I had initially thought that I should make a small game and get it on the market as quickly as possible. While I like that idea very much (the fact that after all these years, I still haven't actually published a game is a source of great frustration to me) none of the small games I could come up with excited me very much. After spending a day working on a game like this, I decided that, at the level of programmer I am, where learning is no longer my problem, it makes more sense to just work on whatever game I'm most interested in. So that's what I did for the rest of the week.

I also promised myself that if I ever grew bored with the game, I'd just move onward (or backward) to a different game that does excite me. I can revisit an old game or just move on to another one. The important thing is that I'm working on something that excites me, rather than something I feel simply obligated to do. That's a decision that may mean I'll never publish a game. To publish, you sometimes have to stick with the game even when it becomes less exciting to you.

But for the moment, the important thing to me is that I'm working on somethinganythingevery day. And the easiest way to make that happen is to allow myself to work on whatever game I want at the moment.

On top of that, I decided to post a (maybe) weekly update here, in the Personal Projects category, about my progress. This is kind of on a whim, so I make no promises about actually doing it again next week or the week after. I'd like to, but this is, unfortunately, one of those ways that I can be fairly unreliable.

So here's a screenshot of what I did last week on "Mystery Game…" I submit it with but one comment: you guys know how much I like space strategy games….

I say "toying with the idea", but I suppose I'm much further along than that. A few years back I even wrote several chapters for it. My line of thinking is somewhat different now than it was, so I think my next attempt will be a fresh start.

I'm not currently making any promises on when this next book might be available, or even when (or if) you'll hear another update about it.

Right now, my question for you guys who come this this site frequently (or not-so-frequently) is in what you'd want to see in that book.

There's of course the matter of content:

• What math topics do you not know that you feel would help you get to the next level?
• What things did you know now that you wish you had known sooner?
• What topics would you tell a beginner they should learn about?

Then there's questions that deal more with delivery:

• The C# Player's Guide is (so far) only in black and white. I'm debating whether to go with color for this one or not. Color (for syntax highlighting, diagrams, and screenshots) would add to the value of the book, but it adds to the cost quickly as well. This would make the cost of the book jump from something in the range of $20-$30 up to $60 or $80. I might have a second option that might get me something in the middle. The question here is, how much value does color add for you personally?
• What kinds of things help you learn the most? Quizzes? Problems to do? Other things?
• Is this the kind of book that you (or a beginner friend of yours) would want to read cover-to-cover, or would you envision more of a "recipes" style book, where you read the topics only as there's a demand?
• Should I focus on a particular programming language (C#) or leave it more abstract (pseudo code)?
• Are you interested in why a formula works, or would it be better to just give it to you and explain how to use it? (In other words, how much effort should be spent developing concepts?)

I've got plenty more questions where that came from, but that's probably enough questions for now. I've learned that it makes a difference in getting others, especially potentials readers, involved in the process as early on as possible. It's a lot easier to change directions before you even start than when you're just about to publish.

If you've got a few minutes to answer some, any, or all of the above questions for what you think would make the most sense, I've love to hear from you.

This game has just recently entered prototyping so there's not much to show as of me typing this. I'll keep this post short and add screenshots and other goodies as development takes place.

So, I was thinking it would be kind of cool to do something outside of the normal competitions and collaborations we've been doing up until this point. I've been really pleased with the past year or so's results and want to keep that momentum going! As many of you may know, I recently went back to an actual job so my present hours and times are in a bit of a flux.

With that in mind, and considering it would be nice to work on a longer term project, I propose:

• Starting a new project with anyone who wants to participate
• This game will use C# and XNA
• This side project should be complete by 1.01.2016
• Being a longer project, it should be on the 'fancier' side. I'm thinking some parallax backgrounds, side scroller, or free 'Zelda'-ish world roaming RPG.

So, come one, come all, to the greatest game of the year! Just let me know if you're interested!

My basic idea was to have a container of tasks text which can be edited, updated, and deleted as needed with the ability to save the list of tasks, have them automatically loaded, and show the list so it can be worked through on a daily basis. So, after I sat down with a decent idea of the layout in mind, it didn't really take that long to finish. About the biggest thing I got hung up on was looking up references for the treeview and treenode structures. Once I had that down, the rest fell into place pretty easily. I was happy with how small/short the code is once again (Like the one page Snake game). C# does seem to be a very elegant language for dealing with certain things, and this was one that worked out well. I managed to get the whole project done in only 21 lines of code, minus of course auto-generated stuff.

Below you will find the actual code. If you want to copy and paste this, you will need to create a windows forms project. On the default form, add: a treeview control and three button controls. Button #1 should have the text changed to "Add task", Button #2 to "Clear task(s)", and Button #3 to "Exit". And of course, you'll need to space them out in whatever arrangement you find appealing. Button #2 (Clear tasks) is used once you've completed the chore and want to remove it. To make that work, you'll need to go into the treeview control and change the 'Checkboxes' property to true. You'll also want to change the LabelEdit property to true, or the user won't be able to change the text that describes the particular task at hand.

If you just want to see those magic 21 code lines in action, you can download the published executable from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5moEgyck5X5TzQtT0U4MXFqNDQ/view?usp=sharing

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.ComponentModel; using System.Data; using System.Drawing; using System.Linq; using System.Text; using System.Threading.Tasks; using System.Windows.Forms; using System.IO; namespace Task_Tracker { public partial class Form1 : Form { string myTaskList = "Tasks.tasks"; StreamReader streamReader; StreamWriter streamWriter; public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); if (File.Exists(myTaskList)) { streamReader = new StreamReader(myTaskList); string textLine; while ((textLine = streamReader.ReadLine()) != null) { treeView1.Nodes.Add(new TreeNode(textLine)); } streamReader.Close(); } } private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { TreeNode newNode = new TreeNode("Enter Task here"); treeView1.Nodes.Add(newNode); } private void treeView1_AfterSelect(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.TreeViewEventArgs e) { } private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { for (int currentItem = treeView1.Nodes.Count-1; currentItem >= 0; currentItem--) { TreeNode currentNode = treeView1.Nodes[currentItem]; if (currentNode.Checked == true) treeView1.Nodes.RemoveAt(currentItem); } } private void button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { SaveTaskList(); Environment.Exit(0); } private void SaveTaskList() { if (File.Exists(myTaskList)) { File.Delete(myTaskList); } streamWriter = File.CreateText(myTaskList); foreach (TreeNode currentNode in treeView1.Nodes) { streamWriter.WriteLine(currentNode.Text); } streamWriter.Close(); } } }

If you're wondering how it manages to load and save the list without a lot of extraneous checking on this or that, its a simple app wide loop I worked out that goes like this: When the form is loaded, it checks to see if the default save file exists ("Tasks.tasks" ). If it does, it loads the data. It does NOT create the file if it doesn't already exist, just reads it in if it is there. When SaveTaskList gets called, it first deletes any file that is already there. (! I know, right?). SaveTaskList then creates a new file from scratch, based on the current data in the task list. You can avoid getting distracted with a ton of data editing code if you follow along with this simple layout. It may seem a little odd, but the way it works out is to always have an updated list (saved file), based on what that list contains. For this simple task, the treeview control with its text properties work out well. It's a shame that I'm just now realizing I forgot to attach the SaveTaskList method to the forms closing event. Well, if you dont hit 'Exit' the list won't get saved.

Guess I'll add that to the task list.

If you want to know about "Future Game" I am always willing to share information about it in the chat room! or send me a private message here.

As far as books go, I never actually finished my first book (see current books), and I know I could skim through it pretty fast, but this summer and last summer I was very busy building my brothers house next door, (They should be moved in within two months, very exciting!)

but I did get a book in september that had an overview on game creating in general with everything from sound to copyrights, I skimmed through that in a day.. Very interesting and if I need any information ill know where to go.

Completed Books:
Game Design Essentials

Current Books:
XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example
Current Page: Page 215 of 396
2D Graphics Programming for Games
Current Page: Page 168 of 216

Current Goal:
My Current goal is working on different aspects of "Future Game" that I will eventually need to know, So that every couple of months I can combine them together to get a even more playable version of the game, this will also allow me (and other users) to play concept designs long before a real Alpha is released.
Ill try to keep you guys updated!

For my first goal, I will be attempting to finish reading chapter 4 of XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example.
The end of chapter 4 is Page 139, I started on page 22.. (Chapter 2) and am currently on page 37….. Which means I have to do approximately 4 pages Per day.. (3.7777… to be exact) to finish ON the 16th of April.

This isnt going to be a easy challenge for me as It will be hard to get 4 pages of coding in per day.

I will be updating this probably once per week or more with my progress..