Hi, Just started out learning XNA but a quick question. I read a little about the Xbox One, and they say it will be Indie friendly. But how will you write for it? Since it's confirmed xna is dead by support, and they haven't announced any new framework. How are you suppose to write games for it? Someone suggested just writing games for win8, since that most likely will support xone in some way, but what do you think are the best options?
Sit on the fence and wait for the new "xna", or another route?
MonoGame supports win8 as of now I think, does that mean that it may support xone and that we can proceed making games as of now with xna?
Xbox One dev. language and engine etc?
As Dave said, they havent announced anything.
My personal bet is there will be nothing like XNA for a few years to come, we wont be able to develop for it in the same way XNA was a download and go kinda tool, they will make you pay for a dev kit and the SDK.
These are my opinions, not fact :)
they will make you pay for a dev kit and the SDK.
Actually, they have said you'll be able to use your own XBone for development - no paying for a dev kit for the masses. They just haven't said what kind of tools would be available to us.
Write a game for the WinRT platform as that will run on the xbox one, with the details that have leaked so far for app development it seems that it is a winrt app that you need to build for it.
Details on whether indies are getting access to the GameOS are as of now still unclear.
As Dave said, they havent announced anything.
My personal bet is there will be nothing like XNA for a few years to come, we wont be able to develop for it in the same way XNA was a download and go kinda tool, they will make you pay for a dev kit and the SDK.
These are my opinions, not fact
At least for those who will be granted early access, it appears to be free. In fact, since not every XBox One can be run as a devkit at launch, they're giving two devkits to those who make it through the application process.
You're probably right that it will not be a come-one, come-all kind of experience for some time. Right now they're targetting established, capital-I Indies with a track record of making good games -- Indies of the same kind as Team Meat or Vlambeer -- Not little-i indies like your brother in his basement, or like the XNA community at large. I do honestly believe they want to move towards that, but it may not ever be as open and approachable as XNA was, even if the hurdles are technical (what might be a more-difficult programming model) rather than political.
They've not reveals specifics to the community at large, but people who should know have said with an exaggerated wink that if you want to make an XBox One game, writing a game for windows store would be a great place to start.
look at the windows SDK, remove the "legacy" or useless API (like MFC, win32 gdi graphics, old multimedia api, etc), add winrt plus some "low" and mid-level hw api for the hUMA APU..
Languages? Probably C++ and C# for games (that will probably wrapped with winrt anyway), C++, C#, VB and HDML & JS for metro apps.
Of course add a copious royalty fee for the devkit and the license.
I heard Xbox One will support Unity. So there's that.
Actually, its the other way around. Unity will support Xbox One as a target, but you will probably still need to get a license from Microsoft first, just like with the Xbox 360.
They announced it is their goal, and that it will not be a launch feature. The tools are being distributed right now to groups who have already shipped games. You can sign up for the queue today if you want. From their FAQ:
Of course, we’ll be evaluating each developer application individually on its own merits, but in the initial phase of ID@Xbox, we are looking for professional independent game developers who have a proven track record of shipping games on console, PC, mobile, or tablet. We want to ensure your success in your development effort on Xbox One. Developing and publishing a console game is not trivial!
Our longer term plan is that anyone with a retail Xbox One will be able to develop, publish, and sell their game on Xbox Live.