1
Session 4.1
Games and Content
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
2
Session Overview
 Show how games are made up of program code and
content
 Find out about the content management system in
XNA
 Discover how content is integrated with XNA Game
Studio and an XNA program
 Add some content to an XNA Game Studio project
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
3
Games and Content
 The first programs were nothing but code
 They simply worked with text and numbers
 The increasing power of computers made them
capable of manipulating images and sounds
 This ability was quickly incorporated into the
software development process
 Users now expect programs to have graphical icons
to describe the way they are used
 Such assets form a huge part of the gameplay
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
4
Content Management in XNA
 Content is such an important part of games that the
XNA Framework provides a set of tools to manage it
 These are often referred to as the “assets” of a game
 Resources are managed by the XNA “Content
Pipeline”
 Raw resources go in at one end and appropriately
formatted assets are produced for use by the game
program during gameplay
 When the game runs the Content Manager
component of XNA it fetches content the game
needs
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
Assets and the Content Pipeline
 The Content Pipeline is there to process game
content:
1. Artists create the raw content
2. This is given an asset identifier and stored in the
Content Management framework
3. The game program loads the game asset and the
Content Manager provides it during gameplay
4. The assets are encoded for storage as part of the
game distributable
5
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
6
XNA Content Manager
 All content (sound, images, etc.) is treated the same
way
 Filters are provided to import the content into the
game program
 There are also filters to encode the content for
storage as part of the game distributable
 As an XNA programmer, you don’t have to worry
about any of this
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
Displaying a Picture
 We are going to display a
picture of Jake
 The picture was taken with
a digital camera and is in
the .jpg format
 We will consider other
formats later
 I adjusted the image size
to suit the XNA display
(800 x 600 pixels)
7
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
8
Game Content and the Visual Studio Project
 Visual Studio organizes all the files that make up a
program project
 This includes the actual program code and also the
files containing any resources that the project needs
 When a program is built, content of the project is
prepared for use by the program when it runs
 Content that is added to an XNA game is held within
the Visual Studio Project for that game
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
1. Investigating an Empty Project
 Visual Studio creates
and manages a number
of folders which all hold
parts of the game
project
 This includes a folder
that contains the
content for the game
9
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
Solutions and Projects
 A project is a list of the things that are required to
build that project
 A solution is a list of projects that are required to
build a particular program
10
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
The Visual Studio Solution Explorer
 Visual Studio provides an
explorer interface that
lets you see the contents
of solutions and projects
 The Solution Explorer is
normally in the top, righthand corner of the Visual
Studio display
 There is an entry here for
each of the project items
11
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
Adding Resources to an XNA Game Project
 Content can be added
using the Context
Menu in the Solution
Explorer
 Visual Studio can
create new content or
add existing content
items
12
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
Browsing for Content Resources
 You can browse for
content the same way as
for items in other
programs
 Selected resources are
added to the project
when you click Add
 You can select multiple
items by holding down
the CTRL key
13
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
Sharing a Content Resource
 If you want several games
to share the same
resources you can add a
link to a resource
 In this case the resource is
not copied into the solution,
instead the project file
contains a link to the
resource item
14
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
Added Content
 When content is added
the selected files are
copied into the solution
and the project is
updated to refer to these
items
 Visual Studio maintains
a content folder in the
project which holds the
content for the project
15
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
16
Content Properties
 Visual Studio holds property information about
items it is managing
 For content items, the property information includes
the type of the content and where it is stored
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
2. Adding an Image Resource
 It is easy to add content
to a project
 The content is
transferred to the target
system when the game
project is built
17
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
18
What Just Happened?
 When we built the project, Visual Studio used the
Content Manager to fetch the image resources and
add them to the files that make up the program
 These resources were then sent to the target device
so that the XNA game can find them when it runs
 At the moment the game does not draw anything
however, because we have to add the code to do
this
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
19
Summary

An application is made up of much more than just
a C# program

Visual Studio uses solutions and projects to
manage all the items that make up an application

XNA Game Studio provides a Content Manager to
import game content and prepare it for use in
games

Game content is referred to by a Visual Studio
project and can be held inside the project folders
or a project can link to an external resource
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
20
True/False Revision Quiz
 Games are entirely made up of program code.
 Visual Studio contains a Content Manager.
 Images are processed by the Content Manager
when they are added to a game.
 Visual Studio projects contain solutions.
 Image resources are held inside the project file in a
game.
 A game can only contain a single image resource.
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
21
True/False Revision Quiz
 Games are entirely made up of program code.
 Visual Studio contains a Content Manager.
 Images are processed by the Content Manager
when they are added to a game.
 Visual Studio projects contain solutions.
 Image resources are held inside the project file in a
game.
 A game can only contain a single image resource.
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
22
True/False Revision Quiz
 Games are entirely made up of program code.
 Visual Studio contains a Content Manager.
 Images are processed by the Content Manager
when they are added to a game.
 Visual Studio projects contain solutions.
 Image resources are held inside the project file in a
game.
 A game can only contain a single image resource.
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
23
True/False Revision Quiz
 Games are entirely made up of program code.
 Visual Studio contains a Content Manager.
 Images are processed by the Content Manager
when they are added to a game.
 Visual Studio projects contain solutions.
 Image resources are held inside the project file in a
game.
 A game can only contain a single image resource.
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
24
True/False Revision Quiz
 Games are entirely made up of program code.
 Visual Studio contains a Content Manager.
 Images are processed by the Content Manager
when they are added to a game.
 Visual Studio projects contain solutions.
 Image resources are held inside the project file in a
game.
 A game can only contain a single image resource.
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
25
True/False Revision Quiz
 Games are entirely made up of program code.
 Visual Studio contains a Content Manager.
 Images are processed by the Content Manager
when they are added to a game.
 Visual Studio projects contain solutions.
 Image resources are held inside the project file in a
game.
 A game can only contain a single image resource.
Chapter 4.1: Games and Content
26
True/False Revision Quiz
 Games are entirely made up of program code.
 Visual Studio contains a Content Manager.
 Images are processed by the Content Manager
when they are added to a game.
 Visual Studio projects contain solutions.
 Image resources are held inside the project file in a
game.
 A game can only contain a single image resource.