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 Gary Dahl over at http://sugarpillstudios.com has an article up about using the Microsoft Rx library with XNA. He discusses using reactive programming to respond to changing conditions within games instead of standard per-update state checking. Pretty interesting stuff! You can read the full article at http://sugarpillstudios.com/wp/?page_id=279.
 My newest book, XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example : Beginners Guide - Visual Basic Edition is now available from Packt Publishing or on Amazon.The latest refresh of XNA 4.0 now supports Visual Basic as a development language for XNA, and this updated version of my original C# book includes tips on interpreting C# web examples for Visual Basic developers and all of the games covered in the C# version of the book: - Flood Control - Pipe-based puzzle game - Asteroid Belt Assault - Overhead space shooter - Robot Rampage - Multi-axis tank shooter with A* pathfinding - Gemstone Hunter - Side Scrolling platform game
Due to a change in web servers, it looks like the forum database was rolled back by about a week. There may be a handful of missing posts. On another note, I'm wrapping up my current XNA-based project, and have been brainstorming plans for a new tutorial series, so I should have more to post "soon" :)
 Part 9 of the Tile Engine Tutorial Series is now available.This installment finishes up adding a player-controlled character to the Isometric engine, accounting for slopes associated with map tiles and for setting which tiles on the map the character can walk on. We finish up this installment by sorting out the draw depth for our character so he appears appropriately within the world. The installment can be found on the Tutorials Page or via Direct Link.
 I have just uploaded Part 8 of the Tile Engine Tutorial Series to the site.In this installment, we add a player-controlled character to our Isometric map, allowing the character to explore the map, scrolling the screen around as the edges are reached. Finally, we take the elevation of the terrain tiles into account and offset the character's draw location based on what he is walking on. As normal, this tutorial can be found on the Tutorials Page or via Direct Link. In the upcoming Part 9, we will look at restricting where on the map the character can walk, and smoothly transitioning the character between elevations on the map. NOTE: The Isometric Picking tutorial was updated to include some extensive modifications to the Camera class that are utilized by this tutorial. If you followed Part 7 prior to 6/7/2011, please go back and take a look at it again, as those updates will be needed for this installment.
As reader AlexPGilbert pointed out in the comments for the Isometric Picking Tutorial, the tutorial code contains a bug that shows up when the camera is offset vertically by an odd amount. I have updated the tutorial with extensive changes to the Camera class (That I had planned to include in Part 8 but actually fix the problem with the misplaced hilight). The download Zip file has also been updated.
 I've been wrapped up in some Windows Phone 7 development for a while now (and really still am) but I wanted to go ahead and post the next installment of the Tile Engine Tutorial series as it has been mostly finished for a while.This time around, we look at converting an X/Y coordinate (in screen terms) into a tile coordinate on the map. This tutorial looks at using the mouse to select tiles on an isometric map. The same technique applies to hexagonal maps as well. The next installment will look at putting an animated character on the map, and relies on the code developed here to properly position the image as the character moves around the map. That installment should be arriving in the near future, but no absolute promises! :) Check out the tutorial on the Tutorials Page or via the direct link.
 As I indicated a few weeks ago, I recently received a copy of 3D Graphics with XNA Game Studio 4.0 by Sean James of Innovative Games. I've now had the opportunity to read through the book and try out the code samples.The book begins, as you might expect, with a brief discussion of the XNA system, and introduces the implementation specifics of things like coordinate systems, projections, and transforms. By the end of the first chapter, Sean has laid out the fundamentals of loading models and setting up different types of 3D cameras. Next, Sean turns to a discussion of HLSL (High Level Shader Language), a topic which will, in one form or another, touch almost everything else that the book covers. The remainder of the book is a rapid-fire implementation of a variety of different 3D effects, covering lighting, shadows, billboarding, environmental effects, model animations, and more. Sean hits the highlights in the explanatory text for each of the techniques introduced, though 3D beginners may feel a bit overwhelmed at first. The book is aimed at an intermediate level, and familiarity with C# and some aspects of XNA will be definate pluses. The sheer volume of interesting techniques presented is excellent, and will be particularly useful if you have a grasp of 3D concepts from working in other languages/frameworks and want to move those skills to XNA. Current XNA developers looking to make the jump to 3D will find a wealth of HLSL and XNA code here to be exploited in their own games and engines.
 A few weeks ago, reader Alexander Weiß sent me an implementation of the Automatic Transition technique that was mentioned in Part 2 of the Tile Engine series. With his permission, I typed up information he sent me, and am posting it as the second "Side Topic" in the Tile Engine series.With very little code, this implementation automatically generates transition tiles between terrain types when the map is defined, so you don't need to hand place transitions between different regions on the map. Check out the tutorial on the Tutorials Page or via the direct link.
 In response to a forum post by Sando asking about create a "Fog of War" effect with the tile engine, I've posted a quick "Side Topic" tutorial on creating a basic fog of war, and then adapting the code to create an aura of visible area around the player.As normal, you can find the tutorial listed on the Tutorials Page or via direct link. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
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