XNA GS 4.0 is Here!

#1 Yes we should all get started on this soon.

#2 Whats the solution ? Should we all work together to upgrade the enhanced version to XNA 4.0 .

I've been in limbo with my xna projects because of xna 4.0. I scrapped TX3D a while back and moved to sunburn and am writing my own engine (but that's on hold now bcs of xna 4.0, and there's so many changes i have to do to make my Octree collision system work with xna 4), I still use TX2D though.

I wish we could still release 3.1 games for a some time to come (like 1 more year), but that's wishful thinking.


Best Regards.
RF.

#3 New to the XNA thing here so pardon a possibly stupid question.

Why would we not be able to release 3.1 games? Will XBLIG just not accept them anymore?

#4 @Kevin: yes, they won't accept 3.1 any longer, usually they allow the previous version for a couple of months then it's finished.

@RF: I'm already working at the port of TX CEV to XNA GS 4.0, but it's not an easy task and I've very limited time :( Once the solution with the port is fully designed (there is the Content project issue as well) I'll send a call for volunteers helping on this task.

#5 I think everyone will be glad to hear that the CEV will support XNA 4.0, I am sure our programming team(of one) at gift would be cool with volunteering. I just checked out a couple of the farseer components for the first time yesterday and they are a blast, the CEV ROCKS!

#6 Pino are you getting any support from Garagegames on this?

#7 Pino, I'm willing and ready when the time comes to help out.

Good question Matt. I wonder if GG will give us access to the editors. I don't know if they will with the 2D editor, but i think we as a community could do something with the 3D editor.

Best Regards,
RF.

#8 @Matt and RF: IA people have their hands full already so I don't expect any support from them, not because they won't but just because I think they just can't spare any resource.

About the editors: as Associate I do have those sources so I'll make available the binary for the 4.0 edition. IMO isn't possible to give the editors' source to everybody because there are other licences involved. At any rate I've been allowed to issue fixes and upgrades to TX-CEV subscribers so this solves the big issue of porting the editors.

During this week-end I'll establish the codebase for the port and will send an email to all CEV subscribers calling for volunteers.

For people not aware of the breaking issues: have a look to Shawn's post Breaking changes in XNA Game Studio 4.0.

#9 From their last blog post about TX, the IA team said they were working on a way to hook up with windows Mobile via XNA weren't they? That's probably where their hands are.

Also, I'm not sure if I've got the skills to help out but I can lend a hand if you just need some grunt work changes made.

#10 Oh Great Pino. At least you have the source to the editors, that's more than good :) IMHO.

I`ll be glad to volunteer :)

#11 Is there a date they will stop accepting 3.1?

#12 FYI.

We ported TorqueX to XNA 4.0 internally, but until 4.0 final was shipped it wasn't very useful. We had the platform starter running on the PC, but had not gotten XBox working.

I cannot promise anything on the timeline to support XNA 4.0, but there is obviously work for Windows Phone going on right now.

@Giuseppe - You should have access to that repo.

#13 @Tom: thanks a lot for making that available! I guess I'll get the access today and it'll be a huge help to do this porting. I'm not surprised that wasn't working on Xbox as framework 4 has not been delivered to the console yet... no GS4 game can run there yet. This is the worst part of it: Microsoft is carrying on the big switch without giving us enough time to work out the Xbox part... it's depressing. I hope they will realize how bad this is gonna be in terms of project management and planning and just allow us some more time compared to the 3.0->3.1 switch.

Thanks a lot Tom!

#14 Thanks for providing that code Tom! I'm sure that will help the community immensely.

#15 Interesting post Pino...what is GG's position on XNA 4.0? Will they integrate CEV into TX? It would be nice to see a roadmap on how this will progress.

I'm currently in a design phase for my project and have built some small prototypes in TX2D, I doubt it will be finished by the end of the year, so should I really wait and move over to 4.0?

Also, what’s happening with backwards compatibility, will current games on XBLIG built on 3.1 still run?

I'm also available to help, although I'm not a coder, I'm sure I can make the coffee ;-)

#16 @Tim: Coffee is good :) Torque X has reached the end of the product life and it'll be replaced (see here and previous) so next engine will have a different codebase. So I think we've seen the last official version with 3.1.5 (second build). So IMO Torque X 4.0 will be CEV only unless IA will change its mind and decides to incorporate the CEV like it was done with 3.1.4 before building the current 3.1.5.

Edit: yes, the games on the marketplace built with 3.0 and 3.1 will still run but if the developer wants to issue an update s/he's compelled to do so using the authorized version at the time of the update publishing.

#17 Woah. So there is going to be another version of TX? But the current version of TX will be community maintained?

#18 If Torque X is at the end of its life I think IA should stop selling it.
Currently without official support people are paying for access to an open source project.

I'm so happy we have the community we do, I am 100% sure I would not be shipping my current project if the community was not so stellar.

Thanks again everyone!

Pino your a lifesaver.

#19 This community is amazing. But Im anxious to see the new version of TX. If it is better than current version TX, I can't wait!

On another note. I have a very ambitious production schedule for games next year. I hope enough of the world stays the same so that I can actually release these on XBLIG.

#20 Yes, even though this is all scary news for me, I have faith everything will be ok.

Being fairly new I have a few questions:

1)What is CEV?
2)If TX 4.0 comes out, will I have to rebuild the scenes made from 3.1.5?
3)Do I need to be worried?