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Salutations, Creators!
Wow! The past few weeks have been a blur for the entire team! Last week was the Game Developers Conference, where we announced XNA Game Studio 4.0 and several of its supported features. This week was MIX 2010,where we announced the availability of the XNA Game Studio 4.0 Community Technical Preview (CTP)!
With a new product release comes new questions, so for this week’s CCC we’re going to try to answer the most common ones.
Q. Where can I download the XNA Game Studio 4.0 CTP?
A. You can download it from here at the Microsoft Download Center.
Q. Why does the download page say Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP?
A. XNA Game Studio 4.0 is a set of software tools that can be used by developers to create games for Windows Phone 7 Series, Xbox 360, and Windows PC.
Although this CTP includes XNA Game Studio 4.0 assemblies for Windows and Windows Phone, it only supports the Reach profile. If you try to create a HiDef game, you will get an error saying your hardware does not support HiDef capabilities. Your hardware is fine and really quite impressive! This error happens because we don’t support HiDef in the CTP..Q. Can I use this to make Xbox LIVE Indie Games?
A. Those creating games for Xbox LIVE Indie Games should continue to use XNA Game Studio 3.1.
Q. What’s “Reach”? What’s “HiDef”?
A. Shawn Hargreaves has a recent blog post that explains this in detail!
Q. What other tools and resources are available for me if I’m interested in making a Windows Phone 7 Series game?
A. There is lots of stuff!
- Ready to create your first XNA Game Studio 4.0 game for Windows Phone? The new article on XNA Creators Club Online, Create your First Game on Windows Phone, should help!
- Speaking of XNA Creators Club Online, the team is working hard on providing a consistent cadence of new developer education content; be sure to stay tuned to our “Education Roadmap”.
- Channel 9 is hosting the Windows Phone 7 Series Developer Training Kit. It is geared for beginners that want to get started developing apps for Windows Phone. It’s useful even if you’re not familiar with Silverlight or the XNA Framework. You can also download the training kit to your computer here.
- When should you use Silverlight? When should you use XNA Game Studio 4.0? Find out here.
- The legendary Charles Petzold is writing a book called Programming Windows Phone 7 Series; get an excerpt here!
- Domenic Datti is putting together a way of managing input between devices with an abstracted IGameActionManager interface on his blog.
- Sgt. Conker has a wrapper for all four built-in effect types in XNA Game Studio 4.0 from X-Tatic.
- XNA Game Studio/Direct X MVP Joel Martinez has already made the first Windows Phone 7 Series Flashlight App!
Q. I’m having a difficult time with the Windows Phone Emulator and XNA Game Studio 4.0 CTP! Help!
A. That’s not really a question, but Michael Klucher has a recent blog post that could help!
Q. Where can I go if I have more questions about the XNA Game Studio 4.0?
A. Our forums at XNA Creators Club Online are a great place to start. Additionally, you can also use the Windows Phone forums here!
Q. Who is out there blogging? Who is Twittering?
A. Everyone! The main people you’ll want to follow when it comes to XNA Game Studio 4.0 and Windows Phone 7 Series are the following:
Superstar
Blog
Shawn Hargreaves
Andre Vrignaud
Michael Klucher
Anand Iyer
Charlie Kindel
Loke Uei Tan
Christian Schormann
Windows Phone Dev Blog
Don’t forget to follow @XNACommunity, too!
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Aloha, Creators!
What a busy week it’s been! Earlier this week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, we announced XNA Game Studio 4.0 and shared a few details about some of the features it will offer all developers.
XNA Game Studio 4.0 beta is slated to become available to the public in the next one to two months. It provides indie developers the ability to develop games for Windows Phone 7 Series devices as well as integration with Visual Studio 2010. Existing and future XBLIGs will also benefit from added buffered audio support to the audio APIs as well as many other features! You’ll want to stay tuned for additional announcements we're planning at MIX 2010! Additional details will be available when we’re closer to release.
XNA Game Studio 4.0 also enables Xbox LIVE Gamer Services APIs for managed developers (managed developers are a select group of developers under contract with Microsoft). This means managed developers will be able to provide a premium gaming experience on Windows Phone 7 Series that can include a user’s gamertag, 2D Avatar, Achievements and asynchronous turn-based gaming; these features are not currently available to non-managed developers. Interested in become a managed developer? Specific details can be found at developer.windowsphone.com
While XNA Game Studio 4.0 is a shift to include studio developers, we haven’t forgotten our amazing indie developers. There are additional improvements Creators will enjoy through XNA Game Studio 4.0, and we’re so excited to share more of these details later this year.
For now, be sure to tune in to Windows Phone 7 Series dev team members on Twitter: (@ckindel) (@shawnhargreaves) (@ozymandias) (@ai) (@cschormann) (@lokeuei) (@mklucher). Don’t forget to check out Michael Klucher and Shawn Hargreaves’ blogs and, you can even watch video posts from GDC of them through Kluch’s Vimeo account!
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Greetings, Creators!
Welcome to March! This is the month that “comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.” Spring is knocking on our door and it would seem this is making all Xbox LIVE Indie Game Creators more productive than ever. As of March 10, 2010 the Xbox LIVE Indie Games catalog boasts 819 games!
Now on to some learning!
- XNA/DirectX MVP Jon Sedlak has released the “Focused Games Framework” (or FGF). It is a framework used for learning new technologies and exploring ideas. He’s constantly working on adding new features to it, too. If you’re using XNA Game Studio to make your game it is worth checking out!
- The ever industrious Shawn Hargreaves has has several incredible posts over the past week including: A Pop Quiz on XNA Game Studio Features and Hardware, Why Portability Matters, and Differences Between Gaming Platforms. Per usual, they could all make you smarter.
- Another XNA Game Studio Team member and Space Brain, Nick Gravelyn started working on a new tile system and editor for a ninja game he’s working on. He was looking for a the ability to change level sizes in a basic 2D array. So, naturally he solved this by building an extension method for resizing any 2D array that he shares with you in his blog!
Finally, next week is the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Many members of The XNA Game Studio Team will be in attendance, will you? Tell us all about what you see there by dropping us a line at creators@microsoft.com and be sure to say hello if you see any of us!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Hello, Incredible Creators!
Last week we hosted our beloved XNA and Direct X MVPs here in Redmond for our annual MVP Summit! Your MVPs came from all around the world to visit with our product teams in Redmond, WA. We spent a few days sharing information with these trusted members of our community, not just to tell them about what we’re planning, but also to gather feedback from the creators on the front lines, and brainstorm on improvements for XNA Game Studio, Xbox LIVE Indie Games, and…
As of now, we can’t share specifics about what was discussed, but rest assured we’re doing all we can to properly equip Indie Developers everywhere to make really incredible games!
The MVP Summit is a fantastic opportunity for us to hear great feedback in order to improve our incredible community of Creators. We are always listening on the XNA Creators Club Online forums, and you can always send us an email at creators@microsoft.com. Let us know what you want to see next!
Xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Pictures from the MVP Summit
Here are a few photos to share with you from our time with our awesome MVP’s!
Why you won’t see photos from the rest of the sessions: no photos allowed!
Thank you to Phil Bourke for the delicious Irish chocolates and Richard Thomson for the sweet tunes!
The tech guy at our dinner party learned why we warn all Xbox 360 owners not to move their consoles when a disk is spinning in the drive. Ouch!
….Lucky for us, LEGO Rock Band arrived just in time to save the day!
Everyone gathered ‘round to listen to former XNA MVP Nick Gravelyn regale everyone with tales from the other side…
Who is the MVP’s mascot? Minnie the Chihuahua, of course!
Tuesday, March 9th
- Title: Visual C++ 2010: A Turbo Boost in Productivity
Title: System-wide Game Profiling with the Windows Performance Toolkit
Title: Building an Uber-Fast Crowd Renderer for Your Next Xbox 360 Engine
Title: Block Compression Smorgasbord
Title: The Dark Art of ShadowMapping
Title: DirectX 11 Technology Update
Wednesday, March 10th
- Title: DirectX 11 DirectCompute–A Teraflop for Everyone
Title: Think DirectX 11 Tessellation! – Lots of options
Title: Developing Games for Windows Phone 7
Title: High Performance 3D Games on Windows Phone 7 Series
Title: Development and Debugging Tools for Windows Phone 7 Series
Title: Bringing the Best of Xbox LIVE to Windows Phone 7 Series
Want More Information?
Follow Shawn Hargreaves (blog/twitter) and Michael Klucher (blog/twitter) for the latest GDC news leading up to the event.
What's next? Register today!
Greetings, Creators!
It has been a very busy week for us! This is the time of year that announcements start happening and events come fast and furious! We’re doing all we can to prepare for this and meanwhile we’ve noticed that you’re making some pretty incredible games!
Recently, XNA MVP George “George Clingerman” Clingerman posted a very honest and helpful post-mortem on his Xbox LIVE Indie Game, Kissy Poo. Anyone interested in making a game should take a look at his post.
Superstar and cat lover Shawn Hargreaves always has interesting thoughts in his blog posts this week. The first points out the hazards he encounters when he attempts to predict the future (and explains why he really just doesn’t bother), and the second gives his honest opinion on the state of the XNA Framework today.
Meanwhile, have you started following Former XNA MVP/new XNA Team Member Nick Gravelyn’s Twitter? You should! This week he twittered an XNA Game Studio-related pop quiz question; you can find the answer now in his blog and perhaps learn a bit about Microsoft’s implementation of C# in XNA Game Studio.
Finally, for our Spanish-speaking Creators, we’d like to let you know about a Catalonia, Spain .Net User Group, comprised of university students; who host a regular webcast series that might be of interest to you. In their next episode, they are planning to speak with the Creator of the XBLIG, Kaotik Puzzle, and how his game was made!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Salutations, Creators!
In recent weeks we’ve seen a few questions pop up about this year’s Dream.Build.Play Competition, specifically in regard to the Old Spice Challenge. We will answer all questions necessary to enable Creators to successfully submit their games; however select details will only be shared with the finalists chosen. To bring more clarity to the commonly asked questions we’ve seen in the forums, we’re repeating the answers here.
Specifically in regard to the Old Spice Challenge:
- Games submitted to the Old Spice Challenge should include a trial mode in the event that they are chosen as a finalist.
- Of the games submitted to the Old Spice Challenge, up to five will be selected by the judges to be Contest Finalists and take part in the voting promotion on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
- Finalists (up to 5) will have one week to prepare their game for final voting. These finalists will be notified via the email address registered for the Dream.Build.Play competition.
- The games that are chosen as finalists will need to submit their game through Peer Review on XNA Creators Club Online.
- Creators of the games selected for the Old Spice Challenge will not be permitted to update their game during the voting promotion. After the voting promotion ends, any Creator with an active XNA Creators Club Online Premium Membership can update their title.
- Xbox LIVE Users can vote on the games during this promotion. Purchase a game is not a requirement to vote.
- Any Xbox LIVE User who votes will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a token for a free full version of the winning game.
- The winning game will receive payment for all token sales of their game.
Additionally, we are aware of the current problem with the CA text file in the collected fonts assets and we’re working to replace them as soon as possible!
As ever, the XNA Creators Club Online forums are a great place to find answers and we’re available by email: creators@microsoft.com.
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
Greetings, Creators!
At last we’ve reached the shortest month of the year! This month will fly by not only because it is shorter than the rest, but there is so much to do! We’ve noticed that many of you have been keeping pretty busy making amazing Xbox LIVE Indie Games, too!
GameStop’s Indie Game Challenge just announced their contest finalists, and two the games are using XNA Game Studio: Galactic Arms Race and the time-twisting shoot’em up, Zeit^2! Zeit^2 was a finalist in our Dream.Build.Play 2008 Challenge!
This years’ Global Game Jam 2010 came to a close this past weekend; thousands of developers around the world got together to create games based on one theme, “Deception”. There was a record-breaking number of entries and many of the games used XNA Game Studio to do it! If you participated and submitted a game entry, email us (creators@microsoft.com) and tell us all about your experience. You may be featured in a future Communiqué or on XNA Creators Club Online!
Finally, are you a twitterer? A tweeter? Well, the benevolent Shawn Hargreaves now has a Twitter! Be sure to follow him, just as you follow us.
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Greetings to everyone!
This week, we decided to round up different articles from all around the internet that have covered various Xbox LIVE Indie Games for a variety of reasons. You’re helping to create XBLIG; take a look, and see what people are saying!
- xnPlay’s “Best Xbox Indie Game Releases 2009” List
- This site reviews Xbox LIVE Indie Games on a regular basis. Here they sum up their top 10 XBLIGs of 2009 and talk about what made those games great!
- BoingBoing.net’s Brandon Boyer’s “What’s Microsoft Doing for Indie Games?” article
- Mr. Boyer makes several excellent points about weaknesses of our system, but goes on to praise a few of his favorite titles on XBLIG
- Gamerbytes.com
- In-Depth: Xbox Live Indie Games Sales For 2009, Plus Some Perspective
- This editorial by Ryan Langely offers a measured look at the promise of XBLIG
- Developer Reflections 2009: Barkers Crest Studio
- 2009 Developer Reflections: Mommy's Best Games
- 2009 Developer Reflections: Twisted Pixel
- 2009 Developer Reflections: Arkedo Studios
- Similar to XNA CCO’s own Spotlight series, Gamerbytes talks to individual developers and studios about their titles.
- In-Depth: Xbox Live Indie Games Sales For 2009, Plus Some Perspective
- DIYGamer.com
- 10 Great Indie Games You Didn’t Play in 2009
- Geoff Gibson Includes several XBLIG titles on his list
- Taking Stock of the Xbox Live Indie… Apps
- Mr. Gibson also offers an editorial on XBLIG applications
- Xbox Live Indie Games Still Has a Lot to Offer
- Peter Rambo responds to an IGN Editorial by Erig Brudvig
- 10 Great Indie Games You Didn’t Play in 2009
- Edge-Online.com
This is by no means a totally comprehensive list. These are just a few examples of some different websites and blogs that offer Xbox LIVE Indie Games attention. If you have additional suggestions we’d love to hear them! Just send a link to Creators@Microsoft.com; Perhaps we’ll mention them in a future post!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
This week we launched the first installment of our new Developer Talk Series on XNA Creators Club Online! The magnificent Shawn Hargreaves presented “Getting Started with Custom Shaders”, and is presenting the same talk again tomorrow (Friday, January 22nd). Friday’s session is already full, but no worries; as with all of the presentations in this series, we’ll be posting a link to a recording of this talk on Tuesday, January 26th on the Developer Talk Series page at XNA CCO. If you’ve got questions about this talk or any suggestions for future talks you’re welcome to visit the Developer Talk Series section of our XNA CCO Forums!
In other Creator-related news this week, Harmonix opened up the Rock Band Network beta! XNA Creators Club Online Premium members are automagically set to participate in the beta. Head to their website to learn about what else is required to start making your own tracks for Rock Band!
Finally, be sure to check out Major’s Minute this week; you might see something familiar!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Greetings, Indie Game Creators! We have lots of news to share with you this week, so buckle up!
First up, all Creators should take note of a small change to Peer Review. As you all know, Xbox LIVE Indie Games is just barely a year old. We’re constantly growing and adapting. We listen to your feedback and the whole team does our best to address the new questions and challenges you present us!
There were some legitimate questions and concerns about the rules within Peer Review regarding Racist/Discriminatory Language as it pertains to religion or religious texts. After careful consideration and discussion with people who hold law degrees we elaborated on this rule:
Racist/Discriminatory Language
Depictions of ethnic, religious, nationalistic or other stereotypes like to encourage hatred. Historical religious text and scriptures (such as the Ye Ole (Old) Testament, New Testament, King James Bible, Koran, Torah, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc) are permitted in an unaltered or unabridged state. Citation for a passage or quotation needs to be referenced. Xbox LIVE reserves the right to review and refuse any game content.
Secondly, (this is mostly for our incredible Student Indie Game Creators that live in the mythical land called England) on Friday February 19, 2010 videogame design and development students from all over the UK will relocate to the Birmingham City University’s Millenium Point campus for the first XNA GameCamp of 2010.
Produced by Pixel-Lab for Microsoft, X48 will see which games students can create in less than 48 hours. Using Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio 3.0 the teams will build game prototypes on a theme to be unveiled during Friday morning’s initiation. The event is free to attend, but registration is on a first come first served basis at http://x48birmingham.eventbrite.com. You can read more about it at their website and follow them on Twitter!
Finally, congratulations are in order! Beloved XNA MVP Nick Gravelyn, best known on XNA Creators Club Online as “Nick Gravelyn” and for his amazing website XboxIndies.com, has joined our team here at Microsoft! Be sure to send him your congrats, but fear not! Just because he’s no longer an XNA MVP doesn’t mean he won’t still be hopping through our forums answering questions and gently guiding those who are lost.
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Welcome to 2010! Personally, I expected flying cars by now, but once again science fails us. However, our incredible community of Xbox LIVE Indie Games Creators never, ever does. It seems although we took a corporate mandated holiday, none of you did! Just in the month of December 2009 you guys published and updated more than 130 Indie Games - way to go!
At the close of 2009, we’d also like to take a moment to call out a few Premium Creators that have really stood out and been totally incredible! Here are your top ten reviewers on XNA Creators Club Online!
| 1. | Star Gaming Network |
| 2. | PinoEire |
| 3. | Silver Dollar Games 1 |
| 4. | SGN Casual Games |
| 5. | CandelaCreations |
| 6. | Neil Jones |
| 7. | The ZMan |
| 8. | David Flook |
| 9. | GIGGITYGIGG1TY |
| 10. | DigitalDNA |
A huge thanks to the above for their hard work and effort to keep this community strong; in return, they’ve been awarded a bonus 150 reputation points! Thanks, of course, to ALL the Creators who take the time to Playtest and Peer Review games.
Remember when you are Peer Reviewing it is important to take the time to leave feedback and always check the title’s forum thread to spot any reported issues ahead of time!
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Greetings and salutations, worthy Indie Game Developers and Space Brains! Here we are nearly at the close of the year with CCC #35! As ever, we’ve mined through the meat and minutiae of the Internet to bring you these gems for your learning and enjoyment. As ever, if you’ve got a question you should start with searching the forums on XNA Creators Club Online. There are lots of people there who are probably in a similar position or at least have been there before!
On with the learnings!
Folks using XNA Game Studio can also use the Sunburn Lighting and Rendering Engine from Synapse Gaming. XNA MVP Pete offers a fantastic intro to this engine and explores what it might be able to do for you!
Per usual Shawn “la máquina” Hargreaves’ blog is a fount of XNA GS know-how. Want to learn more about texture filtering? Of course you do, because you want your games to look awesome. Check out his series that includes: mipmaps, anisotropic filtering, and the challenges presented by alpha cutouts and sprite sheet borders.
Another XNA MVP Nick “la voz” Gravelyn was inspired by a question posited on his twitter to post an introductory look at lambdas, their usages, and some examples of their use in code for XNA Game Studio developers on his blog. Take a peek (and follow Nick on twitter for additional knowledges!)
Phew! That’s already a heap of learning for just one post! If you have a question you’d like the CCC to ferret out the answer to or if you just have a bit you think is worth sharing feel free to send it along to us! We love to hear from you at XNAKat@microsoft.com.
In the meantime, don’t forget to keep on surprising us!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
*PHEW*! What a long, strange trip this summer has been! After we wrapped up PAX we devoted some time to retuning the IDN (Independent Developer Network) Team and planning all sorts of good things for 2010!
One of those is 2010’s Dream.Build.Play Challenge! This year there are actually *two* challenges where independent game developers worldwide can compete for cash and glory. One is our standard DBP Challenge you’ve come to know and love; the other is new this year, The Microsoft Old Spice Challenge! There’s always lots of excitement around Dream.Build.Play and lots of questions. We’ve recently posted a FAQ that addresses many of these questions. As ever, the Dream.Build.Play forums on XNA Creators Club Online are a great resource for answers and inspiration!
As of today, Xbox LIVE Indie Games offers more than 600 games that you cannot find anywhere else! Tracy even crafted this beautiful 3D pie chart to give you an idea of the variety of games our catalog offers:
Meanwhile, per usual, our incredible community of Creators has been sharing their own brilliant insights to help everyone make great games!
Are you just starting out? Curious about what it takes to learn how to make a game? XNA Creators Club Online’s Getting Started Guide is always a good source. An additional starter tutorial series has been recently posted by the UK XNA User Group called “Programming in C# with XNA". If you’re a beginner, or just want to check to make sure your fundamentals are sound, they’ve offered a great resource!
For Creators who feel ready for something a bit more advanced, these guys always drop sweet knowledge!
- Shawn “Code Maestro” Hargreaves wrote his “Premultiplied Alpha Blending” series because according to him “the way most people do alpha blending is bogus!” That’s right. Bogus. You just got served.
- PIX is a fantastic program that helps tons of great creators make their games even greater. Matt “Don’t Pet Me” Pettineo wrote a fantastic tutorial for getting started with PIX and XNA Game Studio at his blog, MJP’s XNA Danger Zone
- Manders vs.Machine shares lots about using PIX with XNA Game Studio. In this post he gets real specific about importing and rendering XAML shape data in XNA Game Studio.
- Lots of folks like to critique games once they are finished. Nick “Tall Drink of Water” Gravelyn actually offers constructive and insightful feedback through his blog on what he believes made Echoes+ so good. He also shares an honest post-mortem of his own title, Pixel Man.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of what can be found out there if you want to learn more about creating games using XNA Game Studio. If you’ve got a suggestion for a great post to share through the Creators Club Communique please feel free to send it along to me at XNAKat@microsoft.com.
Meanwhile, keep surprising us with all your awesome Xbox LIVE Indie Games!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manger
Are you as excited as we are at today’s arrival of the Zune HD? If you've already picked yours up from your local retailer or are eagerly awaiting your delivery from Zune Originals, we are pleased to announce the immediate availability of XNA Game Studio 3.1 Zune Extensions to support Zune HD. This add-on for XNA Game Studio 3.1 adds the following functionality to the product:
- The ability to target and develop for the Zune HD media player.
- The addition of new Touch APIs to the XNA Framework for use on the Zune HD.
- The addition of new Accelerometer APIs to the XNA Framework for use on the Zune HD.
You'll also find new documentation and examples integrated into Visual Studio help that will show you how to leverage the new APIs, as well as a tutorial on how to update the Platformer Game Starter Kit to use the new Touch API's.
Barring the new input models available, your game should port over relatively easily.
Beyond the changes outlined here, all of the other XNA Game Studio functionality with the Zune HD remains the same as it did with earlier versions of the device.
You'll find the download for the XNA Game Studio 3.1 Zune Extensions by following this link. If you have questions or need help getting started using XNA Game Studio 3.1 Zune Extensions, please visit this thread on the XNA Creators Club forums!
Enjoy your Zune HD!
We survived and hopefully if you were there you did, too! There is news that at least one reported case of Swine Flu has been reported, though. So, if you were there and are feeling less-than-healthy see a doctor right away.
Team XNA had a great time and we can’t wait to share all the stories, pictures and even videos from the Xbox LIVE Indie Games booth at PAX! We’re currently furiously putting it all together for you and doing our best to stay healthy. We hope all of you do as well!
Look for updates in the next few days!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Greetings and glad tidings to everyone! We’re fast approaching the close of one hot summer here with the Seattle area. The end of summer brings with it many things; two of the biggest being the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) and our annual Dream.Build.Play Competition!
If you haven’t already, be sure to add yourself to the XNA Creators Club Online Facebook group, and sign up for all the fun we have planned for this year’s PAX!
Dream.Build.Play 2009 Finalists and PAX Peoples’ Choice Award
Top agents have been working hard playing the more than 350 games, made with XNA Game Studio 3.1, entered for this year’s Dream.Build.Play Competition. We’ll maturely and professionally debate over them until we decide on the top six titles. The top six games will join us at PAX, where those attending will be given a chance to play them. Everyone at our booth will be able to vote on their favorite game, and that game will receive an additional award and the honor of being PAX Peoples Choice! Be sure to stop by the booth to see these games before anyone else and vote for your favorite!
Xbox LIVE Indie Games Texas Hold ‘Em Charity Event
When: Saturday, September 5th at 12:00 (noon) PSTWhere: Xbox LIVE Indie Games booth
Who: Players will be randomly selected from those who are marked as “attending” on this Facebook event.
Do you know when to hold 'em? Do you know when to fold 'em? Do you know when to walk away? Do you know when to run? Well, if you do, enter the Texas Hold 'em Charity Tournament, hosted by Xbox LIVE Indie Games and benefiting Child’s Play! Those selected will participate in a round-robin style tournament, playing a never-before-seen Texas Hold 'em Indie Game created by TikGames! Everyone that competes in the tournament will receive a prize, with the winner receiving an awesome prize package!
Panels
Of the many, many amazing panels held this during this year’s PAX, these three are some we think would be of particular interest to indie game developers like you!
Breaking into the Game Industry the Educated Way
Friday, 1:00pm-2:00pm, Raven Theatre
Computer and video gaming industries have grown from niche markets to mainstream. Top studios seek top talent to make their multi-million dollar games. Colleges are picking up on this trend – even major universities have begun offering game design programs and degrees. What should you expect to get from this education? How can any curriculum keep up with the breakneck pace gaming technology is advancing? Educators and professionals discuss the real world value of a game degree.
Panelists Include: Denise Novosel [Moderator] - (Staffing Manager IEB and E&D, Microsoft), Kim Swift (Game Designer, Valve Software), Kelvin Sung (Associate Professor Computing and Software Systems, University of Washington Bothell), Ron Jenkins (The Guildhall at SMU, Deputy Director), Joshua Hernandez (Producer, Metamoorephosis)
What is an 'Indie Game'?
Saturday, 3:00pm - 4:00pm, Wolfman Theatre
The rise in game platforms and distribution mechanisms has elevated the cultural profile of indie games. But along with this increased attention is an increasing debate about how to break through in the market. What really makes an indie title? Is it the game’s budget, art style, community outreach, or their distribution mechanism that really makes indies soar? This panel will examine the success stories within the indie gaming community to begin to expand and educate developers and gamers about this in-demand space.
Panelists include: N'Gai Croal [Moderator] - (Consultant, Writer, Columnist, Hit Detection LLC), Boyd Multerer (XNA General Manager, Microsoft), Simon Carless (Chairman, Independent Games Festival), Derek Yu (Editor-In-Chief, The Independent Gaming Source) James Silva (President, Ska Studios)
Harmonix Rock Band Network Panel
Saturday, 5:30pm – 6:30pm, Serpent Theatre
Rock Band Network is a groundbreaking initiative to empower musicians to put their songs into Rock Band themselves. But here’s the thing – it’s also pretty hard if you don’t know what you’re doing. Come see members of the Harmonix RBN team give a demonstration of the process from charting songs to playing them. With Special Guest – Jonathan Coulton.
Xbox LIVE Indie Games Booth
All weekend long we’ll be rocking out in Booth 141 on the expo floor. We’re bringing plenty of stuff to share, play, and give away! Be sure to drop by and say hello; we want to meet our Indie fans! We took a picture to show off our rad Xbox LIVE Indie Games PAX 09 shirts so you know who to look for!
Follow us on Twitter and here on the Team XNA blog to stay up to date on everything happening all weekend long!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
(Left to Right: Tracy, Kathleen, Minnie, Stephanie)
It is a big week here for Team XNA! With the new Xbox 360 dashboard let’s welcome all the games that have been updated to XNA Game Studio 3.1. Indie Game Developers in Japan can now share their games on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, too!
Servicing has also been enabled. This means when you update your Xbox LIVE Indie Game anyone who has purchased it will be prompted to download the most current version when they go to play your title. This doesn’t mean you should ignore your consumers, though! Remember to use your game’s thread on the Xbox.com Forums to communicate with them!
Perhaps best of all – User Ratings is available for all content on Xbox LIVE Marketplace! You’ll see the new tab when browsing Xbox LIVE Indie games that lists the current top rated games.
Team XNA is currently working overtime to make this the best PAX ever for XBLIG! We’re going to be there with prizes, contests, games… and more! If you haven’t already joined our XNA Creators Club Facebook Group – you should! We’ve got all the info on the Texas Hold ‘Um Charity Event that you can enter. We’re also involved with a few panels throughout the weekend. You can read more about it here.
If you’re an Xbox LIVE Indie Game creator who is planning to be at PAX this year be sure to let me know! Email me at XNAKat@microsoft.com – we want to be sure to meet you!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
Greetings! We’ve been radio silent for a few weeks, working hard on some new features you’ll see at XNA Creators Club Online starting later this week. In the meantime, you guys have been busy!
- MVP Nick Gravelyn, of XboxIndies.com, wrote a very helpful article on using interpolation to help put the final polish on your Xbox LIVE Indie Game.
- The Mind of Conkerjo hosts a good deal of helpful XNA framework-related content. Recently, he wrote two articles about using AI with XNA Game Studio and even shared an AI Library he’s developing.
- Another amazing MVP, Pete has already written some great stuff on using Avatars with XNA Game Studio 3.1. Recently he expanded on this with two more articles featuring Avatar Transitions and Avatar Shadows.
There are always so many fantastic articles and helpful Creators it is really difficult to pick just a few to share in the CCC. For example, Shawn Hargreaves’ ever-prolific blog has been as fruitful as ever. I could take the time to list all the helpful articles, but really if you use XNA Game Studio and like things that are awesome you should have his blog bookmarked. Wouldn’t it be great if there were some way that we could show on CCO who’s an experienced “Creator” and those that are …well…not? Or what if we could give credit when people offer good stuff and answer questions? That could be rad.
In totally, completely unrelated news, we’re going to have a brief bit of downtime this Thursday, July 23, 2009. When we come back online, we hope to have a few treats to share with you. If you’re a Premium member of XNA Creators Club Online, that wants to keep busy during our absence, you should check out all our new Avatar-related Dev-Ed content!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager
The XNA Creators CLub has had a number of big announcements and changes in the past few weeks! We understand you’ve endured a few bumps and problems while we get things back up and running. Your understanding and support has been incredible. Hopefully by tomorrow, this battlestation should be quite operational. If you’re still having problems feel free to contact us at creators@microsoft.com. We’ll do what we can to straighten it out!
Now, onward to learnings! With the release of XNA Game Studio 3.1 comes the ability to put Avatars into your Xbox LIVE Indie Games! This week’s CCC will touch on a few posts from around the internets that could provide helpful insights into using Avatars.
XNA MVP Pete offered a quick post he calls Avatars 101 on his blog. He not only explains what Avatars are, but also includes links to other helpful information. It’s worth checking out!
On the XNA Community Codeplex, several space geniuses offered an Avatar Animations sample using 3D Studio Max and Collada.
Team XNA’s own Dean “Avatar: The Last Airbender” Johnson has generated several posts on Avatars over the past few months on his blog.
- Avatar API Preview for XNA Game Studio 3.1
- What to do while an Avatar loads?
- Avatar Animation Update
Dean also contributed several Avatar samples to Creators Club Online:
- Avatar Animation Blending Sample
- Avatar Multiple Animations Sample
- Object Placement on Avatar Sample
Hopefully, these can help you get started using this exciting new feature with your own Xbox LIVE Indie Game. Remember, projects created or converted to XNA Game Studio 3.1 cannot be submitted to XNA Creators Club, yet. However, it is required for projects that want to enter this year’s Dream.Build.Play competition!
Finally, be sure to check out all the rules on the use of Avatars so you don’t get you or your Avatars into trouble!
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager