly suggest this post.

XNA - Displaying Centred Text

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:13:14 GMT

Here is a couple of quick lines of code that will allow you to display some text on the screen that is centred. When using this sample it will calculate the length of the text, then work out the exact centre of the screen. Then using the normal sprite origin functions it will work out the exact centre of the text and position it on the screen.

XNA 2.0 Networking and LIVE Requirements

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:16:57 GMT

Michael Klucher has released some more information on the Networking systems that are going to be available with the up and coming release of XNA 2.0. In the post he lists some of the main questions or scenarios and the answers to those.

XNA Game Studio 2.0 Beta Coming Soon

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:53:47 GMT

The XNA Team have announced that we will soon be seeing a public Beta release of the XNA Game Studio 2.0 system.

Calling all XNA Enthusiasts in Melbourne and Sydney

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:39:02 GMT

Come and join us for an evening with Pete Isensee from the global Microsoft XNA team. Pete is in Australia for the Game Connect Asia Pacific conference to speak about developing for the Xbox 360 and PC platforms. Join us for an informal evening to hear Pete talk about the XNA framework, Game Studio tools and answer questions about your own XNA projects.

XNA Tutorial - Fading a Splash Screen from the Distance

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:05:38 GMT

With this third Tutorial I am going to provide you with the simple steps to have the logo fade in from the distance. To do this we are going to use the information from the two previous tutorials and then utilise the scaling of a sprite to have the image move from the distance to the main foreground.

Microsoft DirectX SDK (November 2007) Released

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 22:32:24 GMT

Microsoft have just Released the DirectX SDK (November 2007 Release). Included in this release is a small note that as of March 2008 the DirectX SDK will support Visual Studio 2008, and will drop support for Visual Studio 2003.

XNA Tutorial - Creating a Splash Screen

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:58:59 GMT

I am currently working on a small collection of projects, what I am finding is that I want to put a splash screen onto each application. This splash screen would display my logo and any of the partner logos for the application before the application starts.

3D Physics Engine for XNA in Progress

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:33:46 GMT

Nick Gravelyn has been waiting for a while for a 3D physics system for his XNA Projects, but it looks like the wait has just been too long.

Book Review - XNA Game Studio Creator's Guide

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:53:51 GMT

Review of a very good book on XNA game development.