Datasheet

Chapter 2 provides more detailed coverage of the steps required to get a game running on the Xbox 360,

but the sample in this chapter also works on the console out-of-the-box. Just start the project, switch to

the Xbox 360 output, and press F5. If you have set up everything correctly, you can see the same output

on the Xbox 360. Congratulations, you just started your first Xbox 360 game!

Last but not least, if you run into compiler errors from the code in this chapter, here are some final tips:

❑ Make sure you have all required variables defined: graphics, content,

backgroundTexture,

sprites, and

scrollingPosition.

❑ Read the compiler error message and change the code accordingly. Maybe you are trying to use

an obsolete method; either replace it with the new method or just comment it out to see how the

rest of the code behaves.

❑ If the compiling works, but the program crashes or throws an exception, it is most likely that

you have some content file missing (the

CityGroundSmall.jpg texture in this project) or that

your graphic hardware does not support at least Shader Model 1.1.

Summary

This chapter covered a lot about the background of XNA and how to get XNA Game Studio Express

working on your PC, and even how to install XNA on your Xbox 360 if available. You also wrote your

first little project — I wouldn’t really call it a game, but it has a texture, the Xbox 360 controller input and

keyboard input is handled, and you have a response on the screen by scrolling the background texture

up and down.

The following chapters focus more on programming cool little games. Here’s a recap of what you have

learned so far:

❑ Background of the XNA Framework

❑ Installing XNA Game Studio Express

❑ Tips and tricks on how to get XNA running on Visual Studio 2005

❑ Additional tools that might be useful such as TestDriven.NET, SourceSafe, and Ants Profiler

❑ Writing your first XNA project

❑ Concept of the Application Model and the

Initialize, Update, and Draw methods

❑ Clearing the background

❑ Drawing a texture with help of a sprite batch

❑ Handling gamepad and keyboard input

❑ Drawing a tiled background based on your input

❑ Changes in XNA 2.0

Part I: XNA Framework Basics

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