Summary:

Start Your Engines: Developing Driving and Racing Games is a unique book that will teach readers everything they need to set up different types of road conditions, create opponents, setuop road hazards, generate weather conditions, manage collisions, and much more. Not only will readers end up with the knowledge and tools they need to create driving and racing games, they get a full featured playable racing game that they can expand and customize with the skills learned in the book The book shows readers how to develop live action interactive racing games with a unique three tired approach. Readers will start off by learning how to build a model for a racing game and then apply the physics to create a simple 2D (flat) game while learning how to create a variety of vehicles, race opponents, and terrain. In tier two, readers learn how to go from 2D to 3D with the same game concepts illustrating how to take the same basic idea for a game (and gameplay) and use modeling tips and tricks to begin customizing features. In the final tier the author takes the concepts of 3D driving games to Mars with data modeled from real Mars terrain. Readers will create a dune buggy race on the planet of Mars and learn to create cool racing action on at a bizarre and treacherous location.

Table of Contents:
1. Start Your Engines – Basic Design Elements
2. Game Architecture for Driving and Racing Games
3. Basic Graphics for Driving and Racing Games
4. Building a Basic 3D Driving Game
5. Game AI and Collision Detection
6. Incorporating Intelligent Opponents
7. Audio for Driving and Racing Games
8. Using Ambient Traffic
9. Physics for Driving and Racing Games
10. Simulating Continuous Time
11. Cinematography for Driving and Racing Games
12. Creating Terrains
13. Designing the Manic Mars Racer Game
14. Coding the Manic Mars Racer Game
15. The Bonus Game – Charged!
Index