XNA to ashes, along with my book, but I'm not done yet. :D

After several months with no contact, I have bad news to deliver.  The book I completed, that was in review, will not be published.  In February, Microsoft announced that XNA is done.  It will see no more development, and all official support will end as of March, 2014.  With news like that, no publisher in its right mind would publish a book on it right now.

I had neglected this blog, as this affected far more than just the book.  Most of my game development classes used XNA as a standard for development.  So I had to select a new development engine and get myself accustomed to it.  I'm pleased to say that I'm nearly ready to introduce a new series of classes based on Unity 3D.  I've spent the last two months figuring out a game to build to take advantage of the 3D environment, and at the same time simple enough that it would be a good starter game.  So I chose to make a Real Time Strategy game.

RTS's are not simple, but huge undertakings with a lot of work.  But I'm not actually building an RTS.  Instead, I split the game into its 3 key areas, a City Builder, a Tactical Game, and a Strategy Game.  I spent a while on GameDev.Net's forums talking with other developers and players about what the best parts of RTS's are and what their missing.  In the end I came up with a solution that turned into a project code named Warp Wars.

I started planning it out, created a full GDD (the light type I normally use for Design Classes) and started building.  Since the start of it in January, when it started as a small spark of an idea, it has grown into a project with 10 people offering help on it, a blog with hundreds of views every week, an active User Voice site (where people (and me) are bringing up ideas and bugs) , a public/private development forum, and most importantly, the real website and the Live Demo.

The blog gets regular updates, but here are a few snap shots of the progress in the game:

  

The Live demo has functioning registration, the map is different for every player, scrolling and rotation of the near infinite terrain and in the next two weeks, we plan to add the first in game menus, and the ability for a player to add buildings.  Connect to the blog for regular updates.

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Kenzie's Project:

I'm also please to bring up a project on kick starter, about a 9 year old girl making her first video game.  It originally started as a fight between her and her brothers. They said she'd never be able to build a real game.  Instead of get discouraged when things got tough, she got going.  She researched how to do it, found RPG Game Maker and a training course for kids her age, where you end class with an actual game of your own.  The only problem is that the training package and the environment came up to over 1000 dollars.  

She and her mom, started a kick starter project to see if anyone wanted to support the idea, and get a a copy of the finished game out of it.  Kick Starter exploded with responses.  Unfortunately many of them were complaints, even threats, saying the whole thing is fake.  But fortunately, over twenty three thousand dollars in small individual contributions have taken Kenzie's initial hope and turned it to something bigger.

They've created a site called Pinkie Square, which is based on her in ability to say "pinkie swear" when she was younger.  This site is dedicated to helping kids learn to make their own games.  You really should check it out.  And when you do, drop into the Create section, and check out who's going to help them setup training videos and Q&A for kid's game development.  

That's right, I will be.  :D  This is re-igniting some of my earlier plans of Learn Build Play being an online training community.  I'm preparing some videos now that I'll be posting on Pinkie Square, this blog and the new version of the Learn Build Play website that is underway now.  Pinkie Square will be focused on Kids, and Learn Build Play will cover more, but teaching kids is a strong passion of mine.  I had to go through a lot of hurtles in education growing up, so I'm doing everything I can to make those easier for the next generations.

Check back soon for more updates.

Play Test In Progress...

                I've completed all the chapters in the book, but I still have some cleanup tasks to take care of. 

Remaining Tasks:

Spelling/Grammar Checking, in progress, about 40% done.

Comic Characters will be added to the last two chapters.

Finalize Comic Images.

Comic images will be put in place (many are just stubbed out with the character name)

Hi-lighting changed lines, 10% done.

Index

Covers - Front/Back

Testers/Reviewers (Underway Already)

Play Testing:

                So last night, I had a tutoring session with one of my students.  He usually leaves about 9PM, sleepy, because he gets up early.  Last night, he left far more awake than usual, and with a high level of mental activity. (Determined from his constant suggestions of additional ideas and general energy level)

                Last night was also the first night that I had worked completely out of the book for a class.  I used the first real chapter, which talks about brain storming, and how to keep up creative flow.  It built up quickly when we tried some crazy ideas, which is part of a practice brain storming session to hold at the end. 

                To summarize, the use of the book worked great.  The energy level of the class was higher than usual, and it was fun. 

Considering:

                Now I’m considering producing a Syllabus for others to use this in their classes.  It should work pretty well for 8^th grade youth through adults.  I’m looking for some teachers who would be interested in working on that with me. 

                I have free reign over how I run my classes, so I figured it would be good to also get ideas from someone in a more locked down environment.  I’m figuring some video examples would be pretty good to go along with it as well. 

Contact me if you’re interested in reviewing this, either as a reader or a teacher, or both. 

Don't forget you can download a copy of the game at any time: http://sdrv.ms/S618fG  (expects windows)

Book Complete, First stage of Cleanup in progress...

                I’m nearly done with the book.  All chapters have been written, with one exception.  I’m finishing up a chapter on how to market the game, something many people lack.  You can get the source code with the book, but I’m releasing an installer for the game.  I make no claim that the game is an awesome product, but it is an awesome learning tool, as anyone purchasing the book will learn how to make the whole thing. 

                This book covers beginning programming in general (with C#) but as a separate section, it then shows you how to use XNA.  You’ll learn everything you need, even if you don’t have a clue when it comes to programming. 

                It’s a short game, but the engine was left in a spot where it is easy to add more levels, more characters, more power ups, more menu features etc…  It’s meant to be a good place to pick up when you finish the book.  J

Link to the Installer: http://sdrv.ms/S618fG

If you want to see a video of it, check out the latest video update on Kickstarter.com
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1667690760/completing-a-game-development-book

Book Release Coming Up!

                For the past few years, I've considered writing a book on C# and game development, but I could never get enough into it to be satisfied.  I would complete a large portion of it, or smaller sections that I would use for classes, but for a whole project, I haven't been able to express as much as I wanted to.

                But that changed.  A couple months back, I decided on a way to write it, starting out with Game Design as the first section and including how to keep a development team active.  Then I went into programming, game development and even release. 

                The book has 5 main characters. 

·         The Narrator

o   Me, the Author

·         Kathy Konfident

o   Experienced Game developer, knowledgeable in all areas, ready to dispense tips and advice

·         Daren Donagry

o   Beginner programmer, no real past experience, demonstrates a lot of classic mistakes beginners often do (I certainly am guilty of most of them, early on)

·         Wilma Wannabi

o   Really wants to be involved in the game project but doesn't have any specific trade skill. 

·         Mark Moneybaggs

o   Represents an investor, someone trying to make sure it can make money.

·         Other random characters

o   Others show up from time to time, including Socrates and Space Ghost, to help illustrate certain points.

In a short while, I'm going to be announcing a Kick Starter project about it, so that others can get involved.  At 25$ donated, you get your name in the book on a list of people who helped make the book possible, 75$ donation, and you also get a copy of the book sent to you as soon as its off the presses, and at 150$, I'll have my artist draw up a character of you (real or fictitious), and your character will show up at least once, in a helpful way.

It seems like a great gift idea if you have a family member or friend that has been interested in game development, but just hasn't taken it up.  As long as they have started Algebra (A+B=C) they should be good to learn programming.  Imagine getting them a programming book as a holiday gift, and half way through it, they find themselves in it as a helpful character in the book.

Anyway, I keep working on the book, and its closer and closer to completion.  I'm hoping to finish in late November, run it through testing for a few weeks, and then release before Christmas.  It is a close time line, and it is possible that the dates could slip.  If testers find an area complicated or confusing, I'm not going to release it as is.  I will fix it first.  No good going to the printed word, if it is wrong. 

I'll keep everyone posted with updates as we get to testing, artwork and release, on this blog.