Creators Club Communiqué 31
The XNA Creators CLub has had a number of big announcements and changes in the past few weeks! We understand you’ve endured a few bumps and problems while we get things back up and running. Your understanding and support has been incredible. Hopefully by tomorrow, this battlestation should be quite operational. If you’re still having problems feel free to contact us at creators@microsoft.com. We’ll do what we can to straighten it out!
Now, onward to learnings! With the release of XNA Game Studio 3.1 comes the ability to put Avatars into your Xbox LIVE Indie Games! This week’s CCC will touch on a few posts from around the internets that could provide helpful insights into using Avatars.
XNA MVP Pete offered a quick post he calls Avatars 101 on his blog. He not only explains what Avatars are, but also includes links to other helpful information. It’s worth checking out!
On the XNA Community Codeplex, several space geniuses offered an Avatar Animations sample using 3D Studio Max and Collada.
Team XNA’s own Dean “Avatar: The Last Airbender” Johnson has generated several posts on Avatars over the past few months on his blog.
- Avatar API Preview for XNA Game Studio 3.1
- What to do while an Avatar loads?
- Avatar Animation Update
Dean also contributed several Avatar samples to Creators Club Online:
- Avatar Animation Blending Sample
- Avatar Multiple Animations Sample
- Object Placement on Avatar Sample
Hopefully, these can help you get started using this exciting new feature with your own Xbox LIVE Indie Game. Remember, projects created or converted to XNA Game Studio 3.1 cannot be submitted to XNA Creators Club, yet. However, it is required for projects that want to enter this year’s Dream.Build.Play competition!
Finally, be sure to check out all the rules on the use of Avatars so you don’t get you or your Avatars into trouble!
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager