RAXion: Artificial Intelligence Library for C#

 The problem: Game characters react to situations based on inflexible, pre-determined decision trees. Because of this, the only way to get realistic reactions to user input is to have very large and complex scenarios scripted at design time.

The solution: Humans react to a given situation based on several factors that do not guarantee the same result when tested multiple times. This is because external stimuli change a human's mood, thus affecting their decisions in a given moment. For example, if you are in a "good" mood and I ask you for money, you may give me a few dollars. If you are in a "great" mood AND just won the lottery, you may give me thousands. Conversely, if you just won the lottery, but I shot you in the foot, you will probably tell me to bugger off...and shoot me back.

In a simple game, you would have to write a very complex decision tree to account for changes in external stimuli or the character will always act the same AND will act in strange manner when the user input is unexpected. Without tracking the character's mood, he may very well give you money after you shot the character because its mood after winning the lottery hasn't changed from "great".

RAXion will attempt to create a simple agent reaction library (RAXion = ReActIon).

Starting with XNA Game Studio

No matter what engine you're using for making games or learning how to make them, I suggest you consider learning XNA along with it. Why? Well, since Microsoft is now and will most likely be the largest consumer game marketer in the world for a long long time, it makes sense to be able to take advantage of the free tools available. XNA Game Studio is entirely free and is the framework used to make "Games for Windows", XBOX 360 and Zune games.
If you've ever wanted to get down to the nuts and bolts of a game rendering engine like DirectX, but didn't want to trudge through C++, then XNA is perfect for you. Since it is basically a highly robust version of Managed DirectX (MDX+), you get all of the capabilities of programming pure DirectX, but in a more friendly C# .net environment.

XNA Sound Class [SoundEffect & SoundEffectInstance]

 

We've taken SoundEffect and SoundEffectInstance XNA sound classes and encapsulated them to make a robust sound framework that allows for the quick and easy edition of music and sound files in our ionXgame framework. Since we're using the main functionality of the SoundEffectInstance class, our sounds can be started, paused, resumed and stopped with just a method call to the class. We put together this program sample to demonstrate the abilities. Supported are wav, mp3 and wma with play, pause, resume, stop, loop, pan, pitch, volume and 3D sound.

Video to be added soon.

XNA Books - The essentials

These are the best XNA books I've read to date:

I can tell you that if you are serious interested in learning XNA, these 4 books are the best of the bunch and will make your self-education in XNA successful.















Here are my reviews:

Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0: Learn Programming Now - by Rob Miles:
I read this book third and it should have been first! It is the most elementary of the 4 and assumes you have little or know knowledge of XNA or C#. The examples all compile on VC#2008 Express. Don't be fooled by the word "elementary" because it can be too technical for people who are brand new to programming or new to XNA game programming. But it is a simple, step-by-step guide for getting into game programming.

Beginning XNA 3.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional
This is the first book I read on XNA game programming. I'm glad I read it first because it is the best overview on the subject I've ever seen.

XNA 3.0 Game Programming Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (Expert's Voice in XNA)
This is the second book I "read", but it's not really a cover-to-cover read. It's a cook book of recipes and damn good ones at that! It's a must have for your reference library of XNA game programming books!

Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0 Unleashed! - By Chad Carter
This book has to be, without a doubt, the definitive text on XNA game programming. I read the first edition several years ago and this (3rd edition) is even better. He has added sections on programming for Zune as well. If you can only buy one book on XNA, then buy this one.