XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh ReadMe

This file provides setup information and describes known issues for the 1.0 Refresh release of XNA Game Studio Express.

Setup Requirements

This section describes the operating systems on which XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh is supported and the additional software required for running XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh.

Supported Operating Systems

XNA Game Studio Express is fully supported on the following operating systems.

Remarks

• Windows XP requires Service Pack 2 or later.
• Although XNA Game Studio Express itself is available only in English, it is supported under any of the language settings available on these operating systems.
• Administrator permissions are not required to run XNA Game Studio Express. However, Administrator permissions (administrative elevation on Windows Vista) are required to install XNA Game Studio Express.
• Although the setup program for XNA Game Studio Express will complete on the Windows 2003 Server operating system, XNA Game Studio Express is not officially supported on Windows 2003 Server, and the XNA Game Studio Express software may not work as expected.

Hardware Requirements

To run XNA Framework games on Windows, you will need a graphics card that supports Shader Model 1.1 or greater and DirectX 9.0c. We recommend that you use a graphics card that supports Shader Model 2.0 because some samples and starter kits may require it.

You should ensure that your graphics card is using the most recent drivers by checking with your hardware vendor and by accessing Microsoft Update.

To develop XNA Framework games for Xbox 360, you will need to have a hard drive connected to your Xbox 360 console.

Other hardware requirements for XNA Game Studio Express are identical to those for Visual Studio 2005. For more information, see the Visual Studio documentation.

Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition

XNA Game Studio Express leverages the Visual C# Express development environment, extending it for game development. You can install Visual C# Express from the Microsoft Express Editions Web site.

We recommend that you configure the Visual Studio 2005 Help system to use online Help content when available. Using online Help content ensures that you are getting the most recently updated information.

To configure Visual Studio Help to use online content

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
   The Options dialog box appears.

2. In the tree view control in the left pane of the Options dialog box, click the Help node beneath the Environment node.
   You may need to check the Show all settings checkbox to make the Help node visible.

3. Click the Online node beneath the Help node.
   You may need to click the plus sign next to the Help node to make the Online node visible.

4. In the set of options labeled When loading Help content, select Try online first, then local.
5. Click OK.

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

XNA Game Studio Express requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. The Setup program for Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition will install the .NET Framework if it is not already installed on your computer. You can also install the .NET Framework from the Microsoft .NET Framework Developer Center.

DirectX Runtime

XNA Game Studio Express Setup installs a version of the DirectX runtime that is required to use the XNA Framework game API.

Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool

XNA Game Studio Express Setup installs the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) from the October 2006 DirectX Software Development Kit (SDK). XACT enables you to author audio content for your game. XNA Game Studio Express Setup installs a version of XACT that is compatible with the XNA Game Studio Express product. XNA Game Studio Express may not work with content authored using other versions of XACT.

You must have administrator privileges to run the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool.

XACT Requires .NET Framework 1.1. If .NET Framework 1.1 is not installed, XACT launches, but using the tool causes XACT to generate the message, "Object reference not set to an instance of an object."

Not all installations of Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2 have .NET Framework 1.1 installed. Also, it is possible to have .NET Framework 2.0 installed, but not .NET Framework 1.1. To determine if you have .NET Framework 1.1, click Start on your Windows desktop, select Control Panel, and double-click on the Add or Remove Programs icon. If .NET Framework 1.1 is installed, it will be shown in the displayed list of applications.

You can install .NET Framework 1.1 from the following location.

• .NET Framework 1.1

1. Known Issues with XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh

This section describes known issues that you may encounter when using XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh.

1.1. Setup Issues

This section describes known issues with setup of XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh.

1.1.1. XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh Requires Visual C# 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 1

XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh requires that Visual C# 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 1 (SP1) be installed. Click the link below to download and install Visual C# 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 1.

• Visual C# 2005 Express Edition SP1 - download the file named VS80sp1-KB926749-X86-INTL.exe.

In addition, it is recommended that you use Windows Update to ensure that your software and drivers are up-to-date before you install XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh.

1.1.2. Upgrading from XNA Game Studio Express 1.0

If you have XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 installed, it is not necessary to uninstall it before installing XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh. However, XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh is not compatible with Beta versions of XNA Game Studio Express 1.0. Please uninstall any Beta versions of XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 before installing XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh.

Installing XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh will uninstall XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 and the 1.0 version of the XNA Framework Redistributable.

1.1.3. Run Visual C# 2005 Express Edition at Least Once Before Installing XNA Game Studio Express

You should run Visual C# 2005 Express Edition at least once before installing XNA Game Studio Express. Otherwise, features of XNA Game Studio Express may be missing from the user interface. For example, the XNA Game Studio Express Xbox 360 item in the Tools | Options dialog box may be missing. If you encounter this issue, we recommend that you do the following:

1. Uninstall XNA Game Studio Express.
2. Run Visual C# 2005 Express Edition.
3. Exit Visual C# 2005 Express Edition.
4. Reinstall XNA Game Studio Express.

1.1.4. Register Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition Before Installing XNA Game Studio Express

You must register Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition before installing XNA Game Studio Express. To register Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, click Register Product on the Help menu.

1.1.5. Close Visual C# 2005 Express Edition Before Installing XNA Game Studio Express

Before installing XNA Game Studio Express, close any running instances of Visual C# 2005 Express Edition.

1.1.6. Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition Requires Visual Studio SP1 Update for Windows Vista

In order to run XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh with Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition, you must install the Visual Studio SP1 Update for Windows Vista. Otherwise, Visual C# 2005 Express Edition will crash when you exit the application.

1.1.7. Install XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh Using Explorer on Windows Vista

Install XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh using Explorer on Windows Vista. Do not attempt to install XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh from a command prompt or from an administrator command prompt.

1.1.8. Uninstall XNA Game Studio Express Before Uninstalling Visual C# 2005 Express Edition

If you choose to uninstall Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, you must first uninstall XNA Game Studio Express. XNA Game Studio Express will not uninstall properly if Visual C# 2005 Express Edition is not currently installed.

1.1.9. DirectX Redistributable Files Removed Only on Uninstall

After you install XNA Game Studio Express, a copy of the DirectX redistributable files will exist in C:\Program Files\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio Express\DXRedist. These are temporary files used by Setup and are not supported for direct use by developers. Uninstalling XNA Game Studio Express will uninstall these temporary files.

1.2. Development Environment

This section describes known issues you may encounter when working with XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh and the Visual C# 2005 Express Edition environment.

1.2.1. Do Not Disable "Always show solution"

Do not disable the Always show solution option in the Projects and Solutions node of the Tools | Options dialog box. Disabling this option will prevent XNA projects from being visible in Solution Explorer.

1.3. Xbox 360 Deployment and Debugging

This section describes issues that you may encounter when deploying to an Xbox 360 console or when debugging Xbox 360 games.

1.3.1. Errors When Connecting to Xbox 360 Console

You may receive the following message when connecting from your computer to the Xbox 360 console.

The issue that causes this message is rare and occurs only under unusual circumstances. If you receive this message repeatedly, please let us know on the XNA Game Studio Express Forum at the following location.

Game Technology Forums

1.4. Game Sharing and Distribution

1.4.1. Location to Which XnaPack Extracts Packaged Games

The XnaPack tool extracts games to the following location on your local hard drive.

%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\XNA Creators Club Games

The value of the %USERPROFILE% environment variable changes depending on the login ID of the currently logged-in user. It also depends on the drive letter of the partition on which Windows was installed and whether you are running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista. For example, for Windows XP SP2 installed on drive C:, XnaPack would extract packaged games to the following location.

C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\XNA Creators Club Games

where "<user>" represents the login ID of the currently logged-in user. For Windows Vista installed on drive D:, XnaPack would extract packaged games to the following location.

D:\Users\<user>\Application Data\XNA Creators Club Games

where, again, "<user>" represents the login ID of the currently logged-in user.

You may want to create a Windows shortcut to this location so that you can access it more easily.

1.4.2. XNA Framework Redistributable

The runtime components for the XNA Framework are available as a redistributable to facilitate sharing the games that you develop using XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh. The XNA Framework Redistributable is available at the following location.

• XNA Framework Redistributable

You may include this redistributable only with games developed using the released version of XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh. You may not include this redistributable with games developed using other versions of XNA Game Studio Express. Also, you may not include this redistributable with games for commercial distribution for the Xbox 360 platform. For more information, see the end user license agreement (EULA) included with the redistributable.

1.4.2.1. XNA Framework Redistributable Requires the DirectX 9 Runtime and .NET Framework

The runtime components in the XNA Framework redistributable require .NET Framework 2.0 and the latest version of the DirectX 9 runtime. These additional requirements are available at the following locations.

• DirectX 9 Runtime
• .NET Framework 2.0.

Players of XNA Framework games must have .NET Framework 2.0 and the latest DirectX 9 runtime installed in addition to the components provided by the XNA Framework Redistributable.

1.5. XNA Framework

This section describes issues that you may encounter when using the XNA Framework.

1.5.1. NoSuitableGraphicsDeviceException from XNA Framework Game

If an XNA Framework game throws NoSuitableGraphicsDeviceException, inspect the text in the unhandled exception dialog box to determine whether the cause is an unsupported video card.

To run XNA Framework games on Windows, you will need a graphics card that supports Shader Model 1.1 or greater and DirectX 9.0c. We recommend that you use a graphics card that supports Shader Model 2.0 because some samples and starter kits may require it.

You should ensure that your graphics card is using the most recent drivers by checking with your hardware vendor and by accessing Microsoft Update.

1.6. Content Creation

1.6.1. XACT Requires .NET Framework 1.1 and Administrator Privileges

The Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) requires .NET Framework 1.1 to be installed. Not all Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista computers have .NET Framework 1.1 installed.

You can check to see if you already have .NET Framework 1.1 installed by clicking Start on your Windows desktop, opening Control Panel, and then double-clicking Add or Remove Programs. When the window appears, scroll through the list of applications. If you see Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 listed, the latest version is already installed and you do not need to install it again.

You can install .NET Framework 1.1 from the following location.

• .NET Framework 1.1

Additionally, on Windows Vista, XACT must be run with administrator priviliges. You can do this by browsing to the XNA Game Studio Express folder, then Tools, and then right-clicking on Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool and selecting Run as administrator.

1.6.2. You Must Use the Version of XACT Provided with XNA Game Studio Express

The setup program for XNA Game Studio Express installs the Ocober 2006 version of the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT). You must use this version of XACT when developing with XNA Game Studio Express.

1.6.3. Imported Wave Banks Limited to 200

When using the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) with XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh, you are limited to importing no more than 200 wave banks.

1.7. Starter Kits

This section describes issues that you may encounter when using the XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh starter kits.

1.7.1. Instantiating the Spacewar Starter Kit May Be Slow

Creating a new instance of the Spacewar Starter Kit may take a significant amount of time, depending on the speed of your computer.

1.7.2. Graphics Hardware Requirements for Starter Kits

To run XNA Framework games on Windows, you will need a graphics card that supports Shader Model 1.1 or greater and DirectX 9.0c. We recommend that you use a graphics card that supports Shader Model 2.0 because some samples and starter kits may require it.

You should ensure that your graphics card is using the most recent drivers by checking with your hardware vendor and by accessing Microsoft Update.

1.7.3. Spacewar Starter Kit Includes Keyboard Support

The Spacewar Starter Kit for Windows now includes full keyboard support for both players. To play Spacewar in single-player mode, press the HOME key.