Synopses & Reviews
Create your own high-caliber games with some of the same tools used by professional game developers! If you have a working knowledge of C or C++, then "Game Programming All in One, 2nd Edition" can get you started on your journey. It uses hands-on projects to explain each new subject and includes many sample programs to reinforce the material in each chapter. Begin by learning about cross-platform game programming, writing code that will run under Windows®, Linux®, Mac OS® X, and many other systems. Enhance your skills by working through the core features of the Allegro game library and writing code to load images, manipulate sprites, scroll the background, use double-buffering, read a joystick, detect collisions, and implement other core features of any game. You will gain experience by creating a complete game and adding features to it in each new chapter. You will also learn how to write a scrolling platform game and a vertical shooter.
Synopsis
Game Programming All in One, Third Edition gives aspiring game programmers the skills that are needed to create professional-quality games. If you have a working knowledge of C or C++ and are ready to expand your skills into the field of game programming, then get ready to begin your journey with this latest edition! You won't cover the topic of programming in general, but rather the specifics of programming for games. Using the cross-platform Allegro game library, you'll learn how to write complete games that will run on almost any operating system. Both Windows? and Linux? screenshots are displayed throughout. Using the techniques taught within this book and the tools included on the CD-ROM, you'll be able to write standard Windows and DirectX? programs without the cost of an expensive compiler.
About the Author
Jonathan S. Harbour has been an avid gamer and programmer for 17 years, having started with a Ti-99, Commodore PET, and a Tandy 1000. In 1994, he earned a B.S. in computer science. He has since earned the position of senior programmer with 7 years of formal programming experience. Jonathan is a member of the "Starflight III" team, working with the original designers and other volunteers on a sequel to the first two Starflight games (using Allegro), originally published by Electronic Arts in 1985 and 1989, respectively. He has professional-level experience in graphical user interface design and 2D and 3D graphics programming, as well as TCP/IP socket programming and Internet protocols. In addition, he has released the retail Pocket PC games "Pocket Trivia" and "Perfect Match". Harbour has also authored "Pocket PC Game Programming" (0761530576), "Visual Basic Game Programming with Dir
Table of Contents
Part 1: Introduction to Cross-Platform Game Programming 1. Demystifying Game Development 2. Getting Started with Dev-C++ and Allegro 3. Basic 2D Graphics Programming with Allegro 4. Writing Your First Allegro Game 5. Programming the Keyboard, Mouse, and Joystick Part 2: 2D Game Theory, Design, and Programming 6. Introduction to Game Design 7. Basic Bitmap Handling and Blitting 8. Basic Sprite Programming: Drawing Scaled, Flipped, Rotated, Pivoted, and Translucent Sprites 9. Advanced Sprite Programming: Compiled Sprites, Collision Detection, and Animation 10. Programming Tile-Based Backgrounds with Scrolling 11. Timers, Interrupt Handlers, and Multithreading 12. Creating A Game World: Editing Tiles and Levels 13. Vertical Scrolling "Arcade Games" 14. Horizontal Scrolling "Platform Games" Part 3: Taking It to the Next Level 15. Mastering the Audible Realm: Allegro's Sound Support 16. Using Data Files to Store Game Resources 17. Playing FLIC Movies 18. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 19. The Mathematical Side of Games 20. Introduction to Physics Modeling 21. Publishing Your Game Appendices A: Chapter Quiz Answers B: Useful Tables C: Numbering Systems: Binary and Hexadecimal D: Recommended Books and Web Sites E: Configuring Allegro for Visual C++ and Other Compilers F: Compiling the Allegro Source Code G: Using the CD-ROM