   Portfolio game advice
  Hello guys,I've been working as a Systems Developer (.NET) for the last couple years straight out of University with the intention to move on into the games industry. I've started several game projects without finishing any for various reasons but learning alot from each of them. I'm quitting my job in April so that I can spend all my time working on getting a job as a game designer. I was wondering if I could get some good advice on the next project which I intend to see through to the bitter end.I have a concept and I'm about to start the design document but I was wondering what platform/language would be best to program on. I intend it to be a 2D game but it will need to use 3D triangles and Vertex/Pixel Shaders. The two choices I have brought it down to are:XNA Studio - easy for me to work with but I'm not sure how people interviewing me would see itC++ DX9 or DX10 - done bits and bobs of this but not a strong c++ programmer so would take me a while to get into the swing of thingsCould anyone with experience give me some guidance on this and any other tips or things I should avoid. Thanks   
  Do you know that DX is accessible through .NET bindings and not just unmanaged vanilla C++? You could use managed DX and C# for example.I suggest you go for the thing you're most comfortable or best at, see the project through to the end and then apply for a job that is asking for the same sort of experience and/or qualifications you have to offer.What I suggest you don't do (for obvious reasons), is pick something you're not so keen at just because you think it'll impress, work on a project but not finish it and then apply for a job whos description isn't really asking for your actual skill set.   ;  You say "game designer", but then talk about programming, and then go on to say that your C++ is not so good. Generally design and programming are separate positions, so although I would totally recommend being both a designer and programmer, if you're just after employment then you should probably focus on one or the other. If you hope to impress with programming, your design doc will be largely worthless, and vice versa.If you want to be a games programmer, you're going to have to sort your C++ out - there's no avoiding that, unless you specifically apply to somewhere that uses one of the other languages, which is very rare, and for that language to be a .NET one is even rarer. So, for programming, C++ is what you'd want to do.For design, it's a bit harder to say, because the responsibilities differ a lot from place to place.   ;  I am looking at becoming a designer, so I'm going to try to make my design document as good as I can possibly make it. I also wasn't sure how much a designer needed to know about programming which Kylotan has answered. I intended the game to show off more the concept/document than my programming skills. I knew that DX9 had managed binding but I totally forgot about it, cheers for the suggestion dmatter I think that may be a genius idea.Thanks for the replies, it has helped me alot. Now I'm off to make grind out a Design Doc/look up Sloper-rama.   