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I''m kind of lost between all of this, is XNA suppose to be the next version of DirectX except working across all platforms? Apparently from the article on the main page it seems MS is trying to get Sony and Nintendo to hop aboard, I''m not sure if that''s going to happen, but I have yet to see any type of toolset for XNA. Is it out yet, or is it still vaporware?
-John "bkt" Bellone
Flipside Software
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Pretty much, it sounds like a development platform for several hardware/os platforms Microsoft XNA // XNA FAQ. It seems like they're hard selling it with very little information.
Whilst the concept is sound, I can see it coming up against harsh criticsm from Anti-Microsoft spods... Mainly because it seems intent on wiping out the Middleware market.
[edited by - downgraded on June 10, 2004 2:28:12 PM]
Whilst the concept is sound, I can see it coming up against harsh criticsm from Anti-Microsoft spods... Mainly because it seems intent on wiping out the Middleware market.
[edited by - downgraded on June 10, 2004 2:28:12 PM]
XNA is more than just an SDK. It''s a toolkit including optimization applications like PiX and XACT, along with DirectX Next, and definitions of baseline featuresets for various subsystems like 3D file formats. It''s supposed to be a vendor-neutral initiative to lower the development costs of creating games by allowing for greater reuse and mix-and-match development. It sounds good to me.
Some people will of course raise doom and gloom scenarios for it based on its being developed/championed by Microsoft, but recall that Microsoft has a history of successfully getting lots of vendors to work again for consumer (and Microsoft''s) benefit. See DirectX. See Plug n'' Play.
Some people will of course raise doom and gloom scenarios for it based on its being developed/championed by Microsoft, but recall that Microsoft has a history of successfully getting lots of vendors to work again for consumer (and Microsoft''s) benefit. See DirectX. See Plug n'' Play.
aaahhhh...
I bet this thing will cost money. It''s not replacing DirectX; it will "include" DirectX, as well as Visual Studio and what seem to be its own libraries, which must be their answer to "supplying boilerplate code."
I bet this thing will cost money. It''s not replacing DirectX; it will "include" DirectX, as well as Visual Studio and what seem to be its own libraries, which must be their answer to "supplying boilerplate code."
It''ll be free. Read the FAQ. Keep in mind how many developer tools Microsoft has been giving away recently - WiX, MSVC Toolkit 2003, .NET Framework SDK, ASP.NET Web Matrix...
I love the new Micrsoft even more than I loved the old Microsoft.
MindEngine (C++) | E-Commerce Business Architecture (ASP.NET / C#)
MindEngine (C++) | E-Commerce Business Architecture (ASP.NET / C#)
quote:Original post by Oluseyi
It''ll be free. Read the FAQ. Keep in mind how many developer tools Microsoft has been giving away recently - WiX, MSVC Toolkit 2003, .NET Framework SDK, ASP.NET Web Matrix...
and some visual studio .net 2003s too, but not downloadable
quote:Original post by downgraded
Mainly because it seems intent on wiping out the Middleware market.
I think that''s exactly the opposite of what it''s going to do. XNA isn''t destined to replace middleware; rather, it''ll lay down standards and common interfaces for that middleware to follow. The result would, in theory, be much faster integration of middleware into products, along with a reduction in dependencies on specific pacakges. Havok not quite accurate enough for you? Replace it with different package in a matter of hours. The result is a massive increase in competition in the middleware market, which is usually healthy.
It could also mean some very good things for indies, too. Currently, indies have basically no access to professional middleware packages such as Havok. We can''t even write our games with the intention of adding it in after we secure funding because we don''t know anything at all about the interface. If that interface were a public standard, we''d be able to write for it - perhaps using a ''reference'' component in lieu of the real thing, much like the reference rasterizer in DirectX - and plug components in once publishers are interested.
Still, this is mostly speculation. As you said, they''re pushing it hard but not really telling us anything. It could just be a big PR excersise to persuade everyone that "Microsoft cares about your game."
I like the idea, bash MS all you like they do come up with some damned good ideas at times.
Personaly, I''m not that arsed about it unless you can use OpenGL as your 3D render and call me crazy but i dont see that happening
(but hey, i''d gladly be proven wrong)
Personaly, I''m not that arsed about it unless you can use OpenGL as your 3D render and call me crazy but i dont see that happening
(but hey, i''d gladly be proven wrong)
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