Silverlight Games 101

Space Rocks game step 3: Sprites (part 2)

Bill Reiss — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:38:38 +0000

Source code: http://www.bluerosegames.com/spacerocks/SpaceRocks_3_Sprites_2.zip In the last step we created a sprite class based on the Silverlight Templated control. We gave this class X and Y properties to position the sprite. This is a great start and combining that with our game loop from step 1 we could start putting together the basics for a game. [...]

Space Rocks game step 2: Sprites (part 1)

Bill Reiss — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:29:08 +0000

Source code: http://www.bluerosegames.com/spacerocks/SpaceRocks_2_Sprites.zip When we refer to a “sprite” in game development, we’re typically referring to any 2D visual element. Sometimes sprites are defined as only elements that can move but since any element in Silverlight can be moved by repositioning it, the definition still fits. In the Space Rocks game, the sprites will be the [...]

Space Rocks game step 1: The game loop

Bill Reiss — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:02:35 +0000

Source code: http://www.bluerosegames.com/SpaceRocks/SpaceRocks_1_GameLoop.zip Most games require a game loop which is simply a method that executes on a timer. This method can contain things like input handling, repositioning sprites, checking for collisions, or spawning particles. In Silverlight there are a few options for this, including using a zero duration Storyboard, a DispatcherTimer, or the CompositionTarget.Rendering event. [...]

SilverSprite: Not just for XNA games any more

Bill Reiss — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:22:21 +0000

The last time I started creating a sample game on this blog, I had to go through creating a game loop, handling keyboard input, dealing with vector mathematics, and a few other low level tasks. Along the way I created a helpers library which people could use to get started with their own games. A [...]

Blitting images and the creativity of others

Bill Reiss — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:45:50 +0000

I get a huge kick out of other people using things that I’ve created and especially when they do things that I haven’t even imagined and take it to the next level. Adam Kinney posted about doing a torn photo effect with the image blitting methods that I contributed to the open source WriteableBitmapEx project [...]

Video – Overview of Silverlight Game Development

Bill Reiss — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:42:25 +0000

This is a video of a presentation I did for the XNA Calgary Users Group recently. It runs about a 30 minutes and is a good introduction to getting started with Silverlight game development and some of the things to watch out for. I also cover using the SilverSprite library to make game development easier [...]

Make sure to test your Silverlight apps with browser zoom

Bill Reiss — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:59:14 +0000

My laptop has a 16 inch screen with 1920×1080 resolution and my eyes aren’t what they used to be so I run in high DPI mode 125%. This makes all of my icons and text bigger, but it also sets IE to 125% zoom. This is fine for the most part except for some apps [...]

WriteableBitmap extensions now on CodePlex

Bill Reiss — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:14:14 +0000

Just a quick note that Rene Schulte has posted the full source code for his WriteableBitmap extensions to CodePlex at http://writeablebitmapex.codeplex.com He has also included my image blitting extensions that I posted about here: http://blogs.silverarcade.com/silverlight-games-101/15/silverlight-blitting-and-blending-with-silverlights-writeablebitmap/ Rene’s helpful extensions include methods that draw shapes and lines. Enjoy!

Is Silverlight 4 moving away from cross platform?

Bill Reiss — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:30:10 +0000

In a recent article in The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/20/silverlight_4_windows_bias/ they make the case that COM support in Silverlight 4 has “crossed a threshold” that will make Silverlight less appealing to developers that want to do cross platform development. Yes it is true that now there is a feature in Silverlight that is Windows only, but it is [...]

Blitting and Blending with Silverlight’s WriteableBitmap

Bill Reiss — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:54:43 +0000

Full source code: http://www.bluerosegames.com/BlitWriteableBitmapSample.zip This post is partially inspired by René Schulte’s series on extending WriteableBitmap. You can see his fantastic posts here: http://kodierer.blogspot.com/2009/11/drawing-shapes-silverlight.html The other inspiration for this comes from efforts that I have been making with SilverSprite, an open source library to compile and run 2D XNA games in Silverlight. When rendering a lot of [...]