Bret Stateham's Blog

Viewing System.Diagnostics.Trace Entries in the Windows Azure Compute Emulator

2013-04-24T15:28:24Z

Windows Azure Cloud Services have some fantastic diagnostics capabilities that leverage those provided by Windows and the .NET Framework.

If you are creating a Web Role, and would like to be able to easily view trace information in the Compute Emulator during debug sessions on the local machine, you may find that the trace entries don’t appear by default.

To fix the problem, you simply need to add an entry to your web.config inside the web project.

<configuration>
  <system.diagnostics>
    <trace>
      <listeners>

        <add type="Microsoft.ServiceHosting.Tools.DevelopmentFabric.Runtime.DevelopmentFabricTraceListener, Microsoft.ServiceHosting.Tools.DevelopmentFabric.Runtime, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"
             name="DevFabricListener">
          <filter type="" />
        </add>

      </listeners>
    </trace>
  </system.diagnostics>
</configuration>

InkScape Game Character Templates

2013-04-19T21:51:57Z

I’ve been “playing” with games lately. Creating them that is. One of the problems with games is that you need graphic assets. I’m not a world class artist, although I do enjoy playing with graphics quite a bit. As I searched the net for help on creating my own game characters, I came across Chris Hildebrand’s excellent “2D Game Art for Programmers” blog.

I have played around with the information he shares in his Creating a game character and Character Animation blog posts. I find that I always seem to start over from scratch. To help cut down my time to creating new characters, I have created some templates that I can use in InkScape.

Character Template:

Is a fully segmented character that you can start with and customize. In addition, I created a version of the character walking:

that when animated looks like this:

You can use these templates to create your own "side-view” characters.

These are just starting points, and I’ll add a tutorial later on using them, but I needed to post this now so I could share it at an event!

Grab them here: http://aka.ms/isctzip

Microsoft Student Account Sign Up Tutorial

2013-03-09T06:36:44Z

We’ve been running a ton events on campuses all around the Western US lately. One of the things we try to do at these events is help students sign up for the variety of Microsoft accounts available to them. In an effort to streamline this process, I have recorded a video that walks through the sign up process for each of the following accounts:

Microsoft Account (aka “Live Id”) (46 seconds in)
DreamSpark Premium (at 4min 6secs)
DreamSpark for Students (at 4min 6secs)
Windows Store (at 11min 29secs)
Windows Phone Store (at 20min 47secs)
Microsoft Advertising pubCenter (at 25min 49secs)
Windows Azure (at 28min 36secs)

If you are a student, and would like to sign up for FREE to any of the above, this video is for you. Also, If are having trouble getting verified in Dreamspark, and need help, let me know!

Enjoy!

Creating Custom Tables for Windows Azure Mobile Services…

2013-02-17T19:53:17Z

If you have used Windows Azure Mobile Services (WAMS) in the past , you have probably created tables using the management portal. If you haven’t used WAMS, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!???

If you are more of a “behind-the-scenes” kind of developer though, you may prefer to make your SQL tables using good old SSMS and some scripts. In short 5+ minute video below, I walk you through the steps and gotchas around creating tables directly in SQL Azure, but consuming them via Windows Azure Mobile Services.

As for the gotchas, there are two that come to mind:

Your tables must have a primary key column called “id”.
Your table names should be “singular” (think “Category” not “Categories”) to allow for more appropriate class names on the client side. You wouldn’t want to create a class called “Categories” when it really represents a single category.

If you want a copy of the SQL script I use in the video blow, you can get it here: http://aka.ms/wcts

Building Windows 8 Apps using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript

2013-02-17T19:54:08Z

When it comes to Windows 8 apps, I have to admit, I’ve been more of a C#/XAML kind of guy. However, lately, I’ve been looking into a number of the HTML5 based game tools (like Scirra’s Construct 2) and figured that I ought to learn a little more about building Windows 8 apps using HTML5 and JavaScript.

I’ve been building web apps on various platforms going back to the first web server for windows written by Bob Denny (Any other VB CGI devs out there?), so HTML is second nature to me. JavaScript? Well, not so much, but I’ve done my fair share. What I found out when I started digging into HTML5/JS dev for Windows 8 though was that I liked it a lot more than I expected to. If fact, it’s pretty darn cool.

You can take your existing HTML5/CSS3/JS skills to create first class apps in Windows 8. Not BROWSER based apps. Windows 8 apps. You can package them up, and sell them in the Windows Store, and make real money with them. Cool!

I’ve had the privilege over the past month to present what I have learned about Windows 8 HTML5/JS apps to the San Diego HTML5, and the San Diego JS meetups. If you happened to miss either of those, or just want to see why I am excited about it in general you can:

Get the free “Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript” eBook by Kraig Brockschmidt

Grab a copy of my slides and demos

Watch a YouTube video of my presentation

Node.JS Boot Camp in Santa Monica – Feb 23rd, 2013

2013-02-17T19:51:04Z

Node.js is a server side software system designed for writing scalable Internet applications, notably web servers. Programs are written on the server side in JavaScript, using event-driven, asynchronous I/O to minimize overhead and maximize scalability.

What is a Node.js Boot Camp?

Node Boot Camp is a free event for developers and designers who want to learn Node.js from the ground up with hands-on instruction from Node experts in the community. No prior Node experience is necessary to attend. At Node Boot Camp you’ll learn how to build your first Node application from scratch, how to work with popular Node.js development tools and editors, how to work with popular 3rd party Node frameworks, and how to deploy your applications to production hosting environments.

What’s the agenda?

8:30 am – Network and Breakfast.
9:00 am – Start. Fundamentals.
10:00 am – Deployment.
10:30 am – App Development. The Basics.
12:00 pm – Lunch.
12:30 pm – App Development. Basic + Advanced.
1:30 pm – Hackathon.
4:30 pm – Presentations.
5:00 pm – Prizes and Finish.

How Do I Register?

REGISTER HERE

Cost?

This event is free of charge.
Attendees are responsible for booking and paying for their own travel and accommodation.

Questions?

Email your questions to nishab@microsoft.com

SQL LA User Group Slides and Demos

2013-02-17T19:51:56Z

I’m speaking at the SQL LA User Group tonight on Azure SQL Databases. You can grab my slides and demos here:

Resetting an Azure SQL Server Administrative Credentials

2013-01-15T21:22:48Z

It is easy to forget that an Azure SQL Database exists on an Azure SQL Server. One Azure SQL Server can support multiple Azure SQL Databases. The biggest benefit to a single Azure SQL Server hosting multiple databases is that you have a single administrative login and set of firewall rules that affect all databases on that server.

This can lead to confusion however if you have had a server in place for some time, and add a new database without remembering the original server credentials or firewall rules.

To remind yourself of the administrative login for your database, first login to the Azure Management Portal (https://manage.windowsazure.com). Along the left hand slide, select “SQL DATABASES”. On the “DATABASES” page, find your new database in the list, and locate the server name from the “SERVER” column (FYI, the real server names have been truncated in the screenshots below for security purposes):

If you click on the name of the server above, you will be taken to the “DASHBOARD” page for that server. From there, along the right hand side under “quick glance” you can see the “ADMINISTATOR LOGIN” name, and if needed click the link further up on the “Reset Administrator Password” link.

Once you have a figured out, or if needed reset, the administrator credentials. You can now log in an create additional logins and user accounts using the CREATE LOGIN and CREATE USER statements…

San Diego HTML5 Meetup Resources

2013-02-17T19:52:44Z

I’m presenting at the San Diego HTML5 Meetup tonight talking about creating Windows 8 apps using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. If you want a copy of my slides and demos, you can grab them here:

Also, if you are looking for a copy of the free book by Kraig Brockschmidt, here’s the link: http://aka.ms/pw8a

And don’t forget to check out Scirra’s Construct 2!

Windows 8 Game Development Tools

2012-12-06T23:05:03Z

I presented a session at the Microsoft Store in Fashion Valley last night (12/05/2012) on creating games for Windows 8. In that session I covered a TON of resources to help game developers. In this blog post I link to a number of tools and resources that can help you kickstart your Windows 8 Game Development!

For folks that love to get their hands dirty in code:

If you are a C++ coder and need ultimate performance out of your game, you can develop your game using C++ and Direct X. If this is your first game though, C++/DirectX will likely be overwhelming.

If you like the power of DirectX, but don’t want to dust off your C++ dev skills, you might be interested in SharpDX.

I had looked into XNA a fair amount on Windows Phone 7, but it turns out that while XNA is still supported on Windows Phone 8, it isn’t supported in WinRT. But fear not, there is an excellent open source implementation of XNA that WILL run not only windows Windows RT, but also Windows Phone 8, as well as iSO, Android, Mac OS X & Linux! Want to know more, check out MonoGame from Xamarin!

Another approach could be to use HTML/JS/CSS and the ever powerful HTML5 Canvas to create your own games. Dan Wahlin has some great blog posts and Pluralsight content about HTML5 canvas.

Want to make a game, not write a bunch of code?

There are a number of excellent game generation tools in the market already, and there are more on the way! Here are the ones I have checked into so far:

YoYo Games has “GameMaker: Studio” family of tools. The free version allows you to create both Mac and Windows DESKTOP apps (not Win RT) apps. However, for just $49.99 you can create games that can be published into the Windows 8 store.

GameSalad is another popular came creation tool called “GameSalad Creator”. In order to publish to the Windows 8 store, you need to purchase the Pro version for $299/year, but the free version can get you into the tool so you know you can be successful building a game before you pay for the Pro version.

Scirra’s Construct2 allows you to create Windows 8 store apps with the FREE version! If you want to publish apps for iOS and Android then you’ll need to upgrade to their Personal or Business editions.

Unity3D is a more advanced game creation tool focused on 3D game creation, and may be something you look at after becoming familiar with one of the 2D game creation tools mentioned above.

Tools for graphics and sound?

I like to create my game art using vector graphics first, and then I export those vector images as bitmaps. To create the vector images I use InkScape. If I need to edit the bitmap images that are exported, I usually clean them up using Gimp.

For sounds, you need to create them somehow, I have used MusicLab from ClubCreate to make game loops before. OpenLabs has a new tool called StageLight that sells for just $9.99 (a demo version is available), or you might consider buying pre-made sounds from sites like beatport.com .

Once you have sounds you like, you can edit them (or create your own) using Audacity. Audacity is a great sound editor that has all the functionality a budding game developer would need!

I can’t draw or play music!

Don’t worry, there are a number of places that you can get assets (graphics, sounds, etc) for your games. My teammate Jeremy Foster has collection of them listed on his blog, but there are two that relate directly to games:

OpenGameArt.org is a great place to get art for your games. Even if it isn’t the art you end up using in the long run, it may help you get rolling!

Freesound.org is a great place for various sound samples, again this may not be the sounds you use at publish time, but they will serve a purpose.

With both OpenGameArt.org and Freesound.org, make sure to pay attention to how the assets you choose are licensed if you plan on publishing your game to the Windows Store.