• GAT can provide context to DSL users, making them more aware of when and how to create and use DSL diagrams.
• GAT recipes can be associated to DSL diagram files and elements, through context-menu entries for example, to launch wizards and actions.
• GAT can be used to provide on-demand contextualized help and documentation for DSL users (instead of prescriptive or remote guidance, in which the user is supposed to read tons of documents first and figure out how to apply the knowledge learned later).
• GAT empowers the transformation of a DSL diagram (into code, for example) by making it more easy to generate multiple artifacts from a single DSL diagram and providing a better control on the generation output location.
• GAT enables the scenario in which two or more DSLs should be cross-integrated.
• DSLs can be used to gather values for GAT recipes.

• RockScroll: displays a thumbnail instead of the scroll bar. What is really cool is that some sections of this enhanced bar gets colored as you change your code, so you can easily go back and forth the regions of code you're modifying as well as have a better comprehension of the code churn.

• VS SpellChecker: no more typos in your comments anymore! I also remember that it is possible to enforce spell checking for code element names through FxCop (project properties > code analysis > naming rules). More here.

• PowerCommands: adds some useful commands to Visual Studio, such as Open Containing Folder.

-- AFurtado

• WinKey + [1-9]: shortcut to the first 9 icons in your Quick Launch Bar (just aside the Start Menu button)
• Right-clicking a Windows Explorer window (including the desktop) with the Shift key pressed presents two interesting commands: open command window here and copy as path.

• Now launch the Start menu and find the Vista Snipping Tool (type "snip" in the start search textbox of the Start Menu). This tool is very cool for taking screenshots of a specific region of the screen. The screenshot snip doesn't have to be necessarily rectangular and you can easily make some small modifications such as highlighting an area or drawing, as below. When you are done, CTRL+C anywhere to get you content copied.

If you assign a shortcut to the Snipping Tool, things become even better: right-click the Snipping Tool in the Start Menu search results (below), then select Properties and finally assign a key in the Shortcut Key field.

• Adding a custom item (command) to a DSL Tools diagram context menu (hope this simple language designer need becomes more intuitive in future DSL Tools versions!)

• Binding domain properties to shape properties using custom storage and hooking events to shape classes (useful, for example, for changing a shape property, such as its size or position, according to the value entered by the user in the properties window)
• Preventing Multiple Instances of one Domain Class
• Preventing Invalid Connections
• Dynamic Default Values for Domain Properties
• Add and Change Rules
• Implementing Custom Validations
• Custom Property Editors
• Creating multi-line text decorators (in spanish)
• Using Design verbs with shapes

• How to load a DSL domain model instance file programmatically

That day's episode was about ADO.NET, presented by David Letterman!
(ok, just kidding, by someone I actually don't remember)

• Support for creating XNA games for Zune;
• New classes (such as SoundEffect) to deal with sound with no need to interact with the XACT tool;
• VS 2008 support!

My second attempt was to open a VS 2005 FRB project into VS 2008 and ask the migration wizard to do the job for me. Then I was faced with lots of small hackings: changing the project's target .NET Framework to 3.5, update XNA references from 2.0 to 3.0 version, add a binding .xml file to make FRB to actually use XNA 3.0 and so on. I gave up when not being able to make the FRB Content object to find my sound effect asset.

So in the third attempt, I believe I was successful. Ignoring the FRB template for VS, I've created a new XNA 3.0 Windows game project and then mirrored everything present in a typical FlatRedBall project: references to the FRB dlls, folder structure (Screens, Library, etc.) and, of course, changes in the Game1 class itself. When running the project, I got a runtime exception. But then I noticed a warning in the VS Error List: Found conflicts between different versions of the same dependent assembly. So probably what happened was that FRB was referencing XNA 2.0 assemblies, while my solution contained XNA 3.0 assemblies.

When double-clicking the warning, I found the welcome surprise that VS08 could fix that for me:

Clicking Yes adds an app.config file to your solution, in which the needed binding redirection is done. The result couldn't be sweeter: I got a FRB game running some cool XNA 3.0 stuff! Download this FRB/XNA3 project and check for yourself the FRB game launching sounds through the new XNA 3.0 SoundEffect class!

I've raised how valid was my approach in the FRB forums. Hope to update this post soon with the outcome.

Setup

• Embrace the Possibility of Failure - it Encourages Creative Risk Taking. By embracing the possibility of failure, rewarding experimentation becomes possible.
• Enforce Short Development Cycles (More Time != More Quality).
• Constrain Creativity to Make You Want it Even More: Without solid thematic constraints (example: gravity, vegetables, etc.), the games took longer to create, had less direction, and group unity deteriorated.
• Gather a Kickass Team and an Objective Advisor – Mindset is as Important as Talent. Design is paramount – everything else from art to engineering exists only to serve the final design.
• Develop in Parallel for Maximum Splatter.

Design

• There's no such thing as forcing a great idea to squirt out.
• Formal Brainstorming Has a 0% Success Rate. But brainstorming is useful to keep thinking alive and may originate ideas later. Also when there is something concrete to talk about. For example, “How can we improve this?” as opposed to “Hey let's come up with something arbitrary!” Everyone is a better critic than a creator.
• Gather Concept Art and Music to Create an Emotional Target.
• Simulate in Your Head – Pre-Prototype the Prototype.

Development

• Build the Toy First. This “toy” should be the core mechanic of the game minus any goals or decisions. There is no win or lose state, just a fun thing to play with.
• If You Can Get Away With it, Fake it. Often the “correct” solution is not the best solution. Strategically faking it will save you time and money; it will make your game faster, and your teeth whiter.
• Cut Your Losses and "Learn When to Shoot Your Baby in the Crib". You can always come back if lighting strikes at a later time.
• Heavy Theming Will Not Salvage Bad Design (or "You Can't Polish a Turd").
• But Overall Aesthetic Matters! Apply a Healthy Spread of Art, Sound, and Music.
• Nobody Cares About Your Great Engineering (at least for prototypes).

General Gameplay

• Complexity is Not Necessary for Fun.
• Create a Sense of Ownership to Keep 'em Crawling Back for More: We discovered quite accidentally that the games with the greatest replay value were the ones that had some sort of creation or customization aspect.
• "Experimental" Does Not Mean "Complex". Try to keep prototypes simple.
• Build Toward a Well Defined Goal. Without a gameplay goal, a prototype is just a toy – not a game.
• Make it Juicy! A juicy game feels alive and responds to everything you do – tons of cascading action and response for minimal user input. It makes the player feel powerful and in control of the world, and it coaches them through the rules of the game by constantly letting them know on a per-interaction basis how they are doing.

[]s
-- AFurtado

• He's very satisfied with the experience: the ported code is virtually the same. The Zune game development experience is quite similar to the Xbox/PC experiences.
• New classes such as Sound and SoundEffect are a very helpful hand to XNA game development; no need to deal with XACT anymore.
• A Zune emulator for the PC would speed development. Hope this feature is added soon!

Thanks Jalf for sharing his experience, hope we can see more cool stuff coming on!

• Eric Evans offers his insights at .NET Rocks on good software development using Domain Driven Design techniques.
• Somasegar talks about software modeling at eWeek.
• Books:
  • Domain-Specific Development with Visual Studio DSL Tools
  • Software Factories: Assembling Applications with Patterns, Models, Frameworks, and Tools
  • Practical Software Factories in .NET
  • Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries
  • Building Domain Specific Languages in Boo
  • Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns: With Examples in C# and .NET
  • Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software
• Videos
  • How Do I: Create and Customize My Domain Specific Language? (22 min)
  • How Do I: Use Advanced Customization? (26 min)
  • Stuart Kent gives a 1-hour interview at Channel 9 about DSL Tools.
  • Gareth Jones presents a WebCast on DSL Tools.
  • Finally, Gareth Jones provides a quick overview of DSL Tools in the video below. At minute 2:03, he actually refers to my SharpLudus project!