XNA Framework & Xbox 360 Details

LightAssassin · 2006-08-19T13:30:18

Just thought I'd point to a press release from Microsoft doing the rounds. http://www.ausgamers.com/pressreleases/html/2459342 (I'm Australian hence the ausgamers) Anybody know of any more specific details? I checked letskilldave and he has yet to post anything. Looks promising, but I expect as always there will be comments about open source, proprietary software and good ol' fashion homebrew and piracy. Here's hoping more details come to light soon (well the release of the tools on the 30th would most definately do that :) ). Edit: What do you guys use here? html? bbcode? I only lurk... would like to make it a pretty hyperlink :)

Graphics and GPU Programming Programming

Started by LightAssassin August 14, 2006 12:43 AM

71 comments, last by paulble 17 years, 8 months ago

superpig

1,826

August 14, 2006 10:48 AM

Quote:Original post by teh_programerer
I'm a tad confused in the FAQ, where it states that it will be based around C#. Now I'm not entirely competent when it comes to C#, or will I have to adopt it? Thanks. As far as I'm concerened with the issue of the XNA Game Studio Express I'm quite excited about it.

The XNA Framework itself is just a set of .NET assemblies, so you can use whatever language you like to target it if you use one of the regular Visual Studio products that supports your language of choice.

XNA Game Studio Express, however, only currently supports C#.

So, if you don't want to learn C#, you can still write for the XNA Framework... but without the benefit of all the tools and designers that have been built into Game Studio Express.

All in all, I'd recommend learning C#. It's a nice language.

Richard "Superpig" Fine - saving pigs from untimely fates - Microsoft DirectX MVP 2006/2007/2008/2009
"Shaders are not meant to do everything. Of course you can try to use it for everything, but it's like playing football using cabbage." - MickeyMouse

jollyjeffers

1,571

August 14, 2006 10:50 AM

Quote:Original post by teh_programerer
I'm a tad confused in the FAQ, where it states that it will be based around C#. Now I'm not entirely competent when it comes to C#, or will I have to adopt it?

Initially I gather that they're targetting C# with the documentation/samples and so on. The initial beta package is out in 16 days time, so you can always hang on and check out the gory details for yourself [smile]

They did say that you could use the low-level XNA Framework layer (XNA Game Studio adds several layers on top of XNA Framework) as a normal .NET/Managed API. That may only apply if you're wanting to use XNA Framework as a successor to MDX - writing tools or "regular" windows/WinForms applications for example.

Cheers,
Jack

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Jack Hoxley [ Forum FAQ | Revised FAQ | MVP Profile | Developer Journal ]

jollyjeffers

1,571

August 14, 2006 10:56 AM

Quote:Original post by superpig
All in all, I'd recommend learning C#. It's a nice language.

Agreed. If it's of any interest, I recently finished reading "Visual C# 2005 Step-by-step" and recommend it for someone new to the language. It's a pretty simple book, but it covers the basics in enough details to get you up-and-running without too much trouble. I've used it to just get my bearings and intend to use the documentation/samples to go from there.

Jack

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Jack Hoxley [ Forum FAQ | Revised FAQ | MVP Profile | Developer Journal ]

RedRingRico

705

August 14, 2006 10:57 AM

Thanks for clearing that up superpig and jollyjeffers. I was getting worried for a second there, I might learn C# as well for the fun of it :).

Alpha_ProgDes

6,963

August 14, 2006 11:00 AM

Quote:Original post by jollyjeffers
Quote:Original post by superpig
All in all, I'd recommend learning C#. It's a nice language.
Agreed. If it's of any interest, I recently finished reading "Visual C# 2005 Step-by-step" and recommend it for someone new to the language. It's a pretty simple book, but it covers the basics in enough details to get you up-and-running without too much trouble. I've used it to just get my bearings and intend to use the documentation/samples to go from there.

Jack

Beginner in Game Development? Read here. And read here.

smitty1276

560

August 14, 2006 11:06 AM

Quote:Original post by teh_programerer
I'm a tad confused in the FAQ, where it states that it will be based around C#. Now I'm not entirely competent when it comes to C#, or will I have to adopt it? Thanks. As far as I'm concerened with the issue of the XNA Game Studio Express I'm quite excited about it.

We've been warned (or warning) for years that C# was going to become a dominant game development language and that it was time to learn it. This is the very early phase of that.

smitty1276

560

August 14, 2006 11:12 AM

Did anyone notice anything about using unmanaged code (PInvoke, etc)? I take it this is forbidden?

That would also explain the DirectPhysics thing.

superpig

1,826

August 14, 2006 11:14 AM

Quote:Original post by smitty1276
Did anyone notice anything about using unmanaged code (PInvoke, etc)? I take it this is forbidden?

I've not heard anything either way, but I suspect that you're right - that it'll be forbidden on a code security level.

jollyjeffers

1,571

August 14, 2006 11:28 AM

I gather that some of the advanced graphics features are hidden away due partly to abstraction and security. Things like MemExport (or whatever it is - the Stream-Out like feature for Xenos) won't be accessible via XNA Framework.

I also gather that multiplayer/XBoxLive is non-existant in the early releases due to the risk of hacking attacks via XNA Framework.

Quote:<offtopic>
How long did it take you to read a book like that?
</offtopic>

I was reading it on-and-off for a few days. I skim read a huge amount of it (its around 500 pages in total) as I'm familiar with basic programming concepts. I just focused on the sections about syntax/features that I've not seen before (e.g. events/delegates) and read all the tips/hints in box-outs. There were quite a lot of warning boxes for "if you're familiar with C++, then..." which I found useful.

Jack

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Jack Hoxley [ Forum FAQ | Revised FAQ | MVP Profile | Developer Journal ]

AvengerDr

751

August 14, 2006 11:40 AM

But what about us developers that do not care (much) about the XBOX 360? Is there a subscription to be paid even when developing only under windows or is that only for the xbox?

--Avengers UTD Chronicles - My game development blog

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