Xbox used to have an incubator program where MS would allow you/your company to access their xbox sdk to develop a game. I was wondering if this program still exists. I haven’t been able to find any current info on it, so I assumed it has been axed. I’m interested in the possibility of porting to a console (xbox or ps2) and would like more info on how to do it. Thanks.
xbox/console game dev question
Vertizor
#2
As far as I can tell, it’s shelved. I applied for the Incubator program back when it was available. I received the paper work (NDA) from Microsoft, sent it in, never heard from them again.
The most I ever got out of them was a packet that described the internals of the XBox, the modified Win2000 kernel, DirectX, and hardware. Basically nothing I couldn’t have found out on my own couple months after when the details were posted on various websites.
My advice to you is just go ahead and learn DirectX programming. For XBox2 there will be a whole new graphics dev platform - a common one that will be the same for desktop computers. It’s kinda like a renamed version of DX, instead of calling it DirectX 10. But in a nutshell if you can write a game for Windows using DirectX it’ll be a lot easier porting it to XBox later on.
bdeda
#3
Have the xbox mods to be able to test your game on the console gone public yet? Isn’t there a hardware modification you have to do to be able to use the box for product testing QA?
Vertizor
#4
The mod basically overrides the code check, which allows people to run their own bootloader and basically run Linux. If you wanted to use the same method to run your own XBox games, you’d still need to know more about the boot process, and you’d still need the appropriate libraries from the SDK.
rendermania
#5
I don’t know much about Xbox or console development, but I’ve developed for PC with Virtools before, and Virtools has an Xbox kit that supposedly lets you develop straight for the console:
http://www.virtools.com/solutions/products/virtools_xboxkit.asp
can’t vouch for the Xbox kit, but Virtools Dev itself is a pretty sexy visual gamedev enviroment. hope this helps.
bdeda
#6
This is what I found out about Virtools xbox kit:
Technical Requirements
[ul]
[li]Virtools Dev 3.0[/li][li] Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon XP[/li][li] Windows 2000/XP[/li][li] 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)[/li][li] DirectX 9 Compatible 2D/3D accelerator with 1.1 hardware vertex and pixel shaders or better[/li][li] The Xbox Development Kit Version 5849 (December, 2003) or higher[/li][li] A green or silver Xbox Development Kit console[/li][li] DirectX 9 specified as Virtools Dev rasterizer for creating shaders [/li][/ul] NOTE: Virtools Xbox Kit is only accessible to Xbox Microsoft Certified Developers.
so you still need to be a certified developer, have the xbox dev kit from ms, and then have Virtools Dev 3.0, which looks sweet, but cost $9500 from one of the distributors (and thats only one seat). The physics and ai add-on kits look interesting too, but cost $7k and 6k respectively.
so, all in all, you have to be loaded to develop high profile games, or have rich friends who are willing to invest in your idea. maybe i’ll just stick to pc game dev.
I’d be interested in hearing any opinions re:virtools and the ai and physics kits if anyone has used those.
ColdFace
#7
We were on the incubator program. It was moving pretty smoothly until one bright spark broke the nda and published everything on a website. Hence the reason it was shelved. Thats why a lot of people who signed the paperwork never heard back because MS closed in a matter of days.
But the other program is “was” still going (I am not positive on this) If you are a small dev team and have a game running on a pc that is designed for the xbox and is about 6 months to completion then you can contact MS. They will send you one full dev kit for you to port the game and finish in 6 months. If ater 6 months they are impressed you may get a contract if not they take the dev kit back.
jaydmax
#8
Not sure if this helps or if this program is still in use, but I stumbled onto this link of xbox’s website. http://www.xbox.com/en-us/dev/default.htm
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