xna game studio

What is microsoft xna game studio express all about? Would it be any use to a Blitz programer?

If they no longer wanted to be a Blitz programmer, yes.

As a C# developer (my paid job), I'm really tempted by this. I haven't had a chance to grab it yet, but I've read some positive things about it.

I am learning c# ( already know c) Don't want to get into something not compatible with 3dws or my other content creation progs.

Tried it, was not impressed though it is in its eraly days. qoob is my last Blitz project (out soon) and once finished will probably be moving over to C# and XNA

I tried it a bit and its okay.
I am a C# coder in my current job so...

Yeah. You know Microsoft need 5 versions to get it right. Give them time.

Don't worry. There are several Collada importers for XNA.

.

I've hardly seen C# at all, but I'm guessing while you still need more than a few lines of code to open a blank screen and write hello world on it, blitz will be fine.

so c#'s, what's the code for blanking th escreen and writing "hello world" in the middle of it?

c#/c++/java/python/pascal/blitz are just languages. Opening a screen like you say is really a function of a library.. Not trying to be pedantic here, but I really do think alot of people get mixed up with this :-)

I guess the thing that seems to cloud things is that blitz( and purebasic and darkbasic, etc ) and its library are very tightly integrated..inseperable. Which is nice in alot of ways, especially if you just need to jump in and bash out a small throw away proggy. Personally though, I tend to think of a computer "language", as the keywords and syntactic sugar that let you express ideas and perform computation.</tangent>

Anyways, c# has no built in way of opening a screen and printing text. You have to link to a library that will do that. The upside is that c# is a big part of .net, and .net is just loaded with all kinds of cool libraries and classes.

using the system console class

using cs = System.Console;

class Hello
{
	static void Main()
	{
		cs.WriteLine("Hello World");
	}
}

a more game-like method would look like this. ( Using my library of course, pimpage intentional ;) )

using System;
using Deviant.Supergrafx;
using Deviant.Supergrafx.Drawing;

class Hello
{
	static void Main()
	{
		Screen.Open( 640, 480, 0, true );
		Font fnt = new Font("Media\\MyUberFont.font");
				
		while( !Key.Hit( Keys.Escape ) )
		{
			Screen.Clear();
			
			fnt.Write( 0, 0,"Hello World!" );
						
			Screen.Flip();
		}
	}
}

One the few minor annoyances I have with c# is that you cant just write a function or variable in the global namespace-- everything has to be in a class. But that only comes into play for small script like programs or hello world.. real programs its kind of a non issue.

I don't think xna will put brl out of business( At least I hope it doesn't. Choice is a good thing. ), this place is filled with a nice userbase, and it seems like new names keep popping up. But I do think xna and the .net tools will add alot of pressure to all of the smaller companies selling gamedev languages and systems. Microsoft is giving away some pretty powerful stuff for free...

Someone who's totally new to programming or gamedev, or just wants to test the waters, might find something like blitz a better way to get started. At least in my case, I remember learning plain ol' vanilla c back in the day, and it all seemed so painful when all I wanted to do was get something flying around on the screen( Hey I grew up with amos, what can I say ). So finding blitz was a godsend.

Well, for the BlitzMax programmer, if you can install Linux on a PS3, then you got it made for homebrew. Outside of that, for C# in XNA for the X360, it would take quite a lot of conversion between the two languages. Plus, Microsoft can be quite a fussbutton when it comes to what types of games you can develop. If they would allow for screen savers for their console, then I'd save a few plasma screens from burn in, that's for sure. Outside of that, for $99 fee for that, well, I'd have to consider something that would make that pay off, not at all an easy thing.

No.

it seems to be easy to use
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDsEx8FKmJU

also you can send the xna compiled code from your pc to the xbox360 and run it in the xbox360, it's great for coding a game in xbox360.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87ZBU88xBE8&mode=related

So BMax programs will actually work on a PS3 then? I don't suppose this has been confirmed, has it?

Oh god. Semicolons and classes. Thanks for warning me.

No.

No.

Yes.









Just kidding, i should of tried it when I had the chance.....hmm maybe theres still time....

You'd need a specialized version of the gcc compiler and linker for the cell processor, and as far as I know, it doesn't exist yet.

(I think)