NET game programming with DirectX 9.0 [VB .NET edition

Written in easy-to-understand language, this book is a must-read if you'd like to create out-of-the-ordinary, yet simple games. Authors Alexandre Lobao and Ellen Hatton demonstrate the ease of producing multimedia games with Managed DirectX 9.0 and programming the games with Visual Basic .NET on the Everett version of Microsoft's Visual Studio. The authors emphasize simplicity, but still explore important concepts of Managed DirectX 9.0, such as Direct3D, DirectSound, DirectMusic (using the COM interface), DirectInput (including force-feedback joysticks), DirectShow, and DirectPlay. Additional chapters discuss game programming technologies: Speech API for generating character voices, GDI+ for simple games, and multithreading. A bonus chapter even shows you how to port a simple game to a Pocket PC. The book includes two chapters' worth of sample games. The first presents a game with simple features; the second extends that game and presents additional concepts. A library of game programming helper classes is also created, step by step, in both chapters. Teaches how to write games using DirectX, discussing such topics as how to create and manage DirectX objects, how to program animation sequences, how to add sound effects, and how to port a simple game to a Pocket PC. The authors of this text show how easy it can be to produce interesting multimedia games using Managed DirectX 9.0 and programming with Visual Basic .NET on Everett, the latest version of Microsoft's Visual Studio. Here is an easy and fun way to become familiar with the .NET platform while learning all about game programming