how to finish a game with xna joel martinez. experimentation vs finishing a game

How To Finish a Game With XNA   

Joel Martinez

Experimentation  

VS

Finishing a Game

How To Make Games

  • Inspiration

• Prototype

• Play Testing

  • Design 

• Do It!

• Polish

• Release!

Some Motivations

1    I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1         160k          2    Avatar Drop                                                   117k                3    RC-AirSim                                                     74k

 Top 20 Games

"they all do one thing and do it very, very well:  They fulfill the desire of gamers for something which they can't get on XBLA and would never see on a disc-based game.  They're like a sugary snack and a can of pop - an instant hit of fun and refreshment.  "

DrMistry

The Spark

• Find Inspiration in everyday life• Make a Statement, or Focus on an Interesting Mechanic

Don't Follow the Masses

Don't Follow the Masses

Don't Follow the Masses

The Prototype

• Single Focus Prototypes• Make more than one prototype• Be prepared to throw away code• Don't be afraid to Suck!

Tech

PlayTest  

• Free Testing, use it!

• No Penalty for Uploading unfinished game concepts

• Community BasedoPlayTest other gamesoBe nice to reviewers

The Design

•  Put together different prototypes

• Avoid "The Game Design Document"

• Find "The X"http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=717

http://theoryoffun.com

Be Prepared to Cut Features

The Grind

• Plan out your work• Agile in Stages • Don't Give Up!

You Can't Finish Them All

Plan Early for the Check List

• No "Official" TCR Process

• Best Practices for Indie Games http://creators.xna.com/en-us/education/bestpractices

• The Evil CheckList:http://forums.xna.com/forums/t/19525.aspx 

Technical Issues

• Avoid Crashes at All Costs

• Avoid excessive allocationshttp://codecube.net/2010/01/xna-resource-pool/

• Profile to avoid GC Problemso XNA Framework Remote Performance Monitor for XBox 360o CLR Profiler

Layout/Design

• Choose 1280x720 on the XBox• XBox and Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series will automatically

scale up or down if necessary.• On Windows, must handle different resolutions

http://www.david-amador.com/2010/03/xna-2d-independent-resolution-rendering/

Safe Area

• Don't be the "Works on My Machine!" guy• Title Safe Area: 20% Gutter • graphics.GraphicsDevice.Viewport.TitleSafeArea• http://blogs.msdn.com/manders/archive/2006/11/28/helper-class-

to-show-video-safe-areas.aspx

Input Considerations

• Use Standard Input conventionso A to accepto B to go back or cancel

•  Use "Press Start" to determine whatcontroller the player is using

http://creators.xna.com/en-US/contentpack/controller

The Final Stretch

• Keep Polishing• More PlayTests as you add levels

o Take the feedback seriously, these are game players too

o But be careful not to burn out the testeres• Peer review ... if you fail, fix the issue and resubmit• Don't give up!• Marketing!

Chop More Features!!!

Thank You!

joelmartinez@gmail.com 

@joelmartinez

http://codecube.net