I’ve been trying to write this post for the past four days and keep getting side tracked. I managed to get the sprite sheet compiler to run successfully this weekend, and produced an xnb file.

The next thing is to reload that xnb file back into the editor so that I can start on the animation system editor, but I think that I’ll probably get the Workspace class to compile as well first.

With the workspace class compiling I can probably add a preview option where the editor can shell out and run the game engine, I’m still not sure how publishing to the Xbox360 will work if I’m compiling the content outside VS, this needs looking at when I get a 360.

Custom Domain

I was trying to set up a custom domain for the site but the setup software says I can’t use any of the domains I own, shame. I sent an email to Microsoft support on the matter and got a standard email back saying that:-

…the domain you are trying to register contains a word that is currently on our blocked word list…

So is one of the words XNA or GAMER is on a block list? I think not! :-

…This includes words where the blocked term is a substring (part) of another word…

Using Wordles.com I can’t find any word in there that might be band unless you rearrange the letters. I can’t wait for them to tell me what the word was or it could be…

…the domain name is reserved and cannot be used to create new Windows Live ID’s…

But I’ve told them that I own the domain so all I need is for them to tell me how to UN-reserve it ether way…

…this domain will be submitted for review and you will be notified whether we will allow the domain in 3 to 5 business days…

So I’ll wait and see… Now ON WITH THE SHOW!

Command Console

I’ve added the console as a DrawableGameComponent for the time being but I think there are going to have to be changes to the current system for it to work the way I want it to….as always.

SystemX Entities

I think I have the object types sorted I’m looking at having three main types :-

1. Effects
   Mostly things like Smoke or sparks, this is what would be used for shots & particles
2. Items
   Things that can be picked up and used
3. People
   Further split and sub split
   1. Bert
      Bert is a special case and may end up in a class on his own, poor boy.
   2. Civilians
      In the original we had eight civilians this might be trimmed down as there frames missing from one of the original sprites.
   3. Soldiers
      There are four types of soldier Pistol, Machine gun, Uzi, Rocket launcher, what more could a growing army need?
   4. Robots
      The droids are probably the most diverse group with static Turrets roller droids and walking droids.

Splitting object up in this way should maximize flexibility whilst still keeping things as simple as possible.

Contact Sheet Creator

I have got the contact sheet compiler building an complete PNG file ready for building by the content pipeline. I’ve stopped short of writing the sprite information file as this will probably integrate with the animation information.

Project Information file

I’ve had some thought about how I’m going to store the project info or glue as I’ve come to think of it. Here is a rough idea of what I have so far :-

• Project
  this is the main class and it holds all the structures
  • Options
    holds things like Title, Content directory name, Project version number & primary background.
  • Contact sheets array
    contains information about each contact sheet.
    • Animation data
      Seeing as this data is relative to the sheet I’ll keep it in with the sheet data
    • Sprite origins grid
      Rather than compute these values I can pre-calculate them in the sheet builder.
    • Texture2D
      The actual image data/the file to load anyway.
  • Reference Object collections
    This will be a short hand list that will work as an objects factory during level load/game play.
  • Menu Collection
    Menu Pages and their items ready for the primary plug-in to attach event handlers or which default handler to use.

SystemX Animations

Added a basic animation class. I have also started writing the animation studio application. It relies on contact sheets and their information file so this might stall if I get to that point before I finalise the glue file.

Enough of this I’m off to bed some of us have work in the morning.

Documents of Newly Published Xbox Live Game Made Public – Jill Duffy[09.03.08]

James Goddard recently pitched a game to Microsoft for inclusion on Xbox Live Arcade. His game, Shred Nebula, was accepted. One of the crucial steps in landing this achievement was creating two official documents: a pitch paper and a manuscript required by Microsoft known as “60 seconds of gameplay.”

I think it’s a good read….