SwinGame 3 Alpha

Over the Winter break we've been working on a new version of SwinGame - SwinGame 3!

This version aims to consolidate all the previous SwinGame code incorporating a new, more consistent, coding style and naming convention. The distribution mechanism has also undergone a large number of changes which will make it easier to maintain SwinGame and distribute it to a number of programming languages.

SwinGame 3 is scheduled to be launched in January of 2010 in time for the SwinGame 10 Programming Competition. At this stage we are releasing an Alpha version for testing purposes. Please be aware that things are likely to change between now and the full release of SwinGame 3.

Download SwinGame 3 Alpha from SwinGame.

If you encounter any issues with the Alpha version of SwinGame 3 please let us know!

Get started Programming VBugs

Over the summer we were very fortunate to have two Swinburne students help us create a new tutorial on using SwinGame and Visual Basic .NET to create small arcade style games. The first version of the tutorial is now available on the SwinGame web site. It walks you through the process of creating a game called "VBugs" and shows you how to use sprites, sounds, mouse and keyboard input, along with developing procedures and designing your own classes.

Teachers interesting in using this as a teaching resource can request an additional pack containing solutions to the various work sheets from Swinburne's school resources page.

We hope you enjoy this new tutorial.

SwinGame 2.0 Released

SwinGame 2 is now available for download!

New features include:

• Alpha blended primitive shape drawing
• Sound and music volume control
• Triangle drawing
• Image and Sprite rotation and zoom
• Simple text drawing, using pixel fonts

The version also includes a number a fixes to existing bugs.

Download version 2 now...

Forum Goodness and New Version

The forums are back online! Yay... Once again sorry for the inconvenience caused.

To celebrate the return of the forum we have created a new version of the SDK. This one has some minor additions, and now allows you to end text input, a feature requested several times in the forums. Hopefully this will help you guys out...

Anyway. Thanks for sticking with us, and we look forward to seeing what you can create with the SDK.

Version 1.1.4 Released

There has been a lot of activity on the SwinGame forum lately, and this new version corrects several issues that have been raised. Version 1.1.4 includes a number of corrections that mostly effect the .NET and VB 6 versions of the SwinGame SDK. If you are developing with the .NET or VB6 versions of the SDK you are strongly encouraged to update.

Year 7-10 and SwinGame08

Only Year 11 & 12 students that submit entires to SwinGame08 are eligible to win the major prizes. However, we want to encourage all school students to participate! If you are interested in learning more about software development please feel free to submit an entry into the competition. All non Year 11 & 12 submissions will be judged accordingly, and students who submit entries of high quality will receive a certificate of excellence from the judging panel. Some of your games may even be showcased on the web site, and during Swinburne's Open Day.

The creators of SwinGame 08 would like to encourage all students not in Year 11 & 12 to participate, in preparation for formal entries to SwinGame in the years ahead!

Version 1.1.3 Released

A new version of SwinGame has been released. This version includes some important bug fixes and everyone is recommended to upgrade to this version. Read the instructions of each SDK for details of how to upgrade between successive versions of the SDK.

Python is on the way!

Work with Python is progressing really well. At this stage we have a functional Python port of the core SwinGame functionality. Clinton has also ported the AirHockey game from VB to Python. These new extensions are going to be used in the AI for Games subject here at Swinburne, and we should be able to make them available sometime in the future.

We are also making progress on making SwinGame capable of embedding Python scripts within your game. This will allow you to embed code that controls aspects of your game - such as scripts for AI. Progress is looking hopeful, but it is very early days at the moment.

Forum Changes

We are moving to the new version of phpBB at the moment. There are some style issues currently, and we need to get the feeds on the main page. We will look at fixing them over the next few days.

Videos on TeacherTube

YouTube has been great, but unfortunately its blocked for schools in Australia. To get around this issue we have now moved most of our videos to TeacherTube , a site designed for teaching and education related to movies. I hope you enjoy the viewing.

We will continue to publish videos to both Y

New YouTube Videos

Its been a busy weekend. We have now created a new Game Showcase  that shows off some of the SwinGames that were developed last year by the PSD students. Its a great way to get a feel for what kinds of games the SDK is able to create.

There is also a short video showing the evolution of our splash screen. We decided to change the splash screen to better match with the "cog" logo used on the web site. This video shows the old and new splash screens next to each other. Its not that inspiring... but if you have any comments let us know. 

SwinGame 08 is Open

Swinburne University is using the SwinGame API in the SwinGame 08 Competition. If you are a year 11 or 12 student in Australia you can submit a SwinGame for the chance to share in the $6000 prize money on offer. SwinGame 08 will let you show off your technical skills and get some real world development experience at the same time.