\Managed DirectX and XNA Framework news
Thanks to boki who took the time to brighten up my colors and layout a little. Its a subtle change but I like it.
For those of you lucky enough to know my IM address and those of you who expect 5 minute turn around on your free technical support emails things are about to change. ZMan has a paying Managed DirectX/C# job starting today (and its neither of the ones I mentioned on The ZBuffer last week). I'm still around but won't be on IM/IRC or email in the daytime for the most part. I'm not at liberty to give details of the job - but I've posted more about what's been going on with me over on ZMan's Diary.
Added team size
From Koios Works and Matrix Games, the folks with the 1st and 2nd (and currently the only ones admitting it) retail games written with Managed DirectX, comes a new war strategy game called Panzer Command. This genre is not something I am experienced in so if you want to know more you can look at the screenshots (more in this thread), check out the forum, apply to be a beta tester (though currently they are full!) and read a preview. An interesting comment from Tom Miller - this is the 3rd game in less than 2 years from the Koios Works. The team size for Panzer Command is 2 developers and 6 artists which I think shows the productivity gains that Managed DirectX can give you.
Pong Frenzy is a version of pong wih much nicer graphics than the original from Phil Vaira. The ball is bigger too which is great for old folk like me. He's provided the full source code including examples of using D3DXSprite, DirectInput and DirectSound
Sample Code
I don't have a clue who the actual company is but Google suggests that Wizards of the coast is the only game development place in Renton, WA. I've already speculated that Wizards is using Managed DirectX but I've never got confirmation. Anyone from WoTC want to spill the beans. Reading of current blog entries for that guy shows that things are getting pretty rough on whatever the project is. Anyway here's the job description....
"Our Renton area client is looking for a Managed DirectX Client Developer for a 6 month project with a possible extension. The DirectX Client Developer job duties include: work with technical artists and graphic developers to integrate technology and art together into the game play experience, maintain high-end graphics and fallbacks at target frame rates, support tools for shader content creation, develop and maintain C++ and C# graphics libraries, collaborate with artists to create best-looking content possible. Please send all resumes to Kforce at ebrawley@kforce.com.
Candidates must have 5 or more years of related work experience to include specific experience with high-end PC game graphics, expert-level C++ and C# skills, experience with HLSL shaders and the DirectX effects framework, and experience working with Managed DirectX."
Paul Stubbs has a wrapper and an example application for XInput (using Managed DirectX 2.0 beta) that shows the controller buttons lighting up.
Microsoft first shipped the XInput API in the October 2005 SDK. However the only managed APIs for it are included in the Managed DirectX for .Net 2.0 beta assemblies which are not always convenient to use. So until that code reaches RTM there are several managed wrappers around the native DLL that you can use from .Net 1.1 (or 2.0 if you just want to avoid the beta code).
- MDXInfo has a simple XInput wrapper library
- Brains'n'brawn has /mceXInput
- Don Box also has wrote a wrapper for an MSDN video
I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple more too, if you know of any other wrappers then email them to me.
See also When to use XInput and XInput/Direct Input detection code
Tom mentioned in IRC a few weeks ago that the Managed DirectX team was going to get some more resources to help out with documentation. Well it looks like there may be some other teams in the gaming groups looking for some managed code resources too. Before anyone asks if I am considering it, I have already talked to the hiring manager and though its a great sounding job I have (after much thought and I'm still not 100% sure) decided to continue on my current path. The position will be in developer support, meaning that you help other developers solve their problems. Submit your resume though the MS careers site.
Want to help the world’s leading game developers build better games for Microsoft gaming platforms, including Xbox and Windows? XNA, Microsoft’s newest development tool for game developers, is going to help developers do just that and the Game Developer Group needs you to become the expert resource. Engineers in this position will support internal and external game developers directly with the XNA build system, game runtime technology and libraries, workflow and content management tools, including future game development in C#. This position will also require engineers to debug and analyze game development problems and develop responsive solutions, as well as write sample code and technical whitepapers. Qualifications include excellent communication skills, strong analytical and problem solving skills, 3 years of windows or game programming experience in C/C++ and C#, and a passion for gaming.
Get it here folks. Updates coming after I download it this evening...
Thanks to Mykre who found it first again.
You can't. Neither DirectInput nor XInput exposes the 'Xbox 360' button in their APIs
You can't, the driver lights up a segment based on which controller number each controller is allocated. At least its not possible in the current DirectX SDK (December 05 at time of writing) see post in directx-l. Chuck believes that there *may* be some future plans to expose it in a later API so keep your eyes peeled.
However this post implies that if you do some searching and you are a very low level driver/USB programmer you may be able to hack something together. Of course it would not be a supported or documented API.
This is quite an old one from Channel 9, but Mykre reminded me I didn't have a link to it.
If you have seen any Avalon/WPF demos you will have seen a carousel control. Its a set of objects than spin around in 3D for you to browse and select. MinH has reproduced the look and feel in a windows forms control using Managed DirectX.
Sample Code
2/6/06: Added link to Xinput/DirectInput managed code detection
An interesting post regarding the future of user input on the directx-l mail list this week from Chuck Walbourn at Microsoft. Chuck states that using DirectInput for mouse and keyboard gives you no advantage over using regular windows messages (in fact it is not 'Direct' at all and just uses the underlying windows messages itself). He adds that XInput is the strategy going forward for game pads. The only remaining reason to use DirectInput is for legacy support of game controllers. DirectInput code has a lot of gotchas to avoid and the code is, in my opinion, not the the most straightforward to follow so this is great news. The article Chuck refers to regarding mixing DirectInput and XInput can be found here, though the example code is in C++. I converted the sample to C# here
Of course in managed code you generally do not process windows messages directly, relying instead on the windows forms classes to interpret them and call relevant events. So it will be interesting to see what the performance implications of this are. We have already seen how some windows forms constructs such as DoEvents have memory implications which are acceptable for occasional calls, but unsuitable for repeated calls inside game loops. Tom has already stated that Managed DirectX is having its hard wired connection to Windows Forms removed in part so that people looking for ultimate control of memory footprint and performance can handle this kind of thing themselves. Its not common code in the managed world, but windows messages can be handled just like C++. It will be interesting to see some tutorials on handling things in this way.
Nerdkill is a rewrite of an Amiga game from the 1990s. Very simple to play - you kill the nerds by using various weapons.
Sample Code
Beginning Game Development is a series of tutorials that is creating a BattleZone type game using Managed DirectX and C#. There is a thread on Channel9 to discuss the series.
Tutorials
- --Index--
- Introduction
- Introduction to DirectX
- DirectX part 2
- Direct Input
- Adding Units - Meshes and culling
- Lighting and Terrain
2/5/06: Added link to ODE 2.0 wrapper
ODE is an open source physics engine which has been used in commercial games such as BloodRayne 2.
As a side project of the Axiom engine Ode has had a managed wrapper created by David Walker and now supported by theTurbo. Information can be found in the realmforge forums though with the current state of Axiom (does anyone know the official story?) I don't know if the ODE wrapper is easily obtained or not.
There is an additional managed wrapper written by James Raine. More details can be found here.
PepperBoy has updated James Raine's code to .Net 2.0
Sky has a couple of nice sample programs written using managed DirectX (and a few more games that don't so check out all of the programs). Just to annoy old folk like me, Sky is doing all of this at the early age of 13. Nice work Sky.
Sample Code
DaTroof has just announced alpha testing of a graphical MUD called Post Extant. The graphical client is built with C# and Managed DirectX. Looks like early days but he is looking for testers and feedback. Screenshot
via Mykre
Source code available, fixed for the December 2005 SDK
Snowglobe is a fast-paced arcade style 3D game in the same vein as the classic Breakout and Arkanoid games. Set inside a virtual snow globe with a castle in the middle, the player spins a paddle around the globe and tries to hit a ball to destroy the castle brick by brick. It was written by a group at the University of Columbia. There is a white paper, a PowerPoint slide deck and full source linked from the home page.
Sample Code
- Download full source (fixed up for the December SDK by The ZMan)
via Tom
The Adventures of Source Fource is part of MSDNs marketing campaign where you can collect the limited edition 'action' figures for attending MSDN events. The game is based on the 2d game from last years webcast, any you can of course watch this years 3D webcast to earn the figures (provided you are reading this before May 2006).
Sample Code
- The full game source is available
via Mykre
British Landscape Explorer is a google earth type application that displays British Ordnance Survey maps and aerial photography in full 3D. It allows you to plot routes and interfaces with GPS receivers. There is a limited download available on the site.
via Mykre and gamedev.net
