When XNA 3 came out, Microsoft made good on the promises that attracted me to XNA in the first place. Owners of an Xbox 360 could download community games sold by indie developers. I was working on Megaman HD at the time, and it occurred to me that if I weren't using IP owned by Capcom, I could participate in the community. Earning money was a selling point, too, but not nearly as much as the idea of having others play my game - Community Games was a distribution method with serious potential.
But I didn't want to throw out the work I had achieved in Megaman HD. And I certainly didn't want to recode a engine. The decision to keep working on a platformer was made with almost no thought to alternatives. But I needed a new setting, preferably something not done to death. And there was enough meat on the bone with the engine that I felt comfortable expanding the gameplay a bit. I playfully asked my wife for a setting idea. She suggested an alien infested space station. I remember grimacing. It had been done to death. Her next suggestion was for a western themed game - and my face lit up. I loved it instantly. While there are more hours in the western genre of movies than hours in the actual time period, there were (and are still) few games. I can name a few, but nothing in the platformer genre. I had just finished reading The Luck of Roaring Camp, and I already had some vague ideas for how to go about creating a setting.
Sixchamber Quicksilver is an exploration game, like Metroid. It contains elements of literary realism, including a few twists I'd like to keep out of public domain. There is a powerup system like the recent portable Castlevanias. I've modified the Megaman HD level editor, and I've already gone far beyond what I had accomplished with the Megaman HD project.
In many ways, Sixchamber Quicksilver represents my first realistic attempt to create a whole game. I know that there is much left to be done, but I work towards it persistently and with clear vision. Hopefully, by the time I graduate, I'll be able to boast that my game is available to the the masses.
