Posts by Cyberbeard

Update:

I've been trying to solve it without success, but might have pinned down the issue (although I'm not sure how to solve the issue).

The program always seems to break at this code:

string imgName = handle.ToString("D4");
imgName = "Img" + imgName;
image = app.content.Load<Texture2D>(imgName);

Furthermore, if I go under Content References in the Solution Explorer of Visual Studio, the [Gamename]Content tab is marked with an error symbol.

After googling around, this seems to suggest that there is an issue with loading the .pngs for my project. But I've gone through my objects in MMF and made sure to use .pngs of the correct file path in my updated textures folder for each one. No change.

The crash always occurs when I try to begin level 2 or 3 (with the click of a button in a level selection frame), and at the end of level 1, just as the 'Game Over / Victory' image object is about to appear. Not sure what the correlation could be there...

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm a bit desperate!

Quote from Francois

I'll only be able to work on it next week : I will be in Montpellier for the ClickJam the whole week end.

That's a shame. I have my presentations for this major project on Saturday, Monday, and Thursday.
Still, can't be helped. I appreciate that you will look into it then, at any rate. Thanks!

If anyone else has any clue of what's causing this to my game, please respond!

Quote from Francois

Can you send me your project folder, zipped, as well as the mfa?
Thanks...

I've sent a link in PM, thanks!

Since earlier this night, I've been getting this message when I try to load a certain level of my game, while testing it on my phone. The app simply freezes and this message pops up in MS VS.

'An exception of type 'Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content.ContentLoadException' occurred in Microsoft.Xna.Framework.ni.dll but was not handled in user code'

I'm not a coder and can't really analyse the error. Googling it seems to suggest that it has something to do with the code trying to load the .png images wrong or something.
I've considered any changes I made to the file today, and made sure to re-load any .pngs used by my objects, just to be sure the problem doesn't occur because I've moved a couple of files around in my folder.

So what on earth could be causing this all of a sudden, and how do I get to the bottom of it?

Help greatly appreciated!

Edit:

Also of note is that the problem persists even if I use an earlier save of the project.

This solution worked wonderfully well when I made sure to set the global 'buttonpress' value to 1 at the 'Start of each Frame'.

Thank you both.

Well basically I have several frames; one for each level and one for each selection from the menu (options, credits, level selection, etc.).

In every frame except for the menu frame, [Press Windows Key Back] will take you to the previous frame, whereas if you are in the menu frame then it will end the application.

Right now, the problem is that doing this in any frame will just end the application.

Quote from Francois

I'll work on it before the end of the week.

Much obliged!

Thanks, Francois.

Hey,

I have the same back button issue that everyone seems to complain about.

Is there a fix for this on the way?

I've bought a Win 8 Phone and the XNA exporter specifically for releasing MMF2 games on the app market, so a 'bug' like this one is really annoying.

• Is there a real, genuine workaround that allows me to publish on WP8?
• If not, is there a fix on the way any time soon?

I think I just solved it by using 'start of frame' as a condition, instead of 'application has been reactivated', when loading the save file. Now I simply have to figure out where to save the file on a phone.

Thanks for your help.

Am I supposed to save the data to the array and then save the array on file; then load the file and set my values from the array?
i.e. is saving to file necessary to actually save the values that I store on an array, or is there some internal saving memory storing it?

Also, my gameplay is going on in levels that are in different frames - do I save array and file in each level, but load them in the splash screen frame?

Thanks!

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out how the array and ini objects work, on a Win Phone game in particular.

Imagine a game, like Angry Birds, where your current progress on each level is stored even if you close the game (stars for how well you complete the level, essentially).

1: Where is the saved content stored on a Win phone?

2: What is the correct procedure to make sure the application always saves the recent global 'progress' values, and loads them when the application begins?

And yes, I am already using global values to keep track on level progress in a level-selection frame.

Thanks in advance!!

I solved it. Sorry, I will make a habit of notifying the community with the solution in the future. New to all this!

Basically, the XNA exporter converts code into a Win Phone 7.x app, which doesn't allow the newer resolutions. If you go 800 x 480 (or vice versa) for your game, you should be fine. Small amount of empty space on the top / side (depending on landscape or portrait mode) on my HTC 8X, but works like a charm. Also forces me to make smaller assets.

Quote from Francois

Can you tell us (and me in particular) what it was?

I wish I could. I've run into many challenges in the last week while learning the XNA exporter, so this is one drop in an ocean.

But I can say that many of the troubles I ran into were caused by saving the XNA project incorrectly, trying to debug the project while it was still open in an old version, and silly things like that. So I probably solved it by simply doing the process correctly.

... and btw, my process is:

* Save the game as an XNA Phone Project in MMF, into a folder where I keep my work-in-progress XNA project (simply 'replace' the old version with every new iteration of the game).

* Edit the .csproj file of the project (found easily by searching the folder for csproj) as recommended in this thread: Please login to see this link.

* Open the project in MS Visual Express for Windows Phone (free if you register).

* Run it on my device.

Ahoy.

Sorry for the spam of new posts tonight, should have kept it all to one post. Feel free to delete old ones, mods!

I'm trying out testing on an actual device tonight for the first time. Windows Phones is supposed to automatically scale my project to fit the screen, assuming it has the right ratio, which mine does. Still, I only see a corner of the screen, so it hasn't scaled.

How do I solve this?

Thanks!

Quote from Cyberbeard

Hi,

Whenever I try to test something on my phone, this message shows up:

'An exception of type 'System.ArgumentNullException' occurred in Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.ni.dll but was not handled in user code

If there is a handler for this exception, the program may be safely continued.'

If I remove .PNG images from the project, it suddenly works.

Why is this happening, and how do I work around it?

Thanks!

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EDIT: Solved it, you may delete this thread.

Hi,

Whenever I try to test something on my phone, this message shows up:

'An exception of type 'System.ArgumentNullException' occurred in Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.ni.dll but was not handled in user code

If there is a handler for this exception, the program may be safely continued.'

If I remove .PNG images from the project, it suddenly works.

Why is this happening, and how do I work around it?

Thanks!

Quote from MJK

You don't need to create a behavior. Basically, if your game doesn't require multitouch input, you could just insert a new button object to the frame and add an event "button is clicked" --> some action like jump to frame.

Thanks for your help! I never realized it was that straight-forward.

Will get a Microsoft license within a week and try it out on my phone - in the meanwhile, thanks!

Hi guys,

Sorry if this question feels a bit basic, but I'm having some trouble with using the XNA touch object.

How do I configure 'touchable' buttons in my game? I've managed to make an object that you can drag with touch, but I can't seem to figure out how to make touches on objects work (like buttons in a menu, or replay/quit/continue after a level). For the drag-object I made, I created a behaviour for that object. Is that the key?

A brief guide would be highly appreciated! Thanks.

What ho,

I'm new to the XNA exporter, and am currently trying to figure my way around how everything works.

How do you make sure every button in a menu can be clicked and bring unique actions? For instance, when touching 'Play' I want to switch to frame 2 in my prototype, but right now it switches to frame 2 no matter where on the screen I touch.

Any guidance here would be awesome.

Also, are loading screens necessary in mobile games, or are the 'loading screens' seen at the beginning of every game only used to display developer/publisher logos and the name of the game?

Thanks!

#2 This much I've gathered. But it's nice to have a confirmation on this from elsewhere.

Also thanks for the rest of the information you provided. Very useful stuff.

#6 Great. So glad my Lumia is on the way, great for testing!

Sorry for the late response.