Datasheet
The beta versions and XNA 1.0 still required that you install Visual C# Express and the latest version
of DirectX 9.0c first; maybe this will change when the final version of XNA 2.0 is shipped. All of these
downloads are completely free and it is really a nice thing to have all these tools available without any
costs involved. This enables many more people, especially students, hobbyists, and normal players, to
check out the development environment and maybe get even more excited about game development
than they already are.
Start with installing XNA Game Studio Express (see Figure 1-7). There are no special options you have to
select; the installer will do everything for you (for example, adding firewall rules for Xbox 360 testing).
The installer also adds the XNA help, the starter kits, and the project templates to get you started.
Figure 1-7
You will not really need the DirectX SDK, but I recommend that you install it. You will have additional
documentation available and a great repertoire of tutorials and samples in case you need more informa-
tion about common techniques for your graphic engine.
You can download DirectX from the Microsoft DirectX Developer Center page on
http://msdn.microsoft
.com/directx/
.
When installing it, you should select to install the Redistributable in the custom setup step, too. You will
need it if you want to install your game on other computers. When DirectX is installed, you can check
out the newest features by taking a look at the samples with the DirectX Sample Browser. If you haven’t
worked much with Managed DirectX before and are interested, check out the documentation and tutorials.
If you want to use an Xbox 360 controller on your Windows machine (which works just fine thanks to the
fact that the controller uses USB) you can just plug it into your PC and it should work fine on Windows XP
and Vista after it automatically installs all required drivers. If that does not work automatically, you can
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Chapter 1: Introducing XNA
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