IGDA Ottawa “Indies in the Classroom” March 16, 2011

 Design, develop, do it again.  From Windows to Xbox with XNA  Xbox Live “Indie Games”

 (Hideout! Promotional Video)

 A kid under a cardboard box? What a stupid idea!

 Primary changes: ◦ Cosmetic / GUI ◦ 4:3 vs. 16:9  “Press start to play”  Asynchronous storage ◦ Can load from different devices  Performance ◦ GC the only major platform difference ◦ Use the “XNA Remote Performance Monitor” all through development

 Understand the guidelines and requirements during the design phase ◦ Finding out in the middle of development just wastes time  Embrace the recommended best practices

 “Content is King”  Online marketplaces: driven by trials

 Accidental key presses in menus  Support player’s input preferences  Don’t distract me when I’m playing!