\Managed DirectX and XNA Framework news

Drunken Hyena has been providing quality DirectX tutorials for quite a long time and has a pretty good reputation as a result. Now he has converted most of his tutorials to Managed DirectX using C# and VB.Net

--Index-- including the usual starter tutorials
3d Concepts - a nice descriptions of concepts and keywords you hear when doing 3D programming
Drawing Lines
Using a Custom Vertex Format

Updated 10/29/2005 8:14:00 AM by Zman

DirectX session at Tech*Ed South Africa. Tuesday 25th October 4pm.

Pieter Germishuys and Andre Odendaal will be hosting the DirectX "Communities Chalk and Talk" session at Tech*Ed South Africa on Tuesday 25th of October at 4:00pm

From what Pieter tells me this looks like the Birds of a feather sessions they hold at PDC - a very informal speak and ask questions session. So if you want to find out more about all things graphic and DirectX and you are attending Tech*Ed SA then go along and support the community.

Updated 10/22/2005 8:00:00 AM by Zman

Seattle Code Camp. October 22-23, 2005

10/21/05: Final reminder. Removed David Weller's talk - the schedule is in error, David is not able to present this time.

This weekend 10/22-23
Devry University Federal Way
3600 S. 344th Way
Federal Way, WA 98001

It's FREE to attend so there really is no excuse.

Complete information here. Join the Yahoo group for notifications and to register to attend.

There is a Fun and Games track (which I really didn't chair - I found one speaker and apparently that's enough to get credit!). Jason and I will be repeating our talks from Portland code camp - Behold my bouncing balls and Introduction to Shaders respectively. A couple of new talks too - Jason Swearingen is going to walk through a managed wrapper for Torque that he is working on. Great if you want to know about Torque or just how to write a managed wrapper for unmanaged code. Also new is a talk about Kids Programming Language which has several games written using it. I know nothing else about this so I'll be attending to learn more. Of course there are also many, many more sessions nothing to do with games or DirectX.

I will be down there for most of the weekend so if you need a ZMan autograph or just want to talk DirectX try to find me. If you have a specific question then drop me an email and we can make arrangements.

Updated 10/21/2005 3:30:00 PM by Zman

Endogine: Sprite bases Managed DirectX engine

Jonas Beckeman has created Endogine. It is a sprite based engine that uses D3D (or GDI, though its slower). He also has another webpage about it.

Some features (follow the link above for the full list):

Sprite hierarchy
Collision detection
Procedural textures (Perlin/Wood/Marble/Plasma/others)
Particle systems
Widgets (button, frame, window, scrollbar etc.)
Example game prototypes (Puzzle Bobble, Parallax Asteroids, Snooker/Minigolf, Cave Hunter)
IDE with scene graph, sprite/behavior editing, resource management and debugging tools

Looks like quite a fully functional system, and unlike other open source engine, this one is still being worked on!

Updated 10/19/2005 11:00:00 AM by Zman

Ask the Zman has a logo!

Thanks to the Coding4Fun guys. In the latest site update my articles have moved to their own section and I have a new logo.

Nice !!!! I'm starting to feel important, I've never had a logo before.

Updated 10/17/2005 8:00:00 AM by Zman

MSDN Brazil - Managed DirectX event, September 17th

10/12/05: Request for materials.

Well this event is now over, but I've had no luck finding any materials that came out of it. Mostly due to the fact that I don't speak the language! If anyone has any details or can find the information, or an email address for Emerson or a Microsoft rep that would be great. Otherwise, I hope people enjoyed the event.

MSDN Events are holding a Regional Developers Event at the Bradesco Instituto De Tecnologia on Saturday September the 17th, 8:30am-4:30pm. The event includes a session on Managed DirectX: (Thanks to Juvenal for the translation)

Desenvolvimento de Games com C# e XNA Você já pensou em desenvolver seu próprio game? E se a Microsoft lhe oferecer uma forcinha? E se essa forcinha estiver integrada à sua ferramenta preferida de desenvolvimento? Nesta sessão você irá conhecer a estratégia da fantástica plataforma de desenvolvimento XNA. E de quebra darei algumas dicas para o desenvolvimento de jogos em C# Express e Managed DirectX. Palestrante: Emerson Facunte

...in English....

Game development with C# and XNA. Have you ever thought about developing your own game? What if Microsoft could offer you some help? What if that help was integrated with your preferred development tool? In this session you'll meet the strategy behind the fantastic XNA development platform. And, as a bonus, you'll get some game development tips using C# Express and Managed DirectX. Speaker: Emerson Facunte

I've not heard of Emerson Facunte, and my googling just finds information about a Delphi programmer who has written a couple of books. I guess it could be the same person. Emerson, drop me an email and let me know a bit more about your DirectX background. If you attend this event, please let me know how it went and links to slides or other materials.

Updated 10/12/2005 4:00:00 PM by Zman

DirectX October SDK released

12/5/2005: Added link to some .Net 2.0 insight.

Download the October SDK from MSDN.

Big release for Managed DirectX this time. Included is a beta version of Managed DirectX for .Net 2.0. Read more about some of the changes in Inside Managed DirectX for .Net 2.0 (part 1). This is prerelease so Microsoft is looking for feedback on the API changes - email them or contact Tom via his blog. Its not to late for things to change.

Note: Although the release notes here (which I copied this morning) say 'beta 2 or later', this is actually incorrect. You will get a FileNotFound exception on later builds. The readme does not have the 'or later'. Tom has confirmed to me in email that due to changes made after beta 2 the October Whidbey assemblies REQUIRE beta 2 of .Net 2.0. The December DirectX SDK, which will ship after the .Net 2.0 RTM will fix this.

Managed DirectX for Whidbey (Beta) Included with the October 2005 DirectX SDK is the first support for the 2.0 Common Language Runtime in Managed DirectX. This assembly addresses the issues users were having with using Managed DirectX in Visual Studio 2005. It also includes new features designed to take full advantage of the features included in the 2.0 CLR such as generics.

To use the new assembly, load up Visual Studio 2005 (Beta 2 *ONLY* or later), and after creating a new project add a reference to "Microsoft.DirectX.dll" You may see multiple versions of this assembly depending on any past DirectX SDK's you've installed, so add the reference to the one with the version 2.0.900. The namespaces you'll find in this assembly are:

Microsoft.DirectX - Which includes all of the common math structures, as well as the new GraphicsBuffer class which replaces the GraphicsStream class from the original Managed DirectX

Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D - Direct3D and D3DX functionality

Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound - DirectSound functionality

Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput - Direct Input functionality

Microsoft.DirectX.XInput - The newly released XInput functionality

Also included is XInput SDK and a prerelease version of XACT (Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool).

The managed documents appear to have avoided being updated! The 'Whats new' section still lists the August 05 changes.

The following are new Managed DirectX samples:

Basic HLSL (Whidbey)
HDRCubeMap (Whidbey)
HDRFormats (Whidbey)
Simple 2D - 2D and sprites as promised

New/updated utilities:

DirectX Viewer - note that this replaces Mesh Viewer which is removed from the SDK with this release.
DXOps - a command line tool for modifying .x files and textures
XACT Audio Console and Build Tool

New/Updated Articles:

DirectX 9.0 FAQ - though the date at the top still says August 05, there is additional information added about XInput
Introduction to the 10-Foot Experience for Windows Game Developers

Updated 10/5/2005 12:10:00 AM by Zman

	\Managed DirectX and XNA Framework news
Search ZBuffer News Articles Downloads Links FAQ Blogs/People Games Applications Technology Game Engines Tutorials Books Game Dev Tools Resources Forums About Advertise Contact ZMan Privacy Partners Ad Survey	The ZBuffer News, Information and resources for Managed DirectX and XNA Framework. Archive of posts for October, 2005. For other months check out the archive Drunken Hyena Updated - lots more tutorials since January Drunken Hyena has been providing quality DirectX tutorials for quite a long time and has a pretty good reputation as a result. Now he has converted most of his tutorials to Managed DirectX using C# and VB.Net --Index-- including the usual starter tutorials 3d Concepts - a nice descriptions of concepts and keywords you hear when doing 3D programming Drawing Lines Using a Custom Vertex Format Updated 10/29/2005 8:14:00 AM by Zman DirectX session at TechEd South Africa. Tuesday 25th October 4pm. Pieter Germishuys and Andre Odendaal will be hosting the DirectX "Communities Chalk and Talk" session at TechEd South Africa on Tuesday 25th of October at 4:00pm From what Pieter tells me this looks like the Birds of a feather sessions they hold at PDC - a very informal speak and ask questions session. So if you want to find out more about all things graphic and DirectX and you are attending TechEd SA then go along and support the community. Updated 10/22/2005 8:00:00 AM by Zman Seattle Code Camp. October 22-23, 2005 10/21/05: Final reminder. Removed David Weller's talk - the schedule is in error, David is not able to present this time. This weekend 10/22-23* Devry University Federal Way 3600 S. 344th Way Federal Way, WA 98001 It's FREE to attend so there really is no excuse. Complete information here. Join the Yahoo group for notifications and to register to attend. There is a Fun and Games track (which I really didn't chair - I found one speaker and apparently that's enough to get credit!). Jason and I will be repeating our talks from Portland code camp - Behold my bouncing balls and Introduction to Shaders respectively. A couple of new talks too - Jason Swearingen is going to walk through a managed wrapper for Torque that he is working on. Great if you want to know about Torque or just how to write a managed wrapper for unmanaged code. Also new is a talk about Kids Programming Language which has several games written using it. I know nothing else about this so I'll be attending to learn more. Of course there are also many, many more sessions nothing to do with games or DirectX. I will be down there for most of the weekend so if you need a ZMan autograph or just want to talk DirectX try to find me. If you have a specific question then drop me an email and we can make arrangements. Updated 10/21/2005 3:30:00 PM by Zman Endogine: Sprite bases Managed DirectX engine Jonas Beckeman has created Endogine. It is a sprite based engine that uses D3D (or GDI, though its slower). He also has another webpage about it. Some features (follow the link above for the full list): Sprite hierarchy Collision detection Procedural textures (Perlin/Wood/Marble/Plasma/others) Particle systems Widgets (button, frame, window, scrollbar etc.) Example game prototypes (Puzzle Bobble, Parallax Asteroids, Snooker/Minigolf, Cave Hunter) IDE with scene graph, sprite/behavior editing, resource management and debugging tools Looks like quite a fully functional system, and unlike other open source engine, this one is still being worked on! Updated 10/19/2005 11:00:00 AM by Zman Ask the Zman has a logo! Thanks to the Coding4Fun guys. In the latest site update my articles have moved to their own section and I have a new logo. Nice !!!! I'm starting to feel important, I've never had a logo before. Updated 10/17/2005 8:00:00 AM by Zman MSDN Brazil - Managed DirectX event, September 17th 10/12/05: Request for materials. Well this event is now over, but I've had no luck finding any materials that came out of it. Mostly due to the fact that I don't speak the language! If anyone has any details or can find the information, or an email address for Emerson or a Microsoft rep that would be great. Otherwise, I hope people enjoyed the event. MSDN Events are holding a Regional Developers Event at the Bradesco Instituto De Tecnologia on Saturday September the 17th, 8:30am-4:30pm. The event includes a session on Managed DirectX: (Thanks to Juvenal for the translation) Desenvolvimento de Games com C# e XNA Você já pensou em desenvolver seu próprio game? E se a Microsoft lhe oferecer uma forcinha? E se essa forcinha estiver integrada à sua ferramenta preferida de desenvolvimento? Nesta sessão você irá conhecer a estratégia da fantástica plataforma de desenvolvimento XNA. E de quebra darei algumas dicas para o desenvolvimento de jogos em C# Express e Managed DirectX. Palestrante: Emerson Facunte ...in English.... Game development with C# and XNA. Have you ever thought about developing your own game? What if Microsoft could offer you some help? What if that help was integrated with your preferred development tool? In this session you'll meet the strategy behind the fantastic XNA development platform. And, as a bonus, you'll get some game development tips using C# Express and Managed DirectX. Speaker: Emerson Facunte I've not heard of Emerson Facunte, and my googling just finds information about a Delphi programmer who has written a couple of books. I guess it could be the same person. Emerson, drop me an email and let me know a bit more about your DirectX background. If you attend this event, please let me know how it went and links to slides or other materials. Updated 10/12/2005 4:00:00 PM by Zman DirectX October SDK released 12/5/2005: Added link to some .Net 2.0 insight. Download the October SDK from MSDN. Big release for Managed DirectX this time. Included is a beta version of Managed DirectX for .Net 2.0. Read more about some of the changes in Inside Managed DirectX for .Net 2.0 (part 1). This is prerelease so Microsoft is looking for feedback on the API changes - email them or contact Tom via his blog. Its not to late for things to change. Note: Although the release notes here (which I copied this morning) say 'beta 2 or later', this is actually incorrect. You will get a FileNotFound exception on later builds. The readme does not have the 'or later'. Tom has confirmed to me in email that due to changes made after beta 2 the October Whidbey assemblies REQUIRE beta 2 of .Net 2.0. The December DirectX SDK, which will ship after the .Net 2.0 RTM will fix this. Managed DirectX for Whidbey (Beta) Included with the October 2005 DirectX SDK is the first support for the 2.0 Common Language Runtime in Managed DirectX. This assembly addresses the issues users were having with using Managed DirectX in Visual Studio 2005. It also includes new features designed to take full advantage of the features included in the 2.0 CLR such as generics. To use the new assembly, load up Visual Studio 2005 (Beta 2 *ONLY* or later), and after creating a new project add a reference to "Microsoft.DirectX.dll" You may see multiple versions of this assembly depending on any past DirectX SDK's you've installed, so add the reference to the one with the version 2.0.900. The namespaces you'll find in this assembly are: Microsoft.DirectX - Which includes all of the common math structures, as well as the new GraphicsBuffer class which replaces the GraphicsStream class from the original Managed DirectX Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D - Direct3D and D3DX functionality Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound - DirectSound functionality Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput - Direct Input functionality Microsoft.DirectX.XInput - The newly released XInput functionality Also included is XInput SDK and a prerelease version of XACT (Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool). The managed documents appear to have avoided being updated! The 'Whats new' section still lists the August 05 changes. The following are new Managed DirectX samples: Basic HLSL (Whidbey) HDRCubeMap (Whidbey) HDRFormats (Whidbey) Simple 2D - 2D and sprites as promised New/updated utilities: DirectX Viewer - note that this replaces Mesh Viewer which is removed from the SDK with this release. DXOps - a command line tool for modifying .x files and textures XACT Audio Console and Build Tool New/Updated Articles: DirectX 9.0 FAQ - though the date at the top still says August 05, there is additional information added about XInput Introduction to the 10-Foot Experience for Windows Game Developers Updated 10/5/2005 12:10:00 AM by Zman