Creating A Demo Feasibilty

[RoyalOats2]

Hi I'm just trying to get some advice, I'm stuck at a cross roads, I was planning to go to Siggraph this year in New Orleans (For those that don't know this is a huge conference and job fair for all kinds of new media, entertainment, film and games) I wanted to have a demo working for the conference, I have a clear demo idea in mind, the conference is on Aug 1st but I feel that taking into account all other factors,its just not enough time to build and test a decent demo that would showcase my ability at an event like this, and I'm a bit gutted because this is really a big opportunity. Does anyone think that a novice coder, still learning C++ can create a gaming graphics and physics demo that uses the XNA tool kit, I'm basically goning to try and replicate different states of water, solid, liquid, gas ????

[vijayan]

perhaps you should try yo develop your demo in a language that is easier (takes a lot less time) to learn. i would suggest C#.

install C# IDE+compiler: http://www.microsoft.com/express/vcsharp/
install XNA Game Studio 3.0: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
get some books, eg.: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596521950/
use resources on the web, eg.: http://forums.xna.com/forums/59.aspx

and you should be able to make a demo by august.

[jonnin]

Thats enough time if you have nothing else to do. A typical demo of this type only has about 30-60 seconds worth of material, a couple of clicks (click here for more info, click there to repeat the animation, stuff like this). The hard part is saying what you need to say in that short a time, with graphics that are good enough to make people stop. Think of commercials you see if you watch tv, what makes you stop and watch one (vs channel surf or walking around)?

If you just cannot get the graphics down, you can always embed movie clips. You probably also want to have a narrator and powerful sound effects.

[RoyalOats2]

Thats the thing I work part and have obligations, and the biggest factor as well is that I have no confidence in my ability because I am such a novice and the whole task is a bit daunting..... What would be the best way to see if this demo would be feasible in the time ?

[vijayan]

I have a clear demo idea in mind... a gaming graphics and physics demo that uses the XNA tool kit, I'm basically goning to try and replicate different states of water, solid, liquid, gas... I have no confidence in my ability because I am such a novice and the whole task is a bit daunting.....

The important thing is that you have a clear idea of what you want to do in your demo. just don't let people scare you into thinking that you can't do it. it does not matter that you are a novice, programming is not as difficult as you right now think it is.

XNA is a powerful tool; agreed, you will have to spend some time learning it. if i understand your intent correctly, your demo is primarily about just one part of XNA - generating unique light and texture effects. XNA provides a high level language called HSLS which makes doing this quite easy (from a programming perspective). http://xnaessentials.com/Tutorials/hlsl-basics.aspx/

you can do it - just start doing it. and you can easily get help in forums on the web that are dedicated to game/XNA programming.