What was lost - What was Missed
From the archive
This post was written in 2012. Technology has moved on a fair bit since then, so some of the tools, links and advice here may well be out of date. Treat it as a piece of history rather than a current guide.
Well I’ve been remiss for a while (as with a lot of my fellow colleagues of late here on XNA-UK) due to work constraints, holidays and sheer numbness of endless projects and secret sauce.
On returning to the world from a non stop journey of excitement (well for the kids at least) to the wonderful resort of Disneyland Paris (EuroDisney?), I return exhausted and to a pile of paper behind my Front door and an almost endless stream of the electronic kind on my return to work, as is always the case.
Now I find myself on the other side of that and my concerns turn back to the wonderful world of Windows Phone 7 and XNA (with some obvious Silverlight overtones thanks to Mango) and I find myself researching additional material for a project I’ve been called to answer to (willingly of course) and found myself perusing the Education content on the AppHub.
What a surprise!
Not what I was expecting because there has been little announcement (either that or I was sleeping) about the wealth of new content added to the hub especially with Windows Phone 7 in mind, I seem unable to find reference, tweet or notification about when or how this content was added but by golly it is truly amazing.
In short here is the headlines (and by no means all of) the new content on the App Hub, which if you are making or thinking of making games for Windows Phone 7 you should absolutely take note of:
PEGI Express Rating Tool Information
Area
Description
pegi express is the name of a newly developed version of the pegi (pan european game information) rating system that allows games for windows phone to get an age rating.
XNA Game Studio or Silverlight: Which Product is Right for Me? (Updated for Mango)
Description
this article will help developers make an informed decision when choosing between the two.
Silverlight XNA Game Components (Mango, C#/VB)
Area
games: data management, games: gameplay
Description
this sample provides an implementation and demonstration of a gamecomponent system for use in games leveraging silverlight and the xna framework.
Paddle Battle (Mango, C#/VB)
Area
games: 2d graphics, games: gameplay, games: graphics,user experience
Description
this sample shows a very basic game written on top of the new silverlight/xna framework application model.
Model Viewer Demo (Mango)
Area
controls, games: 2d graphics, games: graphics, user experience
Description
this sample showcases a complex application built on top of the integrated silverlight/xna framework application model.
Migration Guide: From the Game Class to Silverlight/XNA (Mango, C#/VB)
Description
this document explains why and how to move your windows phone game to an architecture that integrates silverlight with the xna framework.
Dynamic Menu
Area
Description
this sample demonstrates how to develop a dynamic user interface, which can be laid out in code or in xml, or a combination of both.
Bing Maps for Games with Pathfinding
Area
games: artificial intelligence
Description
this sample expands on the bing maps sample by using road data to allow a tank to travel to markers while driving on the roads.
Music Management for Windows Phone 7
Area
Description
this sample implements and demonstrates the usage of backgroundmusicmanager, a class that helps your windows phone 7 game play music and reliably respond to external events that affect music playback.
Yacht
Area
games: 2d graphics, games: gameplay, games: graphics,input, touch & gestures, networking & web services
Description
this is a complete wi-fi supported multiplayer dice game for windows phone.
Tilt Perspective
Area
games: 3d graphics, input, touch & gestures
Description
this sample uses the accelerometer to estimate the orientation of the phone’s screen relative to the user’s eyes, and renders a 3d scene corrected for that viewpoint in order to create an illusion of depth.
As you can see there is a lot of really cool new stuff and even more located on the AppHub educational content section, so I suggest you get yourself over there and check out this fantastic wealth of information.
Just remember it is there to learn from or build your games using the code within (feel free to cut and paste all you like).
Now I must again sleep!