Earlier this week, I spoke to Frank La Vigne, a Microsoft Technical Evangelist, for his YouTube
channel: Frank’s World TV.
See the entire video here:
FWTV: Indie Games, Windows 8 and Ninja Cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRjrQPvVOpo
To celebrate Independence Day, we’re talking to an Independent developer who’s building an unofficial Facebook app for Windows 8/RT to counter Steve Ballmer’s announcement of an official Facebook app. Let the downloads begin!
Q: Hi Ritesh, welcome to WakeUpAndCode.com! As I asked another developer in my first Q&A, do you wake up and code every morning?
A: I wish I could wake up before 10 AM. I am a night person. I like working at night until 2-3 AM. It has become a kind of habit for me to work until late night. Nighttime gives me more focus and no distractions.
: Download Ninja Cat Runner for free from the Windows Store!
: Play the web version on your smartphone, tablet or desktop browser!
: Download Ninja Cat Runner for free from the Windows Phone Store!
Having published 2 XNA games on Xbox Live Indie Games, I have been interested in looking at new platforms for future game projects. When Windows 8 was announced, I was disappointed that Microsoft didn’t officially support XNA for Windows 8. I looked at the other options for Microsoft game development, and even wrote a blog post about it.
But recently, I learned about a game creation tool called Construct 2, which provides a UI for quick game design. The games can be exported to all major platforms, as an HTML5/web game, a PhoneGap package, even a Windows 8 game.
Construct 2, from Scirra
Last week, I had just attended a user group meeting for DCDNUG, hosted by G. Andrew Duthie, a Technical Evangelist for Microsoft. The topic was “Developing Games for the Windows Store with HTML5 and JavaScript” and was a great introduction to creating games for Microsoft’s new platform using familiar web technologies.
I downloaded Andrew’s Community Megaphone app for Windows 8 after the meeting, and learned about the interactive event, Game Development for Beginners, at Microsoft’s Reston VA office. This is one of many free Game Dev events from Microsoft listed in the app.
