Transparent Shader

01/31/2013

I was able to take the transparent and normal mapping shaders created by our artist and use them successfully. The normal mapping is not showing up as defined as we would like so I am continuing to play with it, but with no success.

Here is a video of the xna shaders with multiple models:

Ninja Scroll Animation

01/24/2013

I was asked to animate the un-rolling and rolling of a ninja scroll. One of our Artists created some frame textures for me to use for the scroll.

Here is a video of the animation:

Mini Map

01/17/2013

After searching around for an example or tutorial of creating a mini map for an XNA game I was unable to find one, so I just built one from scratch. I setup an interface IMiniMapItem with one method:

Vector3 GetPosition();

These items need the GetPosition() method so that their dynamic positions will always be updated on the mini map. Any item we want to show up on the mini map needs to implement the interface, and then add it to the mini map:

public void Add(IMiniMapItem item)
{
MiniMapItems.Add(item);
}

There is also a Remove(IMiniMapItem item) so that items can add and remove themselves from the mini map. You can also add and remove static positioned items based on a Vector3:

public void Add(Vector3 item)
{
Vector3Items.Add(item);
}

I also setup the mini map so that it can be be re-sized to be either small, medium, or large. It can also be positioned in the top left, top right, bottom left, or bottom right corners of the screen. These settings can later be added to the settings screen.

Christmas Break

01/10/2013

During Christmas break I did not get as much done as I would have liked to. I continued working on XNA shading and lighting and went over RB Whitaker's working with Shaders in XNA tutorials.

I tried working with his shaders and was not able to get his models working in our game, but was able to get his models working in my test environment. I will continue to work on this until I figure it out.

I missed the first day of class on Tuesday due to the influenza going around.

One of the Artists on our team over the break also had gone over the tutorials and had played with creating his own Transparent and Normal Mapping shaders. He is going to give them to me to work on implementing them in our game.

Besides shaders I have also been assigned creating a mini map for our game.