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XNA 2.0 Released
This actually happened a couple of days ago, but I ignored while I tried to get my act back together. Microsoft has released the newest version (v2.0) of XNA. Included are 2 big new features that many game creators have been waiting for.
- Networking support for multi-player games.
- The Guide button can now be accessed through a new Class that also allows for storage device selection and text entry through the new Messenger Kit keypad.
The networking portion is absolutely HUGE for developers. Not only does it streamline the creation of multi-player games for Windows, but it also gives access to the Live network for multi-player 360 games. If that wasn't enough to make creators salivate, it will also allow for multi-player games that connect cross-platform allowing PC users to play against 360 users. Like I said, HUGE!
I may have to dust off my copy of C# and give the new version a whirl.
You can download the new version here.
- Networking support for multi-player games.
- The Guide button can now be accessed through a new Class that also allows for storage device selection and text entry through the new Messenger Kit keypad.
The networking portion is absolutely HUGE for developers. Not only does it streamline the creation of multi-player games for Windows, but it also gives access to the Live network for multi-player 360 games. If that wasn't enough to make creators salivate, it will also allow for multi-player games that connect cross-platform allowing PC users to play against 360 users. Like I said, HUGE!
I may have to dust off my copy of C# and give the new version a whirl.
You can download the new version here.
When I read the entire list of changes with this revision, I was just so happy. I only wish that they had officially supported the new Visual Studio 2008. I honestly haven't worked on my game in a long time, but the networking support adds the flexibility to do some of the things I was considering. Amazingly enough, it may tie into my previous code structure very nicely. Without looking at it, I can only imagine that the comunication is atleast similar to the Windows Comunication Foundation. I already was passing a "current state" variable (containing character status, world coordinates, dungeon/city coordinates, combat state, inventory) among my various modules. Under WCF, you basically transmit serial data over these pre-defined protocols (I create a comunication method that acts just like a normal method, it accepts variables and can return a void, 1 way communication, or any other defined type that can be serialized). To update my networked information, I just need to pass that information into the network protocol, and draw the equivilent of NPCs for the received data. Very cool.
Yeah, there is a lot of good stuff in this release. I just hope they don't get into the same thing that happened with DirectX. A new release every couple of months. They didn't release 1.0 all that long ago, did they?
One of these days I'll get back to work on my game. Maybe.
Well, 1.0 released a year ago (after a public beta of a few months) and then they did a refresh of 1.0 (why it wasn't 1.5 I'll never know) late winter/early spring. From what I've heard, they intend a major update every year, and a minor update between the majors. It seems to me that the DirectX SDK came out more frequently than that, but it still is a quick update turn around.
I forgot to mention that the other great update with 2.0 is that the game launcher is no longer needed. The games can be run like Arcade games and show up with a seperate category from the Demos and Arcade (so you can twist to "XNA Games").
I can handle a major release every year. That's not too bad. In my mind it just seemed like it wasn't that long ago.
I haven't tried putting mine over to the 360 yet, since it involves not only paying for Gold subscription that I can't use, but also the Creator's Club. I'll wait until I have a product closer to finished before I pony up the dough. It's good to hear they are making it more user friendly on that end, though.