XNA, Managed DirectX and Game Programming

Blender 3D 2.46 RC3 Available

Looks like the Latest Release Candidate for the Blender 3D 2.46 System is available for download.

According to the Blender 3D Site this is the last official testing build of the system before release.

The build team now prepares the last official testing build for 2.46.
You can download it from download.blender.org/release/

XNA - Skip Lancer Released

The guys from the Skip Lancer team have released the game for Download. On the site you can download the Windows and Xbox Versions of the Game.

I posted a link to some videos of the game earlier in the month, here is the Link for those who missed it.

Skip Lancer

"Play as Skip Lancer, a blue jay with ambitions of becoming the best stunt-bird in the world. Perform death-defying stunts and gain accreditation in the World Headquarters of Official Stunt-bird Heroes (WHOOSH)."

Game Features

• Play as Skip Lancer, a rookie stunt-bird trying to become the best pilot in the industry.
• Perform death-deifying stunts and overcome obstacles.
• 2.5-D side-scrolling action.
• Create your own levels with the built-in level editor.
• Multiple objectives per level.
• Compete against players for high scores.

System Requirements

PC Version

• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher.
• A graphics card that supports Shader Model 1.1 or greater and DirectX 9.0c.
• 150MB of hard disk space.

Xbox 360 Version

• Xbox 360 Console with connected hard drive.
• XNA Creators Club Subscription (might not be required in the near future).

XNA Game - Barnyard Racer

Found a video of a Racing game I might actually play, Barnyard Racer. The game looks like it has a good set of ideas, but the main feature that I do like is the Track Editor.

Also if you are watching the Video the Programmers are looking for 3D Artists and have left an email for you to contact them on.

XNA Game - Ring -O- Star

Here is an interesting video of a game developed using XNA.

"3D space simulator game created on XNA, Shader graphics and collision engine"

To me it looks like a good Flight Slaylom type game, any chance of seeing some source code or a demo for us to play?

XNA Game - Castle

Nick Gravelyn is currently playing around with a simple platform game, from what I understand it is using his tile engine as a base, including some graphics supplied by http://www.xnadevelopment.com/.

Here is the third Preview that Nick has posted.

Decided to get some really basic AI into the game today. They move and fall just like the player reacting to the gravity modifying area and the gravity flip. I can also shoot them with fireballs to remove them. The video shows a basic 200 enemy spawning followed by a stress testing 6000 enemy spawn. The numbers in the top left are the number of enemies and the frame rate.

GraffitiCMS - Migration from Community Server 2007

We I thought that I was finally ready to do the Data Migration.. I had played around with the Setup and install, then looked at the way the system worked. Next I dug into the basic themes and moved them around. The final task was to see if I could get my Blog data from the Community Server 2007 system into the Graffiti CMS System.

To start off I needed to make sure that I had Backups of both code bases and Data, just in case. But the good thing is that I was doing this test across the two development systems that I have, this way if it didn't work no one would have known.

When using the migration tools that are included in the base install all I needed was the connection string to the Community Server 2007 Database and the Application Key that I was migrating from. In the case of my Community Server system it was the name of the blog. For example the Blog address in Community Server was <SiteURL>/Blogs/Mykre so the Application key was Mykre.

Then when you run the tool, the system connects to the Community Server 2007 Database and pulls back all of the post information for you, at this point you would select what Graffiti CMS Category you would like the posts added to as well as the Owner of the Posts. At the point that the posts have finished being collected you are given the choice of what posts you would like to migrate.

When finished the migration is almost complete, the last stage is to install a simple plugin that will allow the old Community Server 2007 Link format to redirect to the new Blog Posts.

I still have not finished yet, with my current site I have several Content files or Articles that I link to in several places. What I now need to do is work out how to recreate those and relink so that they can be migrated with out any problem.

GraffitiCMS - A Really Easy system to Install

I have downloaded the Free version and gone through the install, The good thing is that it was a really easy install to go through. I did have a few small problems, but in the end It was me :). Maybe I should read the documentation more.

I have found that you need to make sure that you have all of the security right on the files and directories, this includes the User running the Application Pool for the web site.

But in the end it is done, and now I need to customize the solution.

First step is to make sure that if I am going to swap over all of my custom changes that I did in Community Server can be transferred across. By this I mean the advertising, and the CSModules I use in my Blogging.

The next Step is to make sure all of my current content can be migrated to this system.

GraffitiCMS - Time to have a look

Over the last few years I have been doing a lot with Telligents Community Server. In that time I have rolled out several sites and help others with their configuration of Community Server, I have also written several add on Modules for the base system.

But lately I have been looking at the Graffiti CMS Project and thinking that it is about time I start to play with it. I do know that I have several clients that are planing web site rollouts and Graffiti looks like it will fit the bill. But I feel that I should be ready when that time comes, so for now I am setting up the system on one of my development servers to see how it runs and what I can do with it.

I know that this is a step away from my Game Development with XNA, but I do a lot of work with other technologies these include SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint, Powershell and lots of other Microsoft Systems.

I plan on posting about the process that I go through so that others may learn from it, this may also include a Migration from Community Server 2007.

Young Modeller - Modelling a Space Ship in Maya

I normally do not post things about Maya, but this morning I was going through my normal search's and found a really good tutorial on Modelling a space ship in Maya. Now this model is nothing special but it will give you a good idea of the processes involved.

The part that I did like is the person that is doing the tutorial is 7 years of age, this shows that even the youngest person can do some 3d modelling, this should give hope to all those developers out there who say that they can not model anything.

XNA Game - Retro Bubble Bobble

After posting about Bubble Blaster earlier I thought that it would also be nice to post about the following game on GameProjects.com.

Retro Bubble Bobble was release a while back on the XNA 1.0r and now it has been upgraded to run under the XNA 2.0 Framework. Drop over to the GameProjects site and download the game, included in the download is the source code for the game.

XNA Game - Bubble Blaster

Here is a really nice Bubble Blaster type game written using the XNA Framework.

XNA Tile Engine Videos

Over the last few weeks Nick Gravelyn has been putting together a really good XNA Based Tile Engine Tutorial Series. Now I know that most of these videos have been large in size, and therefor hard for some to get hold of.

But to answer this Nick is willing to ship the Tutorial Series on DVD.

I’ve had a few requests so I thought I’d make a quick announcement. I am willing to burn and ship DVDs (or multiple CDs if necessary) for the tile engine series. This came up from people who had slow Internet connections or other restrictions that prevented them from being able to get the videos.

That in mind I’ve decided to produce and ship some DVDs to anyone interested. The pricing looks like this:

DVD shipped to United States/Canada: $15
DVD shipped to anywhere else: $20 (extra $5 for extra shipping costs)
CDs are $5 more than the DVDs because I have to burn two or three CDs for each DVD

For more information please read Nicks post on his Blog.

XNA Game - Metroid Lightspeed

Here is a small video of a game called "Metroid Lightspeed"

This is the current version of my shmup project Metroid Lightspeed. The game takes place between the events of Metroid II and Super Metroid, and has Samus piloting her ship through a Space Pirate armada.

I do not have anymore information on it, but would like to see more of it (shmup's are a favourite of mine).

XNA Game - Precision

Here is a video of a new game developed using XNA "Precision - XNA Xtreme"

The game looks like it has some interesting game play items, wonder if there is a chance of a Download so that we can all give it a go.

XNA Wiki opens its doors

Nick Gravelyn, one of the XNA MVPs has started an XNA Based Wiki. The main hope of the Wiki is for the community to have a central place where they can place code snippets and information on XNA.

I’ve decided to try something new. While at Summit I decided to purchase and open up XNAWiki.com. My goal is for the community to no longer have pastebins, forum posts, and blogs where they have to dig around to find useful code that isn’t in published samples or tutorials. I would love to see the community have a single repository for all this useful data. Hence XNA Wiki.

Here is the direct link to the Wiki.

XNA Wiki is a place for XNA Game Studio users to collaborate and share code, techniques, and tutorials to aid others in the pursuit of game development for all.

To get started using XNA Game Studio, visit the Official Getting Started page. All system requirements are listed there as well.

Feel free to create an account and start adding to the community in the upper right corner of the page. Sharing of code is highly encouraged so that we, as a community, can have a central repository for reusable code for everyone to access. For an introduction to Wikis, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki.

Please note that XNA Wiki is not to be used as a pastebin for debugging your code. If you simply need to share code for debugging purposes, please try one of the many Pastebins that are already available online.

Blender 3D Tutorial - Making a Chain

Here is a simple tutorial that will take you through the process of creating a Chain using the Blender 3D Application.

XNA Game - Skip Lancer Coming Soon

A little while ago I posted a couple of videos on a new game called Skip Lancer. The good news is that we should have a downloadable version of the by the end of April.

Skip Lancer Home Page...

Play as Skip Lancer, a blue jay with ambitions of becoming the best stunt-bird in the world. Perform death-defying stunts and gain accreditation in the World Headquarters of Official Stunt-bird Heroes (WHOOSH).

Game Features...

• Play as Skip Lancer, a rookie stunt-bird trying to become the best pilot in the industry.
• Perform death-deifying stunts and overcome obstacles.
• 2.5-D side-scrolling action.
• Create your own levels with the built-in level editor.
• Multiple objectives per level.
• Compete against players for high scores.

When the download becomes available, give it a go and pass on the feedback to the authors.

Blender 3D - Are you looking for Support

Over the last few months I have been picking up on my Blender skills and really starting to get some good work done. What I did find though is that there is a giant wealth of knowledge out there if you know where to find it.

So with this in mind I have collected a small collection of Links and resources where budding new Blender 3D Artists can go to find all the support that they will need.

Blender 3D Links

• Blender 3D - Home of Blender 3D
• Download Blender 3D - This is where you can Download Blender 3D
• BlenderNation - The primary source of Blender 3D News and Events.
• Blender Art Magazine - A Bi-Monthly online (And Downloadable) Magazine with the main goal of providing quality learning content for the blender community, from the efforts of the community itself.
• Blender Model Repository - The official Blender 3D Model Repository.

Tutorial Sites

• Blender Underground - Great selection of video tutorials to get you started.
• Blender Newbies - Good collection of tutorials for the newbee to the Blender 3D World.
• SciFi-Meshes - SciFi-Meshes has a good tutorial collection on getting started with Blender 3D, it goes through all of the basics in an easy to read format.
• Learn Blender 3D - A good collection of Web Based Video tutorials for the Blender 3D Application, these tutorials will help anyone getting started with Blender.
• Virtual Realm Blender 3D Tutorials - My little collection of Blender 3D Tutorials with an XNA Twist.

Support for Blender 3D

• Blender 3D Development Forums - This is the main Forum for all things related to the Development of Blender 3D
• BlenderArtists.org - This is one of the more popular general support forums for Blender 3D, it is also a good place to show off your work.
• CGSociety, Society of Digital Artists - This is a good resources for all your General CG needs.
• CGSociety Blender 3D Forum - This is an Application Specific forum on CGSociety that deals with the needs of Blender 3D Artists.
• Blender Underground Forums- Good General support forum for Blender Underground's Tutorials and General Blender Discussions.
• Blender Newbies Support Forum - General Support for Blender 3D and the Blender Newbies Tutorials.

And off course we can not forget the Artist's Corner forum on Creators.

As always if you do know of anymore that could be added to the list please comment so that this list can grow.

XNA Game - Agent MOO Maximum Overdeath

I came across this game today, looks like the idea could work, but I would look at getting a new sound track for it.

Agent MOO Maximum Overdeath

"Over the past few months I have been working on a multiplayer 2d shooter in XNA. I don't have a title for it yet, but the game is playable and you can download the beta and try it out. There's no instruction manual per se, but you basically load up the game, and start a new one (host) or join a game from the list. Also set your player name, it gets confusing with a bunch of Roy G. Bivs running amok."

GDC 2008 XNA Slides and Videos are out

The Slides and Videos from this years Game Developers Conference have been added to the Microsoft Downloads site.

• Networking with the XNA Framework

  Speaker: Shawn Hargreaves

• Understanding XNA Framework Performance

  Speaker: Shawn Hargreaves

• CLR Performance

  Speaker: Frank Savage

• Extending the Content Pipeline

  Speaker: Frank Savage

• Advanced Debugging with Managed Code

  Speaker: Matthew Picioccio

• XNA Game Studio 2.0 for Xbox LIVE Arcade

  Speaker: Mitch Walker