XNA Notes 019

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This has been a fantastic week of XNA activity and news. Standing ovation the the XNA Team for the interaction they’ve been having with the community as well as the new features they’ve been rolling out for Xbox LIVE Indie Game developers. Simply outstanding and I can’t wait to see what might be coming next.

It’s also been a fun week to watch people’s Dream Build Play projects inch ever closer to completion. With the submission deadline coming up in June this is the crunch time for many developers. Keep your eye on your favorite game developers twitter accounts with the late nights that are sure to come, I’m sure there will be some amazing things that will be tweeted.

Now on to what I caught happening in the XNA Community…

Time Critical XNA News:

• Windows Phone 7 Unleased Hackathon in Atlanta, Georgia May 16th. Windows Phone 7, XNA and Silverlight experts help you build, scale and publish your Windows Phone 7 game
• https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032486873&Culture=en-US
• Richard Williams (DVMGames) shares the lates multi-language games currently in peer review. These games need your help. It’s extremely difficult to get multi-language games released so if you can peer review in another language, please check them out and help where you can!
• http://twitter.com/#!/DVMGames/status/68700837073002496
• http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/26091/497890.aspx#497890
  

XNA Team:

• Shawn Hargreaves writes about Antialiasing Alpha-cutouts
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/shawnhar/archive/2011/05/06/antialiasing-alpha-cutouts.aspx
• XNA Team Blog
• Xbox LIVE Indie Games: New Control your game release feature
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/xna/archive/2011/05/09/xbox-live-indie-games-new-control-your-game-release-feature.aspx
• Dream Build Play registration ends May 17th
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/xna/archive/2011/05/10/dream-build-play-registration-ends-may-17th.aspx
• The XNA Team hosted a fantastic #devchat on Twitter, you can read back through the discussions, learn about various Xbox LIVE Indie Game Developers that introduced themselves and what they’re working on. Meet a variety of members of the XNA Team and go through a series of question and answers. Questions were asked of the community and then of the team. It was a lot of fun and looking forward to another one!
• http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23devchat
  

XNA MVPs:

• Mike McLaughlin shares an XNA Content Pipeline Extensions sample
• http://geekswithblogs.net/mikebmcl/archive/2011/05/08/xna-custom-content-pipeline-extensions.aspx
• XNA MVP Chris Williams is going to be at the TechEd Hackathon answering your questions
• http://twitter.com/#!/chrisgwilliams/status/69040323984244737
• Catalin Zima shares a new update and some stats for Chickens Can Dream (good idea to check out those number if you’re a WP7 game developer, very informative!)
• http://www.amusedsloth.com/2011/05/chickens-can-dream-1-5-is-now-on-the-marketplace/
  

XNA Developers:

• Robert Boyd of Zeboyd Games writes a fantastic article about guiding gamer expectations
• http://zeboyd.com/2011/05/06/guiding-gamer-expectations/
• Ben Kane shares his thoughts on the new feature allowing Xbox LIVE Indie Game developers to set their own release dates
• http://benkane.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/pick-your-xblig-release-date-thoughts/
• Eric Cosky shared adding ImageMagic to StarNinjas Content Pipeline
• http://blog.boundingboxgames.com/2011/05/adding-imagemagick-to-star-ninjas-xna.html
• Elisée Maurer shares his codeplex project Nuclear Winter, which is is a set of XNA libraries for developing 2D games based on SVG files edited with InkScape.
• http://twitter.com/#!/elisee/status/68043075754262528
• http://nuclearwinter.codeplex.com/
• Johann Denux share an article on game state management using co-operative multi-tasking and wrote a complete application to demo the concepts
• http://sharp-gamedev.blogspot.com/2011/02/game-state-management-using-cooperative.html
• XNA UK conducting a twitter poll to see if there’s a need for a central location for art and game assets
• http://twtpoll.com/r/0q8vzl
• Danimal writes about  Acquiring Music for Xbox LIVE Indie Games
• http://www.highbrowgames.com/archives/270
• Richard Williams (@DVMGames) shares his notes from the #devchat if you missed it
• http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/82499/498006.aspx#498006
• Frog the Door Games writes about adding a rumble component to Your Game
• http://www.frogthedoor.com/1/post/2011/05/adding-a-rumble-component-to-your-game.html
• Kris Steele of FunInfusedGames continues to share his always humorous and informative posts
• Too many sound effects causes slowdowns for Windows Phone 7 games
• http://www.krissteele.net/blogdetails.aspx?id=261
• Hypership Out of Control WP7 postmortem
• http://www.krissteele.net/blogdetails.aspx?id=262
• Fun Infused Friday #8  (and later today keep your eye out for #9!)
• http://www.krissteele.net/blogdetails.aspx?id=263
• @x35mm shares a link he found on 11 tips for making a fun platformer
• http://twitter.com/#!/x35mm/status/69034885838417920
• http://devmag.org.za/2011/01/18/11-tips-for-making-a-fun-platformer/
• @QBitWare shares a tool he found on CodePlex that helps import models from XNA into Silverlight
• http://sl3dmi.codeplex.com/
• Kris Steele shares a theory on why the last XNA Notes may have been late
• http://twitter.com/#!/kriswd40/status/67600734035779584
• Philippe Da Silva shares a video of IGF being used to make a HUD!
• http://vimeo.com/23635460
• http://indiefreaks.com/2011/05/12/gui-implementation-week-03/
• @x35mm shares a video of his game + XNA MVP Catalin Zima’s Mass Effect dialog sample he released for XNA (always fun seeing samples used in actual games!)
• http://twitter.com/#!/x35mm/status/68753420177260545
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plz7oB_74Vo&feature=youtu.be
• JohnK announces SunBurn Game Engine Audio system now drag and drop and more!
• http://www.synapsegaming.com/blogs/johnk/archive/2011/05/11/sunburn-game-engine-audio-system-drag-drop-and-more.aspx
• Edward Powell writes about Modifying the vertices of a ModelMesh at runtime in XNA 4.0
• http://xna-uk.net/blogs/braindump/archive/2011/02/24/modifying-the-vertices-of-a-modelmesh-at-runtime-in-xna-4-0.aspx
• Alfred Thompson shares Programming with C# and XNA Jump Start
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/alfredth/archive/2011/05/10/programming-with-c-and-xna-0-5-jump-start.aspx
• Michael Earls shares a link to bfxr and online version of the popular sound effect creator sfxr
• http://twitter.com/#!/cerkit/status/68092170237784064
• http://www.bfxr.net/
• Astroboid write about an XNA AI Finite State Machine
• http://astroboid.blogspot.com/2011/05/xna-ai-finite-state-machine.html
• Josh Wallace writes a code example on scrolling a 2D background (which is based off my tutorial, so cool!)
• http://josh-co.com/?p=32
• and then adding a sprite to the background
• http://josh-co.com/?p=38
  

Xbox LIVE Indie Games (XBLIG):

• You’ve used IMDB before for learning about movies, the actors and the people involved, James Johnston (@MadNinjaSkillz) has created a similar site Xbox LIVE Indie Game Database. Many Xbox LIVE Indie Game developers and their teams have already signed up and posted their information. Head on over, check it out, provide feedback and get signed up yourself!
• http://xbligdb.com/frontpage.asp
• Armless Octopus is taking the lead on XNA news and coverage.
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/09/platformance-2-temple-death-trailer-reveals-that-there-will-be-blood/
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/09/xblig-developers-can-now-choose-their-release-date/
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/10/tic-part-1-wows-gamefest-takes-home-1st-prize-and-audience-choice-award/
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/10/dream-build-play-2011-registration-closes-may-17/
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/10/spyparty-opens-sign-ups-for-early-access-beta/
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/10/get-to-know-your-xna-mvps-part-3-michael-mclaughlin/
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/12/steam-needs-saving-cthulu-answers-the-call/
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/05/12/xna-community-team-chats-with-developers-about-dream-build-play-and-more/
• Writings of Mass Deduction continues his steady pace of finding an awesome Xbox LIVE Indie game worthy of purchase each day. He can only keep doing this because you guys keep making great games! Also if you have favorite XBLIGs to recommend, he’s always looking for suggestions send some his way. Steven has been doing this for SIX MONTHS now! AWESOME.
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/06/day-178-poker-stacker-2/
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/07/day-179-vorpal/
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/08/day-180-tank-strike/
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/09/day-181-party-boat/
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/10/day-182-hieronymus-bash/
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/11/coming-up-on-6-months-of-consecutive-game-reviews/
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/11/day-183-oozi-earth-adventure-ep-1/
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/05/12/day-184-echoes/
• GameMarx says they’ve taken a step back but they still remain a fantastic resource for news and reviews of XBLIGs.
• http://www.gamemarx.com/news/2011/05/09/xbox-indies-can-now-control-release-dates-and-some-advice.aspx
• Podcast
• http://www.gamemarx.com/podcast/2011/05/07/gamemarx-ep36-hate-flakes.aspx
• Sequence is GameMarx Game of the Week
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/79/sequence.aspx
• Is building a Facebook page and needs fans so they can get that cool Facebook web link
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/GameMarx/162914950409758
• XboxIndies.com remains top dog in looking for the latest in XBox LIVE Indie Game reviews, you’ll want to keep this site bookmarked and visit it often. Michael Neel is continually adding new enhancement to the  Pivot control too which is a fantastic way to explore Xbox LIVE Indie Games
• http://www.xboxindies.com/
• http://www.xboxindies.com/games/PivotDatabase.aspx
• Edge gives a great Sequence review
• http://www.next-gen.biz/features/sequence-review
• VVGTv.com
• Is impressed at the jaw dropping visuals of Tic coming soon to Xbox LIVE Indie Games
• http://vvgtv.com/2011/05/09/tic-coming-soon-to-xblig/
• One Giant Leap for Xbox LIVE Indie Game Developers (and one great looking picture of me!)
• http://vvgtv.com/2011/05/09/one-giant-leap-for-xblig-developers/
• The Thoughtful Gamers interview Xona Games
• http://magx01.blogspot.com/2011/05/thoughtful-gamers-interview-xona-games.html
• Clearance Bin Review gives the Xbox LIVE Indie Game Spotlight to Starzzle
• http://clearancebinreview.com/2011/05/09/xblig-spotlight-starzzle/
• (great site to keep an eye on if you’re looking to snag free copies of games, they often are giving some away!)
• Crush Frag Destroy does their latest Xbox LIVE Indie Dome for May 2nd - May 8th
• http://www.crushfragdestroy.com/2011/05/09/xbox-live-indie-dome-may-2nd-8th-2011/
• BBQ Games is giving back to the world. Many of their games give a percentage of their sales to various charities, you can read a little more about that here
• http://www.bbqgames.co.uk/?page_id=381
• DJ Arcas of FortressCraft makes an appearance Just Press Starts podcast series The Third Chair
• http://justpressstart.net/?p=2013
• wondering just what the Third Chair is all about?  You can learn more about it and Vira Gunn it’s host here
• http://viragunn.blogspot.com/2011/05/third-chair.html
• Geek Republic reviews Bouncing Avatars
• http://www.geek-republic.com/2011/05/03/bouncing-avatars-review/
• XBLA Ratings continues to announce newly released (and updated) Xbox LIVE Indie Games as well as conduct interviews with developers in the communities. Here’s a great one with James Silva I missed from back in April
• http://www.xblaratings.com/developer-qaa/3995-the-dishwasher-vampire-smile-developer-interview
• http://www.xblaratings.com/
• DIY posts their most recent Best of the Xbox Indies
• http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/games/best-of-the-xbox-indies-11th-may-2011
• 8BitHorse asks 10 questions of Steven Flores of Dragon Divide (developer of Alpha Squad for Xbox LIVE Indie Games)
• http://8bithorse.blogspot.com/2011/05/10-questions-alpha-squad.html
• Digital Spy covers Cthulu Saves the World coming to Steam!
• http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a319189/cthulhu-saves-the-world-coming-to-steam.html
• Elysia is a game to keep your eye on for Dream Build Play, read back through their posts and see what they’ve shared!
• http://www.susurration.net/
• http://www.susurration.net/news/index.php?ID=48
• GiantBomb covers the new release date feature for Xbox LIVE Indie Game Developers
• http://www.giantbomb.com/news/microsoft-finally-gives-independents-control-over-release-dates-but-for-one-game-its-too-late/3163/
  

XNA Development:

• Microsoft Present XNA Workshop at Digital Overload!
• http://digital-overload.com/2011/05/12/microsoft-presents-xna-workshop-at-digital-overload/
• XNA RPG - Learning XNA while building an RPG
• http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/XNA-RPG-Learning-XNA-while-building-a-RPG-a-26-part-tutorial-series
• XNA Game Development - Introducing Debugging
• http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/The-XNA-Show/XNA-Game-Development-Introducing-Debugging
• Digital Rune Software write about Input Handling in XNA Part 1
• http://www.digitalrune.com/Support/Blog/tabid/719/EntryId/95/Input-Handling-in-XNA-Games-ndash-Part-1.aspx
• and Part 2
• http://www.digitalrune.com/Support/Blog/tabid/719/EntryId/96/Input-Handling-in-XNA-Games-ndash-Part-2.aspx
  

Windows Phone 7:

• Josh Elster shares his post on World Design considerations in Mobile Touch Games
• http://www.liquidelectron.com/world-design-considerations-in-mobile-touch-games
• Looks like a new forum has started up talking about the best gaming to be had on Windows Phone 7
• http://www.bestwp7games.com/forum/forum.php
• James Kelly shares his experience of making a Windows Phone 7 game
• http://flax.ie/windows-phone-7-game-development/
• An online 3 day training course on XNA for Windows Phone 7, if you’re the kind of person that needs some instruction this could be a fantastic resource!
• http://www.silverlightshow.net/news/XNA-Training.aspx