XNA Game Studio Express - Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc.
Recent update: 2008-3-21

Requirements for XNA express?

365 byte By Darkside at 2008-3-7
Question, it would seem from various coments posted here that c# express wll be required to run XNA express.Issue is that i do most of my work in the full blown studio.So does this mean I will have to install C# express to use the new XNA express studio or will it sit along side my existing ...

ilasm support

449 byte By XNAFan at 2008-3-6
Even though C++/CLI and VB.NET are not supported in the initialrelease, one could theoretically write a game in ilasm assemblylanguage for the xbox 360 right? At least the ilasm instructions needed to support C# would have to be apart of the 360's runtime. So if a team wanted to program a ...

Do most SDKs do grapics, such as 3D?

440 byte By ResidualLogicGames at 2008-3-5
As far as Managed Direct X, and Visual C# Studio Express,with XNA, do those have a way of creating the actual graphical interface for the game, such as 2D or 3D, or do I need Adobe Photoshop, or Maya, or some other program? I currently havn't been able to download them because I am temporarily ...

Managed C++

242 byte By Evermind at 2008-3-3
So I understand Managed C# is the primo langauge for Game Studio Express but would it be possible, either when it comes out or eventually, to use Managed C++ with it too? It really bothers me I'd have use C# over C++ for the Game Studio...

External Tools

374 byte By ChaosUK at 2008-3-1
As we've heard Microsoft have been in touch with garage games to get torque on XNA.Have they been in touch with any other devs or will they be developing other in house tools for game creation ?Maybe they should speak to the Unity guys who are making great indi game tools for the ...

XNA vs. DirectX SDK

260 byte By WilBurton at 2008-2-28
I have been playing with Managed DirectX for a couple years now. So I'm somewhat familiar with the DirectX SDK and MDX. What is the difference between the new XNA Framework and XNA Game Studio and what we've had previously with DirectX, besides an XBox path.

Is this right for me?

853 byte By HotCoffee at 2008-2-27
I think this is a good question that could benefit many new developers from a waste of $99.Hi everyone. I've worked with a small program called Gamemaker (how original) that some people may have heard of for the past 2 years. I've made small 2D games and recently took my first leap into 3D ...

ClickOnce support?

167 byte By Struan at 2008-2-26
Is it possible to create XNA apps and distribute them via ClickOnce? This would be ideal for online distibution of PC games, especially small ones like hobbyist games.

The Need of Power

1039 byte By Valst at 2008-2-25
Hi, I looked at the FAQ for XNA and I couldn't find the answers to a few of the questions I have regarding it. So if someone could help answer my questions that would be awesome. ^_^1. Is it possible to sell games for money (either on Windows or 360) after they are 100% completed?2. How can I ...

C# Express Compared to XNA Express

399 byte By MAuton at 2008-2-24
The way I see it Visual XNA Express is an extension on top of the Visual C# Express...is that correct? basically what im getting at is - is there any types of projects that you could write/code in Visual C# Express that YOU couldnt code in XNA Express?Im just wondering if after the XNA release ...

My 2 Cents on pricing...

6126 byte By Billr17 at 2008-2-23
I have been actively reading as much information on XNA as possible. I would like to thank the members of the XNA team who have been providing great information about the tools and framework. I have already posted my thoughts about the fee on David Weller’s blog. I understand completely why the ...

XNA Game Studio Professional and XBLA/Retail games

445 byte By AndyL at 2008-2-22
Presumably the framework is stored on the HDD (if the user has one), so what are your plans regarding the practical support of the XNA framework for XBLA and retail? I doubt anyone would want to write a game for either of these channels that required the user to own a HDD, so how is the ...

Arcade size limit and XNA

335 byte By Bumpoh at 2008-2-22
Just a quick question. kinda new to this whole thing, but i was wondering if the size limits for arcade games (50 meg or something) will be enforced for XNA built games, or will there be an alternate size limit, or no size limit. not that i think me or anyone else will be writing a game that ...

What PC/Graphics Card is recommended?

226 byte By ivanL at 2008-2-21
Hi all, what specs do you recommend to develop for XNA Studio? Also, does it matter if it's DX10 or DX9? ie Is it better to wait for Vista and DX10 to come out to get a new graphics card? Thanks a lot

minimum requirements

210 byte By lordvader99997 at 2008-2-20
Hey im new to this forum and i was wondering what will the minimum system requirements be. My computer's a bit out dated and I'm thinking about updating soon but not until after Vista is realesed most likely.

Continues: Multiple XNA Questions

1039 byte By Valst at 2008-2-19
Hi, I looked at the FAQ for XNA and I couldn't find the answers to a few of the questions I have regarding it. So if someone could help answer my questions that would be awesome. ^_^1. Is it possible to sell games for money (either on Windows or 360) after they are 100% completed?2. How can I ...

Best Book for XNA...

408 byte By ResidualLogicGames at 2008-2-18
Is this a good book for programming on XNA, I saw it on thezbuffer.com, and I am looking for somthing under ...

if my graphic cards...

164 byte By danskcarvalho at 2008-2-17
<span id="_ctl0_MainContent_PostFlatView"><span>My graphics card doesn't support Pixel Shader and Vertex Shader, can i work with xna GSE anyway? </span></span>

Multiple XNA Questions

1039 byte By Valst at 2008-2-16
Hi, I looked at the FAQ for XNA and I couldn't find the answers to a few of the questions I have regarding it. So if someone could help answer my questions that would be awesome. ^_^1. Is it possible to sell games for money (either on Windows or 360) after they are 100% completed?2. How can I ...

What language versions of the VC# express are supported?

133 byte By MrWitty at 2008-2-15
I'd like to know if just the English version of the Visual C# Express IDE is supported because I'm using the German version so far.

Torque X and C#

191 byte By KevinJacobson at 2008-2-15
I was messing with Torque Game Builder and it seemed pretty cool, altough maybe a little TOO controled So here is my question, is it possible to take code from Torque X and edit it with C#?

Some suggestion to XNA GSE.

2795 byte By danskcarvalho at 2008-2-15
Hi everybody!I have an idea for the XNA Game Studio Express. First, for all things i've heard about XNA, i must conclude that it will not so easy to create games on it. So, i come here with a little idea that can be implemented in future versions of XNA. I will call that "Pluggable ...

Licensing and CVS and all that good stuff

886 byte By KevinJacobson at 2008-2-15
A few questions1. If people plan to develop in teams will they need multiple licenses to run XNA Express on multiple computers EVEN if they only plan to compile and run code on ONE Xbox360?2. Will there be a creative license under which we must publish our code, or can we choose any OpenSource ...

Whats the best way to gain revenue?

443 byte By ResidualLogicGames at 2008-2-15
As far as what it costs to make a good game, such as computer upgrades, and possible a more advances SDK, like TorqueX(when it gets a price), and Creators Club Membership, is there a good way to get money for the actual development of a game? I know that getting a job is an obvious one, and I ...

XNA Game Studio Professional

441 byte By Opfer at 2008-2-14
In the announcement of XNA Game Studio it says that the Professional Edition "will add support for tools and services that professional game developers need to ship commercial games".My questions:What exactly would prevent me from programming a game in the Express Edition and sell ...

What is a good type of game to start with?

480 byte By QuantumMischief at 2008-2-14
So when XNA Studio Express comes out I and many other budding(a.k.a. newb) programmers will flock to our PCs to make our own games, but my question is what is the best type, or genre to begin with? Would it be a good idea to start 2D, or would jumping into 3D be an option? I want to start off ...

Will XNA work with .......?

444 byte By m0nkeyforce at 2008-2-13
hey everyone im new to this forums and i just had a quick question but if this question has been already asked then you may lock it.ok my question is i recently downloaded Microsoft Visual C# Express 2005 will this work with XNA?/ is that the only program i had to download for XNA.. or in other ...

Text-based games?

231 byte By teh_programerer at 2008-2-13
Seeing as though the XBOX 360 supports a keyboard, would it be possible to create text-based keyboard input games? <font face=Verdana></font> <font face=Verdana>Thanks.</font> <font face=Verdana>t_p</font>

Visual C# Express gotcha

945 byte By XNA4ZX80 at 2008-2-12
I am used to full blown Visual Studio 2005 but I decided that I'd play with Visual C# Express so I could better get a feel for that IDE since this is the environment for XNA Express.Just so you all know, when you create a project in C# Express it doesn't get saved to disk until you explicitly ...

Referencing other managed libraries from XNA Game Studio Express

1511 byte By twospoons at 2008-2-11
Is it possible to reference other (safe) managed libraries from XNA Game Studio Express? Since the JITer doesn’t care about what language the binary was initially written in, it should work properly on the 360 right? The reason I’m asking, is that with this approach I could keep some of my ...

C++ and XNA (I couldn't find it, yet)

122 byte By teh_programerer at 2008-2-10
Hey, I was wondering if GSE will, at a later stage, support C++ or is it C# exclusive? Many Thanks. t_p

Is it worth it to learn .Net for XNA?

900 byte By KevinJacobson at 2008-2-10
As a developer I have put most of my efforts into learning Suns Java libs. However, I am really looking foward to coding for XNA, my only consern is:Is it worth my time learning the .Net libs, specifically GDI+, Or will XNA use different libs for graphical output.Will there be a way to draw ...

?Re: Beginners

493 byte By BurrCO at 2008-2-8
My friends and I have no experience with coding or anything like that but have taken an interest in XNA and have some ideas that we would like to try to create. How easy is XNA going to be to use to make a simple 2d game just for fun? I know it uses C# and I am going to start trying to learn, ...

Could C# be the future of gaming?

219 byte By QuantumMischief at 2008-2-8
Since XNA is using C#, and is is a more intuitive language than C++, is it possible that in the future that C# will dominate, espessially in AAA titles. Could XNA be ushering a new way of programming in the main stream?

Beginners

493 byte By BurrCO at 2008-2-7
My friends and I have no experience with coding or anything like that but have taken an interest in XNA and have some ideas that we would like to try to create. How easy is XNA going to be to use to make a simple 2d game just for fun? I know it uses C# and I am going to start trying to learn, ...

Cross-Platforming

500 byte By KevinJacobson at 2008-2-7
Code-wise how simple is it to make a game in XNA that compiles on PC then compile it for 360? And how will devs be able to add or remove features between both WITHOUT needing to recode? are their methods in the framework that will allow me to execute certain code depending on the platform? ex. ...

Anti-Piracy Security

503 byte By Molex at 2008-2-7
I have this scary feeling that people are going to eventually figure out how to use XNA Game Studio Express to right code that will take advantage of the 360 hardware and allow booting of pirated(non-stamped and signed) games. What steps has MS taken to avoid this? And if or when this happens ...

xna general/beginner questions

811 byte By gleason78 at 2008-2-7
I had some general questions about xna:Will the final product be something meant for small ISV style game companies (like 3 people that want to make a game) or targeted towards large game outfits?Is microsoft trying to open a market for small game people to make games for microsoft arcade?Is ...

What is Game Studio Express

475 byte By Molex at 2008-2-6
What is to be included with game studio expressThe Torque Engine?Libraries?An IDE?Documentation?I want to be able to make games on this system, but I don't want to have(although the ability to if need would be good) to use outside resources such as external libraries or engines.As a fresh, ...

Availability of console SDKs

604 byte By Opfer at 2008-2-6
Hello,I know that this question might be a bit off-topic in this forum, but I think this is the best place to get the answer.I've always been wondering, why the SDKs for gaming consoles are only available to large companies which are charged large fees for the SDKs.I mean: Shouldn't it be in ...

A few XNA questions.

181 byte By Jimi4 at 2008-2-5
Now with XNA will you be making the game right in XNA, or do you like make it with another program using different code and then just use XNA to make it playable on the 360? Thanks!

What is the best begginer platform of XNA game dev.?

203 byte By QuantumMischief at 2008-2-5
As the question states, what is a good program to start off with as a begginer? And how much do programs run in price, or is there any good open-source programs? Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

Why doesn't the game start properly?

562 byte By thojoh370 at 2008-2-5
Hi,I had been working on a XNA Game Studio Express game for quite some time, and then it was time to try it out on my dad's computer - to check if it was playable. It wasn't.One of the following happened (can't remember which): 1. The application didn't start at all, or the screen ju...

VB.NET Support

446 byte By Eltial at 2008-2-4
Hi, Will XNA Express be supporting VB.NET as well as C# development? If so, how far off is it?ThanksHi, this was a "when (roughly) will I be able to download a vb extension" question, not a pro/ anti comment. My question still stands... are we looking at a month from now or should I bother ...

what comes with XNA

121 byte By maxd. at 2008-2-4
Is XNA a complete set of tools physics enigine, graphics eningine, coding software, all put together or just a compiller?

Do you have to...

275 byte By AdamR. at 2008-2-4
In the faq it said to debug and or play you have to subscribe and pay a fee, Do you have to pay to play a program you completed using XNA but not intending to release it, or is paying the only way to make a completed project and being able to test it and fix it.

What's up with deleting posts re: mech commander downloads?

324 byte By Wojo at 2008-2-4
I just don't get it.My posts have been removed, I mean any <fill in the blank> could just google for the keywords and get a bunch of legit game sites that host the shared source code (since it was released for free) and yet on these forums it's all hush hush untill MS fixes the ...

Writing games

294 byte By Advectus at 2008-2-3
I'm new to writing .net applications and a complete game writing virgin. What are the processes involved in writing games? What additional tools would i need to create graphical content? I understand that XNA GSE is aimed at the hobbiest but how much knowledge will I really need?

Short video of Gamefest Keynote found

1945 byte By aka_Big_Wurm at 2008-2-3
Hello everyone, Found a highlight video from the Gamefest keynote, it is posted on Paul Mooney’s blog direct links can also be found on my blog. Space Wars really looks good, nice work for 3 weeks. I am hoping we can find video of some of the presentations or reports about them. Update:The ...

What games or applications are allowed?

433 byte By Darko01 at 2008-2-2
HellosI have a few questions regarding the content of the games:Is it allowed to put out advergames sponsored by 3rd party commmercial companies? (Either games that feature sponsored splash screens in menu etc or even product placement in the game)Then what about adult content? Like how much ...