I’ve got some good news for the three family and friends that might be looking at this blog: my level editor’s core functionality is complete! Before I moved on to more exciting things, I wanted to pause for moment to catch my breath and talk about the experience of putting together one of the most unglamorous parts of a game’s development: the level editor.
Phase 1: Building the Level Editor
Category: Articles /
Tags: development, layers, level editor, Map Editor, resizing, rotation, selection, snapping, sprites, XNA 4.0
Development Has Begun!
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.
Using Windows Forms in XNA 4.0
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.
The Games of Influence
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):
Category: Articles /
Welcome to GrumbleGrumble.net!
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:
- Articles: In the spirit of having a blog, I intend to write the occasional article — that will appear on the main page but be listed on the articles page — about my adventures in learning about game development. These articles will not necessarily be limited to game development though, as I hope to talk about programming topics in general as they interest me and may even have contributions from friends.
- Projects: This page will provide downloadable executables to some of my game-related projects of the past and, more importantly, provide information about the projects to come.
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”)
