XNA Studio: Introduction to XNA Brian Keller Product Manager Microsoft Corporation

XNA Mission XNA enables studios and publishers to develop better games, more effectively, on all platforms

XNA Timeline Challenging questions: Assume identical SDKs, how much more effective are studios? How are we helping studios manage the transition from code to content? Windows and Xbox tools convergence XACT, PIX Common Controller, Live on Windows SDK teams committed to this effort for current and new tools Showed progress on tools convergence Announced “XNA Studio” Tech Preview at GDC

XNA Background

Game Technology Map

XNA Pillars Design/Content Creation Game Technology Process

Design and Content Creation

Design and content creation comments We need to build games for multiple platforms. We don’t delete anything from source code control. We need better systems for managing how content is created. Our current system is barely handling 40+ artists and designers, let alone any outsourcing. Our content builds all use different technologies. Tracking down problems between build scripts and build tools can be very difficult. It’s all about rapid iteration. We often have problems because someone forgot to check something in.

Today’s content build systems Core build technology Game specific build tools Basic build infrastructure (logging etc) Advanced build (distributed) 1.Complex content build scripts 2.Über tool builds everything Intimate knowledge of content Perl scripts Batch files, nmake … Today’s Content Build Game specific, homegrown solutions Poor experience creating and maintaining build scripts Game specific tools limit potential investment Core technology not robust Hard to log, profile and debug Studios should be able to leverage existing solutions Studios should get this from core build technology Observations

Game content relationships Game Tools Work Items Build Studio Tools Game Content Asset Management DCC Tools Huge quantities of content being created with complex relationships Most tools store content relationships in tool specific ways Content storage, production and build tools have limited knowledge of relationships Custom knowledge of relationships is required to become more efficient Limited time/incentive means no common system is evolving

We know that… Content relationships are key Everyone wants standard ways to describe and query content relationships But, Can’t replace existing relationship information Must be useful without complete knowledge Acknowledge that not all content is equal

XNA Build Core build technology Game specific build tools Basic build infrastructure (logging etc) Advanced build (distributed) 1.Complex content build scripts 2.Über tool builds everything Intimate knowledge of content Perl scripts Batch files, nmake … Today’s Content Build Game specific, homegrown solutions MSBuild Robust and extensible Visual Studio build engine Ships with.NET Framework 2.0 Monitor and record game build tools into relationship store Use for 1 st build optimizations Great editing environment HTML, XML, RSS build logging Deployment for MS platforms Debugging Incremental builds Distributed build support XNA Build

XNA and content relationships Work Items 1.Build tools add build relationships 3.Query engine for relationships Who depends on this content? Is this content used? Who signed off on this content? What changed in the level last month? Relationship Store Asset Mgmt 2.Content tools opt-in Simple API used to record relationships Does NOT replacing existing relationships Working with DCC vendors Studios decide whether and how much to use this for their tools Establish common relationship store

Building MechCommander 2 using XNA Build What are the implications of changing this texture? Mech.ini.tga.ASE ….tga

MechCommander 2 XNA Build observations Incremental builds were dramatically reduced Added benefits: Anybody in the studio can easily query this information Build dependencies easily surfaced 10% of models not used in build Additional relationship information revealed 40% of shipped textures were not used in game Build TypeOne asset changedNo content changed Original Build System (Code + Content) 384 seconds380 seconds With XNA Build (Code + Content) seconds (depending on asset) 27 seconds Performance GainUp to 6x faster14x faster

“XNA Studio”

Process comments We have good core systems, but we don’t have the right interfaces to them and that leads to mistakes. Having an asset wrangler has helped a lot but we’d like to get it right the first time. Good tools exist for different things but they aren’t integrated. Programmers use Project and our bug system, the art team and design team use Excel and the producers use Project when talking to the publisher. Finding out current status is a full-time job We store most of our content in our source code control system but we keep large files in a share that gets backed up every week.

Visual Studio 2005 Team System Work Items Source Code Control Build Automation Project Management Extensible work items Customize work item: fields, states and rules Link work items to check-ins, reports etc Notifications of work items assigned to you Scalable and robust Integrated check in with work items Extensible check in rules Accessed through web services or.NET API Scripted nightly build Generates reports Code coverage, Unit tests Bugs fixed, Bug Trends 2 way sync with MS Project, Excel Project Portal Access to high-level project information Web access work items

Game Content Creator Game Producer “XNA Studio” Example content work items: Art, design audio… Studios customize for themselves Integrate asset management into DCC tools Enable code style checks for content Customizing system for game content Size, capacity, history management Asset viewers, diffs etc Develop content build tasks Build content reports Asset trends, Build/footprint trends Publisher specific reports Milestone etc Work Items Source Code Control Build Automation Project Management

© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary. XNA Home Feedback / Questions

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, DirectX, Xbox 360, the Xbox logo, and XNA are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United Sates and / or other countries. This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.