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I'm hoping to make an indie game for digital distribution, but there are so many various game engines that I'm having trouble deciding on one.

Can someone with experience tell me what my best options are if I'm hoping to make a 2D RPG (with action elements; The World Ends With You is likely the closest fit to what I'm trying to make) that can go cross-platform between XBLA, PSN, and PC (Mac and Linux would be nice bonuses, but I don't really see them as necessary)?

Also, I have a few other questions pertaining to a fledgling developer:

  1. Is it wiser to create a sort of "level editor" on my own at first, which would easily allow me to generate my own levels rather than coding them out, or could that actually take up more time than simply hand-coding the levels?

  2. In the interest of not ending up like the Project Zomboid folks, what do most people use for backup? I'm fine with the idea of physical backups, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of online backups, since I feel like if the service is not secure enough, my code could be stolen. Is this a legitimate concern, or are my worries unfounded?

  3. In general, what kind of processes are required to "port" a game to different platforms? Would I have to completely redo all of the assets or just modify key points of code?

Thanks a lot for your help! :)

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Hi, and welcome to the site. Unfortunately, recommendations for which technology to use are off-topic as per the FAQ. There's some good information on how to get started at the Game Programming Wiki. Additionally, some of your other questions have been asked and answered before, and we like to keep each question to a separate question here. You can also ask your questions in chat. – thedaian Mar 1 '12 at 4:00
porting/cross platform: gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/195/… – Tetrad♦ Mar 1 '12 at 4:07

closed as off topic by Nicol Bolas, Tetrad♦ Mar 1 '12 at 4:07

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