Beginning . NET Game Programming in C#

BACK A FEW YEARS AGO I HAD AN IDEA. What if I could make the power of the DirectX API available to the developers who were going to be using the new set of lan- guages and common language runtime that Microsoft was developing? The idea was intriguing, and opening up a larger portion of the world to DirectX was a goal I was only too happy to endorse. Besides, what developer doesn't want to write games? It seems that at least once a week I am answering questions directly regard- ing the performance of managed code, and Managed DirectX in particular. One of the more common questions I hear is some paraphrase of "Is it as fast as unmanaged code?" Obviously in a general sense it isn't. Regardless of the quality of the Managed DirectXAPI, the fact remains that it still has to run through the same DirectXAPI that the unmanaged code does. There is naturally going to be a slight overhead for this, but does it have a large negative impact on the majority of applications? Of course it doesn't. No one is suggesting that one of the top-of-the-line polygon pushing games coming out today (say, Half Life 2 or Doom 3) should be written in Managed DirectX, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a whole slew of games that could be. I'll get more to that in just a few moments.

if You Are Interested In Writing Computer Games Or Simulations In .net, Then The Apress Book beginning .net Game Programming Will Prove To Be A Valuable Resource.

— Kevin Wittmer, Dot Net Developer's Journal

the Authors Use A Very Friendly Voice, And Cite Several Well-known Games As Exhibits Of The Fundamentals They Describe Throughout The Text.

— Jason Salas, Microsoft Mvp, Asp.net

this Long-awaited Title Provides A Clear Introduction To Game Programming For You, C# Programmers! Microsoft Insiders Have Written An Easy-to-read Guide, So You Can Start Programming Games Quickly. This Book Even Includes An Introduction To Managed Directx9, And Other Advanced .net Features, Like Animation And Sounds.

code Examples Are Actually Complete Games, And Include .nettrix , .netterpillars, River Pla.net, Magic Kindergarten., D-infect, Nettrix Ii (for The Pocket Pc), And A Version Of The Classic Game, Spacewars.

* Adapted for C# by key Microsoft Insiders from a previous bestseller--Lead author is the .NET Game evangelist at Microsoft! * An easy-to-read, soup-to-nuts guide that helps you start programming games fast * Packed with code examples that are complete games, Beginning .NET Game Programming in C# includes an introduction to Managed DirectX 9 and is also an introduction to exciting advanced features of .NET, including the Speech API to generate voices, synchronizing mouth animations with generated sounds, the .NET Compact Framework, data access with ADO.NET, collision detection, and artificial intelligence. * Includes complete code listings and applications for all games included in the .Nettrix (a Tetris clone), .Netterpillars (a Snakes clone), River Pla.Net (River Raid clone), Magic KindergarteN., D-iNfEcT, and Nettrix II (for the Pocket PC) as well as a version of the classic game Spacewars and a "Twisty Cube" game that did not appear in the VB .NET version. Front Matter....Pages i-xxvi .Nettrix: GDI+ and Collision Detection....Pages 1-64 .Netterpillars: Artificial Intelligence and Sprites....Pages 65-138 Managed DirectX First Steps: Direct3D Basics and DirectX vs. GDI+....Pages 139-205 Space Donuts: Sprites Revisited....Pages 207-242 Spacewar!....Pages 243-268 Spacewar3D: Meshes and Buffers and Textures, Oh My!....Pages 269-323 Adding Visual Effects to Spacewar3D....Pages 325-339 Taking Your Next Steps....Pages 341-348 Porting .Nettrix to Pocket PC....Pages 349-367 Back Matter....Pages 369-414 This long-awaited title provides a clear introduction to game programming for you, C# programmers! Microsoft insiders have written an easy-to-read guide, so you can start programming games quickly. This book even includes an introduction to Managed DirectX 9, and other advanced .NET features, like animation and sounds. Code examples are actually complete games, and include .Nettrix, .Netterpillars, River Pla.NET, Magic KindergarteN, D-iNfEcT, Nettrix II (for the Pocket PC), and a version of the classic game, Spacewars. "Because DirectX 9 is accessible to .NET, you can now write fantastic games without the pain of complex C++ code!"--Back cover note