Key Features

Build and execute scripts easily, in-game!
Rapid development/prototyping of game logic and cut-scenes
Quick and easy integration with your existing game.
Game engine agnostic! Use it with the XNA game engine of your choosing.
Write custom Script Elements in C# to suit the needs of your game.
Custom made Script Elements... automatically made available in the Script Editor!
Save scripts to XML files... load them via the content pipeline.

Opinion Poll

We're looking for some feedback on the Visual Scripting Framework and would really appreciate you answering this simple poll

Overview

The Visual Scripting Framework was born out of my frustration with programmatically creating cutscenes for my game. My workflow usually ended up being: code cutscene, build and execute game, wait for game to start (maybe traversing a few menu options in the process), test the cutscene, find something isn’t right, stop the game, tweak the code, build and execute, wait for game to start, test the cutscene, stop the game, tweak the.... well... you get the idea. It was driving me mad. I wanted to be able to tweak things while the game was running; that would allow me to try out different ideas and get things just right, without all the tedium of my previous workflow.

The Visual Scripting Framework allows you to build scripts by dragging and dropping script elements into a script. A script element can contain both inputs and outputs which can be connected to other script elements. The Visual Scripting Framework is designed to be game engine agnostic. This means that out of the box the framework doesn’t contain many script elements, since every game engine and every game developer’s requirements are different there is no way I could account for every eventuality. Instead, the framework allows you to load additional components as required or even write your own components which it will automatically detect and make available at runtime.

Videos

Software Requirements

Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
Microsoft's XNA 4.0 Framework
SlimDX runtime - included in installer package
Internet connection required for activation (no activation required on trial version)

Hardware Requirements

Most fairly modern PCs, laptops and graphics card should be sufficient. I recommend you download and install the trial version to find out if your system is compatible.

Trial Version

Download the trial version here

The trial version has all the functionality of the full version minus the ability to save scripts or load them via the editor. You can still load scripts via the XNA content pipeline however.

Full Version

Full version is now available!

Additional Script Element Packs

You can extend the functionality of the Visual Scripting Framework by creating your own Script Elements or through additional Script Element packs. A few are available here to use freely in your own projects.

These packs are quite basic at the moment but may be extended quite easily. I endevour to update them myself in the near future, but if you have any requests for Script Elements that you would like to see (or any you would like to contribute) then please let me know on the forums.

Visual Studio Templates

To ease creation of your own Scripts and Script Elements here are a few Visual Studio templates.

BaseScriptElement.zip
BaseActivatorScriptElement.zip
BaseEventScriptElement.zip
Visual Script File.zip - Use this one for creating an empty Script file which you can load via the content pipeline and then change via the Visual Script Editor!

Just drop them into the Visual Studio item templates folder (usually in Documents\Visual Studio ????\Templates\ItemTemplates\Visual C#).

View the EULA

View the documentation and tutorials

View the API reference