Sam Stokes on Game Programming using C#, XNA, XML, Zune, XBox and World of Warcraft

Using Functions in C#

2009-10-22T03:33:25Z

In the video that I have embedded in this blog post, I am restarting my blog and will work out the curriculum issues that I have been talking about. Got caught up in the Imagine Cup, it all worked out really well for the team I am on, have to shout out for Cy Khormaee, Bradley Jensen and Krishna Kumar, these guys rocked the Software Design category in the US! Anyway, back to Functions, what is a function, why are they important? Functions allow you to write code once and then reuse...(read more)

Brain Freeze: Thinking about beginning programming classes

2009-08-21T01:12:46Z

So far in my previous blog posts, I talked about the following items: Use of C, which is a requirement for the class Write and test your first program for security issues (Intro to C#) Use media in your programs (Designing Applications) 3. Variables and types Goal: Learn about variables and types Outcome: Student will be able to demonstrate: How to create and use a variable in a program How to what is the difference between value, nullable, reference types and generic types A buffer...(read more)

Brain Freeze: Rethinking curriculum for beginning programmers

2009-08-20T01:45:33Z

Chapman University has handed me a challenge: Create a first programming class for students who are going to be part of a new minor in Game Design. Ok, not bad, oh wait, it also needs to get the students to a point where they can write programs in C# in a game design class. The audience is made up of “design” students as well as CS students, both are bright and motivated, but quite a bit different. Usually as an adjunct in the 1980s or 1990s, I would usually get a call from a school stating...(read more)

VSTS 2010: Using the Directed Graph Diagram part 1 of however many I do till I get distracted again

2009-08-11T01:02:23Z

Now that VSTS 2010 is available through the CTP program, MSDNAA, BizSpark and MSDN, you can use it to deconstruct applications that you might need to take charge of. My example is the XNA RPG . The image at the top of the article is an example of the final result of the instructions in this blog. If you are a student, professor or lecturer, then you can get the full version from your MSDNAA account, and if you don’t have MSDNAA, contact me through the comments below. Now on to Using...(read more)

VS 2010 Game Design: For RPG with Deconstruction and Destruction

2009-08-08T02:36:19Z

What’s a game without deconstruction and destruction? Back in the dark ages when I attended college, there was a concept of Critical Deconstruction , and I thought to take one of the classes on it for my liberal arts General Education credit, something required in the United States so that engineering and science students don’t take all technology classes and destroy their GPAs by getting good grades in the classes they are in college to take! I dropped the Critical Deconstruction class...(read more)

Is software engineering dead?

2009-07-27T20:15:00Z

Software Engineering: Dead? by Jeff Atwood, asks this question. My question is this: Did anyone find that their software engineering courses in school mapped to what you actually do at work? Doubtful in my opinion, unless you attended certain schools. My series of articles that I am doing about engineering games is not about software engineering, which I consider to be important in many ways and certainly not dead, but definitely boring to creative people like Jeff Atwood. The process...(read more)

UML: Software Engineering Institute, Game Design guidance

2009-07-24T18:20:00Z

Interesting isn’t it that the game design discussion on the Software Engineering Institute site seems to end around 2005, just as life gets interesting for game design. First of all the XBox team at Microsoft releases the XNA Game Studio, allowing for the first time for people, students, professors, hobbyists and others to build games that will work on a game console. Flash games really took off. Blizzard gets sold for 4 BILLION dollars to Activision. WII comes into existence....(read more)

UML: OMG and SEI

2009-07-21T22:31:00Z

OMG (really) is the O bject M anagement G roup that can be found at http://www.uml.org , fortunate for them that they got that URL for UML. The site is filled with links that are not connected, you would think that someone every once in awhile would check for broken links. The other site that I will seriously be utilizing is the SEI, or Software Engineering Institute. This site appears to be in good shape, and has a well written tutorial on game design. I will make use...(read more)

UML: Use Cases, relationships Part 4

2009-07-18T18:52:00Z

I have received a few comments about what happened with the DLL discussion I was having on this blog. Well quite simply, I realized that I might be able to put together a coherent discussion about UML in VS 2010 and build back into the DLL discussion. UML includes building Class Libraries using the Logical Class Diagrams, which is very similar to the Class Diagrams included in Visual Studio Professional and Visual Studio Team Systems, but not the Express products. Let’s review Use Cases,...(read more)

UML: Use Case Part 3

2009-07-16T03:01:00Z

The Use Case is simply a way for you to take your high level requirements and put them into an image form. It might even be a good idea to use sticky notes to help you visualize the way that the different use case might be related. Sticky notes are included with Win7 and an improved version is available for free from the Office Lab Sticky Notes page , I am impressed with the Sticky Notes and will be doing a blog about creating your own sticky notes projects through the API for Win7. ...(read more)

UML: Use Cases Part 2, utilizing <>

2009-07-12T21:57:00Z

In this blog post, no back story, just pure UML today. In this case “Create an Account” is used by a Gamer coming to your site. The “Create an Account” is included in the User Profile and Security Use Cases (at least at this point of analysis). Now both the User Profile and Security, in a normally running business, would be used for many purposes. For example the User Profile would used for the customers, like the Gamer, it would also be used for roles such as BackOffice worker...(read more)

UML: Use Case Models part 1

2009-07-08T19:59:00Z

What are Use Case Models? First of all: They are simple visual specification of user goals at a high level. They should be so simple that you can explain them to a manager suffering from serious attention span disorder, or a puppy. Not all managers suffer from attention span disorder, and especially not mine, who is a kind and generous genius, especially at review time. :) But you should get my meaning here. When starting a use case model, it is very important to keep it simple. ...(read more)

UML IS BACK IN VISUAL STUDIO 2010

2009-07-07T03:55:00Z

No more clunky interop with Visio like in VS 2005 and VS 2008. UML is back in the Visual Studio Team Suite 2010 CTP. You will need to install Visual Studio Team Suite 2010, which is all of the versions put together, Database, Developer, Architect and Test, then you will be able to view and experiment with the modeling projects component. Utilizing UML in your game design can be a big benefit down the line, not so much when you do the initial effort, when you are all excited about your...(read more)

Have a happy 4th of July! Be Safe!

2009-07-04T18:33:00Z

Fireworks were initially invented by the Chinese, and likely the medical protocol for missing hands from explosions followed shortly. In the United States July the Fourth represents the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, although the real date might have been July 2 depending on your legal point of view. The making of “joyous” noise and so forth slowly became a tradition, with the slow communications and independent nature of the US in the early years slowed the adoption...(read more)

XNA: Using Fonts in XNA 3.1

2009-06-19T18:42:00Z

XNA 3.1 No difference in how to use Fonts in XNA 3.1 over XNA 2.0. If you already know how to use text in your project, this won’t be a big help to you. This article was written to try to look a little smarter than my previous blog may have made me look. Using text in your XNA project Using the previous Blog approach, was simple, but not elegant. It would be better to add text that indicates whether or not SpriteBatch is an abstract class or a base class. In this case you will need...(read more)