Answer Questions

• Marc Rush Generate random numbers for every class instance

  I'm trying out some AI techniques but I'm having a problem generating a TRULY random number. I create 20 instances of an ant class that should move and change directions on a random basis. They are doing that, but all in unison instead of each changing directions at different times. Its like synchronized ants. Anyone know how to create a truly random number each time the ants use this method Random r = new Random (); if (r.Next(100) < 5) ant.Speed = new Microsoft.Xna.Framework. Vector3 (-ant.Speed.X, ant.Speed.Y, ant.Speed.Z); if (r.Next(500) < 2) ant.Speed = new Microsoft.Xna.Framework. Vector3 (ant.Speed.X, -ant.Speed.Y, ant.Speed.Z); what a simple and effective solut ...Show All

• http200 directinput not working!

  I'm trying to get directinput working but for some reason it just does not work. Why doesn't the following code cause any visible results in the textbox keyboardData I had a previous program i wrote that used directinput,, but it was much more complex and for the most part i just copied the basic idea behind what i did then and that works, but for some reason this doesn't work :( using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.ComponentModel; using System.Data; using System.Drawing; using System.Text; using System.Windows.Forms; using DXInput = Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput; using Microsoft.DirectX; using Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D; namespace DirectInput {     public partial class Form1 : Form &nbs ...Show All

• Weston Hutchins - MSFT I want to use a simple fx shader on a simple loaded model

  What I want to do seems very simple to me. I want to do this - Load a 3D model using ContentManager.Load<Model>(...) Load a shader Effect from a .fx file using ContentManager.Load<Effect>(...) Render the 3D model using the shader from .fx file. Can anyone give an example of this that is as straigh forward as humanly possible It does not seem like this should be a difficult thing to do, but I have no idea since I've never used shaders. Also, if anyone has a simple .fx file I can use to test my code, that would be great! I'd love to give my Buttermilk game / GUI engine the power of shaders! Thank you for reading! Yes, this absolutely does work! Big big big big thanks!!! Yes, w ...Show All

• Bill Reiss Is XNA GSE the first console SDK for the masses?

  tried searching, couldnt find anything. but is XNA GSE for the most part, the first SDK for a game console for the masses well, besides way back in the day before NES, but I mean when it came to the N64 and on generation of consoles most consoles require that you void their warranty to mod them to play custom made games, or the $1000+ dev version from the manufacturer. I may be understanding console dev incorrectly, but I read that the Wii dev console is about $1000 or something. even tho XNA GSE isn't allowing you to make fully working xb360 games that can be distributed, it seems like one of the first available to be pushed by the manufacturer to make indie/solo games without the need to illegally mod your xb360... just the $100/ye ...Show All

• MartinPar&amp;#233; Rants on XNA 1.0

  This is my first reaction when I installed and tried the 1.0 of XNA. To summarize my feeling: it's still 95% for XBox and no nearer to replace the old MDX 1.0. So I decided not to migrate from MDX to XNA though I want to do that very much. I feel like MDX 2 more; amen to MDX 2. The hardest issue for me is the content pipeline, which is very necessary, but the workflow is fixed and it assumes the contents are only built before the program runs. The helper functions wrapping D3DX can only be used with types in the content pipeline. I have to utilize the full content pipeline just for generating something dynamically, of course with significant performance cost. Or I have to write those D3DX utilities my self. Currently I don't have a good id ...Show All

• ihackdw Content Pipeline

  Hi, I haven't really used the Content Pipeline seriously yet but I've seen the official tutorials on it and understand them. Now, I'm thinking - what if I want to load a certain model/effect or anything else that the Content Pipeline supports - BUT I want to load it dynamically/at run-time, e.g. I have a certain filename that my code wants to use to load content, but I don't know it until runtime. Is there some sort of dynamic way of using what otherwise seems to be a static Content Pipeline Thanks... Alex: I would not use the MsBuild approach for what you describe, I would add the file to my project as well as all the textures and create a custom processor to write out the file names. Or your custom ...Show All

• WillTurner XNA help

  Hi, I'm reallly new at XNA but i was wondering, after I have coded my game and want to test it on my 360 how do I get it to my 360. Do i need like the XDK for the 360, or do i jsut FTP, or do i have to have my 360 hooked up to my WindowsSP2 computer. I know how to write C# (kinda im still learing) but i just can't figure out how to get the gam to my 360. please help Dootuz Hi you can find help at http://www.newsxna.com I don't think you can do that just yet. I thought I read that the tools to port it to XBox will be ready later, but not yet in this stage of beta. Please read the XNA FAQ Q: Why isn’t the ...Show All

• Huson Model animation

  Hi, I'm working with XNA gamestudio for a while now, it's really great but there's no support for model animations I already searched the entire internet for some good tutorial or example but there isn't any. I just can't believe model animation isn't supported by standard Because...what is a game without animated models Also if anyone has some information about loading bones it would be welcome. I really hope that there's someone out here who can help me with this. I really enjoy using XNA gamestudio and I wan't to start writing games! Thanks for any help, jeroen I think this is where a lot of people are stuck... making a model, importing it, viewing it, and moving it really isnt a big deal. However, when it comes ...Show All

• oaix Languages supported

  I'd like to know which programming languages XNA supports.   Thanks in advance for your answer Luca, if you're referring to the XNA Framework we have not announced the official list of languages yet. The demos we showed at GDC were all written in C#. But we are also evaluating ways of supporting additional languages such as Visual Basic or Managed C++. If you have any feedback about which languages you would like us to support, please let us know! Brian Keller Count me as four on that one..... I second that motion. I'm also using VB with Managed DirectX. Please make the XNA Framework accessable form VB.NET. I mean: in which languages will be ...Show All

• dgolds Drawing

  Hello, I am new to XNA (and game dev in general), but I was wondering if there was anyway to draw directly to the screen in XNA Kind of like GDI+ in .Net. Thanks Take a look here maybe it helps you cheers No, you can't draw directly to the screen. You use the GraphicsDevice to render to a back-buffer which is then copied automatically to the screen when you call GraphicsDevice.Present(). What are you trying to accomplish You can do something like this without accessing a disk: Construct the DrawGeometry passing a Game-Object and insert in your game.Draw() between BeginScene() and EndScene() the following lines to try it out: drawgeometry.filledRecta ...Show All

• AvalonNewbie Running XBox360 games made with XNA GSE without XBox Live subscription

  Will it be possible to run games we make using XNA Game Studio Express on our own XBox360 without signing up for the XBox Live $99 yearly subscription Until MS allows distribution of binaries (which will be coming as soon as possible I'd imagine) the only way to get GSE games onto your 360 is to compile the code on your PC and upload it over a personal network to your 360. That's what you're paying for with the Creator's Club. That doesn't mean you'll have to pay for it if you're downloading binaries once that functionality is implemented. MS might make it a indie version of Live Arcade, we don't know. Until they give us the info, talking about it is kind of useless. I'm sure they know that paying for wh ...Show All

• Jonathan Wong Edit soundwave frequencies?

  Where can i read an article about how to edit wave frequenciesm so that i can cut off the sound frequencies also where can i find the source code to adjust the volume of the music played.. im also using c# thanks alot. thats very2 hard... is there any program or open source code article etc thanks, that was helpful Hey, You need to do the conversion real time or do it before and pass them as a resource to the game and then use DirectX to play them. But beware if you want to do this real time you will have to spent a LOT of CPU to do that so I don't recommend it. You can easily convert the sound files you want (FQ, quality and stuff) using a 3rd part application and then pass them as resources to the application i ...Show All

• UniqueDisplayName-Adam Minimal DX SDK download

  I just wonder if there is a minimal Dx9 SDK download Downloading 500mb just for the SDK when I don't need the examples is very annoying. It would be very nice if Microsoft could provide a separate Examples download and a Minimal SDK download. There is no minimal SDK available - it's all or nothing unfortunately... You could grab one of the slightly older SDK's - D3D10 has only been included since Dec'05 and for the most part it seems that D3D9 has remained largely unchanged in that time. I, as well as a few of the other DirectX MVP's, tried to push this point a while back - the SDK is getting bigger and bigger mostly due to the Direct3D 10 CTP. It strikes me that there is justification for o ...Show All

• Seif Ibrahim Enabling 16x Anisotropic Filtering

  Hi, What should just be a quick question, how do I enabled 16x Aniso filtering I'm using basic effect to draw a single textured square, the texture is a dds with all the mip levels already calculated. Currently I believe it's using Linear MipFilter and it looks awful/blurry in the distance. I've tried the lines: GameEngine .manager.GraphicsDevice.SamplerStates[0].MipFilter = TextureFilter .Anisotropic; GameEngine .manager.GraphicsDevice.SamplerStates[0].MaxAnisotropy = 16; But this ends up causing a DriverInternalErrorException when it comes to using the device a few lines later : device.VertexDeclaration = new VertexDeclaration ( GameEngine .manager.GraphicsDevice, VertexPositionNormalTexture .VertexElements); is t ...Show All

• AdriaanDavel Cursor Support

  It seems that the SetCursorProperties method and its related methods have been removed from the GraphicsDevice class.  I can't seem to find an implementation of the hardware cursor anywhere else. Do I have to draw my own cursor now I really would prefer to use the hardware cursor, as it doesn't lag like a sprite-based cursor and also keeps the user's desktop cursor settings. Any suggestions Edit: I just noticed that Texture2D no longer has a GetSurfaceLevel method either. It has a LevelCount property but apparently no way to access the surface levels. According to the FAQ that comes with the 1.0 release: My mouse cursor is not visible. How can I make it visible Set the Game . I ...Show All