I’ve been testing this for a few days now and ironing out all the bugs that I could find. Please let me know if you find any I have missed or not encountered to date.

It’s 2 games for the price of 1:

Download from HERE (670K, Windows Only)

Battle Blocks

• Based on the class VTM’s
• Play against another player, or against the computer
• Computer has 3 levels of Difficulty (affecting paddle speed and opponent awareness)

Araxnoid

• Based on the classic Breakout game

Features

• Play against another player, or against the computer
• Computer has 3 levels of Difficulty (affecting paddle speed and opponent awareness)
• If you hit your opponents ball, they will score for you until that ball is re-hit again by your opponent. This of course, also works in reverse
• If your game score changes to your opponents paddle colour, then at least 1 of your active balls is currently scoring for your opponent
• Game is over when both players have run out of lives
• Capture your opponents ball to score points when your game is over, and try to get a MultiBall or Extra Life power-up to get back into the game
• Combo scoring for quick multiple collisions with blocks
• 9 Power-Ups (each block has a chance to spawn a power up when hit… type of power-up spawned based on a probability table)
• 4 x Input Methods (GamePads (1 and 2), and 2 Keyboard control sets
• Sound Effects
• Arcade style paddle collisions
• Stalemates negated as after 30 seconds of no destructible blocks being hit, a random block is removed from the game board.
• Highscore tables for each game (only human player scores count)
• 8 Levels included for each game

TO DO

• Add Sound Effects for Power Ups
• Add extra Power Ups
• Add Effect timer meters for the Power Ups (easy to do, just not sure where to put them)
• Improve on Computer AI (e.g make them aware of power-ups)
• Code clean-up
• Level Editor (did I say that out loud?)

Change Log v1.1

• Reduced the starting sequence from 3 to 1
• Adjusted stats update routine to now run for every game played
• Removed the user input pause between sequences
• Darkened the game screen to show the lighting of buttons more clearly
• Increased the base time allowance for user input of sequences
• Fixed a bug that failed to turn off the lightning effect when the game starts

Download from Here (Windows Only 4Mb)

Simply repeat the coloured code back for every sequence played back to you.

Controls (Xbox 360 Controller)

Buttons marked with a ‘I’ - Face Buttons representing the colour of the buttons.

Buttons marked with a ‘II’ - Face Buttons + Left Shoulder Button

Download from HERE (Windows only - 4 Mb)

Read Part 1

- Hints after no move is made in a certain time period
- Sound effects
- Background music
- Particle effects (simple)
- Controls for both 360 GamePads and the keyboard

Download for Windows (9 Mb)

I have spent quite a bit of time monitoring and reading the myriad of XNA sites dotted around the net these days. In particular I have been following along and studying the excellent tutorials on xna101.spaces.live.com and www.riemers.net. Although I haven’t completely solidified all the knowledge contained therein, I’m fascinated by what these guys will come up with next to help further our education.

I have another game which just needs some sound effects adding to it which I really should get around to doing this week. It’s called XNA Matching Pairs and is a really simple 3D implementation from lessons I had learned up til that point. As per my last game, Elves Revenge, the coding is sloppy in many places where things I have learned since would have made things much more concise and cheaper on the CPU/GPU. Maybe by my next game I will be in a position to plan things out in advance for a change.

I’ve also spent some time trying to further my education in 3D Modelling, in 3DS Max. If finance allowed, I would definitely be investing in the excellent Video Training from 3D Buzz, especially as they have a massive discount on the Max Fundamentals product right now.

Well that will do for now. Expect XNA Matching Pairs in the next day or two.

Downloads:

• Game Only (6.84Mb - Rar format)
• Source Code (7.01Mb - Rar format)

Requirements:

• Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtime 9.0c
• Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0
• Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable (Version 1)

I’m slowly putting together a very simple 3D game - so simple in fact that there are no collisions to worry about or anything too complicated - but hey, got to start somewhere. I’m also having to push my modelling skills from zero to beginner to get something to show up on the screen.

It’s probably about 40% done in terms of getting the game play to work, and the graphics and menu etc. will be added later. I’m not pushing myself too hard on this one as it’s not really clear how many changes there will be to the Framework on December 11th when GSE/XNA goes live. So who else is excited about this?

I also have another 3D game in mind to work on once I’ve got the basics clear in my head.

Game Programming for Beginners in Microsoft’s C# and XNA. Learn to program using FREE tools from Microsoft. Develop games using Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express and Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express. No prior programming knowledge is required or assumed. Bill Reiss of Blue Rose Games provides lessons and tutorials stepping you through common programming tasks.

Beginning with installation of Visual C# Express and the XNA Framework, Bill then takes you through some simple 2D tutorials on drawing sprites to a screen, including hints and tips on the C# programming language.

Now he has embarked on a 3D game of Air Hockey. I am finding this excellent tutorial series invaluable having no prior 3D game development experience.

I highly suggest for those wanting to learn 3D game development with XNA, as I do, to head over to XNA101.NET.

This is my first ever attempt at writing a game of any kind. I entered to see ‘if I could do it’ rather than ‘can I win?’. Now lets see some other entries please, so I don’t come last by default.

Title: Elves Revenge
Players: One
Genre: 2D Platform Shooter
Levels: 20 Random Levels
Language: English
Platform: Windows PC x86
Code: Microsoft XNA Beta 2 (C#)

Downloads:

• Game Only (6.82Mb - Rar format)
• Source Code (7.01Mb - Rar format)

Requirements:

• Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtime 9.0c
• Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0
• Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable (Beta 2)

If the game errors, it’s likely you need to re-check you are running the latest versions of the above.

The Game:

You control Santa, who needs to gather back all the presents that have been scattered around by the Elves who have rebelled against Santa. Santa must get back as many presents as he can before the bad elves take them for good.

Score points for killing the elves, and finding the presents. You lose points when the elves get to presents before you,and when you lose a life. You are also slightly penalised if you get stuck on a Xmas tree.

Xmas trees have prickly branches and will hinder you for a short time if you touch them.

Hop onto your reindeer for a short speed bonus.

You are Invulnerable for 2 seconds at the start of each Level - use it to get away from close spawning elves.

Some elves are faster than others!

Player Score in red is a Negative score.

Win game by staying alive through all 20 levels.

Lose game by losing all 3 lives.

Hint: You advance to the next level when all elves are dead, so try to keep 1 elf alive while you grab the remaining presents to maximise score.

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