Starting With XNA

[Blackwolf]

So, tonight I finally got around to installing XNA Game Studio Express and playing around.

After probably an hour or two (including installing), I already had my show logo controllable by the Xbox 360 controller, along with force feedback when the logo hit the sides - as well as being in 720p widescreen. I love this compared to DirectX programming - they really aren't kidding when they say that most of the work is done for you.

Much to y'all's chagrin, I will most likely be starting with card games. The last time I was successful in creating a full game, it was a card game, because it used minimal art (I can steal the card graphics from any clip art place) and I can write simple AI for the games I want to make...The weirdest thing is that there are no included functionality for text in XNA. I'd like for there to be a way to just write text to the screen liek in GDI, but alas, that's not the case. There is a workaround that someone made, but I'm not at the point where I want to start stealing other people's code...yet.

[Octocamo]

I'm going to check this stuff out. Gh33da said he's already making stuff with it supposedly.

I have to make a Blackjack game real soon in java. ;(

[Blackwolf]

Actually, anybody here know of any good-looking free graphics that feature a full deck of cards? I found some but they're all from the 90's and therefore not high resolution enough for a 720p game. (And the cards I used last time are ALSO from the 90's and were made for a game that was in 640x480.)

[GH33DA]

http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/305361

[Digital*Firefly]

Please post some pics of the stuff you guys are doing.

[GH33DA]

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061215/sheffield_01.shtml

[Blackwolf]

I got XNA on my 360 tonight and the code I wrote on my PC worked with only one change (had to change the name of the namespace from WindowsGame1 to Xbox360Game1 in my source file) - I was impressed.

They're making it too easy to start.

[H.A.W.G.]

so how difficult is this, I have never done anything like this before, will I be able to do it

[Blackwolf]

so how difficult is this, I have never done anything like this before, will I be able to do it

You do need programming experience already. If you don't already have programming experience, I believe you'll get overwhelmed and give up pretty easily.

If you're *considering* it, get the free downloads and DON'T pay for the 360 memberships - you can do everything for the PC (including using the 360 controller) - the only thing you pay for is actually putting the game on your 360 and playing it.

[H.A.W.G.]

Yeah I opend a new project, looked at it, and quit

[Blackwolf]

So, after a couple of hours, I've created a complete deck of cards, created ways to shuffle the deck, take cards out of decks and place them into other decks (this way I can use the same class for draw piles, discard piles, and player hands) as well as a mechanism to see which cards are valid (for Crazy Eights).

Starting the game has it shuffling the deck 7 times, and then dealing 7 cards, one to the player first and then to the computer. And yes, the computer's cards are real cards - if you hold down RB and LB, you can see what he has in his hand and cheat.

Pressing Y draws from the draw pile, right and left on the DPad move along your valid cards, and pressing A on a valid card puts it in the discard pile. No actual game mechanics are in (ie the computer doesn't take a turn yet) and it crashes when you have no more cards. Like I said, just a few hours worth of work.

The rising of the selected cards (and falling of the previous selected cards) are also animated for 25 frames.

And here's the overly unimpressive screenshot (gk128 in chat said "woo windows 3.1 here we are):

http://www.allgames.com/images/misc/screenshot1.jpg

This program would not look right on a 360 because TV sets actually have dead area. You're not seeing the whole 1280x720 picture on a TV - you actually have to accomidate for a certain percentage of screen area to be not visible. Unfortunately these card images are too high of a resolution to fit in the 360's viewable area, so I'll probably have to scale them down.

[Gene Starwind]

HD card playing.

Gentlemen, we have entered a golden age.

[Blackwolf]

Writing a card game, for me, is one of the easiest ways to learn a new language.

[Gryff Seeker]

You're next time on the list should definately be...

http://www.jefflewis.net/graphics/programming/qbasic-gorilla-screenshot.gif

Gorilla...

[UltraMannilow]

Good looking work guys.

I just DL'd the stuff over the weekend and from what little I've seen, people that have coded before will have a field day with this.

It still maybe a little to involved for laymen, such as myself, to actually make games yet, but soon, since the support and tutorials are growing daily.

A couple I've found:

http://www.xnatutorial.com/
http://xbox360homebrew.com/
http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story/xbox-make-your-own-games-xna-10-steps-diy
http://www.riemers.net/index.php
Happy developing!

[Blackwolf]

I have finally opened up the Bobby Blackwolf Does XNA (http://www.allgames.com/blog.asp?blog=xna) blog over here at Allgames. I've even made some progress on the card game...!