this.IsMouseVisible = true;

Then of course, where’s the fun in that, right? Real cursor functionality consists on you adding your own 2D Texture to represent your mouse, this is actually pretty easy to do, first of all, you will need the texture, typically, a cursor texture has its hotspot (The tip of the arrow from where you click) on the upper-left corner of the image. Your cursor could be any size, try not to make it too big or too small.

Here’s an example:

Let’s add a few global variables:

Texture2D cursorTexture;
Vector2 cursorPosition;

Now load the texture in your LoadContent() method:

cursorTexture = Content.Load("cursor"); //Use your asset name.

On our Update() method, we’ll pass over the mouse’s position to our cursorPosition variable:

cursorPosition.X = Mouse.GetState().X;
cursorPosition.Y = Mouse.GetState().Y;

Lastly, we need to draw our cursorTexture with the continuously changing cursorPosition, we do this of course in our Draw() method:

spriteBatch.Begin();
spriteBatch.Draw(cursorTexture, cursorPosition, Color.White);
spriteBatch.End();

Simple as that, try it out!
Happy coding!

XKCD is pretty much a comic about a programmer’s and/or mathematician’s daily dribble. Picture this, all day working on your computer, expanding your knowledge by allowing the internet to fill the void of ignorance, sometimes stuff goes in, stuff goes out, you may call this SISO. Anyways, time pretty much passes by! You tend to forget to satisfy certain bodily functions that you actually need in order to live, like eating and of course or drinking water, whatever it is you were thinking, well that too.

So here it is! From a comic comes a brilliant idea, sure, asking for some mustard or mayo, maybe some Doritos or jalapeños in between is out of the question at the moment, but I truly believe the guys in this video are GENIUSES.

One small step towards a future with ROOOBOOOTS!!
BTW, why not click the links I post, they have funnies.

I wrote this neat little article for n00bs that would like to create games for Windows and the Xbox 360 using the XNA Framework, it’s actually aimed at those who have very little programming experience. Since Object-Oriented Programming has become pretty much a standard for real software developers and engineers, game development is no exception. However, most beginners tend to get scared and/or confused with this simple paradigm that’s actually designed to make your coding EASIER.

So go ahead! Download it! This tutorial will guide you step by step through the basic principles of the XNA Framework while learning OOP, by the end of it, you’ll create a simple shooter game engine. This article was also featured in ziggyware.com.

[Download Article (PDF)]
[Download the Sample]

If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, let me refer to an older post, XNA is a collection of tools developed by Microsoft for developing games for the Xbox 360 and Windows, all you need is either Visual C# Express 2008, which is free, or Visual Studio 2008, which is expensive, and of course, XNA Game Studio Express 3.0, which is also free. Have fun!

YES! XNA Game Studio 3.0!

Now, this is why I like Microsoft, they are just doing so many good things lately (Let us ignore Vista for now) XNA Game Studio 3.0 expands on all the offerings of earlier iterations to include additional functionality to appeal to game developers of every level and enable them to create games to distribute through Xbox LIVE Community Games on the Xbox 360 as part of the New Xbox Experience.

But that’s not all! Besides developing games for the Xbox 360 and Windows PC you can now deploy to Zune! Which of course means, I must get one! The iPod SDK is just too damn expensive!

What are you waiting for? Start downloading XNA Game Studio 3.0 now!

La Comunidad .NET de Cd. Juárez está haciendo el lanzamiento de Visual Studio 2008. Pero en esta ocasión, quisieron hacerlo MUY diferente a como habían sido sus eventos anteriores, y en lugar de realizarlo en el ITESM, donde regularmente lo hacen, ahora consiguieron el apoyo del boliche Bol Bol. La idea es que ahora sea en un ambiente más relajado. Por otro lado, también tienen el objetivo de que los asistentes se vayan con la idea de que aprendieron algo nuevo, no solo de que fueron a un evento de mercadotecnia. Por esto, aunque inicialmente habían pensado en incluir SQL Server 2008 en las pláticas, al final decidieron no hacerlo, y solo se enfocarán en Visual Studio 2008, pero tratando de profundizar en las nuevas características que a nuestros ojos lo hacen valioso.

* Lo nuevo en C# y en VB9.
* Usando LINQ con bases de datos relacionales.
* Construyendo Aplicaciones Web con VS 2008. Presentación de las nuevas herramientas.
* Programación Web con Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).
* Introducción a Silverlight.

Regresando a la parte relajada del evento, Bol Bol se ha portado excelente, no solamente apoya con sus instalaciones, sino que además regalará líneas de boliche para los asistentes. Así que ya saben! Acudan al evento y no solo aprenderán sobre Visual Studio 2008, sino que además podrán jugar boliche gratis.

Eso no es todo, además, amigos de Dataxport también están apoyando, y gracias a ellos podremos tener refrescos y bocadillos para los asistentes. Así como algunas playeras para rifar gracias a Mister G.

Finalmente, para que les interese aun mas, de parte de Microsoft habrá varios paquetes de software (Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 y Windows Vista) con licencias Full para rifar entre los asistentes.

Por supuesto, como todos los eventos de la Comunidad .NET de Juarez, es totalmente gratis.

Donde: Bol Bol.
Cuando: Martes 27 de Mayo 2008.
Hora: 3:00 PM (2:30 Registro).
Cuanto: NADA! Totalmente Gratis!

Spread the word!

Yeah, if it were Raptor Jesus, that would’ve been cool, or an Orbital Frame…but no, I’m referring to something more evil! More sinister! Vile and Satanic! Not a dinosaur either, other adjectives include: “malefic, wicked, depraved, vicious and so on…”, but the one that describes it the best is…dumb. Yes, DUMB:

[Click it for a bigger size of this stupidity]

It’s RAPTOR! An acronym actually, stands for Rapid Algorithmic Prototyping Tool for Ordered Reasoning, clever. BUT! What a horrible thing to use! I know it’s supposed to be used by beginner programmers, so why the hell do experienced, heck, I dare say it, (Por echarme crema a mis tacos) professional programmers, use it? Quoting my teacher:

So you can remember the basic principles of programming and using arrays without those advanced tools you’ve grown so used to.

OK, fine, she has a point, but those wonderful SQL Databases and Queries are what make programming EZ. But I digress, the purpose of this rant is, that I could’ve finished a stupid exercise in 3 minutes in C# instead of using this compiler piece of crud without DDL compatibility, that’s right, I had to use Arrays to save data. Raptor Jesus, do you know how long it took me!? 3 damn hours, THREE.

This thing goes beyond the scopes of practical programming for beginners, it screws data types and you have to write ALL the code, so, something as beautiful as this:

for(int i=0;i<=5;i++)
{
//do something.
}

Will look horribly like this:

[Oh, did I mention you can't use 0 to initialize variables, nor point to arrays with it, I mean, seriously, WTF, those poor Mayans invented the damn number for a reason! And yeah, notice the condition for the Loop. You see it? Compare it with the For's condition if you don't see it, then laugh maniacly]

Anyways, this is a horrible way for n00bs to begin programming, what makes me sad is that this is not an old application! That last version got out on May 18th, 2007. The worst part is, this is what they use to teach programming methods at UACJ. Kill me. You want my suggestion, try coding in C# or C++, even if you are n00b, there are a lot of awesome guides and tutorials, visit MSDN if you are into C# (The future in Windows Programming and ASP.NET), you learn the basics while working with the hard stuff.

So yeah, what a dumb program to use, but it was perfect for a dumb rant heh~ Anyways…