Finally, some news!
I have just phased out of the design process and am finally beginning full development on the project. Once a foundation is in place, I will make a much more comprehensive post about what the project is about and what my goals for it are. The next couple months should be pretty crazy.
I’ve made some solid progress on the design of my upcoming game, which will be an ongoing process throughout the month. In the last few days I’ve been focused on deciding what, exactly, I want my map editor to look like and how it should function. I had read that using Windows Forms was not supported in XNA 4.0, so I initially assumed I would have to create custom controls within XNA myself.
After a warning from a friend of the time dangers involved in building custom controls, especially if I don’t have to, I decided to see what I could make of trying to force Windows Forms to work with XNA, supported or not. Note that what I want to do is to have the forms be an extension of the XNA game itself, rather than have a separate Windows application that can render via XNA inside of it (which is supported). I don’t want a separate application for the editor; I want to be able to edit the level and then hit ‘go’ to play/try what I just modified, all within the same program and project. So here before you is the path that ultimately led me to success in this goal.
Since this is a very game/programming centered site, I think it’s worthwhile to list some of the games that have influenced me the most over the years (in the order I experienced them in):
First posts on a new site are always a tricky thing. In a few years will I look back on this post in triumph as a bronzed relic of a simpler time? Or will I look on it in disappointment at goals unrealized? With my previous long-term programming (and writing) project, the TV analysis network Critically Touched, it was fortunately the former, even though I didn’t know that when I made that fateful first post in October of 2005.
Whether or not my current endeavor is deemed successful down the road, I’ll be plenty happy if I come away from it a better programmer, much more knowledgeable about game development, and with game-related job options available to me. It’s my hope and plan that I also have a releasable, snappy, and fun game for everyone to play.
More details about this project will be released as the development process gets underway, as at the moment I’m in the process of reading through several programming books in preparation.
What are my goals with this site, though? Well, I think some of the links in the top-right corner hint at those:
This front page, of course, will display all the recent happenings here on the site as well as links to any new articles that pop up.
While I don’t have any games worth talking about much under my belt quite yet, it is my hope that all the readers of this blog will learn how to get a notch on that belt along with me. If you’re curious what someone with a passion for great games and a Computer Science degree can do from scratch, I suggest you tag along for this undoubtedly tumultuous and wondrous journey.
For further information about this site and who I am, please visit the About page.
Once again, welcome! I look forward to having fruitful discussions with you in the future!
-Mike (a.k.a. “MikeJer”)
Name: Mikelangelo Marinaro
Bio: Hi! I'm a Computer Science graduate (2006) of WWU with nearly 5 years of work experience at Microsoft's Xbox Live division behind me. I've picked up a number of skills along the way, but it's time to take a break to focus on my passion: games! Let's see what I can do. You can contact me at: mikejer[at]gmail[dot]com.