XNA Game Studio 2.0 Announced

Tuesday 14th August 2007, 01:01:00 PM, written by Rys

Microsoft has announced XNA Game Studio 2.0, designed to let developers easily create games for the PC and Xbox 360, and due for release later this year.

New to GS 2.0 is the ability to integrate with all versions of Visual Studio 2005, improved content handling (especially on the processing side), and better management of the 360 when you're working on that platform.

On the framework side, it now gives you access to Xbox Live, an easier to use GraphicsDevice object, MRT enhancements, a new XACT editor and more.

Check out the release page on the XNA Team Blog for more information, and discuss the announcement in our XNA Creators Club thread on the forums.

Discuss on the forums

Tagging

xbox ± xna, game, studio, express, 2.0


Latest Thread Comments (43 total)
Posted by archangelmorph on Wednesday, 08-Aug-07 12:28:08 UTC
Quoting pipo
Two small things...



http://letskilldave.com/archive/2007/08/07/gamefest-webcasts-keynote-plus-first-day-of-xna-game-studio-track.aspx

And the finalists for the XNA challenge: http://www.dreambuildplay.com/main/default.aspx
Great stuff..

I'm really looking forward to XNA GS 2.0.. Although i'm a little concerned about MS's plans for it since dropping the "Express" from the title makes it a little difficult predict exactly whom the new framework is aimed at (homebrew or pro..)

I DO hope they don't give us homebrew users the shaft as there are quite a few features we've been crying out for since the start (namely network support)...

Posted by Todd33 on Wednesday, 08-Aug-07 16:48:28 UTC
Can anyone recommend any of the XNA books? They started coming out last month, but I don't know which is the best.

Posted by archangelmorph on Wednesday, 08-Aug-07 17:58:50 UTC
Quoting Todd33
Can anyone recommend any of the XNA books? They started coming out last month, but I don't know which is the best.
I know Ben's book on XNA programming is pretty good for beginners however you probably don't *really* need a book..

If you're interested in getting into XNA and you have prior [game] coding experience then I'd suggest picking up many of the samples from the creators club site as well as taking regular trips to the XNA docs (probably the most useful resource for XNA programming i've used so far.. But then this is pretty much expected since the DirectX docs have always been really good too..)

Posted by pipo on Monday, 13-Aug-07 18:34:45 UTC
http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/08/13/announcing-xna-game-studio-2-0.aspx

Quote
What’s New with XNA Game Studio?

* XNA Game Studio 2.0 works in all versions of Visual Studio 2005. This includes Standard and Professional, as well as many other specific editions.

* The new and improved interface makes it easier for you to manage your Xbox 360 console.

* You’ll find that managing and building content is easier and more consistent in XNA Game Studio.

* We’ve included project templates for content importers and processors.

* You can configure how content is processed with the new ability to set parameters on Content Processors.

What’s new in the XNA Framework? Now you can:

* Create rich multiplayer games over Xbox LIVE using the new networking APIs.

* Create Audio more effectively with the new XACT editor!

* Host XNA Framework games easily inside a Windows Form.

* Use the virtualized GraphicsDevice: no more special code to handle device reset and recreate!

* Take advantage of render targets that are more flexible, consistent, and easier to use. Xbox 360 and Windows now support multiple render targets (MRTs) as well.

* Easily nest one component inside another thanks to improvements in GameComponent.

* Enjoy many more enhancements and tweaks!

Posted by archangelmorph on Tuesday, 14-Aug-07 11:31:37 UTC
Quoting pipo
http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/08/13/announcing-xna-game-studio-2-0.aspx
Got the message this morning!

I'm really psyched about this announcement since this means they'll have Xbox Live support just about ready by the time the game i'm currently working on hits alpha!

I'm interested to know how it's going to work and whether they are going to provide a cross platform networking API through XNA (to support XBL and network play across windows) or one specific to the 360 side..

Either way it's a win for us hobbyist/homebrew guys the world over!!

:grin:

Posted by Graham on Tuesday, 14-Aug-07 13:12:52 UTC
A very good update indeed :-)
ignoring Live support (which is just too awesome), there are lots of good things. MRTs and support for VS2005 are my picks for 'yay finally!'.


And then there is that other little announcement...

That selected Microsoft Game Studios games will have art content made legally available for non-commercial 'remix' work. How huge is that... I want to see warthogs in PRG dammit! (link (http://www.developmag.com/news/28301/Microsoft-opens-game-IP-for-non-commercial-projects))

Posted by pipo on Friday, 17-Aug-07 12:01:47 UTC
http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/08/16/dream-build-play-winners-softimage-xsi-mod-tool-and-august-content-update.aspx

Quote
August XNA Creators Club Online Update

There's a new round of content available on http://creators.xna.com including a new starter kit available exclusively to XNA Creators Club Members

* Premium starter kit – Ship Game

Ship Game is a 3D spaceship combat game set inside a complex tunnel system. Ship Game features advanced lighting and textures, a full GPU particle system, and advanced physics. Explore the tunnels on your own, or take on a friend head-to-head using split-screen mode.

* Optimization Tutorial

This tutorial teaches you how to find and correct performance problems in your game, and highlights solutions to common performance problems on Xbox 360, using a particle system as an example.

* Distortion Sample

Using a particle system as an example, this tutorial teaches you how to find and correct performance problems in your game, and highlights solutions to common performance problems on Xbox 360.

* Shader Series 4: Materials and Multiple Light Sources Sample

Until now, the shader series has focused on single meshes, single lights, and single materials. This sample demonstrates how a developer might combine the techniques leading up to this sample into a usable system for composing a 3D scene.

Posted by pipo Heads-up on Wednesday, 03-Oct-07 11:35:48 UTC
New content: http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/09/27/september-content-on-xna-creators-club-online.aspx
Quote
* Collision with a Heightmap This sample demonstrates how to move objects along a heightmap, useful when creating a game that requires interaction between moving objects and terrain. It is based on the Generated Geometry sample, which creates a landscape from a bitmap. * Custom Model Class This sample shows how to go beyond the limits of the Model class that comes built in to the XNA Framework, loading geometry data into a custom class that can be extended more easily to cope with specialized requirements. * Mesh Instancing This sample shows how to efficiently render many copies of the same model, using GPU instancing techniques to reduce the cost of repeated draw calls. * Shatter This sample shows how you can apply an effect on any model in your game to shatter it apart.Utilities * Curve Editor This utility provides an easy-to-use visual editor for creating curves for use with the XNA Framework Curve class. The curve control used to display and edit curves inside the editor can also be imported into your own applications. * Input Reporter This utility displays input data for all controllers connected to the system. The utility supports multiple controller types, including flight sticks, dance pads, and guitars. * Xbox 360 Controller Button Glyphs This utility is a set of images that represent the buttons, thumbsticks, and triggers on the Xbox 360 Controller.Articles * Ship Game Article - 3D Collision using the BoxCollider library This supplemental article introduces the BoxCollider library provided in Ship Game. BoxCollider is a collision detection and response library that features an octree implementation, collision response with friction effects, and prebuilt collision-aware camera classes.

Posted by NavNucST3 on Wednesday, 21-Nov-07 05:17:45 UTC
XNA Game Studio 2.0 beta is available. (http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/11/19/now-available-xna-game-studio-2-0-beta.aspx)

Posted by Zassk on Tuesday, 20-May-08 20:24:18 UTC
I thought this would be the best of the old XNA threads to bump... some news:Closed Beta started today for XNA Community Submissions & Peer Review (http://creators.xna.com/en-us/home_feature_detail)I guess this user content sharing system for XBox Live will be for real...


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