XNA Notes 017

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This week has been an interesting one. Lots of ups and downs in the XNA Community and lots of things that we’re not sure yet if it’s an up or down. One of the biggest changes that happened was that the Top Downloads list on Xbox.com and on the Xbox dashboard is now calculated differently for Xbox LIVE Indie Games. It’s still not clear what impact this is going to have (although I know it feels pretty clear to some of you in the community!) but this lead to some interesting things.

One, we got to see Xbox LIVE Indie Games mixed into the master best selling list with Xbox LIVE Arcade and retail titles. The screenshots of that will be in my mind (and on my hard drive) forever. That was pretty awesome to see and I’m looking forward to a day where that is the reality of things.

Two (and I think this point got lost in the panic of whether this was a good thing or not), the XNA Team DID SOMETHING. Not only did they do something, but they communicated with the community about it afterwards and they’re still talking to us. That is unbelievably fantastic and I’m standing up and giving them a slow clap right now. Nicely done, let’s see some more of that and I guarantee you this community will respond by making more and more awesome content and games for all your platforms.

Now on to what’s been happening in the XNA community…

Time Critical XNA News:

• Dream.Build.Play Developer Twitter Chat on May 11th
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/xna/archive/2011/04/28/dream-build-play-developer-twitter-chat-on-may-11.aspx
• Richard Williams (@DVMGames) shares the multi-language games in Peer Review and playtest this week. If you can review games in other languages, please help out!
• http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/26091/493277.aspx#493277
  

XNA Team:

• Shawn Hargreaves hits us with some more sampling posts.
• Supersampling
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/shawnhar/archive/2011/04/26/supersampling.aspx
• Multisampling
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/shawnhar/archive/2011/04/27/multisampling.aspx
• XNA Team Blog -Updates to the Top Downloads Channel on Xbox LIVE Indie Games
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/xna/archive/2011/04/25/updates-to-the-top-downloads-channel-on-xbox-live-indie-games.aspx
• Charles Cox shares a presentation he’s been working on for the TED full-spectrum talk contest - Predicting the Future with Text Adventures
• http://www.charlesncox.com/blog/2011/04/predicting-the-future-with-text-adventures/
  

XNA MVPs:

• This past week got you down MVPs? Well here’s a thank you post from the community to the XNA MVPs
• http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/81418/491773.aspx
• and a little “I love you” post with hugs and kisses for all from James Johnston (@MadNinjaSkillz)
• http://dev.ezmuze.co.uk/?p=25
• Charles Humphrey & Martin Caine share that The XNA UK User Group now has a Facebook Page
• http://twitter.com/#!/NemoKrad/status/63224953855688704
• http://twitter.com/#!/MartinCaine/status/63217277692149760
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/XNA-UK-User-Group/183208028393209
  

XNA Developers:

• Sebastian Gray (@DSebJ) shares object instancing and player weapons fire components with SunBurn
• http://dsebj.evolvingsoftware.com/?p=203
• Aaron T. Foley (@slyprid) has been incredibly busy this past week on Transmute doing performance enhancements
• http://twitter.com/#!/slyprid/status/62577774233255937
• http://www.forgottenstarstudios.com/Transmute/default.html
• Andy Mount needs your help creating performance testing software for XNA games, NPerformant - Volunteers Needed!
• http://www.xnajunkie.com/2011/04/26/nperformant-volunteers-needed/
• Philippe Da Silva shares the IGF v0.5 Menu System progress with a blog post and a video
• http://indiefreaks.com/2011/04/26/menu-implementation-week-02/
• Ian Mitchell shares an XNA RPG Conversation Engine he created
• http://blog.centasm.net/2011/04/xna-journal-dialogue-version-2/
• @haxpor posts “How to use a customized font in an XNA Game”
• http://haxpor.org/2011/04/use-customized-font-in-your-xna-game/
• Adrian-Florin Visan (@iloveshaders) shares “Using state objects in XNA”
• http://iloveshaders.blogspot.com/2011/04/using-state-objects-in-xna.html
  

Xbox LIVE Indie Games (XBLIG)

• Nathan Fouts of Mommy’s Best Games talks about the Gun Stack system in their upcoming title Serious Sam Double D
• http://mommysbest.blogspot.com/2011/04/gunstacker-configured-for-action.html
• Ska Studios shares new Vampire Smile Solos and ZP2KX tunes
• http://www.ska-studios.com/2011/04/27/new-vampire-smile-solos/
• GameMarx
• Starzzle - Game Marx Game of the Week
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/66/starzzle.aspx
• Udder Chaos
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/65/udder-chaos.aspx
• Undead Empire
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/63/undead-empire.aspx
• Prismatic Solid
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/72/prismatic-solid.aspx
• Zombie Poker Defense
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/64/zombie-poker-defense.aspx
• Infantry Steel
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/62/infantry-steel.aspx
• Monsters Probably Stole
• http://www.gamemarx.com/video/trials/71/monsters-probably-stole.aspx
• Matthew Doucette shares that Decimation X was picked as one of the top 10 Xbox LIVE Indie Games by CVB
• http://twitter.com/#!/mdoucette/status/62582033481871360http://www.computerandvideogames.com/297959/features/top-10-xbox-live-indie-games/
• E.C. Dryere shares a mini-trailer for Ring Runner, his upcoming indie title
• http://www.youtube.com/user/TripleBTitles?feature=mhum
• Johannes Hubert of SpynDoctorGames announces that Your Doodles are Bugged! is now available on Steam. This means yet another XNA title has made that migration! Congratulations!
• http://twitter.com/#!/SpynDoctorGames/status/62598859553116160
• Armless Octopus
• Xbox LIVE Indie Game new release roundup for April 19th-April 26th
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/26/xblig-new-release-roundup-for-april-19-april-26/
• NLL 11 review: Cherry Picking the Competition
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/22/nll-review/
• Serious Sam Double D upgrades to hex-wielding
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/22/serious-sam-double-d-upgrades-to-hex-wielding/
• Contest: Win NLL 11 for Xbox
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/25/contest-win-nll-11-for-xbox/
• New Xbox LIVE Indie Games sales intervals allow indie games to dominate Xbox Live “best selling” lists
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/26/xblig-top-downloads-now-factor-in-1-week-of-data-1-week-for-xbla-and-retail/
• Starzzle review: Snacking on Stars
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/26/starzzle-review-snacking-on-stars/
• Armless Octocast Espisode 49: Armless Octopublishing
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/28/armless-octocast-episode-49-armless-octopublishing/
• What do you want to play on the next Armless Octopus Community game night?
• http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/04/28/what-do-you-want-to-play-on-the-next-armless-octopus-community-game-night/
• Going Loud Studios announces Lair of the Evildoer with their official trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1JLIGP7TIM&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
• VVGTV covers Frostydowns upcoming title Dig! Build! Defend!
• http://vvgtv.com/2011/04/28/frostydowns-dig-build-defend-xblig-xna/
• Steven Hurdle of Writings of Mass Deduction
• Day 164: Your Doodles are Bugged
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/22/day-164-your-doodles-are-bugged/
• Day 165: Murphid
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/23/day-165-murphid/
• Day 166: Infinity Danger
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/24/day-166-infinity-danger/
• Day 167: Spacecraft
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/25/day-167-spacecraft/
• Day 168: Inertia
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/26/day-168-inertia/
• Day 169: Aesop’s Garden
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/27/day-169-aesops-garden/
• Interview with “Angry Newton” Mr. Gravity
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/28/interview-with-angry-newton-mr-gravity/
• Day 170: NINJA Bros.
• http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/04/28/day-170-ninja-bros-%e5%bf%8d%e8%80%85%e3%83%96%e3%83%a9%e3%82%b6%e3%83%bc%e3%82%ba/
• Kris Steele of Fun Infused Games reminds everyone to check out his awesome interview on Writings of Mass Deduction
• http://twitter.com/#!/FunInfused/status/62555034151436288
• http://www.funinfused.com/News.aspx

XNA Development:

• Channel 9 - XNA Game Development: Creating Player Animation
• http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/The-XNA-Show/XNA-Game-Development--Creating-Player-Animation
• XNA for Silverlight Developers Part 10 - UI Elements and Menus
• http://www.silverlightshow.net/items/XNA-for-Silverlight-developers-Part-10-UI-Elements-and-Menus.aspx
• Channel 9 - XNA RPG - Learning XNA while building an RPG, a 26 part tutorial
• http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/XNA-RPG-Learning-XNA-while-building-a-RPG-a-26-part-tutorial-series
  

Windows Phone 7:

• ElementCy releases Manic for WP7
• http://www.ubergamermonkey.com/personal-projects/prepare-to-become-manic-1-1one
• Eric Cosky asks for feedback on their new video of their upcoming WP7 game Star Ninja
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF2Mk5ZEhVg