xnaFan's Blog

As you can see above: the splash screen for Starsuckers has been updated using Flavio Takemoto’s “Shine Energy 5” image from SXC – thanks Flavio!

We’re currently in the process of going through the Microsoft “Evil List”, and making sure our game lives up to the checklist before we send it for approval. If any of you are going to create a game for XBOX, there’s also a best practices list you should adhere to, and these two may be of interest as well:

http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/t/17830.aspx
http://create.msdn.com/en-US/resources/help/peer_review_language_faq

The Game Thumbnail is currently this logo here (left) – we may change it so the splashscreen and game thumbnail are more in sync graphically – but we’re not graphics artists, so we’ll see about that

We’re defining what will be left out of the trial version. We’re considering, the single player mode (with AI), the multishots and the ability to aim yourself instead of the Starsucker firing for you, to be extra for the full version.

More updates as we progress!

In the beginning of April we participated in the cozy IndieJam in Aalborg, Denmark.
The theme was “Out of this world”, and our little two-man-team got a split-screen two-person-spaceshooter up and running before the time of judgement, sunday morning .

We were ONE measly vote from winning the indie . So we have decided to publish the game on the XBOX 360 Indie channel. We’re devoting one day a week to the project, so before the summer is over, you will probably be able to play it.

If you’ve got XBOX 360 controllers with a USB adapter – you can download the playable version (XNA 4.0) and beat a friend (or enemy) of yours at home … or maybe get the code.

Created by yours truly and Jesper Niedermann.

A couple of weeks ago some friends and I competed in the very cozy Indie9000 game jam in Aalborg, Denmark. The theme was Fastelavn, a celebration where danish kids beat innocent barrels to pieces with sticks.

We figured it would be fun to make a virtual edition of this custom – so we did!

In this version up to four players use an Xbox controller and try to beat the colored staves in the barrel using the button on the controller in the corresponding color. The timing must be right too, as the bat can only hit a single position.

Highlights of the code are:

- dynamic detection of new controllers added and existing ones removed
- simple emulation of a spinning 3D barrel by drawing single staves back to front using individual colors

Here you can see the 36 different transparent PNGs used to simulate rotation:

Here you see Lars trying to get a feel for where the bat would hit the barrel while learning 3D modelling:

Here you see the team (myself excluded) and a group of playtesters:

It was fun to make, and we were nominated in Best game, Best graphics and Best sound – yay!

The game is published to Codeplex on http://tonnenklapps.codeplex.com/, so head there for sourcecode and a game of barrelwhooppin’ TönnenKlapps!

This is the game we created at the Nordic Game Jam 2010.
Finally ... after liters of chocolate milk, coffee and chocolate.
After playtesting, debugging, playtesting, debugging.... etc for 48 hours - we finally have a playable version out.
The theme for this years Game Jam was "Deception" and there was a constraint saying that you had to have a DonKEY, a MonKEY or a KEY in your game.

We chose to make a little player-vs-player maze game. The hunter (black) is faster than the hunted (white) but the hunted can spawn clones of himself.
The KEY is used to unlock the teleports (red squares).

We are considering selling the game on Xbox Live Marketplace, but let's see

Here's a demo of the game - have fun and let me know what you think.
You will probably need to install the XNA 3.1 framework redistributable first, if you don't already develop XNA games.
Credits:

Project Manager/Music
Lars Nysom

Audio/Concept/Leveldesign
Rasmus Lønne

Code
Malte Baden Hansen
Jesper Eiby
Jakob Lund Krarup

This weekend a buddy of mine and I are driving to Copenhagen to participate in Nordic Game Jam.
The sign-up closed at 260 participants, that will be my biggest jam yet :).
For those of you who haven't participated in a Game Jam yet - DO IT!
Here's a short excerpt from the NGJ webpage about why you should try it. It sums it up pretty well:

But why participate in a game jam? And why go through 48 hours of: very little sleep, hard work, great ideas, crunching, problem solving & technical issues? Because a game jam encourages innovation and experimentation. It is one of the vehicles behind the new generation of game developers that can experiment with platforms and game ideas in an intense and yet still informal atmosphere. This is the space where the new generation of talents can be found.

If you urge to create a game, collaborate and meet other game developers - then Nordic Game Jam is the perfect place for you. As a participant at the Nordic Game Jam you will be part of a global event of creativity and fun.

The Nordic Game Jam 2010 will follow the same format like previous years, as an event where students, hobbyists and professional game developers, meet up for a weekend to develop and experiment with new and innovative game ideas.

My version of the 10 second pitch sounds like this:
"It's an excellent chance to pick up new skills and friends while doing what you like best - code XNA ;-)."

Nordic Game Jam will be opened by Carina Christensen, Danish Minister of Culture - which I think is a proper recognition for the role games play in the development of a common culture.
But more importantly: Peter Molyneux, yes THE Peter "Populous-DungeonKeeper-Black and White" Molyneux will be doing the Keynote speech.
To me Peter is synonymous with Artificial Intelligence. Like no other he made me believe that the characters you saw on the screen had a life of their own, even after turning off the PC

Can hardly wait!