Join with the XNA Team as we count down with new content each day until we release our new mini-game!

I wonder if that tank knows what's coming...?

I guess not... ;-)

Oh, and about the mini-game - OMG! I'm not going to get any work done after that comes out! :)

Is this multiplayer BTW?

The ZMan:

Whats the difference between a minigame and a starter kit?

Jim Perry:

Is this multiplayer BTW?

Jim Perry:

I also notice the "Premium members" in there. Just another chance for people to get upset. ;)

..or another chance for premium members to get more value. Remember when the whining was from premium members who didn't think they were getting much from their $99. Mind you we never did get to see the 'thousands of art assets' (and no the pile of 'free' models from TurboSquid that mostly don't even load into the content pipeline don't count).

Jenkmeister:

Jim Perry:

Is this multiplayer BTW?

Come back in a few days and find out ;)

Like I'm not here all the time as it is!

The ZMan:

Jim Perry:

I also notice the "Premium members" in there. Just another chance for people to get upset. ;)

..or another chance for premium members to get more value. Remember when the whining was from premium members who didn't think they were getting much from their $99. Mind you we never did get to see the 'thousands of art assets' (and no the pile of 'free' models from TurboSquid that mostly don't even load into the content pipeline don't count).

The ZMan:

Jim Perry:

I also notice the "Premium members" in there. Just another chance for people to get upset. ;)

..or another chance for premium members to get more value. Remember when the whining was from premium members who didn't think they were getting much from their $99. Mind you we never did get to see the 'thousands of art assets' (and no the pile of 'free' models from TurboSquid that mostly don't even load into the content pipeline don't count).

Oh, I'm not complaining, believe me. I was never one of the ones that whined about not getting enough for my money. I'd be paying even if we never got premium content (you MS guys didn't hear that!)

Jim Perry:

They can afford to pay real artists. Use poor folks have to get by however we can. :(

Of course, those assets are all present and usable in our samples, starter kits, mini-games, etc.  The conditions on their use are in the associated EULAs.

Jim Perry:

And if one of the games I'm working on could use some of them I would, believe me. :D

But I thought all possible games could be implemented using just cats, tanks, and dude.fbx?

I don't understand what more you could possibly need  :-)

Jenkmeister:

The ZMan:

Jim Perry:

I also notice the "Premium members" in there. Just another chance for people to get upset. ;)

..or another chance for premium members to get more value. Remember when the whining was from premium members who didn't think they were getting much from their $99. Mind you we never did get to see the 'thousands of art assets' (and no the pile of 'free' models from TurboSquid that mostly don't even load into the content pipeline don't count).

While that asset catalog is looking empty right now, we added the menu item because we are working on getting art & audio assets together to give to the community. Some will be premium and some will be available for the general population. There won't be "1000's" immediately but we are going to start with something and keep going from there ;)

I'm not talking about what is coming soon - and I have high hopes for it now it has its own section on the site. Back in the day when the Creators Club was originally launched and the description of what was included in the $99 was as follows: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/dec06/12-11XNAGSECreatorsPR.mspx

Both subscriptions provide aspiring game developers with access to thousands of game assets from Microsoft and key supporters such as Turbo Squid

The only assets provided to premium members exclusively are the ones that came with ShipGame. I'm not sure if there was a deal with TurboSquid that fell through but given that they are still linked from this site as a 'partner' I expected more from them in return for the link traffic they must be getting from you. There is nothing specific for premium people and their efforts appear to be to have made a custom search page that simply shows the free models with FBX or X formats. If you spend any time downloading them you will find that the models are not really tested with XNA and I've had to get artists to fix up most of the free (and several of the paid) models from that site. Anyway my rant is off topic now so I really should split this part of the thread off ;-)

Shawn Hargreaves:

Jim Perry:

And if one of the games I'm working on could use some of them I would, believe me. :D

But I thought all possible games could be implemented using just cats, tanks, and dude.fbx?

I don't understand what more you could possibly need  :-)

Look forward to more details starting Monday!

Happy Monday (or Tuesday, depending where you are in the world!)... Here are a few more screenshots of the mini-game... This time, Stage 2...

Keep coming back each day... we'll have more screenshots, more info, perhaps a video and in just a few more days, the game for download! ;-)