Bring your gaming visions to life with Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express
Create complete 3D games using Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express and this hands-on guide. Written by experienced game developers, Microsoft XNA Game Studio CreatorAnd#39;s Guide details the fundamentals of great game programming and offers detailed examples.
Inside, youAnd#39;ll learn to program a game engine, write shader code, create and animate 3D models, and add fluid motion and special effects. YouAnd#39;ll also find out how to launch ballistics, add realistic scenery and terrain, and integrate lighting and textures. Step-by-step tutorials on underlying C# code and explanations of vector and matrix techniques are included.
Build and dynamically update XNA game windows and custom 3D objects
Learn scintillating animation techniques
Create lifelike skyboxes, textures, lighting, and shading effects
Program shaders using high-level shader language
Develop single- and multi-player games
Generate and code terrain with height detection
Construct impressive graphics using sprites, multi-texturing, and blending
Integrate audio, game dashboards, and score tracking
Develop realistic collision detection, ballistics, and particle effects
HaHHhhndle keyboard, mouse, and game controller input
Create static *.fbx and animated Quake 2 models and control them in code
Masterminds of Programming features exclusive interviews with the creators of several historic and highly influential programming languages. In this unique collection, you'll learn about the processes that led to specific design decisions, including the goals they had in mind, the trade-offs they had to make, and how their experiences have left an impact on programming today. Masterminds of Programming includes individual interviews with:
Adin D. Falkoff: APL
Thomas E. Kurtz: BASIC
Charles H. Moore: FORTH
Robin Milner: ML
Donald D. Chamberlin: SQL
Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan: AWK
Charles Geschke and John Warnock: PostScript
Bjarne Stroustrup: C++
Bertrand Meyer: Eiffel
Brad Cox and Tom Love: Objective-C
Larry Wall: Perl
Simon Peyton Jones, Paul Hudak, Philip Wadler, and John Hughes: Haskell
Guido van Rossum: Python
Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo and Roberto Ierusalimschy: Lua
James Gosling: Java
Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson, and James Rumbaugh: UML
Anders Hejlsberg: Delphi inventor and lead developer of C#
If you're interested in the people whose vision and hard work helped shape the computer industry, you'll find Masterminds of Programming fascinating.