#xna framework

I’m now in week two of an online course about C#.  The interesting thing about the course isthat it’s geared towards coding for video games.  Once upon a time I was trying to research and explain what exactly is going on under the hood when you boot up a video game.  This lead to one of my favorite posts so far, a look at the specific hardware within every computer.  Unfortunately, Google searches could only get me so far when it comes to looking at the code of a game and explaining how it becomes the images and sounds that you’re able to interact with simply using a controller or mouse and keyboard.  I found this free online class about coding games with C# on the Coursera site, and it’s going pretty well after only two weeks.  I recommend looking through the course offerings and seeing what’s available.  You never know if that skill you’ve been dying to learn is available through an accredited university and online for free.

We started off simply for the C# class, which was geared towards nonprogrammers.  In first lab, we wrote a series of statements to be output to the user.  “My name is, my favorite video games are,” and so on.  This was accomplished using the very versatile and useful Console.WriteLine command.  This was followed by utilized constants and variables and different data types used.  We declared our age as a constant, and then printed that to the user.  We also declared some more constants and variables and began using C# to perform mathematical expressions.  We calculated someone’s average score percent by taking an average, which lead to a discussion about division in programming.  Integer division in C# (and other languages, I’m sure) will provide a whole number, often rounding down to the incorrect answer.  To overcome this, it’s necessary to calculate the remainder that’s left over and print that as well.  Another tactic is to use floating point numbers.  These numbers maintain accuracy up to 7 digits, which allows a better representation of real world numbers while sacrificing the accuracy of dozens of decimal places.

In the comments to the Lab 3 I actually wrote, “now sh*t is getting crazy.”  I think that aptly describes the learning curve of coding.  When I first looked at the assignment that was due for week 1, I became immediately overwhelmed and had no idea how to proceed. The optional labs were a big help, but even they had a lot of difficult ideas and challenges that I needed to understand fully before moving on.  Lab 3 seems extremely simple to me now that I’ve done it, even though I’m only one week more experienced than I was before.  That’s the great thing about learning, isn’t it?  For instance, one of my vertebrate physiology courses from college had us learning how to identify mammals by looking at skull structure. Initially, every rodent looked the same, literally.  There was no telling if you were holding a mouse, or vole, or squirrel for that matter. Over time, the longer you spent staring and comparing, the differences became more pronounced.  After practicing that skill for a few weeks, I was able to easily identify a rabbit versus a squirrel, or even the difference between a muskrat and a porcupine.

An image solely featuring code is better than no image at all. Right?

After spending only half a week learning about and utilizing classes and objects, we’ve moved on to using XNA framework to build games.  Our assignment this week is to define, render, and display moving sprites at different speeds to the user.  Again, this seems daunting to me now, but I know with time and effort I’ll begin to understand how it all fits together.  It makes me excited to think where I’ll be in my understanding in 10 weeks once the course has concluded.  Luckily there’s plenty of extra information available, and with 40,000+ students enrolled worldwide, the forums are a great place to look for help and information.  Hopefully by the end of 10 more weeks I’ll be able to describe exactly what’s happening when you start up your favorite game.  

Amplify’d from www.magicupload.com

Sams (8-2007) | PDF | 542 pages | ISBN: 0672329646 | 11,4 mb

Microsoft XNA Unleashed: Graphics and Game Programming for Xbox 360 and Windows /by Chad Carter. Microsoft XNA Unleashed provides comprehensive coverage and solid instruction on how to leverage the XNA Framework to create high quality games for Windows and the Xbox 360. The author shows you how to take full advantage of the many features the XNA Framework provides; you will learn the intricacies of important tasks such as adding sound and music to games, as well as creating, loading, and texturing 3D objects. In addition to providing coverage of 2D programming, the author shows you how to create sophisticated 3D games. All the important topics such as physics, artificial intelligence, and special effects are covered in detail. Chad Carter is the CTO at Robertson Marketing Group. Many Fortune 500 companies use the ecommerce system he architected and developed from the ground up for the promotional business sector. He has been creating DirectX applications since 1996 and has developed games using Managed DirectX. Chad created a 3D locomotive simulator for Norfolk Southern that is used to teach children to obey railroad crossings signals.

download link

depositfiles | filesonic

Microsoft XNA Unleashed

Read more at www.magicupload.com

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/f3jykw

Amplify’d from www.magicupload.com

Sams (8-2007) | PDF | 542 pages | ISBN: 0672329646 | 11,4 mb

Microsoft XNA Unleashed: Graphics and Game Programming for Xbox 360 and Windows /by Chad Carter. Microsoft XNA Unleashed provides comprehensive coverage and solid instruction on how to leverage the XNA Framework to create high quality games for Windows and the Xbox 360. The author shows you how to take full advantage of the many features the XNA Framework provides; you will learn the intricacies of important tasks such as adding sound and music to games, as well as creating, loading, and texturing 3D objects. In addition to providing coverage of 2D programming, the author shows you how to create sophisticated 3D games. All the important topics such as physics, artificial intelligence, and special effects are covered in detail. Chad Carter is the CTO at Robertson Marketing Group. Many Fortune 500 companies use the ecommerce system he architected and developed from the ground up for the promotional business sector. He has been creating DirectX applications since 1996 and has developed games using Managed DirectX. Chad created a 3D locomotive simulator for Norfolk Southern that is used to teach children to obey railroad crossings signals.

download link

depositfiles | filesonic

Microsoft XNA Unleashed

Read more at www.magicupload.com