The interview covers the launch of XNA GSE plus future plans for it.
See ya.
Showing posts with label XNA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label XNA. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
NEW ARTICLE ABOUT XNA GSE
GameIndustry.biz has published an interesting article with an interview to Chris Satchell -general manager of Microsoft's game developer group.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
TORQUE X OPEN BETA AVAILABLE
Well, yes. It's true. I have received an email message from GarageGame notifying the availability of an open beta of TorqueX.
You can download and test the demo of it as well as pay a visit to the new forums areas related to this product.
Now, it's time for Visual3D.Net to come out, don't you think? Let's hope so ...
Later.
You can download and test the demo of it as well as pay a visit to the new forums areas related to this product.
Now, it's time for Visual3D.Net to come out, don't you think? Let's hope so ...
Later.
Monday, December 11, 2006
XNA GSE V1.0 RELEASED!!!
As you may already known -given the large amount of blogs' news pointing out the same- XNA GSE v1.0 is out. Check the official words from the XNA Team itself.
One question though, any news regarding the release of TorqueX? We are still on December 11th ...
One question though, any news regarding the release of TorqueX? We are still on December 11th ...
Friday, December 08, 2006
XBOX 360: THE NEXT WAVE
I had forgotten this video -also available at GameTrailers.com- with more interviews to XBox360 product's managers covering some of the games published and to be published for this great console.
Ok, ok, this time I mean it! No more posts for today ... ;)
Ok, ok, this time I mean it! No more posts for today ... ;)
XBOX 360: BEYOND THE BOX
GameTrailers.com has also published a video with interviews to XBox360 product's managers who explain the new strategy on peripherals available for it: wireless technology.
I'm really a lazybones today, so this is it for one day!
I'm really a lazybones today, so this is it for one day!
A COUPLE OF NEW XNA VIDEOS
GameTrailers.com has published some interesting videos XNA-related:
- Rally X: "the classic racer hits Xbox Live Arcade and will have you grabbing flags to complete stages", and
- Tank Buster: "wreak havoc on the skies up above in this game created using the XNA software".
I don't know whether this one relates to XNA or not, but I like it: Mutant Blasting: "blast away in this sequel to the Live Arcade shooter".
Also, high-definition videos are available for the above-mentioned three -just do a little search 'cause I'm lazy enough today to avoid posting the links.
Enjoy!Thursday, November 30, 2006
WE ARE ALMOST THERE!
Yeap! December is comming ... sales, presents, christmas, XBOX360, PS3, Wii, XNA, TorqueX, Visual3D.Net ... phewww! Everything accelerates as we approach the year-end.
For us, "indies", it is a very important month as we are waiting for the final release of XNA GSE and with it, the parallel releases of TorqueX and Visual3D.Net.
Developers post questions over and over in every forum asking for CTPs, betas, demos, screenshots and such, as if they were children traveling in a car with their parents and continuously asking them: "Are we there yet?".
Patience. Even if they need some extra time to finish the products it will benefit us in the end: more stability, less bugs, more fun.
In the meantime, check "HeroEngine", it seems quite interesting. Unfortunately, neither demos nor prices are available in the site so I cannot comment about it (I don't know about the engine itself but the tools seem to be .NET-based). If someone has more information about this framework please drop me some lines.
Cheers!
For us, "indies", it is a very important month as we are waiting for the final release of XNA GSE and with it, the parallel releases of TorqueX and Visual3D.Net.
Developers post questions over and over in every forum asking for CTPs, betas, demos, screenshots and such, as if they were children traveling in a car with their parents and continuously asking them: "Are we there yet?".
Patience. Even if they need some extra time to finish the products it will benefit us in the end: more stability, less bugs, more fun.
In the meantime, check "HeroEngine", it seems quite interesting. Unfortunately, neither demos nor prices are available in the site so I cannot comment about it (I don't know about the engine itself but the tools seem to be .NET-based). If someone has more information about this framework please drop me some lines.
Cheers!
Thursday, November 23, 2006
SERIOUS THOUGHTS ABOUT XNA GSE - PART II
Where were we? Ah, yes ... "Will I succeed by using XNA GSE?".
Let's face it: like everything in life, time will tell. Time will prove you were right or wrong but, is it worth trying? Straight answer: yes, provided you are able and capable of facing and breaking through a tight membrane formed of strong competition.
Like you, everyone is competing to get community, market, publishers and or employers' attention. No matter how shared in common a colleague may behave along the road, it all summarizes to a simple fact: in the end, to some extent, everyone is thinking "that prize has to be mine!". C'mon let me hear "not me". Anyone? (don't panic, just continue reading, ok?)
So, what could make one stand out from the rest? That's the key point.
A combination of skills, dedication, commitment and perseverance (not to mention finance resources to live on day by day).
"How could XNA GSE help me achieve my goals?" Interesting question. Personally speaking, for the first time I feel someone is providing a well-designed framework for game development with great potential.
Many companies offer many solutions to developers but you always find a catch: you have to learn a new language (either for hard-coding and or scripting), the language lacks a professional GUI and or IDE or even it is not an object-oriented one, there is no way you can extend the given framework, it lacks the proper tools, it does not provide the features you need, it does not handle with key aspects of game creation as expected, plenty of bugs, poor support, and so on.
Now we have a framework that plugs into VS2005, and thus to be used with .NET languages (in the case of XNA GSE it plugs into C# Express) which offers a set of tools and features (please read part I) designed from scratch to facilitate the process of creating a game from an object-oriented perspective and last but not least, with strong support. What is more, new tools are being created on top of XNA as TorqueX or will support XNA as Visual3D.NET and I believe we will soon see more coming.
But there is one more factor that XNA GSE is trying to impose which opposses to the fact that we are all competing in the end: a community of developers that really collaborate by sharing experience and knowledge. It's like saying "Ok, we are all trying to cross the finish line first but unless we help each other it's likely that none of us will even get there!". So far, MS is achieving this goal: code snippets, solutions, implementations and complete games are being shared by and to the XNA's community and there is no indication that it will stop. A lot of people, including me, is excited about this whole thing and participates in good mood, what in turn is a lot to say (I can list a bunch of forums where members try to tear each others apart, and newbies, are fiercely bounced and discouraged).
To sum up, this time one cannot complain that "we" do not have the framework and or tools needed (ok, an implementation of one of the "big" physics libraries for .NET/XNA would be welcome, like Havok's or Ageia's) or that there is no support (either from the developer or the community), meaning, now it is really up to each of us -or our teams- to create a game that catches everyone's attention.
So let's go for it!
Let's face it: like everything in life, time will tell. Time will prove you were right or wrong but, is it worth trying? Straight answer: yes, provided you are able and capable of facing and breaking through a tight membrane formed of strong competition.
Like you, everyone is competing to get community, market, publishers and or employers' attention. No matter how shared in common a colleague may behave along the road, it all summarizes to a simple fact: in the end, to some extent, everyone is thinking "that prize has to be mine!". C'mon let me hear "not me". Anyone? (don't panic, just continue reading, ok?)
So, what could make one stand out from the rest? That's the key point.
A combination of skills, dedication, commitment and perseverance (not to mention finance resources to live on day by day).
"How could XNA GSE help me achieve my goals?" Interesting question. Personally speaking, for the first time I feel someone is providing a well-designed framework for game development with great potential.
Many companies offer many solutions to developers but you always find a catch: you have to learn a new language (either for hard-coding and or scripting), the language lacks a professional GUI and or IDE or even it is not an object-oriented one, there is no way you can extend the given framework, it lacks the proper tools, it does not provide the features you need, it does not handle with key aspects of game creation as expected, plenty of bugs, poor support, and so on.
Now we have a framework that plugs into VS2005, and thus to be used with .NET languages (in the case of XNA GSE it plugs into C# Express) which offers a set of tools and features (please read part I) designed from scratch to facilitate the process of creating a game from an object-oriented perspective and last but not least, with strong support. What is more, new tools are being created on top of XNA as TorqueX or will support XNA as Visual3D.NET and I believe we will soon see more coming.
But there is one more factor that XNA GSE is trying to impose which opposses to the fact that we are all competing in the end: a community of developers that really collaborate by sharing experience and knowledge. It's like saying "Ok, we are all trying to cross the finish line first but unless we help each other it's likely that none of us will even get there!". So far, MS is achieving this goal: code snippets, solutions, implementations and complete games are being shared by and to the XNA's community and there is no indication that it will stop. A lot of people, including me, is excited about this whole thing and participates in good mood, what in turn is a lot to say (I can list a bunch of forums where members try to tear each others apart, and newbies, are fiercely bounced and discouraged).
To sum up, this time one cannot complain that "we" do not have the framework and or tools needed (ok, an implementation of one of the "big" physics libraries for .NET/XNA would be welcome, like Havok's or Ageia's) or that there is no support (either from the developer or the community), meaning, now it is really up to each of us -or our teams- to create a game that catches everyone's attention.
So let's go for it!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
USER-CREATED GAMES, XNA GSE & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
There is an interesting article that discusses the topic of intelectual property rights of games created and shared by community users of XNA Game Studio Express.
Also, you will find another article regarding user-created content and the PS3 (Shhht! Apparently this is a secret).
Also, you will find another article regarding user-created content and the PS3 (Shhht! Apparently this is a secret).
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
SERIOUS THOUGHTS ABOUT XNA GSE
As we are approaching to the release date for XNA Game Studio Express v1, the following first question may come to one's mind: how successful will it be?
First of all let us consider one simple fact: if you want to program games using DirectX and C# then bear in mind that XNA is the successor of MDX, so unless you decide to implement your own wrappers to DirectX dlls (what would be like re-inventing the wheel) or try native-proned languages (like C++), you will end up using it, anyway.
Ok, but what is it with GSE? It is a framework based on XNA and mounted as an add-on for C# Express which provides a set of tools and implementations that let you program your games with ease. GSE takes advantage of XNA's content pipeline, brings a basic implementation to manage the rendering process (i.e.: initializes and sets the devices for you, handles the calls to update and draw functions, among other tasks) and let you deploy your game to XBOX360!
You may ask: where's the catch? You want it, so here you are. According to the XNA FAQ:
So? Well, Microsoft has decided to catch a larger marketshare in the consoles industry by providing developers with handy, simple and inexpensive tools to build and deploy games for the 360. What is more, by doing so, contrary to what its main competitors do (that is, Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii) MS is bringing to its equation a new relevant factor: "indies".
Being and "indie", go and try to produce a game -either commercial or not- for PS3 and or Wii and come back later for further talk. Just by calculating how much it would imply to do so would discourage you in the split of a second. It is hard to start an independent project and or small enterprise in the software industry, and it is harder in the game's one.
MS has noticed those facts as well as other two main things:
Thus, will XNA GSE succeed? My guess is YES.
So the question becomes: will one succed by using XNA GSE? I will let that question unanswered until later posts ... ;)
First of all let us consider one simple fact: if you want to program games using DirectX and C# then bear in mind that XNA is the successor of MDX, so unless you decide to implement your own wrappers to DirectX dlls (what would be like re-inventing the wheel) or try native-proned languages (like C++), you will end up using it, anyway.
Ok, but what is it with GSE? It is a framework based on XNA and mounted as an add-on for C# Express which provides a set of tools and implementations that let you program your games with ease. GSE takes advantage of XNA's content pipeline, brings a basic implementation to manage the rendering process (i.e.: initializes and sets the devices for you, handles the calls to update and draw functions, among other tasks) and let you deploy your game to XBOX360!
You may ask: where's the catch? You want it, so here you are. According to the XNA FAQ:
- In order to develop, debug, deploy and play your games on XBOX360 you will have to join the "Creators Club" for a fee of USD 99 for a year or USD 49 for 4 months.
- You cannot produce a commercial game for XBOX360 with the express version.
- When you deploy the game to the XBOX360, and want to share it with other members of the club you will also share all your content and source code.
So? Well, Microsoft has decided to catch a larger marketshare in the consoles industry by providing developers with handy, simple and inexpensive tools to build and deploy games for the 360. What is more, by doing so, contrary to what its main competitors do (that is, Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii) MS is bringing to its equation a new relevant factor: "indies".
Being and "indie", go and try to produce a game -either commercial or not- for PS3 and or Wii and come back later for further talk. Just by calculating how much it would imply to do so would discourage you in the split of a second. It is hard to start an independent project and or small enterprise in the software industry, and it is harder in the game's one.
MS has noticed those facts as well as other two main things:
- The number of indies has increased in later years at a growing rate.
- Many of them use managed languages (like C#) to create their applications and games.
Thus, will XNA GSE succeed? My guess is YES.
So the question becomes: will one succed by using XNA GSE? I will let that question unanswered until later posts ... ;)
VISUAL3D.NET CLOSED BETA
According to xeonx the close beta program for Visual3d.NET has started.
Check the forum's thread for more information.
Check the forum's thread for more information.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
TORQUE X NEWS
The guys from 360 Homebrew have posted some interesting information regarding the versions, price and release date for TorqueX.
When it is going to be released? Good you asked. According to what has been posted TorqueX will be released the same day XNA GSE is officially released.
So go ahead and check the demo of TGB.
Ahh! And don't forget the "XNA Homebrew Development Contest", where you may win some prizes from GarageGames, like TorqueX Pro and TGB -if you win the compo.
Hurry up!
- TorqueX Engine Binary: free (for direct coding through .NET).
- TorqueX Pro: USD 150,oo (will include source code).
When it is going to be released? Good you asked. According to what has been posted TorqueX will be released the same day XNA GSE is officially released.
So go ahead and check the demo of TGB.
Ahh! And don't forget the "XNA Homebrew Development Contest", where you may win some prizes from GarageGames, like TorqueX Pro and TGB -if you win the compo.
Hurry up!
Thursday, November 09, 2006
NEW VIDEO SHOWING XNA
The XNA Team has released a new video featuring games created with XNA.
In the video you will find games developed by members of the XNA community like Blobbit Dash, Sharky's Air Legends, and Particle Wars. Also, you will get a sneak preview of upcoming starter kits like "Pocket Jongg" and the superb "XNA Racer".
Enjoy!
In the video you will find games developed by members of the XNA community like Blobbit Dash, Sharky's Air Legends, and Particle Wars. Also, you will get a sneak preview of upcoming starter kits like "Pocket Jongg" and the superb "XNA Racer".
Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
BRING IT ON!!!
As announced, beta 2 version of XNA is out so for those of us who want to use C# to program videogames these will be interesting times.
Also, I have received an email message by GarageGame's postmaster announcing the closed beta program for TorqueX and at almost the same time RightRiot has confirmed that Visual3D.Net is coming towards the public beta release this month.
On the console fields, I have read an article published by Gamasutra where it is commented that Sony will be take more into account "indies" for game development for PS3 since, among other reasons, they deem XBox360 as its main direct competitor, mostly in the US market.
Thus, as said, everything is set for interesting times which will likely mean "opportunity".
The fun is about to start: many tests, assessment and decisions shall be done to choose the right framework but in the end, I guess we -"indie" developers- will be the winners.
Also, I have received an email message by GarageGame's postmaster announcing the closed beta program for TorqueX and at almost the same time RightRiot has confirmed that Visual3D.Net is coming towards the public beta release this month.
On the console fields, I have read an article published by Gamasutra where it is commented that Sony will be take more into account "indies" for game development for PS3 since, among other reasons, they deem XBox360 as its main direct competitor, mostly in the US market.
Thus, as said, everything is set for interesting times which will likely mean "opportunity".
The fun is about to start: many tests, assessment and decisions shall be done to choose the right framework but in the end, I guess we -"indie" developers- will be the winners.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
RUMOR: BETA 2 TO BE RELEASED TODAY?!
So far it's no more than a rumor, but it has been said -don't ask where just do a Google search- that beta 2 version of XNA GSE would be released later today.
In the meantime, you can read David Weller's "How To" comments regarding migration to beta 2.
'till next time.
In the meantime, you can read David Weller's "How To" comments regarding migration to beta 2.
'till next time.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
SPREAD THE WORD: XNA GSE BETA 2
Wow! Great news guys! Microsoft has announced the release of a second beta of XNA Game Studio Express.
No details have been provided yet regarding the new features and fixes it will contain but it has been commented that this version would possibly be deem as a final release candidate.
You can read the full story here.
Let's hope this one include the content pipeline, so keep fingers crossed!
No details have been provided yet regarding the new features and fixes it will contain but it has been commented that this version would possibly be deem as a final release candidate.
You can read the full story here.
Let's hope this one include the content pipeline, so keep fingers crossed!
Friday, October 13, 2006
MANAGED DIRECTX 2.0 NO MORE
Some of you may know that Microsoft had announced that the beta version of MDX 2.0 would expired on the first days of October 2006. As promised, it did. What is more, the beta has been removed from the latest SDK release.
Consequences? Either you go back to MDX 1.1 or move forward to XNA-supportive implementation.
Even though it has been clarified that XNA is not officially supported in the above-mentioned SDK, if you use and or ever used MDX 2.0, I believe that moving your programs to XNA is the right path to go -unless of course you cannot wait for its final release, given the features XNA currently offers as well as the upcoming ones.
So go ahead! Support XNA and please avoid the temptation of modifying the date in your system's clock to September 2006 ... ;)
Consequences? Either you go back to MDX 1.1 or move forward to XNA-supportive implementation.
Even though it has been clarified that XNA is not officially supported in the above-mentioned SDK, if you use and or ever used MDX 2.0, I believe that moving your programs to XNA is the right path to go -unless of course you cannot wait for its final release, given the features XNA currently offers as well as the upcoming ones.
So go ahead! Support XNA and please avoid the temptation of modifying the date in your system's clock to September 2006 ... ;)
Monday, October 02, 2006
GAME ENGINES AND OTHERS: PART 3 OF 3
At last! The final part of the series ...
Where were we? ... On part 1 I had introduced some general concepts about game engines and other components and on part 2 I had presented some examples for each category. Well, now is time to reduce the spectrum to .NET world.
There may be a lot of well-known components that I'll forget to mention (as wll as new additions made to the market and upcoming ones), so I recommend you for the n-th time to pay a visit to "DevMaster.net" and check the "3D Engines Database" section.
Not too many components were built for .NET using C# from scratch, but I can remember two of them which did: Purple# and Haddd.
Purple# was one of the first engines to appear that were written using C# 1.1 and if I remember well -please correct me if I'm wrong- it'd be ported to version 2.0 of .NET. However, things have been quiet for a while since no news have been posted and the forum's activity has almost stopped. Also, last time I checked the "Downloads" section had no files to download (?).
Tip: you can always use the rate of new posts, both for news and forum's threads, as a proxy of the activity related to the component's site. I mean, whether a component is still updated or under development, whether it has been abandoned by the developers and or its users, etc.
Haddd was one the most (relatively) recent ones to appear and was pretty much impressive. Open source, its rendering process was designed for the use of shaders (mostly, model 2 ones), a physics middleware was successfully plugged in and some AI implementations were interesting. Unfortunately, Haddd project was suddenly stopped. Fear not! Fortunately, the source code for the latest review was distributed free to the community and now there's a new successor: Jadengine.
What about components ported to .NET and or targeted for .NET but built upon non-NET components? "Err ... what? Please rephrase ..."
I remember AXIOM3D. This engine was built upon OGRE and let me tell you it was quite good on the offered features and open source. One of the things I liked most about it was the BSP implementation.
Then it came Realmforge GDK. Built upon AXIOM3D -but from a different team, this component was meant to ease your game-creation experience by providing a handy GUI which one could use to set and edit your worlds properties and such.
Both components were discontinued. Fear not ..... again! Visual3D.Net is on its way.
But, what is it? Well, to sum up, the next phase of evolution that results from the cumulative experiences of the developers of Realmforge3D (the original developer of AXIOM3D joined the project a few months ago). Correct me if I'm wrong but it has been built from scratch using C# and MDX so it's not AXIOM nor OGRE dependant anymore.
For what it can be seen in the screenshots and read in the forums, Visual3D.net promises to be a very useful framework when released with support to .NET Framework v2.0 and XNA Framework. A Community Technology Preview ("CTP") of Visual3D.net is comming this October so if you're interested don't forget to visit its site and sign up to get the latest news about the CTP.
Its nemesis? Or at least, for what I understand, TorqueX ... Garagegames' future product which is a combination of its newest product ("Torque Game Builder") and some features of other products (like "Torque Game Engine" and "Torque Shader Engine") all ported to XNA Framework. This also promises to be very useful so as to reduce coding time.
Some videos have been released to the public showing TorqueX's features and a public beta has been announced (even though no release date has been confirmed yet), so again if you're interested, go and sign up to receive the newsletter on the product.
As already said, Visual3D.net and TorqueX will both support XNA framework, so this match is going to be interesting ...
"Wait! You have mentioned XNA for the third time now ... but what is XNA?"
According to XNA's FAQ it "is not acronymed". XNA Framework is a collection of classes and tools that can be used for the production of DirectX-enabled programs with VisualStudio 2005 that can be run in both, PC and XBox 360 platforms. One of its most important features is the content pipeline it offers (a handy way of "incrementally" deal with your assets for the game, like meshes, music and sounds).
Think of it like the successor of Managed DirectX 2.0, given that it has been recently announced that no further development shall be provided for MDX 2.0. Sooooo, when you choose a component for your project bear this information in mind in order to avoid ugly surprises.
"Ok, but what is XNA Game Studio Express?". XNA GSE is the ... you know what? Just read it here (I promise I'll post my comments about it in future posts but currently you can find some source code for it I've already posted in this blog).
I cannot bring the series to a proper end without mentioning some other components that supports .NET technologies through the provision of wrappers which are worth checking:
Remember MAC developers to check "Unity3D": based on its features, users' comments, demos and examples, this framework seems to have nothing to envy to PC-platform's ones. And yes, for those of us who may consider buying a MAC, Unity3D can produce cross-platform executables.
To sum up, as you can guess for what you have read in the whole series of posts, there are a lot of engines, middleware and frameworks which will help you produce videogames from square one (as well as, in some cases, other multimedia applications). Thus, the whole process of selecting the one/s for your project demands a high amount of man/hour efforts so as not to fail by making a wrong choice. Therefore, before starting a project make sure you spend some time to develop a systematic method to evaluate the component candidates efficiently in order to seek and get optimal results.
Well folks, I hope you have enjoyed reading "Game Engines And Others" as well as found it useful.
'till next time. See ya!
Where were we? ... On part 1 I had introduced some general concepts about game engines and other components and on part 2 I had presented some examples for each category. Well, now is time to reduce the spectrum to .NET world.
There may be a lot of well-known components that I'll forget to mention (as wll as new additions made to the market and upcoming ones), so I recommend you for the n-th time to pay a visit to "DevMaster.net" and check the "3D Engines Database" section.
Not too many components were built for .NET using C# from scratch, but I can remember two of them which did: Purple# and Haddd.
Purple# was one of the first engines to appear that were written using C# 1.1 and if I remember well -please correct me if I'm wrong- it'd be ported to version 2.0 of .NET. However, things have been quiet for a while since no news have been posted and the forum's activity has almost stopped. Also, last time I checked the "Downloads" section had no files to download (?).
Tip: you can always use the rate of new posts, both for news and forum's threads, as a proxy of the activity related to the component's site. I mean, whether a component is still updated or under development, whether it has been abandoned by the developers and or its users, etc.
Haddd was one the most (relatively) recent ones to appear and was pretty much impressive. Open source, its rendering process was designed for the use of shaders (mostly, model 2 ones), a physics middleware was successfully plugged in and some AI implementations were interesting. Unfortunately, Haddd project was suddenly stopped. Fear not! Fortunately, the source code for the latest review was distributed free to the community and now there's a new successor: Jadengine.
What about components ported to .NET and or targeted for .NET but built upon non-NET components? "Err ... what? Please rephrase ..."
I remember AXIOM3D. This engine was built upon OGRE and let me tell you it was quite good on the offered features and open source. One of the things I liked most about it was the BSP implementation.
Then it came Realmforge GDK. Built upon AXIOM3D -but from a different team, this component was meant to ease your game-creation experience by providing a handy GUI which one could use to set and edit your worlds properties and such.
Both components were discontinued. Fear not ..... again! Visual3D.Net is on its way.
But, what is it? Well, to sum up, the next phase of evolution that results from the cumulative experiences of the developers of Realmforge3D (the original developer of AXIOM3D joined the project a few months ago). Correct me if I'm wrong but it has been built from scratch using C# and MDX so it's not AXIOM nor OGRE dependant anymore.
For what it can be seen in the screenshots and read in the forums, Visual3D.net promises to be a very useful framework when released with support to .NET Framework v2.0 and XNA Framework. A Community Technology Preview ("CTP") of Visual3D.net is comming this October so if you're interested don't forget to visit its site and sign up to get the latest news about the CTP.
Its nemesis? Or at least, for what I understand, TorqueX ... Garagegames' future product which is a combination of its newest product ("Torque Game Builder") and some features of other products (like "Torque Game Engine" and "Torque Shader Engine") all ported to XNA Framework. This also promises to be very useful so as to reduce coding time.
Some videos have been released to the public showing TorqueX's features and a public beta has been announced (even though no release date has been confirmed yet), so again if you're interested, go and sign up to receive the newsletter on the product.
As already said, Visual3D.net and TorqueX will both support XNA framework, so this match is going to be interesting ...
"Wait! You have mentioned XNA for the third time now ... but what is XNA?"
According to XNA's FAQ it "is not acronymed". XNA Framework is a collection of classes and tools that can be used for the production of DirectX-enabled programs with VisualStudio 2005 that can be run in both, PC and XBox 360 platforms. One of its most important features is the content pipeline it offers (a handy way of "incrementally" deal with your assets for the game, like meshes, music and sounds).
Think of it like the successor of Managed DirectX 2.0, given that it has been recently announced that no further development shall be provided for MDX 2.0. Sooooo, when you choose a component for your project bear this information in mind in order to avoid ugly surprises.
"Ok, but what is XNA Game Studio Express?". XNA GSE is the ... you know what? Just read it here (I promise I'll post my comments about it in future posts but currently you can find some source code for it I've already posted in this blog).
I cannot bring the series to a proper end without mentioning some other components that supports .NET technologies through the provision of wrappers which are worth checking:
- 3Impact,
- Irrlitch,
- SDL.NET, and
- Truevision3D.
Remember MAC developers to check "Unity3D": based on its features, users' comments, demos and examples, this framework seems to have nothing to envy to PC-platform's ones. And yes, for those of us who may consider buying a MAC, Unity3D can produce cross-platform executables.
To sum up, as you can guess for what you have read in the whole series of posts, there are a lot of engines, middleware and frameworks which will help you produce videogames from square one (as well as, in some cases, other multimedia applications). Thus, the whole process of selecting the one/s for your project demands a high amount of man/hour efforts so as not to fail by making a wrong choice. Therefore, before starting a project make sure you spend some time to develop a systematic method to evaluate the component candidates efficiently in order to seek and get optimal results.
Well folks, I hope you have enjoyed reading "Game Engines And Others" as well as found it useful.
'till next time. See ya!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
GAME ENGINES AND OTHERS: PART 2 OF 3
Monday you said? Yeah, right ... lazybones ...
Whatever ... On part 1 I had introduced some general concepts about game engines and other components, right? Well, today's post will concentrate on giving a few examples of some of the "helpers" that you may find in the industry, or at least, among "indies".
To do so, I'll will use the same categories of part 1, so If you don't remember the definitions and concepts, or you didn't read part 1 at all, you'd better go and read it first before we continue.
Ok, assuming you did. We shall continue ...
Ahhh, by the way, what you will see is how I see it, ... it's my blog, right? ... so feel free to re-arrange things up in your own list if you think that some component belongs to a different category.
(1.a) General-purpose engines.
If you had paid a visit to Devmaster.net as I suggested, you would have noticed the growing number of engines available in the market, like "Irrlicht", "3Impact", "C4 engine" and "Truevision 3D".
C# developers: although most of them are C++ original, some of them like "Irrlitch" provide a wrapper for .NET technology.
(1.b) Game-type-specific engines.
Our first classic match of the night: "Unreal Engines vs. Quake Engines". That is to say, "Epic Games vs. Id Software".
And lately, a new generation of engines that continue Quake III's legacy: "Doom III engine".
(1.c) Game-bound engines.
Well, to tell you the truth, you can include here any engine created for the sole purpose of developing one game and or sequels for that "title". In fact, the line between the previous category gets thinner when the engines starts to be modified in order to develop new "different" titles.
2. Game Frameworks.
From fully WYSIWYG frameworks like "GameMaker" and "Multimedia Fusion" -which you can get interesting results with, to full 3D-powerhouses like "A6 - GameStudio", "Quest3D" and "Torque Game Engine" -which let you target very ambitious projects, there are a whole range of frameworks to choose.
MAC developers: check out the cross-platform "Unity3D" engine.
C# developers: a new battle is coming: "TorqueX vs. Visual3D.Net". Buy your tickets ...
3. Game-Oriented Languages.
New GO languages are now entering the field but one of the classic battles of latest years is "Blitzbasic vs. Darkbasic".
Choose the contenders you prefer for each side, like Blitz3D vs. DB Pro, and enjoy the match.
OOP developers: both "line of products" above are non-OOP.
(4.a) Game-Oriented Middleware: Rendering.
I could mention too many components here like "Renderware" and "Gamebryo", but I will refer to OGRE (which stands for "Open Source Graphics Engine").
Contrary to what many of you may think, OGRE is not a game engine ... read the "Graphics" part of the "G" abbreviation ... ok, time to run away before the mob reaches me ...
Really. You can build your own engine by using its outstanding multiplatform-rendering capabilities, and you will likely find those who did, but OGRE only provides a set of C++ classes which will make your development life easier for rendering processes.
C# developers: yes, there's an OGRE.NET out there.
(4.b) Game-Oriented Middleware: Physics.
"Bring it on!". That's what companies that develop physics-prone components are saying one each other.
Havok, Newton, ODE, PhysX, Tokamak ... These guys have been around for so long now, and the battle still goes on.
Different type of licensing, different technologies, different features, different logic structure, different support, different approaches to the one domain they have in common: physics' mechanics.
C# developers: be aware that currently most of those companies neither offer nor support wrappers for .NET technology. You may find third-party wrappers, but no guarantees as usual ...
(4.c) Game-Oriented Middleware: Scripting.
Some AAA games have their own scripting language, like "Unreal Script". But there are general-purpose scripting languages that you can use, like "LUA" and "Phyton" (both well accepted in the industry).
Also, there are relatively new entries but yet powerful options, like "Gamemonkey Script".
And finally, I must mention one of the mostly used languages for internet-targeted games: "Actionscript" (built-in language for Adobe's Flash).
A tip for C# developers: with a bit of self-effort you can also use C# as your scripting language.
(4.d) Game-Oriented Middleware: AI.
Ok, you can either use scripting languages to modify the behavior of your game's "bots" or hard code your own implementations but there are some intereting components you may consider to use, like: "AI.Implant", "Renderware AI", "PathEngine", and "Memetic".
C# developers: see the tip in (4.c) above.
(4.e) Game-Oriented Middleware: Networking.
Last but not least, multiplayer stuff. Err ... getting a community of gamers together to play your game.
If you think that the other "areas" were tough, don't forget this one. Believe me. Point-to-point communication, client-server models, world updates, anticipation of each connected player's movements, etc. This requires a lot of patience and experience. Thus, not many games provide this feature.
Luckily, here come some components to the rescue, like Quazal's line of products, "Replica Net" and "Plane Shift".
Now, some final thoughts ... you may have heared about some of the above-mentioned "helpers" or even used them, but the fact is that in order to produce a game from scratch to completion you have to choose the right ones, that is, the ones that comply with all of the requirements for your project: budget, scope, technology, features, comfort, support, ... just to to mention a few.
But one thing is getting to know a bunch of components in order to pick the right one for you and your crew and other very different thing is to "wander" around them in a sort of "never-ending" testing, because you are either waiting for that long-awaited "saviour" component, you have played around so much that you don't know where the North is anymore, or you can't just make up your mind.
One of the huge mistakes that many "indies" usually make -I included- is playing around with some third-party components at the same time for a long time. You may say, "what's wrong with that? One should get to know a component before buying it, right?" I'll tell you what, the problem is that when you use, not one or two, but more components at the same time for a long time you face the risk of not getting to know none of them with the due depth of detail that you need in order to properly deal with your project.
In other words, don't play around with the components as if you were carring on the project it-self in a paralell manner through all of those components, like saying "the one that reaches the finish-line first wins the race" (if you compete with your-self in this one there will be no winner).
Just perform a set of small and accurate tests on the functionality that you need for your game in a sort of check-list verification: "Engine 1 ... checked, Communications ... checked, ... ". And then, having analyzed the pros and cons of the candidates, select one, get to know it deeply and start your project.
And please, don't look back until you finish it or otherwise you'll be only creating abbandonware, potentially speaking.
Just remember, there may exist no perfect components in absolute terms but relatively speaking, there is one (set of) perfect component(s) for your project if you manage to choose smartly. Or was it for soul-mates?
Anyway, part 2 is now finished. See you all next time ...
[... we will only focus on .NET based components]
Whatever ... On part 1 I had introduced some general concepts about game engines and other components, right? Well, today's post will concentrate on giving a few examples of some of the "helpers" that you may find in the industry, or at least, among "indies".
To do so, I'll will use the same categories of part 1, so If you don't remember the definitions and concepts, or you didn't read part 1 at all, you'd better go and read it first before we continue.
Ok, assuming you did. We shall continue ...
Ahhh, by the way, what you will see is how I see it, ... it's my blog, right? ... so feel free to re-arrange things up in your own list if you think that some component belongs to a different category.
(1.a) General-purpose engines.
If you had paid a visit to Devmaster.net as I suggested, you would have noticed the growing number of engines available in the market, like "Irrlicht", "3Impact", "C4 engine" and "Truevision 3D".
C# developers: although most of them are C++ original, some of them like "Irrlitch" provide a wrapper for .NET technology.
(1.b) Game-type-specific engines.
Our first classic match of the night: "Unreal Engines vs. Quake Engines". That is to say, "Epic Games vs. Id Software".
And lately, a new generation of engines that continue Quake III's legacy: "Doom III engine".
(1.c) Game-bound engines.
Well, to tell you the truth, you can include here any engine created for the sole purpose of developing one game and or sequels for that "title". In fact, the line between the previous category gets thinner when the engines starts to be modified in order to develop new "different" titles.
2. Game Frameworks.
From fully WYSIWYG frameworks like "GameMaker" and "Multimedia Fusion" -which you can get interesting results with, to full 3D-powerhouses like "A6 - GameStudio", "Quest3D" and "Torque Game Engine" -which let you target very ambitious projects, there are a whole range of frameworks to choose.
MAC developers: check out the cross-platform "Unity3D" engine.
C# developers: a new battle is coming: "TorqueX vs. Visual3D.Net". Buy your tickets ...
3. Game-Oriented Languages.
New GO languages are now entering the field but one of the classic battles of latest years is "Blitzbasic vs. Darkbasic".
Choose the contenders you prefer for each side, like Blitz3D vs. DB Pro, and enjoy the match.
OOP developers: both "line of products" above are non-OOP.
(4.a) Game-Oriented Middleware: Rendering.
I could mention too many components here like "Renderware" and "Gamebryo", but I will refer to OGRE (which stands for "Open Source Graphics Engine").
Contrary to what many of you may think, OGRE is not a game engine ... read the "Graphics" part of the "G" abbreviation ... ok, time to run away before the mob reaches me ...
Really. You can build your own engine by using its outstanding multiplatform-rendering capabilities, and you will likely find those who did, but OGRE only provides a set of C++ classes which will make your development life easier for rendering processes.
C# developers: yes, there's an OGRE.NET out there.
(4.b) Game-Oriented Middleware: Physics.
"Bring it on!". That's what companies that develop physics-prone components are saying one each other.
Havok, Newton, ODE, PhysX, Tokamak ... These guys have been around for so long now, and the battle still goes on.
Different type of licensing, different technologies, different features, different logic structure, different support, different approaches to the one domain they have in common: physics' mechanics.
C# developers: be aware that currently most of those companies neither offer nor support wrappers for .NET technology. You may find third-party wrappers, but no guarantees as usual ...
(4.c) Game-Oriented Middleware: Scripting.
Some AAA games have their own scripting language, like "Unreal Script". But there are general-purpose scripting languages that you can use, like "LUA" and "Phyton" (both well accepted in the industry).
Also, there are relatively new entries but yet powerful options, like "Gamemonkey Script".
And finally, I must mention one of the mostly used languages for internet-targeted games: "Actionscript" (built-in language for Adobe's Flash).
A tip for C# developers: with a bit of self-effort you can also use C# as your scripting language.
(4.d) Game-Oriented Middleware: AI.
Ok, you can either use scripting languages to modify the behavior of your game's "bots" or hard code your own implementations but there are some intereting components you may consider to use, like: "AI.Implant", "Renderware AI", "PathEngine", and "Memetic".
C# developers: see the tip in (4.c) above.
(4.e) Game-Oriented Middleware: Networking.
Last but not least, multiplayer stuff. Err ... getting a community of gamers together to play your game.
If you think that the other "areas" were tough, don't forget this one. Believe me. Point-to-point communication, client-server models, world updates, anticipation of each connected player's movements, etc. This requires a lot of patience and experience. Thus, not many games provide this feature.
Luckily, here come some components to the rescue, like Quazal's line of products, "Replica Net" and "Plane Shift".
Now, some final thoughts ... you may have heared about some of the above-mentioned "helpers" or even used them, but the fact is that in order to produce a game from scratch to completion you have to choose the right ones, that is, the ones that comply with all of the requirements for your project: budget, scope, technology, features, comfort, support, ... just to to mention a few.
But one thing is getting to know a bunch of components in order to pick the right one for you and your crew and other very different thing is to "wander" around them in a sort of "never-ending" testing, because you are either waiting for that long-awaited "saviour" component, you have played around so much that you don't know where the North is anymore, or you can't just make up your mind.
One of the huge mistakes that many "indies" usually make -I included- is playing around with some third-party components at the same time for a long time. You may say, "what's wrong with that? One should get to know a component before buying it, right?" I'll tell you what, the problem is that when you use, not one or two, but more components at the same time for a long time you face the risk of not getting to know none of them with the due depth of detail that you need in order to properly deal with your project.
In other words, don't play around with the components as if you were carring on the project it-self in a paralell manner through all of those components, like saying "the one that reaches the finish-line first wins the race" (if you compete with your-self in this one there will be no winner).
Just perform a set of small and accurate tests on the functionality that you need for your game in a sort of check-list verification: "Engine 1 ... checked, Communications ... checked, ... ". And then, having analyzed the pros and cons of the candidates, select one, get to know it deeply and start your project.
And please, don't look back until you finish it or otherwise you'll be only creating abbandonware, potentially speaking.
Just remember, there may exist no perfect components in absolute terms but relatively speaking, there is one (set of) perfect component(s) for your project if you manage to choose smartly. Or was it for soul-mates?
Anyway, part 2 is now finished. See you all next time ...
[... we will only focus on .NET based components]
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