The GameTools Suite

Gametools is a set of small apps to help indie game creators and moonlighters. It particularly fits XNA projects, since there is a built in function to build assets into XNB. However, since the file format used by every tool is a very readable XML, it will not be hard to integrate in your projects.

The Tools

HMEdit: A generic heightmap editor
UIEdit: UI Layout editor
GXView: XNB Viewer and converter
Spritemapper: Generate spritemap out of image sequences
ScreenBuddy: A tool to capture your games (screenshot / MPEG4 videos).
TimeIT: Quantify how long you work on a project with TimeIT

License

This software set is released with a “Pay What You Want” license model. Most of the functions are available with the trial, however several features will require to have a valid license installed.

If you find GameTools convenient and decide to aquire a license, you will pay what you think it’s worth. A valid license key will be sent to your email adress. (it may take a couple of days). The paypal donation system is what fit the best this model. I will send a license key for any donation >=1 euro.

Screenshots

Downloads

The latest release is available HERE

The avangate product page

44 thoughts to “The GameTools Suite”

  1. Backwards compatible? i keep getting an error – the file was compiled with the wrong version of the XNA framework

  2. Hi Stn
    No backward compatibility for GXView / XNA.
    Actually, it’s more due to XNA: GXView is compiled with XNA 3.1, and the whole framework isn’t compatible at all with previous versions.

    I could implement it in a later version (using display plugins compiled with different versions of XNA), however it depends how many license I could sell (and so far, not enough:-))
    My priorities for the moment are the XNA4.0 support and VersionIT, a PHP based versionning system.

  3. ty for your quick reply. i have a game developed for me from a person overseas. i would like to change one image but can no longer reach him. i am hoping your program will allow me to do it. i can make a sizable “donation” if your program allows this.
    ty

  4. Since it’s a little particular, I replied to your email. If you didn’t receive it, can you use the contact form?

  5. Hi Djrima,
    Yes, you can convert XNB to jpg, or JPG to xnb.
    The current version supports only xnb generated with the XNA 3.1 framework, the next version (soon) will handle more formats (including XNA 4.0 of course)

  6. ok thank you , You made the good work:), when you are going to make the compatible version with xna4.0?

  7. Hi Daniel,

    A new release should be available next week. However, the current version was tested in both Win7 32 & 64, so I don’t know what went wrong with your system.

    In any case, I only provide support for registered users.

    Best regards,
    Raphael

  8. Please release a new version for XNA 4, it would be really nice if it worked with 3.0 3.1 and 4.0 and also allowed you to do a folder wide dump of everything in all the xnb files or even release the source code and i could make new version. or even explain how you load in the XNB files and extract the assets

  9. I’m getting the same problem as Daniel. Let us know when your release comes.
    FYI I’m running Vista.

  10. Hi everyone.
    As promised, the next release will be available this week, hopefully before saturday.
    The new version of GXView will support XNA 4.0, but also former versions. (namely 2.0, 3.0, 3.1).
    And yes, I included a batch extractor that will let you extract every asset contained in a folder. (the first version will consider only the textures).

    As for the bug, I hope this new version will fix it. If not, I created a mantis project to track them. Available on http://teapot-hosting.com/mantis

  11. I try to save a .png as a .xnb file , but it just says “an error occured while compiling” D:

  12. can’t save files from GXView trial version 🙁
    “The Feature you are tryng to use is not available in the trial version”
    What’s this!?
    You said the trial was fully functional.

  13. Hi Scorch,
    Do you have gamestudio installed? it is required to build XNB. (well, there isn’t many warning about this on the tool. I’ll add them for the version to come).

    Felix20, as you noticed, the license mode also changed. When I created gametools, I decided to go for the “no limit trial”+”pay what you want” license.
    I was aware most of the users would not pay anything with this model, but I naïvely thought I would get something from time to time.

    Gametools has been out for a while now, and I didn’t receive a single $. I don’t really need this money, however it completely ruined my motivation on the project. (didn’t touch the source for months).

    I didn’t liked the idea to let my project die like this, so I decided to modify the license. I kept the “pay what you want”, and removed the “fully functionnal trial”.
    And it seems to work. I already got several donations, and my motivation came back. I resumed working, and will release a version before monday.

    It’s sad it didn’t work at all with the other model, and I’ll do my best to keep cool features in the trial. On the good side, all the annoying screens will disappear :-).

    On the other hand, your point is completely valid: there are still several “fully functionnal trial” messages, and I need to modify them.

  14. Tried out GXView, works fine except for one problem: it kept propagating in my ram. After noticing a bit of slowdown I closed the program only to find that my entire computer was lagging. opened up the task manager and found close to 100 identically named programs still running. I would blame Vista (I always do) but you’ll want to look into this.

  15. Hi Bruun,

    Thanks for the report. I’ll try to reproduce/fix this issue.
    If everything goes as planned, I’ll upload a new build today.

  16. Is this still an active project? With GxView I have noticed some of the files I opened are too large and the viewer doesn’t display all the picture and the program doesn’t allow you to scroll or zoom to see all the content. On the non trial version, does the converted/saved file actually saved the entire image? Thanks for any feedback!

  17. Hi Steve!

    Yes, the project is still active (well, I can’t put as much time as I’d like to).
    I contacted you directly to try to find a solution to your issue.

  18. thx for the tools its works keep up the great work

    tial version not working for me cant see anny texture

    the full works like a charm ^_^

  19. most dont work any more can find type reader synapsegaming lichtingsystem processors forward lichting matrial reader_pro

  20. Hi xxdolcexx,

    When an XNB is generated from a custom ContentImporter, then it’s impossible to deserialize the file without the proper deserializer. This is what happened to you: a custom content processor was used to generate the XNB, and GXView is unable to understand the format because it cannot deserialize it.

    The same remarks apply for serialized XML: even without a specialized processor, the XNB is generated using the reflection of the classes. Without the binaries containing those classes, GXView cannot dump the original XML.

  21. I tried opening an XNB file of which I know it is not corrupt using GXView, but yet all it displayed was a black screen. Any idea what might be causing this?

    By the way, I did not buy a license yet.

  22. Hi Gamesaucer,

    It depends on what is contained in the XNB. Send me your file, i’ll try to investigate further.

  23. Hi RafykX,

    Well, Gamesaucer kindly sent me XNB samples, and it appeared there was no issue afterall, he was just using an older version of gametools.
    Maybe it’s also your case. Are you using the lastest version? (if so, could you send me one of your XNB?)

  24. I have the trial version and cannot use gxview to save images. It says I need the full version. I can’t pay for the full version as I don’t own a credit card or paypal account. How can I get gxview for free?

  25. Hello, Just To Clarify, There Is A Minimum Of 1 Euro? If So I Will Probably Donate About 10 Euros. Thank You, I Just Want To Make Sure I Will Get A Key.

  26. Hi Isaac,

    Yes, any donation >=1 euro will grant you a license.
    (Before, there was no minimum, some people sent 1c… And all those very small donations were eaten by paypal fees.)

  27. Several functionality won’t work in the trial version: for instance, you cannot record your screen to divx with screenbuddy, and GXView will only preview XNB assets (no saving).

  28. Hi Anh,

    Yes, you can. In GXView, Tools>XNA Asset Extractor / Builder
    Choose both path (in/out), and click on Extract.

    Have a good day!

  29. Hi 123,

    Could you send me a couple of the XNB you try to open?
    Several people reported a black screen issue on the trial version a while ago. Thought I fixed it, but maybe not completely.

    (you can contact me with the contact form)
    Sorry for the inconvenience, in any case.

  30. Hi Raph,

    I too get just a black window when I try to load font assets into GXView (Screenshot: http://goo.gl/zeJwtP). The assets are compiled with XNA 4.0. Couldn’t try to export them because as of now I do not own a license. I uploaded one such font asset file for you: http://goo.gl/HZDzQX

    Would be great I you could fix this.

    Have Fun

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