XNA Diaries
A log of my (where me="Gary Kacmarcik") explorations with the XNA Framework, focusing on the creation of my game (don't we all have one) using the framework.
Game over...
This blog is officially closed and will no longer be updated. New posts will be made to my new blog....
Date: 12/02/2006
Status of XNAExtras
I have been working with the legal in Microsoft to see if it is possible to convert XNAExtras into a...
Date: 12/02/2006
Leaving Microsoft...
My apologies for the lack of any real content on this site for the past month or so. I've been...
Date: 12/01/2006
XNAExtras update
This is a minor update: Beta2 update (ContentManager)Minor bug fix with TextBoxes not deleting their...
Date: 12/01/2006
BMFontGen update (1119)
I had a request to add an option to expand each glyph with padding pixels, and I'm finally getting...
Date: 11/19/2006
BitmapFont update for beta2 (Finally!)
As you've probably surmised from the last post, I seem to be somewhat loose in my interpretation of...
Date: 11/18/2006
XNA Extras and Beta2
This is a heads-up that the current release of XNA Extras requires some changes before it will work...
Date: 11/02/2006
Colliding sprites in XNAExtras
The latest release of XNAExtras added support for sprite collisions, and allows the collision...
Date: 09/24/2006
XNAExtras build 0923 release
Major addition for this version: collision detection has been added to XSpriteManager. Both bounding...
Date: 09/24/2006
Mixing Natural Language into Games
[I had intended to write up a small post about my project earlier, but didn't get the chance until...
Date: 09/23/2006
Creating UI border elements in XNA
The XNAExtras.Border class provides a general border mechanism for UI elements. While currently only...
Date: 09/17/2006
XNAExtras build 0916 release
This release includes a bunch of small enhancements and bug fixes. The only major class addition is...
Date: 09/16/2006
"But I don't want to have to worry about sprite depths..."
Well, you don't have to really. Or maybe you're already dealing with depth and you don't realize it....
Date: 09/14/2006
The cost of SpriteBlendMode.AlphaBlend and the SpriteSortOptions
The SpriteBatch.Begin method has a couple of parameters that control how the sprites are rendered on...
Date: 09/10/2006
Don't mix ClearType with your game fonts
The ClearType text rendering hint (option: -trh ct-grid) tells BMFontGen to apply ClearType...
Date: 09/09/2006
360 Controller Demo
Don't you hate it when you have a little demo that you're thinking of releasing and someone comes...
Date: 09/01/2006
Creating and using bitmap fonts in XNA
As mentioned in a previous post, there is a clear need for a bitmap font generator that provides...
Date: 08/30/2006
Creating Bitmap Fonts using bmfontgen
Date: 08/30/2006
Finally...
Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express (Beta) is now available!
Date: 08/30/2006
One Codepage to rule them all : Unicode, C#, XNA & Fonts
We're all familiar with the time-worn verse: Three Codepages for the Elven-kings under the sky,...
Date: 08/29/2006
XNA Framework Content Pipeline
Michael (another PM on the XNA team) has followed Mitch's lead and bypassed his blog to add a...
Date: 08/29/2006
First XNA Sample Code
Mitch (PM on the XNA team) has been doing a bunch of writing lately it seems - not on his blog, but...
Date: 08/26/2006
Rico's Talk from Gamefest
While the slides and recordings from Gamefest are not yet available on the conference website, Rico...
Date: 08/26/2006
Three Hundred and Sixty Controllers on Windows
Being able to use real controllers for my Windows games is a big deal for me. When I first hooked up...
Date: 08/24/2006
XNA Week 1 Summary : What we've learned
There's been a flurry of activity on the XNA forums and websites. Here's a brief summary of what...
Date: 08/21/2006
What's this all about?
By now you've all probably heard about the announcement earlier this week about the XNA Framework...
Date: 08/18/2006