Microsoft XNA

This is probably a stupid question, but is there anyway that the new Microsoft XNA framework could work with BlitzMax?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/XNA/default.aspx

If you look on the link you can see what it is.

Thanks

Not likely, since its .NET based. And as far as i know you have to use C# for everything.

XNA is a game engine (more advanced than managed DirectX 1.1) that will allow the creation of games for windows XP SP2 (only) and XBOX 360 (in future versions).
It's based in the Microsoft .Net framework 2.0 so it will be compatible only with .net applications (I don't know if someone has made a wraper to let BlitzMax interact with .net class-dlls). For what I see in the documentation it is only a beta version of an incomplete piece of software. Haven't tried it yet, but it anounces more or less the same graphical funtionality that Max3D is supoused to suport -acording to Mark's worklog-. Anyway it seems XNA works in a very low level, and, in addition, you need Microsoft C# to develop using XNA.

Visual Studio 2005 Express is free, that includes Visual C#. Get it while it's hot because it will not be free forever.

@danielwooden: FYI... ;)


http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/

@VIP3R - Great news! Thanks for the update.

You Can use .NET dll's in Blitzmax.
It requires a fair bit of work though.

I have written an article a few years ago on how to use a .NET DLL with Blitz3D. With some minor modifications his will also work with BlitzMax.

here'the article: http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Code/2003/Aug/ExportManagedCodeasUnmanaged.asp

Having said that though, I doubt it's worth the effort of having to wrap the entire XNA framework :p

Your better off using an established .NET language like C#, VB.NET, etc.

Btw, Borland has allso released their toolchains for free (the one i was most interested in was REAL Win32 Delphi, no .NET crap!)

for those wanting to check it out: http://www.turboexplorer.com/

.NET => crap => Go and install Linux. You will be out of using any app within 24 months!

Tried that :p
As nice as the distributions come these days they really still cant compete with the likes of Windowx XP.
Seriously. It's a good effort and they have gotten a long way in the past years, but proper application support is still thouroughly pants.

The thing is that having a stable OS isn't everything. What's the point of having an OS that never crashes if you don't have anything usefull to do with it? :p

First, XNA is not a game engine. Its a framework. Its more comparable to Blitzmax than any sort of real game engine (which is not a correct comparison in the first place). Second, I've been using XNA since it came out in beta and I have to say its really great. In 3D I can probably agree that XNA works on a bit of a lower level (most if not all 3D rendering has be done with shaders if i remember correctly), but for 2D I don't see it any more complex than blitzmax. Add in an *awesome* IDE and it becomes much more enjoyable to code with C#. I was able to develop a quickie multiplayer game in XNA in about 2 days (couple hours each day) as opposed to blitzmax, which took me something around a week or so to get the same results. Definitely worth a look for those that have an open mind to learning new things/langauges.