Comments on: Tools of the Trade – Part Five: Pot Pourri http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/ My game, XNA, game development, and the games industry Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:04:39 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Martin Rennix http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-177 Martin Rennix Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:43:13 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-177 Don't forget Whole Tomato's Visual Assist, an add-on that extends VS in lots of ways. Probably more useful for C++ but still good for C#. Don’t forget Whole Tomato’s Visual Assist, an add-on that extends VS in lots of ways. Probably more useful for C++ but still good for C#.

]]> By: bittermanandy http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-162 bittermanandy Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:56:06 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-162 Thanks for the kind words Chris. Rest assured - the lack of activity is entirely temporary! The blog will be back. I promised myself when I set out that I wouldn't be one of these people who blogs for four weeks then nothing, then lots of posts for four weeks then nothing, etc. Sadly I seem to have slipped into just that pattern! I can't pretend to be TOO apologetic though - my reasons have been good, and without going into too much detail because it's personal, I've simply had other things taking up my attention. They've been good things, entirely 100% positive things, but also things that have taken priority over coding for a while. While you're waiting, feel free to talk among yourselves. :-) Thanks for the kind words Chris. Rest assured – the lack of activity is entirely temporary! The blog will be back.

I promised myself when I set out that I wouldn’t be one of these people who blogs for four weeks then nothing, then lots of posts for four weeks then nothing, etc. Sadly I seem to have slipped into just that pattern!

I can’t pretend to be TOO apologetic though – my reasons have been good, and without going into too much detail because it’s personal, I’ve simply had other things taking up my attention. They’ve been good things, entirely 100% positive things, but also things that have taken priority over coding for a while.

While you’re waiting, feel free to talk among yourselves. :-)

]]> By: Chris Vaughan http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-161 Chris Vaughan Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:39:48 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-161 Hi, Shame to not see any new posts here for over a month now, as I've found this blog an extremely useful source of info. I do hope this is only a temporary situation and not down to loss of interest/lack of new ideas... Hopefully you're busy working on Pandemonium if nothing else? Anyway, thanks for all the great info. Hi,

Shame to not see any new posts here for over a month now, as I’ve found this blog an extremely useful source of info. I do hope this is only a temporary situation and not down to loss of interest/lack of new ideas… Hopefully you’re busy working on Pandemonium if nothing else?

Anyway, thanks for all the great info.

]]> By: Jeroen-bart Engelen http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-153 Jeroen-bart Engelen Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:01:40 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-153 I've used Mantis (it's in the Wikipedia article linked by Max Battcher) for a while in the past and found it pretty good. Also since you are recommending NProf as a profiling tool, I wonder if you've ever tried the built-in profiling tools of VS2005/VS2008? And if you like NProf better then the built-in tools, why. I’ve used Mantis (it’s in the Wikipedia article linked by Max Battcher) for a while in the past and found it pretty good.

Also since you are recommending NProf as a profiling tool, I wonder if you’ve ever tried the built-in profiling tools of VS2005/VS2008? And if you like NProf better then the built-in tools, why.

]]> By: Zyxil http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-152 Zyxil Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:22:15 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-152 FogBugz is a great issue tracking tool. Cheap (not free). FogBugz is a great issue tracking tool. Cheap (not free).

]]> By: cesar http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-151 cesar Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:59:54 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-151 Mantis is the best bug-tracker I have worked with, I know this one is web-based but that is not a bad thing. is it?? Mantis is the best bug-tracker I have worked with, I know this one is web-based but that is not a bad thing. is it??

]]> By: Max Battcher http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-146 Max Battcher Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:53:35 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-146 For source control, I've become a big believer in distributed version control systems, which provide a lot of added flexibility that you don't know you are missing until you start to rely on them. Git has become all the rage lately, but Mercurial is a good choice and I, for one, prefer Darcs to both. Darcs (darcs.net) has an amazing best of breed interface that (IMHO) is hands down the best command line interface of any source control system (ever). It's interactive selection tools alone have spoiled me. @bittermanandy: From Wikipedia skimming it seems that issue tracking requires a Team Foundation Server, not just VSTS. Also, this may or may not be helpful in finding a good bug/issue tracker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_issue_tracking_systems You aren't going to find very many non-web-based options, particularly in free/cheap where web-based is the easy and clear route to a collaborative environment. If you truly want a non-web-based most likely you'll have to roll your own in say Excel or Access... InfoPath with Outlook, SharePoint, and/or Groove might be an interesting toolset to consider for roll-your-own issue tracking. For source control, I’ve become a big believer in distributed version control systems, which provide a lot of added flexibility that you don’t know you are missing until you start to rely on them. Git has become all the rage lately, but Mercurial is a good choice and I, for one, prefer Darcs to both. Darcs (darcs.net) has an amazing best of breed interface that (IMHO) is hands down the best command line interface of any source control system (ever). It’s interactive selection tools alone have spoiled me.

@bittermanandy: From Wikipedia skimming it seems that issue tracking requires a Team Foundation Server, not just VSTS.

Also, this may or may not be helpful in finding a good bug/issue tracker:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_issue_tracking_systems

You aren’t going to find very many non-web-based options, particularly in free/cheap where web-based is the easy and clear route to a collaborative environment. If you truly want a non-web-based most likely you’ll have to roll your own in say Excel or Access… InfoPath with Outlook, SharePoint, and/or Groove might be an interesting toolset to consider for roll-your-own issue tracking.

]]> By: Nick http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-145 Nick Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:31:10 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-145 Great series of posts, and I should also thank you for releasing the Kensai.dev code, which I've found pretty invaluable. Another couple of tools I've found invaluable for shader development are ATI's Rendermonkey and NVidia's FXComposer. Both great for shader experimentation and for large libraries of ready-to-use shaders which you can export and with minimum fuss get working in your own game. And both free! Great series of posts, and I should also thank you for releasing the Kensai.dev code, which I’ve found pretty invaluable.

Another couple of tools I’ve found invaluable for shader development are ATI’s Rendermonkey and NVidia’s FXComposer. Both great for shader experimentation and for large libraries of ready-to-use shaders which you can export and with minimum fuss get working in your own game. And both free!

]]> By: bittermanandy http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-144 bittermanandy Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:29:15 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-144 I think it depends on the version of VSTS (there are several different versions of each; MS did an astounding thing by making VS Express free, but made the other available versions more complicated, perhaps to make up for it). Or, possibly, I've got my wires crossed somewhere? If it's *not* in VSTS already, MS should hurry up and release it publically tout de suite, because it's brilliant. (In fact they should release it in its own right so the rest of us can use it without paying for Team System). I think it depends on the version of VSTS (there are several different versions of each; MS did an astounding thing by making VS Express free, but made the other available versions more complicated, perhaps to make up for it).

Or, possibly, I’ve got my wires crossed somewhere? If it’s *not* in VSTS already, MS should hurry up and release it publically tout de suite, because it’s brilliant. (In fact they should release it in its own right so the rest of us can use it without paying for Team System).

]]> By: Caion http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/tools-of-the-trade-part-five-pot-pourri/#comment-143 Caion Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:53:39 +0000 http://bittermanandy.wordpress.com/?p=86#comment-143 I have access to both Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite and VS 2008 Team suite at my university, but neither includes Product studio as far as i can tell? I have access to both Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite and VS 2008 Team suite at my university, but neither includes Product studio as far as i can tell?

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