Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming in 24 Hours

Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming in 24 Hours......Page 2
Copyright © 2003 by Sams Publishing......Page 3
Contents at a Glance......Page 4
Table of Contents......Page 6
About the Author......Page 17
About the Technical Editor......Page 18
We Want to Hear from You!......Page 20
Introduction......Page 22
How This Book Is Structured......Page 23
What You’ll Need......Page 24
PART I Getting Started......Page 26
HOUR 1 Learning the Basics of Game Creation......Page 28
Getting to Know Video Games......Page 29
Game Design Essentials......Page 32
Object-Oriented Programming and Games......Page 38
Exploring the Tools of the Trade......Page 41
Summary......Page 42
Q&A......Page 43
Workshop......Page 44
HOUR 2 A Windows Game Programming Primer......Page 46
Windows Programming Essentials......Page 47
Peeking Inside a Windows Program......Page 51
Building the Skeleton Example Program......Page 58
Summary......Page 64
Workshop......Page 65
HOUR 3 Creating an Engine for Games......Page 66
What Is a Game Engine?......Page 67
Pondering the Role of a Game Engine......Page 68
Developing a Game Engine......Page 71
Building the Game Skeleton Example Program......Page 81
Q&A......Page 87
Workshop......Page 88
HOUR 4 Learning to Draw Basic Graphics......Page 90
Graphics Essentials......Page 91
Examining Graphics in Windows......Page 94
Painting Windows......Page 97
Building the Trippy Example Program......Page 105
Summary......Page 109
Workshop......Page 110
HOUR 5 Drawing Graphical Images......Page 112
The Basics of Bitmap Images......Page 113
Peeking Inside a Bitmap......Page 114
Developing a Bitmap Class......Page 115
Building the Slideshow Example Program......Page 120
Summary......Page 128
Workshop......Page 129
PART II Interacting with Game Players......Page 132
HOUR 6 Controlling Games with the Keyboard and Mouse......Page 134
Gaming and User Input......Page 135
Taking a Look at User Input Devices......Page 136
Assessing Keyboard Input for Games......Page 139
Tracking the Mouse......Page 140
Revamping the Game Engine for Input......Page 142
Building the UFO Program Example......Page 147
Workshop......Page 153
HOUR 7 Improving Input with Joysticks......Page 156
Joystick Basics......Page 157
Calibrating Joysticks......Page 158
Tracking Joystick Movements......Page 161
Revamping the Game Engine for Joysticks......Page 164
Building the UFO 2 Program Example......Page 169
Q&A......Page 174
Workshop......Page 175
HOUR 8 Example Game: Brainiac......Page 176
How Does the Game Play?......Page 177
Designing the Game......Page 178
Building the Game......Page 179
Testing the Game......Page 186
Q&A......Page 189
Workshop......Page 190
PART III Animating Games with Sprites......Page 192
HOUR 9 A Crash Course in Game Animation......Page 194
What Is Animation?......Page 195
Types of 2D Animation......Page 197
Applying Animation in Games......Page 203
Q&A......Page 204
Workshop......Page 205
HOUR 10 Making Things Move with Sprites......Page 206
Designing an All-Purpose Sprite......Page 207
Creating the Sprite Class......Page 209
Building the Fore Program Example......Page 216
Q&A......Page 223
Workshop......Page 224
HOUR 11 Managing a World of Sprites......Page 226
Assessing the Need for Sprite Management......Page 227
Designing a Sprite Manager......Page 228
Adding the Sprite Manager to the Game Engine......Page 229
Eliminating Flicker with Double Buffering......Page 235
Building the Fore 2 Program Example......Page 238
Q&A......Page 244
Workshop......Page 245
HOUR 12 Example Game: Henway......Page 246
How Does the Game Play?......Page 247
Designing the Game......Page 249
Building the Game......Page 250
Testing the Game......Page 260
Q&A......Page 262
Workshop......Page 263
PART IV Making Noise with Sound and Music......Page 264
HOUR 13 Getting Acquainted with Digital Sound and Music......Page 266
Understanding Digital Sound......Page 267
Getting to Know Windows Waves......Page 269
Feeling the Music with MIDI......Page 270
Exploring Sound Tools......Page 272
Creating and Editing Sounds......Page 273
Finding Sounds and Music......Page 274
Q&A......Page 275
Workshop......Page 276
HOUR 14 Playing Wave Sounds......Page 278
Playing Wave Sounds......Page 279
Building the Brainiac 2 Program Example......Page 283
Summary......Page 288
Workshop......Page 289
HOUR 15 Playing MIDI Music......Page 292
Using the MCI to Play MIDI Music......Page 293
Adding MIDI Music Support to the Game Engine......Page 297
Building the Henway 2 Program Example......Page 299
Summary......Page 305
Workshop......Page 306
HOUR 16 Example Game: Battle Office......Page 308
Designing the Game......Page 309
Building the Game......Page 312
Testing the Game......Page 323
Q&A......Page 325
Workshop......Page 326
PART V Taking Animation to the Next Level......Page 328
HOUR 17 Animating the Appearance of Sprites......Page 330
Frame Animation Revisited......Page 331
Designing an Animated Sprite......Page 332
Adding Animated Sprite Support to the Game Engine......Page 334
Building the Battle Office 2 Program Example......Page 339
Summary......Page 341
Workshop......Page 342
HOUR 18 Creating Backgrounds for Your Sprites......Page 344
Assessing the Significance of Game Backgrounds......Page 345
Understanding the Types of Game Backgrounds......Page 346
Adding Background Support to the Game Engine......Page 349
Building the Roids Program Example......Page 355
Q&A......Page 360
Workshop......Page 361
HOUR 19 Example Game: Meteor Defense......Page 362
Designing the Game......Page 363
Enhancing Sprites in the Game Engine......Page 366
Building the Game......Page 369
Testing the Game......Page 380
Summary......Page 382
Workshop......Page 383
PART VI Adding Brains to Your Games......Page 386
HOUR 20 Teaching Games to Think......Page 388
Understanding Artificial Intelligence......Page 389
Exploring Types of Game AI......Page 391
Developing an AI Strategy......Page 397
Building the Roids 2 Program Example......Page 398
Summary......Page 403
Workshop......Page 404
HOUR 21 Example Game: Space Out......Page 406
Designing the Game......Page 407
Adding One Last Sprite Feature to the Game Engine......Page 410
Building the Game......Page 412
Testing the Game......Page 426
Summary......Page 428
Workshop......Page 429
PART VII Spicing up Your Games......Page 432
HOUR 22 Adding Pizzazz to Your Game with a Splash Screen......Page 434
The Importance of a Splash Screen......Page 435
Looking Behind a Splash Screen......Page 436
Building the Space Out 2 Game......Page 437
Summary......Page 441
Workshop......Page 442
HOUR 23 Showing Off Your Game with Demo Mode......Page 444
The Nuts and Bolts of Demo Mode......Page 445
Building the Space Out 3 Game......Page 446
Summary......Page 455
Workshop......Page 456
HOUR 24 Keeping Track of High Scores......Page 458
The Significance of Keeping Score......Page 459
Storing and Retrieving High Score Data......Page 460
Building the Space Out 4 Game......Page 463
Summary......Page 472
Workshop......Page 473
PART VIII Appendixes......Page 476
Hour 1, “Learning the Basics of Game Creation”......Page 478
Hour 4, “Learning to Draw Basic Graphics”......Page 479
Hour 7, “Improving Input with Joysticks”......Page 480
Hour 10, “Making Things Move with Sprites”......Page 481
Hour 13, “Getting Acquainted with Digital Sound and Music”......Page 482
Hour 16, “Example Game: Battle Office”......Page 483
Hour 19, “Example Game: Meteor Defense”......Page 484
Hour 21, “Example Game: Space Out”......Page 485
Hour 24, “Keeping Track of High Scores”......Page 486
APPENDIX B Selecting a Game Development Tool......Page 488
Microsoft Visual C++......Page 489
DJGPP......Page 490
INDEX......Page 492