XNA Target Audience

Question

This may seem like a silly question, but who is the target audience for the XNA platform? The Microsoft XNA Game Sudio has the following website:

XNA Game Studio 3.1 allows amateurs, academics, and independent game developers to easily create video games for Windows, Xbox 360, and Zune Digital Media Player using an optimized cross-platform library game based on the .NET Framework in the C # programming language.

Considering that I got the impression that XNA is not intended for serious game development. It's true?

Secondly, I understand that XNA is essentially a managed wrapper for the Direct X API. Is this the only relationship XNA has with Direct X? On which platform does Microsoft strive to develop video games on Windows and XBox?

My common question is: for someone who wants to get into the professional development of video games, should I focus on XNA or focus on something else?

Answer 1

The target audience as a whole is a community of hobby developers, but there are many things that professional developers can use for XNA (including the fact that this is one of the easiest ways to get a game on XBox LIVE, although in a category other than LIVE Arcade)

XNA is a managed library, which is essentially a wrapper such as Managed DirectX (which was the first managed library through DirectX). It is tied to DirectX 9.0c because it is cross-platform compatible with the XBox 360, which is obviously stuck in this version because it has static hardware that will never change (until, of course, a new console is released Xbox)

Microsoft currently sells XNA very heavily for the development of XBox, but they also allow you to create commercial PC games, although there are no simple automatic distribution and payment models such as XBox LIVE Arcade on the PC platform, as well.

XNA is a great learning tool to get started in the professional development of the game, as it allows you to access the entire “professional” game engine or toolbox, including Shaders, Networking, Audio hardware, Gamepad devices, etc. It is also a really good tool for a quick prototype of the game if you need to present an idea to someone for financing or just see how your ideas look on the screen.

In general, XNA will be a good place to start developing DirectX games, since most concepts are transferred directly from one to another. If you do not want to depend on DirectX 9.0c support, I suggest you take a look at SlimDX ( http://www.slimdx.org ), which is a similar concept for XNA, but matches both DirectX 9 and 10.

Answer 2

Commercial games are still mostly developed in C ++ (often with a scripting language such as Lua or Python used for parts of the gameplay code), but this does not mean that XNA is necessarily a bad choice for someone who is interested in developing games for games using to become a professional game developer. Most of the concepts you learn with XNA will apply to professional game development, and this will likely allow you to cover a wider range of areas in less time than if you started with C ++ and lower-level libraries for graphics. and sound.

In the end, you probably need to get comfortable with C ++ to work in professional game development, but what you learn about graphics, artificial intelligence, and general game development with XNA will still prove useful.

Answer 3

I agree with my mother and mikeschuld points that XNA is good for amateurs, or even as a starting point for people who want to work in the gaming industry. I would say that this is not the best thing for people who really want to create game engines since they abstract. I mean, if you really want to learn how to program a game engine, you just need to collapse yours. This is a very complex and enlightening experience, and it really helps you appreciate everything that happens in commercial games.

If you work in only one area or want to become a specialist in only one area, I think XNA is a great way to focus on this. AI, graphics, whatever.

I think the transition to C ++ is inevitable, although if the ultimate goal is to explode in the gaming industry. So, do you want to be an art specialist or a gameplay specialist? Do you want to write engine functionality? Do you want to deeply understand how the main systems interact as a whole? The answer to these questions will help you decide whether to jump right at the C ++ level or feel like with XNA.