Over the past week we began writing the game in XNA, with the primary target being Windows PCs. The initial goal was to get something up and running which looks like the prototype but has a real framework behind it. What we actually did was start creating the level editor for the game, which implements a lot of the same functionality the prototype had.
XNA is surprisingly nice to work in; I was wary about working in a system which is designed more for 3d games, but creating and using sprites is really not a big deal. We started by basically cloning some ideas from Flixel's architecture: we're using groups for sprite layering/organization and we have our game 'screens' split into States, of which only one is enabled at a time.
One thing we're going to have to think about is the actual interface for doing level-editing. We have to strike a balance between ease-of-use and, honestly, development time. I mean, our target audience for the editor at this point is five people. The focus will be more on speed of use for an expert user than reducing the learning curve.
We're making good progress, anyway. I'll post screenshots of the editor in the near future, maybe when it looks a bit prettier :)
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