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Microsoft XNA is hosting its 2009 Dream-Build-Play Challenge. The challenge gives budding game creators the chance to compete and win up to ,000 in prizes, the opportunity for an Xbox LIVE Arcade publishing agreement and bragging rights. Games can also be published on Xbox LIVE Community Games to make money.
What is XNA?
Microsoft XNA is a free set of development tools for creating games for Xbox 360. XNA Game Studio is a software development environment making it easier to write game code. It doesn’t come with a visual editing environment like a level editor. It’s a set of development tools which includes the XNA development framework, Game Studio (integrated development environment) and a myriad of other tools to code and deploy your game on Windows and Xbox 360. You have to know how to program (in C#). XNA is particularly powerful and you can create quite compelling 3D and 2D gaming experiences with it.
XNA has a comprehensive set of tutorials, starter kits, resources and forums to get started. 3D and 2D content created with game art software such as Maya, 3ds Max and Softimage (including the Mod Tool) can be imported easily using the XNA content pipeline. Head on over to creators.xna.com to find out more about how to start using XNA and make games for Xbox 360.
I’m an artist, not a programmer, how do I get involved?
Simple -- Get in a team! Creating games is not a one-man show (although a few have succeeded). Making games requires people of differing expertise to come together to create the best gaming experiences. You may be a hotshot 2D/3D artist, but you’ll probably need a programmer to get your work playable the way you want it in the game. You’ll also need to call on expertise such as a game designer, sound and music, etc.
The Microsoft XNA Dream-Build-Play Challenge is a great proving ground for doing this, and we encourage students, independents and anyone else in or wanting to get into game development, to participate in this challenge.
If you need a free 3D application to use in the Dream-Build-Play challenge, Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool software (non-commercial usage) is available for download. If you’d like to distribute your game on Xbox LIVE Community Games (commercial use), Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool Pro is available with the Microsoft XNA Creator’s Club Premium membership.
What is the Dream Build Play Challenge?
The 2009 Microsoft XNA Dream-Build-Play Challenge is a chance for you to build a team – or go it alone – to build a groundbreaking game for Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio. You’ll need to register between April 9 – July 6, 2009, and enter your game between July 7 and August 6, 2009.
Where do I get started?
First, visit www.dreambuildplay.com and register your team for the 2009 Dream-Build- Play Challenge
Next, visit creators.xna.com and download XNA Game Studio 3.0 for free
Finally, let the creative juices flow and stating building a winning game