robmiles.com

You can now buy my book. Oh yes. I've neglected this little corner of my blog a bit (sorry about that) as I can't seem to both write and write about writing at the same time (if you see what I mean).

Anyhoo, all the book action is now over at verysillygames.com  where you can download final versions of Chapters 1 and 2 and all of the sample code from the finished book. You can order the book from here in US and here in the UK.

Chapter 4 is now available for download here. It describes how to load images into XNA programs and display them on the screen.

We've been very busy on the book front and made a slight change to the timescale. This is to incorporate the imminent release of XNA 2.0, which adds some very nice features and also tidies up a few parts of the framework slightly. In order to make sure that the book is useful for as long as possible it has been decided to put back the release date so that we can incorporate all the version 2.0 goodness in the text, so you will now be able to get your hands on this deathless prose in book form some time early in 2008.

The writing process is strange. It is funny how many things you have to think of before you get to the one that is obviously right. I've been grappling with the sequencing of material after chapter 3, and it is proving really tricky. 

The way I see it, if the book is going to lose its audience it is around chapters 5 or 6. This is kind of where the author and the reader are kind of "going steady", the novelty of the new is starting to wear off and doesn't compensate for the foibles that you start to notice in each other, like that particularly nasty laugh, or the way that you eat pickles from the jar without a spoon.

What's worse, around this point I've got to introduce some quite tough concepts (at least I have if I'm going to make this into a proper programming book). This is a bit like finding a new significant other and then discovering that they want to take you camping in the jungle/potholing/on a parachute jump the following week....

So, chapter 3, where our relationship is still going strong, is now up in preview.

http://www.robmiles.com/xna-book-downloads/

Stay tuned for chapter 4, and lets hope that we can all stay the course together.

I've put up the second chapter of the book here. This actually has some code in it. I've also just about finalised the table of contents. This has taken ages, because I have to figure out how much time to spend on different topics and the overall slant of the book. I'm going for "Learn to program properly and have fun writing games while you do it" as an approach. If you can already code you might find it boring, but I'm hoping that you'll stick around for the ride.

Another thing that has taken ages is getting the tone and voice of the book sorted. This sounds silly, but I've written loads of pages trying to find a good "sound" to the material. I'm sure that people who actually know English (for whom I have more and more respect every day) probably have a proper way of describing what I'm doing at this point. I'm relying on editorial people (and you,dear reader) to give me guidance on this.

Anyhoo, the chapter is up and the contents are coming. Let me know what you think.

I'm writing another book. With pictures.

If you have ever wondered what it is like to write a program, then my book is for you. If you've got an XBOX 360 and an urge to create games of your own, then my book is for you. If you have a wobbly table with one leg shorter than another, then put a magazine or something underneath the short leg, then you will have a level surface to put my book on when you read it.

The aim of the book is to give you an insight into what proper programming is all about. It will also tell you how games are created and how programs make use of the XBOX 360. 

If you can't program, then don't worry, you are just the person who should read the book. To give you a taster of the content I'm going to put the first three chapters up on this site over the next few days. Then, I'll put selections from the other chapters and sample code up later as well.

I can confidently say that you will have never seen anything like it. With party games like Color Nerve, XBOX Controller Racing, a Mind Reading Act and "Things that go bump in the night" along with lots of other fun and frolics it is going to be a blast.

You can find the first sample chapter here. You can discuss the book here.