Summary:

Presented in easy-to-understand language, ".NET Game Programming with DirectX 9.0" is a must-have title for those who want to create out-of-the-ordinary but simple games, but have never had the time to expend reading hard-core game developers books. Lobao and Hatton 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. Although their focus is on simplicity, the authors are able to explore all basic concepts within Managed DirectX 9.0: Direct3D, DirectSound, DirectMusic (using the COM interface), DirectInput (including force-feedback joysticks), DirectShow, and DirectPlay. There are also chapters covering other technologies that can be used for game programming: the Speech API to generate game characters' voices, multithreading, and GDI+ for simple games. A bonus chapter shows how to port a simple game to Pocket PC. Sample games are presented over two chapters throughout the book. The first chapter presents the game with simple features, and the second chapter extends the game while presenting new concepts. A library of game programming helper classes is also created, step-by-step, in each chapter. AUTHOR BIO Alexandre Santos Lobão has been a non-professional game developer since 1981, when he got his first computer at 12 years of age. He received a bachelor's degree in Computer Science in 1991, from the University of Braslia. When he was attending the University, he helped to develop a graphics program and a computer graphics language (LAFITH - Hierarchical Animation Language for Three-dimensional Figures), which organizes objects in a hierarchical way and calculates the results of forces over the objects, giving them velocity and acceleration. This language was presented in many Brazilian conferences, and at the international conference, Compugraphics, in Sesimbra, in 1991.In 2000, he published his first book, The Box of Pandora and Other Stories, with short stories. Although he has written many technical articles, this is his first technical book. Ellen Hatton is currently completing a computer science degree at Edinburgh University. She was exposed to computers at a very early age and has been fascinated with them ever since. Her first experience of computer games was playing Dread Dragon Doom, at which she quickly excelled, at the age of 5. She's been hooked on games ever since. Ellen is not only interested in computers. She skis frequently, amongst participating in other sports, and enjoys general student life in the bustling Scottish capital, Edinburgh. As her choice of study suggests, Ellen still finds computers very interesting and is constantly looking for new challenges. This book is the latest.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: .Nettrix: GDI+ and Collision Detection
Chapter 2: .Netterpillars: Artificial Intelligence and Sprites
Chapter 3: Managed DirectX First Steps: Direct3D Basics and DirectX vs. GDI+
Chapter 4: River Pla.Net: Tiled Game Fields, Scrolling, and DirectAudio
Chapter 5: River Pla.Net II: DirectInput and Writing Text to Screen
Chapter 6: Magic KindergarteN.: Adventure Games, ADO.NET, and DirectShow
Chapter 7: Magic KindergarteN. II: Animation Techniques and Speech API
Chapter 8: .Netterpillars II: Multiplayer Games and DirectPlay
Chapter 9: D-iNfEcT: Multithreading, Nonrectangular Windows, and Access to Nonmanaged Code
Bonus Chapter: Porting .Nettrix to Pocket PC
Appendix A: The State of PC Gaming
Appendix B: Motivations in Games
Appendix C: How Do I Make Games?
Appendix D: Guidelines for Developing Successful Games