DBP 2008 WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

The winners of this year's Dream.Build.Play competition have been announced today.

In order:

1. Carneyvale Showtime,
2. Battle Tennis,
3. Weapon of Choice, and
4. HurricaneX 2.

Congrats to the winning teams!!!

THE GAMEFEST HAS BEEN GREAT SO FAR

Oh man, I'm really excited of having travelled this far to get to Seattle's Gamefest.

I've been talking with many different people (peers, MSFties, MS partners, exhibitors, etc.), giving and collecting cards like crazy, and played a lot of games. In short, having a really quality time.

In this sense, meeting the guys behind XNA GS have been really nice: Shawn, Eli, Michael, and the rest of the guys. Also cool Xna'ers like Chad Carter, Bill Reiss, and of course, "old" XNA'ers (and ex-MSFTies) like TheZMan (Andy).

Also it has been a great opportunity to discuss some crazy ideas and techniques that I have and of course want to implement in the near future, and believe me when I say that the feedback has been encouraging (thanks Shawn).

The talks have been quite handy. Lots of techniques, upcoming features, relevant information, and of course: the yummy 70% that we "indies" could get if we reach the next phase with our games.

So, guys, tomorrow I'll be returning to Vancouver with my wife and sister, so maybe I can post more comments about the conference.

Opps. Have to go. The next talk is starting.

See ya.

VS 2008 & .NET 3.5 SP 1 BETA RELEASES

I was reading Scott Guthried's blog this morning so I found a great surprise: the first Service Pack beta release for both, Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 is out.

One of the things that amazed me while reading through the new features we'll find in the final release has the following title: "WPF Interoperability with Direct3D".

But why does this means a lot to me -or should mean a lot to us XNA-based game developers?

If you ever attempted to integrate a D3D-based game/application into a WPF-based project, you may know that one of the hard burdens to surpass to get that job done is called "Airspace", a strict rule that prevents both type of applications to co-exist in the same region of the screen, at least without a simple solution.

And I say simple here because to "bend" this rule a little bit to make the user believe that a real integration exists -meaning, as if there was not Airspace at all in the first place- either you had to use a decorator-pattern-based implementation or a solution where you intercept all windows messages in order to "bake" all pixels rendered by D3D into an image that can be later used by any WPF control ... if you want to know more about this rule and or get one of these solutions or both of them just do a simple Internet search with the words "DirectX WPF Airspace" :)

Well, as this is becoming a built-in feature now, it means that we can stop worrying about finding or choosing the optimum way to integrate D3D and WPF, what in turn means that we don't have to constraint our D3D-based projects to WinForms controls anymore and thus we can let our imagination fly to create a rock-solid kicking @$$ game-level editor using WPF and XNA -specially now that GS 3 integrates into VS2008.

Really great news ... although we have to wait a bit more to get our hands on this feature until the final SP is released ... :)

Cheers!
Pete

HAVING DRIVER PROBLEMS WITH 64-BIT VISTA?

I have received today a newsletter from CNET.com with a list of programs to watch during this year 2008.

To my surprise one of the programs -called "Magic 64-Bit Vista Wonderland"- claims to solve all driver-incompatibility issues with 64-Bit Vista OS.

My version of Vista is 32-bit, however, I decided to post a link to the program for those of you who need to resolve driver issues. The file is free to download and only 11k! C'mon ...

... Btw, use it at your own risk!

[!ekoj s'loof lirpA na si siht :gninraW]

XNA GS 3: THE LUCKY NUMBER!

Being an old timer, it's incredible to see how fascinating the world of XNA is moving ahead. Since Managed DX first appeared, there also appeared the first steps of a big company to introduce C#, and managed code in general, into the game-development industry.

After all the uncertainty around the future of managed code in games when the doom of MDX 2 was unveiled -specially for all us who had embraced c# and MDX for our game projects, a new word started to being rumored with higher and higher strength: XNA.

Since the first beta of XNA GS was released, this baby has been growing up at a steady and solid pace. In fact, with this recent great announcement, MS has confirmed that is betting a hugh stake on the project and if you ask me, it's a winner bet. Other big companies are trying to copycat the idea, but they aren't moving that fast and that well, plus they're still attached to C++ ... and I love C#!

Being an indie, knowing that in a few months I'll have the possibility to sell my games for the XBox 360 as well as produce games for Zune is really exciting. It's very difficult and expensive to make a game project to reach the "going gold" phase, and MS way may prove to be an affordable means to show off our creations, get a contract with a publisher and why not, directly sell our games with an interesting profit, why not?

I don't know about you, but I was waiting to hear (or read) something like this all these years. Thumbs up for the XNA Team! Way to go ...

Cheers!

FINALLY! GS 2.0 IS AROUND THE CORNER

Yes, at last! The final version of Game Studio v2.0 will be released this December, 13th, that is to say, tomorrow.

Follow this link to Ziggyware to get the links to the press release and the related forum thread. Or also visit Dave Weller's blog to find out more ...

Is it tomorrow? ... And now? .... How about now? ... Are you sure this watch is working? ... that's it! "8 hours to the future (enter)" ... ahhh downloading it now ... pheewww ... that's better!

Yeah, I know, no more coffe for me :)

See you all tomorrow.

LOTS OF NICE PRESENTS THIS WEEK

Yestreday, David Weller announced two interesting things that Santa will deliver soon:

First, more details will be given about the upcoming warm-up challenge.

Second, and maybe the most interesting part of the announcememt -at least for me- and I quote: "... We will have lots of nice presents this week for all you good XNA developers ...".

So, have you been a good XNA developer this year?

TO CONTESTS AND BEYOND!

Wow, mate! As we approach the year-end it's as if Santa brings a lot of incredible contests for us to choose. Just to mention a few:

First, we have Ziggyware's "Holiday Contest" when you can win one of the three available DX10-ready gfx cards plus subscriptions to the Microsoft XNA Creators Club, just by writing an XNA-based tutorial or a handy tool to help you develop your XNA creations. Piece of cake!

Second, we have the second edition of the "Dream.Build.Play compo", which includes the "warm-up challenge". Although the main compo's "precious treasure" wasn't yet disclosed, there are great prizes ahead for those who enter the challenge: (a) the possibility of an intership at Microsoft Research, Rare Ltd. or Lionhead Studios, (b) tickets to show your entry at GDC'08, and (c) $3,000.

Third, the "InstantAction Game Developer Contest" organized by GarageGames. The task: to create -at least- a playable game demo by using whatever engine you want. The grand prize: a publishing deal with InstantAction.com plus a lincese to Unity Pro with Asset Server (valued 1,999 american dollars).

Fourth, the ImageCup's "Game Development Competition". If you're a student and love using XNA GS for your game creations -as much as I do- you may find this one is the right for you. Hesitating? Read on: "... Not only will cash prizes be awarded, these winners will then have an opportunity to come to Microsoft and present their entry to the Microsoft games management team for possible inclusion as a download in the popular Xbox LIVE Arcade service or MSN Games Web site. The first place team or individual will also win the opportunity to become an apprentice at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business as part of its internship program ...".

Last but not least -hang on to something, Acclaim's "Project Top Secret". I won't comment on this one because it took my breath away, and I'm recovering, so I'll just quote the following: "The winning Indie Development team, which will develop the game, receives an instant prize of $100,000 and Acclaim will pay the license fees for whatever commercial game engine the team chooses. This combination is capped at $1,000,000. Yes, you are free to use ANY commercial game engine!".

And these are just a few compos. You may find plenty more, just do a google search to be surprised.

But which one suits you and your team? There lays the tricky part ... are you ready to face the challenge? If so, go ahead, choose your compo, and slay the dragon!

"SILICON MINDS"

Do you want to win the opportunity to be interviewed for an internship with Microsoft Research, Rare Ltd. or Lionhead Studios? How about an invitation to show your entry at GDC 2008? Well then you would also love to cash in 3,000 american dollars.

Yes, the cat is out of the bag now ... you can win all of the above-mentioned prizes if you "... push the limits of Artificial Intelligence while building a game with XNA Game Studio 2.0 ...".

Interested? Then head over the Dream.Build.Play site, read the rules, dates, prizes and start coding! Hurry up! The entry period for submissions starts on December 20, 2007 and ends on January 27, 2008.

Cheers!

[Well Ziggy, one part of the plot is known, so I guess we'll now have to wait for a soon release of XNA GS v2 final ...]

IS THERE A PLOT SOMEWHERE?

Thanks to Ziggyware I read about Dream.Build.Play 2 and the new warm-up challenge scheduled to start this Dec 8th, 2007, that is, tomorrow.

Now, the XNA Team guys have previously announced that XNA Game Studio 2.0 Beta Program would end today, so is it me or something is being cooked right now??!!!

I don't know about you but I feel there's a plot somewhere ... hummmm ... ;)

XNA GAME STUDIO 2.0 (BETA) IS NOW AVAILABLE

As announced by the XNA Team, the beta version of the awaited XNA GS 2.0 has been released!!!

So go and visit the following:

1. The official announcement :)
2. The "What's new" page, and
3. The beta home page.

Don't forget to check the new "Project Upgrade Wizard", the newly updated demo sample projects, and the "Net Rumble Starter Kit".

Enjoy!

NVIDIA PERFHUD 5.1

It's been a long time since my last post but I think this news deserves it ... the new version of nVidia's PerfHUD tool supports XNA builds.

Don't believe me? Just read this: "... PerfHUD 5.1 Highlights:

• GeForce 8 Series support on Windows Vista and XP (older GPUs are also supported)
• Microsoft Windows Vista support (DirectX 9 and 10)
• New in 5.1! Instrumented driver updated to 163.71
• New in 5.1! Compatibility with Managed and XNA applications ...".

To download this great real-time perfomance analysis tool, just navigate to this page.

XNB-VIEWER ... WHAT IS IT?

Shane Lynch has released the first version of XNB-Viewer, a handy application that lets you preview an XNB model with a double-click of your mouse.

From the post: "... You can either drag and drop your XNB model files onto the exe or associate your XNB files with this EXE. Later version of this viewer will support for textures, shaders and other content types ...".

Enjoy!

A NINTENDO PLANT ON BRASIL?

This is interesting news: the governor of Santa Catarina (Brasil) announced "... the installation of a plant of the Nintendo, that will produce games electronic aiming at to an ambitious program of exportation ...".

Here is the original news post and here is the translated one.

I hope someday we read something similar for the XBOX productline regarding SouthAmerica.

"DAVE WELLER FROM MICROSOFT"

Want to listen to what Dave has to say? Then listen to this podcast.

From the podcast: "... um ..."

Cheers!

BLADE3D BUILD 1817 IS OUT

Yes, the latest release of Blade3D beta1 (build 1817) is now available for donwload.

Hereunder is the list of changes:

• New SimpleTerrain Height and Raycast Operators,
• New audio system, with import, and preview,
• New TriggerVolume, GraphTrigger, SoundTrigger and AnimationTrigger,
• Opacity property now working on many MaterialsPlay Sound Operator,
• Ability to modify bitmap fonts from gallery,
• New Bounding Box ActionsBuilt-in support for Idle Animations,
• Random sound containers,
• New water normal texture,
• RenderColorTarget Semantic Now Evaluated Per-Pass,
• New Scene Level Bools For Enable/Disable Display Bounds, and
• Fixed some floor plane draw issues.

Happy coding!

VIDEO: VJ TOUCHSCREEN SOFTWARE CREATED WITH XNA

Ok guys. What I'm going to blog about right now is a very interesting way of using the XNA API for other serious purposes than what it was meant for: videogames -which in turn also shows off the potential of the API, when you use it in a smart way.

Adrew Griffiths and a friend of him were asked to write the software for an interactive VJ editing system for the Ford stand at the Geneva motorshow. And guess what? Yes, you're right! They decided to use XNA for the implementation.

Not a believer, ugh? Then just watch the following video and be prepared to get spellbound:

What did I tell you? So now you're interested ... well, you can find more info about the project here.

Cheers!

"BULLET HELL TACTICS" AVAILABLE FOR OPEN TESTING

Kobingo has released a demo version of his game "Bullet Hell Tactics" for public testing.

From the announcement: "... This will be the one and only public testversion before the final demo is released. Before downloading, please read the requirements. If you are having problems running the game read the troubleshooting instructions. Please also read about how to play the game ...".

You can donwload the files here.

NEED SHADERS?

In modern game development you'll most likely need to take advantage of your gfx card by using shader effects and in turn moving away from fixed-function pipeline techniques.

Thus, the need for hiring shader artists and or become one yourself -so as to create custom-made effects for your particular game or engine- just grows.

So, what to do? You can either do a google search -say, looking for free fx resources- buy some books that come packed with shader content -like the "ShaderX" series, hire a shader artist, and or build your own shaders by yourself from scratch or by modifying a pre-existing template (like the ones that come packed with the nVidia SDK 9.x/10).

Well, there's a new additional solution: "Shaders for Games" ... a site that should have been called "Shaders For Sale", instead ... check it out since these guys offer interesting HLSL shader packs at affordable prices.

The SM3 water fx screenshot looks great ...

NEW FF2 TRAILER

Almost every comic fan in the world is paying attention to the spiderman 3 movie -now in theaters- because of the appearance of one of the fiercest foes ever: Venom.

However, and despite the fact that I haven't gone the cinema yet to watch the above-mentioned movie, I'm particularly more excited with the Fantastic Four's sequel. Why? First, if the Silver Surfer is in it, it should also imply that "Gah Lak Tus" is. And second, because of this new trailer.

I'm not going to argue why I prefer more FF over SP series of movies, at least for now, but in short, I'm not happy with the way Peter Parker's life is being presented/plotted. Maybe in a later post I could explain the reasons behind my sentiment, but for now, I'd only say the the part of the script that deals with PP should be improved.

Anyway, the new FF trailer rocks!

[Btw, an ironman movie is coming ...]