Shawn Hargreaves Blog

All of those seem worthwhile topics, and for me numbers 3,6,7,9,10 and 12 are the most interesting.

What I really would like to see is a minimal project appended to each topic that actually shows in an XNA project the topic in discussion.  For example, the Stencil Buffer transitions was a really good post but to be honest I found it hard to actually implement.  An example would make things much easier - if at all possible.

I would agree to what the previous poster said. Some basic examples on using the stencil buffer (doesn't have to be transitions.. just something to show it off) would be nice.

Of the topics I'll choose 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13

Anything about managing stuff is appreciated to. The biggest issue with making a game is managing things really. And I mean any kind of managing. Making "manager classes" or just managing code in general.. or how to manage drawing many different things with different effects.

And the topics I didn't choose are ones that I either don't know what it is or I already know what it is at all (or I don't care). The ones I don't know (1,2,4,5,12) I'd like to hear about too but they'd probably require some more basic explanation. (yes, this is my opinion)

I'd say 7, 9, 10, and 13 sound most interesting to me.  As a shader-newbie, I love reading anything you write about effects, so the more the better as far as I'm concerned.

Altho you could make any topic an interesting read, I'd really like to hear your thoughts on managing render states :)

Material systems is a topic I'm very interested in, so I'd like to here more about 6 and 8.

All of those seem really good.  7 sounds really interesting.

If possible could you try and concentrate whereever the documentation seems particularly light to you?

Shawn

I think the best thing I'd like to see, would be to build up your posts into some kind of series, taking some of the comments here about actual usage of the examples you give.

Something along the lines of Riemers tutorials but with a simple game in mind.

I know there are sample games on the site but I remember when i started with Game Development, the thing that really helped me progress was the 2D/3D video tutorials that Digipen did in the old Coding4fun days.

Now I'm not saying do a full video series, just a series of blogs each building on each other starting from say the GameState Example.

How's that sound?

P.S was thinking of revamping the old digipen webcasts for XNA when I had the time, pah fat lot of good it did me trying to find time!!!, lol

I think that a small and clean example of managing render states would be immeasurably helpful to those people who are working on a project with multiple models that have to be animated individually.

Most of the other topics listed were essentially tactical concerns whereas render state management is more of a strategic or architectural concern.

If there are other related blogs that talk about architectural concerns for designing a clean game engine in XNA, the (gamestate article on creaters club was great) a mention of those resources would be appreciated almost as much.

Thanks

Hi Shawn,

 Maybe a blog about how to create various cool visual or physics effects, both 2D and 3D, sort of like extending the SpriteEffects demo to include more advanced visual and physical tricks that games that make it onto XBLA are likely to use.

I like all of them. And would add:

1) handling procedural texturing (say, Mapzone's kind).

2) how to set/retrieve raycasting information (or any other kind of dynamic data) from shaders with XNA -if possible, and

3) Extending materials: for physics and sounds (say the player steps on a grass material -> XNA plays the proper sound, or the player speeds is affected by the proper friction value).