So for the past few weeks, maybe month..lost count. I've been learning C# and working on a text based game. At this point I want to see if I can build a 2D game using XNA. The game I hope to create would be somewhat similar to the Zelda series on Gameboy or Earthbound, which are great games.
And so, I have a couple of questions:

Could I use the code from my text based game?
What programs or tools will I need?
Are there any tutorials you would recommend? Got any tips or pointers?
I see there is a XNA workshop on this forum. Is it too late to follow along or just not quite for beginners?

That's all the question I can think of now.
Thank you for any replies

For tools: Google and download Visual C# 2010 express, and XNA studios, both of them are free.

I know XNA has some starter kits out, which you can learn from or expand off of.
http://create.msdn.c...on/starterkits/ -- One is a RPG starter kit, similar to what, you wanted to make.

If you want to start from scratch, attempt making a tile engine might be a good start? And keep adding additional features.

Also, the reusability of your code from, your text game all depends on, how well the code is written.
If you are a beginner like me, it might be hard to rip the guts out, and just use it in your next project.

I found this from their official webpage: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb203893.aspx#Y1254

And this is what i messed around with when i were using xna a while ago: http://www.xnadevelopment.com/tutorials.shtml

Well, alot depends on how you've coded your text engine and how you've set up your equivalent "world space". Either way, you should be able to take advantage of the various example XNA projects and extend them to suit your needs. One thing though, is you'll need either some sort of Tile editor or you'll need to delve heavily into the area of procedural generation to generate worlds or levels. The latter isnt newbie friendly, but if you're dedicated, you can do it. As far as tile editors go, there are quite a few out there you could take advantage of, and then convert their outputs to your game's graphics engine.

A good one to look into would be the Tiled Map Editor from http://www.mapeditor.org/

Good Luck!

When it comes to 2D games you will find the biggest chore will be the tile sets you use. I dont suggest you use the RPG xna builder thing that was suggested for the reason that it implements scripting, which is hard to understand and takes away from understanding exactly whats going on under the hood. The hardest part about building an attractive and fun 2d game is the art assets. Quite literally you will spend 90 percent of your time doing the art if you dont have artists helping you out. Which sprites are a pain in the ass in my experience. If you want to get a good foot in the door on tile maps. xnaresources.com and riemers.net have really good tutorials regarding xna in general. Although riemers is a bit intimidating for a newcomer in programming. Ummmm some books i would recommend for 2d games would be XNA 4.0 Game development by example which is the author hosts xnaresources.com. Reading the few xna books out there will really help you get a grasp of xna and game development in general. Also if your still new to C# going through the tutorials on Csharp-station.com would be highly recommended.

If you are just learning C# and XNA, a Zelda game may be aiming too high for a first attempt, IMO. However, don't let that stop you from trying - just don't get too discouraged if things get too time consuming. Here is another tile map editor usable with XNA. I haven't used it personally, but it looks like they provide a short use tutorial on their project site. Also, if you are looking for free tiles, sprites and other assets (at least, free to use as game art, not necessarily in release), you can poke around here.

If you are dead set on rolling your own tile engine + editor, you can watch Nick Gravelyn's tile engine tutorials, it may be somewhat outdated but it's probably still usable with XNA 4.0 with some minor tweaks. Here's one link to his videos.

Thanks for all the replies

I managed to create that tile engine, but I need sprites to work with.
Is it alright to use sprites of game that already exist for my learning purposes? I hear it alright as long as it is not used for commercial purposes, is that true? Also what other limitation or guidelines do I have to follow?

For learning purposes of course you can use any asset you can get your hands on, just be careful if you have something to release that everything is either licenced or public domain.


Do a search for Sprite Sheets for a lot of commercial classing arcade and console game sprite sheets.