Excursion: Game Development

The internet…there is distraction everywhere. I don’t know how it really began. Perhaps when a colleague introduced me to Line Rider. A 1.5 MB big Macromedia game. Simple idea but it's so great!

Then…was it accidentally that I discovered XNA while browsing the sites for learning C#?. Game development in C# with XNA Game Studio Express which is based on Visual Studio Express 2005. It was like a revelation! Although my first XNA Game by following the tutorial wasn’t much more than a screensaver, it is nevertheless the first step.

And then...the same colleague introduced me to blender, an open-source software program for 3D modelling and rendering. The first tutorial wasn’t real fun (building a stupid table) but the example of Gus in the Wiki-book really impressed me.

Rendered Image of the Walking Gus

So I will try some 3D modelling…don’t games need 3D modells?But to become a 3D-Modeller you need to be an artist. You cannot model what you cannot draw! Since some time I possess a book “Learning to draw”. So yesterday I downloaded different graphics software (there are two kinds: raster and vector based) for examination: Corel Draw, Gimp, Macromedia Freehand, Paint.NET (written in C# and open source!) and of course Photoshop. I know…I should begin with drawing on plain old paper to train my skills but I made a compromise: Yesterday I ordered a used Wacom Graphire3 for only 49,90 Euro.

My new Wacom Graphire Tablet

So, isn’t it great when hobby and profession complement one another?