Bixel:

Strangely enough the debugging never brought up the CharacterClassWriter issue.

Why would it know you wanted to write this object out? It only does what you tell it and has no idea of what it is you are wanting to store.

Could it be that it doesn't work with C# Express Edition? Soon I'll be getting the full version through Dreamspark.

~Trent

On trying to convert the starter kit to work with the XNA 3.0 CTP. When i unzip the installed template, and make the changes from v2.0 to v3.0 and zip it back up, neither visual studio 2005 pro or visual studio 2008 express c# will recognize the altered template. Also, just unziping, and rezipping with no modifications it causes it not to appear. I have also tried changing the extension on the .vsi installer file to .zip to try and locate the problem there. However i get an error saying that the compressed folder is corrupt. According to the directions from microsoft for manually creating a vsi, and for creating a template, the fix should be as simple as some of the previous posters have recommended. That all you have to do is change the v2.0 to v3.0 and the assembly versions from 2.0.0.0 to 3.0.0.0.  I can repeat this problem with any created template that uses the export template wizard with the following:

This problem exists on XP SP2 and Vista SP1, with both Visual Studio 2005 and 2008

1) create a new project of any type

2) select File->Export Template

3) follow the steps to create a template from the newly created project and click Finish

4) select File->New Project and verify that the template is visible under My Templates, click cancel

4) go to the location where the template zip file was created (on my machine it was C:\Documents and Settings\<userName>\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Templates\ProjectTemplates)

5) right click the zip file and choose Send To...->Compressed (zipped) Folder

6) follow the steps on the wizard to extract the file (just accept the defaults)

7) delete the zip file you just decompressed

8) right click the folder that was created in step 6 and choose Send To...->Compressed (zipped) Folder

9) follow the steps in the wizard excepting the defaults

10) go back to Visual studio and select File->New Project .. the template is no longer visible undere My Templates

with all that having been said, If the original RPG template would just load all of the projects (it does not load the executable project) i could just manually change the invalid references to the correct xna v3.0 references and continue working from there.

I'm trying to locate a different work around at the time. If i come up with a workable solution i will post it here as soon as i find out, one way or the other.

Okay, I have figured out how to get this to work with 2008 express. The process is rather tedious, and I'm not sure if it matches the original project structure. However it does compile and run.

1. Create a Solution named RolePlayingGameWindows and add the following projects
    > RolePlayingGameWindows - Windows Game (3.0) project
    > RolePlayingGameDataWindows - Windows Game Library (3.0) project
    > RolePlayingGameProcessors - Windows Game Library (3.0) project
2. Unzip the project template inside the unzipped folder will be 3 folders named RolePlayingGame, RolePlayingGameData, and RolePlayingGameProcessors: these folders correspond to the project folders like so:
    > RolePlayingGame -> RolePlayingGameWindows
    > RolePlayingGameData -> RolePlayingGameDataWindows
    > RolePlayingGameProcessors -> RolePlayingGameProcessors
3. copy the contents of each folder in the uzipped file to its corresponding project folder EXCEPT for the following:
    > any files that end in .csproj
    > any files that end in .vstemplate
    > the Content folder
    > the Properties folder
4. now go into the unzipped RolePlayingGame/Content folder and copy everything except for the Content.contentproj file into the RolePlayingGameWindows/Content folder
5. in the unzipped RolePlayingGame/Content folder open the Content.contentproj in note pad and copy everything from:
    <ItemGroup>
       <Compile Include="Gear\Armor\BronzeArmor.xml">
      up to but not including:
    <ItemGroup>
       <ProjectReference Include="..\..\RolePlayingGameProcessors\RolePlayingGameProcessors.csproj">
6. Open the Content.contentproj file in the RolePlayingGameWindows/Content folder and paste the contents in there. I don't think it matters where it goes so long as the xml is well formed (correct me if i'm wrong)
7. save this, and open the RolePlayingGameWindows solution in Visual studio
8. in the solution explorer select each project (one at a time) and click the show all files button (just above) add all the files and folders EXCEPT the bin, obj, and Content folder for each project
9. Now we are going to add references
10. in the RolePlayingGameProcessors project make sure there are references to the Microsoft.Xna.Framework, and Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content.Pipeline assemblies (don't remove the others, just make sure those are there)
11. add a reference to the RolePlayingGameDataWindows project
12. in the RolePlayingGameDataWindows project add a reference to System.XML
13. in the RolePlayingGameWindows project add references to RolePlayingGameDataWindows, and System.XML
14. Now open the Content node of the project and add a reference to the RolePlayingGameProcessors project in there
15. Delete the Program.cs and Game.cs files from the root of this project
16. in the other projects delete the Class1.cs files from the root of those projects
17. Right click the RolePlayingGameWindows project and select Set as Startup Project
18. compile and run

Map map = content.Load<Map>(mapContentName).Clone() as Map;

The exception's message is the following : "Message="Error loading \"Maps\\Map001\". Cannot find ContentTypeReader Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content.ListReader`1[[RolePlayingGameData.MapEntry`1[[RolePlayingGameData.Portal, RolePlayingGameData, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null]], RolePlayingGameDataWindows]]."
  Source="Microsoft.Xna.Framework".

If someone understands this message and knows how to fix the problem, I would be very grateful if he would help me.

Thanks.

SnakiestSam:

sampyxis:

This is a great kit.

Is there any information on how the maps were made?  Is there a tile engine that was used for this?

The maps were made using TileStudio. It is a nice freeware tool. You can find it here: http://tilestudio.sourceforge.net/ts.zip. Also download the tilestudiodefinition file(RPGGame.tsd) from here: http://www.filecrunch.com/fileDownload.php?sub=7a7d08b1b1e384480170d1b98857f896&fileId=151708 Copy the RPGGame.tsd file to the directory where you extracted the ts.zip. Run tilestudio and make a map of your choice. Remember to put a map code of 01 for collidable tiles. Click "Code->Code generation settings" and select "RPGGame" from the drop down menu. Click "Code->Generate Code". You will generate a template for the map. You can edit the "???" in the map.xml file with appropriate values. Cheers.....:)

Mhm, I tried to download the tsd file for TileStudio, but when I click on "Download File" (on the filecrunch page), it gives me a "404 error".

Could someone who has this file upload it on another webspace?
Or also send it to me by email?

Carmine XX:

SnakiestSam:

sampyxis:

This is a great kit.

Is there any information on how the maps were made?  Is there a tile engine that was used for this?

The maps were made using TileStudio. It is a nice freeware tool. You can find it here: http://tilestudio.sourceforge.net/ts.zip. Also download the tilestudiodefinition file(RPGGame.tsd) from here: http://www.filecrunch.com/fileDownload.php?sub=7a7d08b1b1e384480170d1b98857f896&fileId=151708 Copy the RPGGame.tsd file to the directory where you extracted the ts.zip. Run tilestudio and make a map of your choice. Remember to put a map code of 01 for collidable tiles. Click "Code->Code generation settings" and select "RPGGame" from the drop down menu. Click "Code->Generate Code". You will generate a template for the map. You can edit the "???" in the map.xml file with appropriate values. Cheers.....:)

Mhm, I tried to download the tsd file for TileStudio, but when I click on "Download File" (on the filecrunch page), it gives me a "404 error".

Could someone who has this file upload it on another webspace?
Or also send it to me by email?

The tsd link expired. Heres the new location :

Rev2k9:

yes, can someone plz reupload the tsd file; its gone now.

Tryhttp://www.hal-pc.org/~swaim/xna/RPGGame.rar

It's less than 1K. I think that I can handle the load.

Hi,

I'm a software developer and I've taken an interest to game development.  Though I already have experience in .Net programming, I'm still very new to XNA (basically, I don't know anything about it yet).  Anyway, this kit, I think, is very nice and would be a good starting point for me to study on.  I installed the kit and built it.  Everything went fine.  However, when I tried to run it, it would fail, giving me a GamerServicesNotAvailableException or something.  Do I need a premium account to run this game?

Hope someone could answer.

Thanks!

The Role-Playing Game starter kit has been updated today with several bug fixes, in addition to using Microsoft Installer (.msi) technology to avoid some common starter kit installer problems (see this announcement for more information).  Many of these issues were reported on this thread and others by community members. 

Here's a list of what has been fixed:

• Hang in combat when moving the party selection left and right after attacking with last party member
• Hang when dropping the starting dagger due to a bug in Fonts.cs
• Unhandled exception when the party successfully escapes from combat
• Unhandled exception when changing targets for a healing spell, when looping around the party list, in one direction
• Fixed typo in InputManager.cs - (int)(int) is now (int)

Please let us know if you have any questions or problems with the starter kit, and definitely please continue to let us know what you're doing with the RPG starter kit!

For example, it seems more natural to me that for the characters, we really only want to check a small collision area around their feet. This way they could walk right up to signs instead of being blocked from further away. I think one way to achieve this might be to define a collision rectangle member in PlayerPosition.cs, and then use that collision rectangle to offset the TilePosition/TileOffset values that are checked in the CanPartyLeaderMove...() methods.

With respect to defining collision areas at a sub-tile level, that's more of a data-management issue.  The map definition works entirely by tiles right now; you could add in another way of defining collision areas, but you wouldn't be leveraging the tile system to do so.

With respect to the alternate method of testing collision, that's certainly something worth trying.  :)

Slickman, one of our community members, has posted a great tutorial on filtering combat rewards by active quest.  This is great work, and only one example of how you can extend this starter kit.

We've adding this to a new "Community Resources" section on the Role-Playing Game starter kit page.

i think its stupid that this doesnt work with XNA 3.0 / Visual studio 2008 can you make a update to it so it will work with 3.0 and 2008

Thanks

I don't think we've announced a 3.0 date just yet, so I'm not going to get myself in trouble and say something ;-)

Our desire though is that by the time 3.0 is released, all educational content etc. is available in the 3.0 format.

You can run Visual Studio / C# Express 2005 and GS 2.0 on the same machine as 2008/GS3.0 though so if you really want the RPG starter kit, you are actually able to.

Tile Studio is great for loading the png files into. One thing people should note is that autodetect is useless for determining the tile sizes.
The setting for the map tiles is 64 x 64. 

You can use it to edit the character templates also. The setting to load the character images depends on the size of the file and the number of tiles on it.

You can calculate your required tile size relatively fast.

Take the file "Warrior1WalkLeft.png" for example. The image dimentions are 828 x 1536. There are 6 tiles accross and 8 down.
You would go (828 / 6 = 138) x (1536 / 8 = 192). Your tiles will now be 138 x 192 each.

If anyone feels up to designing custom character sprites or any other RPG-type work, drop me a line! I have plenty of things that would keep you busy, trust me! ;)

 Can someone explain to me how Portals and PortalsEntries work and their relationship to each other.

NEARFANTASTlCA:

Howdy,

 Can someone explain to me how Portals and PortalsEntries work and their relationship to each other.

Take Care,
Near

The relationship between Portals and PortalEntries, like the relationship between Chests and ChestEntries and other objects and their *Entries, is the difference between data and instance.

A Portal has a name for itself, a destination map, and a location on the destination map.  A MapEntry has a name for the object that it is referencing and a location on the current map.  You could potentially put the same portal in several places on the same map by having several entries refer to the same portal name.  In practice, that rarely happens (perhaps with some of the teleports towards the end of the game), but we wanted to apply a consistent pattern across all map data, and it could be useful in some cases.

Also, in the case of objects like chests, the chest data is also instanced and saved by entry - that way, clearing out a chest of type Chest001 doesn't empty all other entries for that chest everywhere in the world.

See a couple of posts up - Tile Studio was used.

If anyone cares, I'm using TileEd and have easily recreated the same look and feel using the ForestTiles tileset and layers. I've also written a TMXTileMap class that can read TileEds xml file format and present the map as a nice collection of layers, properties etc. I'll be introducing support for that to my "cut" of the tile engine, once I've sorted out my collision detection model.