If you can find a emulator for Windows that would let me test the game, I'm willing to help alpha/beta test it.

I don't think it would fail. We may not win the contest, but I have no doubt we could make a great game - if enough people rose to meet the challenge. I think this is the perfect time for something like this. We pretty much decided on going with collaboration, because competition just isn't very friendly.

I think you're fairly close with your time estimates. I've been doing a lot of reading about XNA. I've also been watching videos. This seems very possible. Like I mentioned in Issue 26 - break it up the game into pieces. It's easier to manage that way. I've been looking at the 3D model aspect of it. I'm not spending money on Maya, but maybe Blender can work. My next step is to do some research, then install the tools. There are TONS of resources out there, everything from free models to C# video tutorials.

This was a good read...
Make your own XBOX games in 10 steps
http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story...a-10-steps-diy

So... Bolshevik, are you working on the Gwen RPS game?

What are you running if you're not running Windows? Mac? Linux? TRS-80 Color Computer 2? Commodore 64?

__________________
Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

Err, emulator for XBox that runs on Windows or Linux (sorry I wasn't clear)

I use windows for games and linux for practically everything else.

Well, that's the beauty of this project. As far as I understand it, you can make games that run on your PC and on your XBOX 360. Here's a quote from the official FAQ...

Source: http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/xna/faq/

__________________
Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

Okay, send me a shout when you need it tested. If I have time I'll try it out

Testing is the easy part. Look at the history of MMORPGs... just do a public beta

WHERE ARE THE CODE WARRIORS?!
WHERE ARE THE ARTISTS?!
WHERE ARE THE MUSICIANS?!

Eh... I figure things are slow now, being it's Christmas time. Me, I'll be doing more research tomorrow. XNA is the little holiday treat that eclipses all of my other gifts combined. (Although... I did get some pretty nice shoes.) I'll be looking to achieve two goals tomorrow...

1. Install the software: XNA, Visual C# Express
2. Get Blender and XNA to play nice

__________________
Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

If I were to say how far along I am with the Gwen RPS I'd say a little more then half is done. I still need to make some more art work and other things like finding music and getting some voices for gwen or finding a giggle that is free that I can use for gwen. I am almost sure I should be done with it by the end of this week. The reason why it isnt done already was because I had to work so much but now that christmas time is going to pass I'll have more then enough time. I was just saying that I would help you with some things I am a decent 3d modeler and I use 3d studio max for my modeling. I been wanting to do some 3d stuff but the projects I have been doing for my other job which is Forever Interactive has been really slow so I should have more then enough time to help. Also photics you should think about focusing on making your game for PC because unless you get a master of all coding pc would be best because you could find forums and junk that will really help you. Other then that like I said I should be done with Gwen RPS soon I just need to work on it thats all.

Cool... that sounds good!

For music, you can find some Freeware Loops at Flashkit.com. As for Gwen's voice, you can skip that part if it's too much trouble. It's more important to have content that is legal to use. When you're done, send over the .fla file. I will be checking your work... and asking lots of questions. "Where did you get this? How did you do this?!"

If that sounds annoying... that's because it is. Ha!

Well... be sure to enjoy your holidays. I know I'll be taking a break later today, to check on the new Virtual Console games for the Wii. I hear Street Fighter 2, CastleVania IV and Super Mario Bros will be released today.

I wandered over to Wikipedia... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever_Interactive ...is that the same Forever Interactive?

It sounds mysterious... a secret MMO... hmm!

I found another article at garage games.

Right now, the idea is to make a game that runs on both platforms. Most likely, there will be more focus on the PC side. Most of us have Windows XP SP2, but very few of us have an XBOX 360. I'm thinking for us to win the competition, that's probably a design requirement that can't be dropped - dual platform support. Yet, I hear it's real easy to have dual platform support.

I should know more details later today, as I'm going to try to install all the software.

__________________
Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

The forever interactive and the one I am working with are one in the same. As for the questions the more the better I say it is better to have a questioned answered then let the mind left to wonder, plus I always use my own code/artwork when I can as well as getting freeware/shareware music/sounds that is why I love flashkit.com so much hehe. I am sure if I look hard enough I can get a good giggle plus they always have those generic laughs that they use in about every damn movie/commerical where you see a little kid that laughs I am sure you heard it before. Believe it or not I actually really enjoy making games and get excited when people like the ones I make so that is what I am going to be doing I am almost positive that it should be near finished by weeks end. Happy Holidays everyone 8).

Whoa!

OK, so I installed Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition and Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express. Then, I watched a bunch of tutorial videos. After that, I looked around at some 3D graphics program.

My head almost exploded. HA! This is a difficult project. I'm still trying to figure out which tools are the best to use. The core of the problem is the "Content Pipeline". I don't know how to code in C#, nor am I a 3D animator. Yet, I should at least know how to move content from the artists to the code warriors. Fortunately, I found some interesting reading on the subject...

The XNA Framework Content Pipeline
http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/20...29/730168.aspx

XNA uses some familiar formats, and some I've never heard of...

• 3D File Formats: .FBX & .X
• 2D File Formats: .DDS .BMP .JPG . PNG .TGA
• Material File Formats: .FX
• Audio File Formats: .XAP (XACT)

Going back to the "break it down into small pieces" theory, I got the 2D file formats covered. I can make any of those formats - except the .DDS format. I don't remember seeing the Microsoft "DirectDraw Surface" format before. 2D is not a problem. As for the rest, that's when it gets a little weird.

When I looked at audio, I thought, "WTF is .XAP?!"

I read up on it at Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XACT

I was greeted by a sign that said, "You again Mike?!"
(I spent a lot of time at Wikipedia today!)

Apparently, Audio is a bit more complicated than I thought. XNA includes a separate audio tool - Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) - which means even more confusion. HA! I have experience with 2D graphics files and Audio Editing. This part doesn't concern me too much. 3D is where it gets confusing.

I sat through a video which made absolutely no sense to me. It was the first XNA tutorial - Displaying a 3D Model on the screen. I felt like I was back in High School, stuck in a boring science class. Then you do this... then do this... then do this... then do this... copy and paste a bunch of code... then do this... and this... don't forget to go back and change this... and this... then that... ok... now we have a 3D object that does nothing.

If this is the easy way to make a video game, I don't even want to know the hard way.

Toward the end of the day, I started looking at 3D programs. I sat through tutorials that were pretty much the same as the XNA tutorial... do this, then this, and that, then this, and then that, blah, blah, blah! For some reason, Carrara Basics 2 was the most appealing to me. It looked real simple and it was only $99. It doesn't have .FBX export though. (Looks like 3DS and DXF instead.) Carrara 5 Pro does, but that was $549.00.

That's when I started feeling tired. I'd like to accomplish something over the vacation. I somehow doubt I can finish a simple XNA game by the end of the week. That's one of the problems. I keep thinking on how to turn Photics: Revisions into a video game, not making a simple video game first. Still, I'd like to have something to show for all this time off. I'll probably shift gears and go back to Flash Game Design tomorrow.

__________________
Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com