Image via Wikipedia

The latest version of XNA has been out for a little over a week now, and surely that's enough time for XNA fans to really start cranking things out with it. One of the neat new additions with XNA 3.0 is a starter kit, for building a platform game. (Remember the classic Sonic and Mario games? Fun times.)

Anyway, last weekend, as I was arranging to get the new/old computer from my brother, my friend Terry and I took a look at the starter kit. It actually looks pretty neat, and is complete with starter graphics, sound, and levels. It even has an enemy or two thrown in.

It's a great starting point. But, like any starter kit should be, that's all it is. There are changes to be made in order to create a complete game from it. For example, enemies are currently invincible, and contact with them kills you. Which is okay, as there are infinite lives (i.e. add a life counter). Levels are restricted to a single screen, rather than scroll to multiple screens. Et cetera.

I'm going to mess around with the starter kit, and see how it can be turned into a complete game. However, I'm sure there's still many people out there who've already begun that process. What have you come up with, so far? Let's see your games in progress!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Microsoft kicks off the era of user-generated console games
• Initial impressions on the XNA 3.0 Platformer Starter Kit