Game Design: The Tools You Need

AndrewParsons | 4 Dec 2010 | 10:27 PM

In my last blog post about Imagine Cup, I mentioned that we provide you all the tools you need to get started on your own Game Design, so I thought I’d fill you in on what you need, and where you can get it all from.

XNA Game Development
Building games in XNA is incredibly easy, and getting the technology set up is just as straightforward.

Firstly, you need a PC – preferably with a decent graphics card. Particularly when talking about 3D games, where we take advantage of Direct 3D shading and other capabilities, you need a card supporting DirectX 9 and up (I just don’t want someone puzzling over why their shading isn’t working like I was when I ran a hands on lab with a laptop with a not-so-great graphics card).

Next up, you need Windows. Yes, the developer tools you’ll need only run on Windows. Shock, horror. And to make matters even more specific, XNA 4.0 will only run on Windows Vista or Windows 7. Again, from experience having a student turn up with a Mac, running Bootcamp and only having Windows XP installed, it’s a sad day when you can’t install the actual tool you need to build your own awesome games because you’re using an OS that’s, in technology years, ancient.

(Ah, and this is why you shouldn't write blog posts at 2am on a Saturday... thanks to one of my awesome student buddies back in Oz, I have been corrected. You CAN install the standalone version of XNA 4.0 on Windows XP - it's just when you install it as part of the WP7 tools that you'll hit the problem. Thanks Michael!)

And we’re halfway there.

Next – the actual development environment. For XNA 4.0, you should install Visual Studio 2010. If you can’t get your hands on the proper version of Visual Studio (and more on that in a moment), you can always get the Express version of Visual C# 2010 for free. Whether you get the free-to-everyone Express, or one of the professional level versions of Visual Studio, you’ll be armed with one of the best development environments I’ve ever worked in, and will allow you to create applications for Windows, web, Xbox 360, Phone and more, along with supporting technologies like web services and WCF services.

And that’s it for getting it all set up and ready – the final piece in the puzzle is XNA itself. The latest version is XNA Game Studio 4.0 which allows you to build games and game components for Windows, Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7.

When XNA is installed, it adds in the XNA .NET Framework extensions, and integrates into Visual Studio or Visual C# Express, including project templates and the extras you need for things like debugging, deploying and project management of multiple project types. It will also install a Device Center for managing connections to actual Xbox 360 and Phone hardware.

As an “optional” extra, if you want to develop for Windows Phone 7, you’ll need to install the Windows Phone 7 tools, including emulator. I put quotes around optional, because the easiest way you’ll get XNA 4.0 installed is to download the WP7 developer tools.

Silverlight Development
You can build Silverlight games for the web browser, or for Windows Phone 7, in a couple of different ways: Visual Studio or Expression Studio. If you’re content building your games in Silverlight in Visual Studio, follow the above instructions until you have Visual Studio installed, and you’re done. You don’t need any extras unless you want to build Silverlight WP7 games, in which case you’ll need the WP7 developer tools as well.

The other way to build Silverlight applications and games is to use Expression Studio, specifically Expression Blend. Blend allows you to do more “design” orientated solutions, than development heavy ones. And, of course, you’re able to leverage the power of both tools in the one solution, going back and forth between them as best suits your needs.

Getting the Tools
So, that’s all you need. But how do you get it? Hopefully, it’s just as easy to get your hands on everything you need, as it is running through the list of what you need.

If you’re a student, you can get Visual Studio 2010 Professional and Expression Studio 4 Ultimate for free at DreamSpark: www.dreamspark.com

If you’re faculty, you can get Visual Studio 2010 Professional and Expression Studio for free at Faculty Resource Center: www.facultyresourcecenter.com

If you’re a university, college, school, and want to setup Visual Studio in your labs, you can get Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate and Expression Studio through MSDNAA: www.msdnaa.net

If you’re not in the academic space but still want to try your hand at game development, you can either buy Visual Studio 2010, or get Visual C# 2010 Express at our main Express website: http://www.microsoft.com/express/downloads/

Getting XNA and the Phone tools, head over to the App Hub and download everything in one go: http://create.msdn.com/en-us/home/getting_started If you’re just after the XNA Game Studio addin without Expression, etc, you can use the Microsoft Download Center: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9ac86eca-206f-4274-97f2-ef6c8b1f478f

Deployment
One last note. If you’re building games for the Xbox 360 or Windows Phone 7, you need to be able to connect to your devices. XNA Creator Club and membership to the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace are what you need. Students get access to both for free through the DreamSpark program. Sphere: Related Content

10 Awesome Free Documentaries That You Can Watch Online

Do you love documentaries? Do you love watching them for free? Well, you’re in the right place.

Free documentaries come in a number of different styles and are made for a variety of reasons. Most of them aim to educate the viewer on a particular topic: war; environment; health. Documentaries can also be used to enlighten viewers and give them a new point of view. Mostly they serve to highlight our previous mistakes so they don’t happen again — which is why it’s important to watch them. Many documentaries these days also try to incorporate stunning visuals and sound to keep the viewer’s attention as they’re watching.

Here’s ten of the best free feature-length documentaries available to watch online.

Sicko
Michael Moore might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Sicko is a timely insight into the world’s medical systems. If you’re not a fan of Michael Moore, rest assured that in this film he mostly holds off on his trademark angry interviews (not entirely, though). Instead, it’s a qualitative look at various medical systems around the world made largely by interviewing everyday people about their experiences with their own system. I found the insights quite revealing and would recommend this for anyone who wants to learn more about how health care works around the world.

If you’re into Michael Moore, check out Bowling for Columbine too.

Religulous
Religulous is a documentary about the ridiculousness of organised religion. Bill Maher doesn’t just single out one religion — he talks to people at many places of worship, including many smaller places like Truckers’ chapels. But, by pointing out the flaws and weirder practices, he essentially gets on the wrong side of just about every religion he discusses. He engages all manner of people in religious debate, including one guy who plays the part of Jesus for a religious theme park.

Keep your eye out for a notable interview with a senator which led to one incredibly stupid remark.

Earthlings
Earthlings is about how humans treat the other living creatures on this planet. Primarily it focuses on day-to-day business practices which profit from animals. As you might guess, looking at it from this perspective doesn’t paint us humans in such a great light.

The film features some gorgeous footage of nature, Joaquin Phoenix on the voice-overs and music by Moby.

Invisible Children
The film Invisible Children was made by three teenagers in 2003, who visited Africa in search of something worthy of attention. They eventually reached Northern Uganda and found the children suffering the effects of a 20 year war using child soldiers.

Home
Home is a great documentary about the earth and the delicate balance which sustains life on it. Even if you think you know all the movie will tell you, it still serves as a compelling reminder. The film was directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, produced by Luc Besson and features a voice-over from Glenn Close. Throughout the film, you can’t help but notice the amazing cinematography feature. It’s both beautiful and intriguing.

After The Fall
After The Fall is a film about the physical and emotional memory of the Berlin Wall 10 years after the fall of the Berlin wall. While interviewing people who lived in Berlin at the time, the film features beautiful visuals of Berlin to keep you watching.

Man With A Camera
The Man With A Camera is both a documentary and experimental art, so it’s come to be one of the first movies film studies students are told to watch. The idea behind Dziga Vertov’s film is multi-layered and intriguing: Ostensibly it’s a documentary about life in the Soviet Union; it’s a documentary of the filming of that documentary; and it’s a documentary of the audience response to the documentary. However, none of the original film is in this documentary. Very meta.

The Fog Of War: Eleven Lessons From The Life Of Robert S. McNamara
The Fog of War is a fascinating insight into the US government’s decisions regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam policy. Robert McNamara gives viewers 11 lessons we all need to learn from those decisions in order to avoid making the same mistakes. To enhance the haunting visuals, the film score was written by Philip Glass and it beautifully matches the powerful imagery.

Super Size Me
Super Size Me is an experiment in food and health. Morgan Spurlock won a Sundance award with this horrifying insight into the way junk food affects your body. He also takes time to explore how junk food is marketed to children and how our choices are influenced by junk food marketing.

The Corporation
The Corporation explores the concept of a corporation, the role of a corporation and how corporations came to have the powers they do. The movie also psychoanalyses corporations: if corporations have the same rights as “a person”, what sort of a person would they be?

Need More?
As an added bonus, you might like these free documentaries too.

•National Parks: Yellowstone National Park
•Prelude To War
•The Road To Guantanamo
•Home
•OutFoxed
•Orwell Rolls In His Grave
•All Histories YouTube
•YouTube Documentaries
•The Best Places to Watch Documentary Movies Online
•NFBFilms: Watch Documentary Films on Your iPhone for Free
•BBC Documentaries: Download & Listen To 500 Free Radio Documentaries Online
•TopDocumentaryFilms: Watch Cool Documentaries Online
•WildlifeFinder: Watch Wildlife Videos Online
Let us know what your favourite documentary is in the comments!

COMMENTS:
- For those who want a regular feature, might I suggest that they check out some of the video sites that can be configured to send out regular recommendations like Metacafe, LetMeWatchThis, Veoh in addition to the above mentioned
- Just found it here to watch for free: http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/ Sphere: Related Content