I'm doing a game in C#/XNA for my PHD thesis. It is "space diablo" basically, a twitch space shooter with RPG aspects similar to Star Control 2/3. I'd like to make a it mini-mmog with maybe 100-ish players per server. The research aspect is 'automatic content generation', in this case, all the weapons in the game will be unique, and evolved based on what weapons players use the most often. Artificial neural networks control the weapons and evolution of the weapons.
So far XNA seems very easy if you have any experience with OpenGL or DirectX. I got a 3D renderer, mouse+KB input, decent camera system, sound, and a particle system working in a few weeks, with 0 prior XNA or C# experience. I think the main thing XNA has going for is there are Microsoft produced examples for virtually everything. If OpenGL put out some tutorials that were as well done and easy to follow, it would be a hell of a lot more popular.
BTW, if anyone is decent with 3D Studio or Mod Tool (or anything that enables you to re-texture .max or .3ds files), I need these models re-textured:
player ships ai ships
The textures are ok, but somewhat bland. I want them more vivid like the models that ship with the XNA Space Wars demo.