Foreword by Tom Miller
Developer, XNA Game Studio Express, Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft XNA Unleashed provides comprehensive coverage and solid instruction on how to leverage the XNA Framework to create high quality games for Windows and the Xbox 360. The author shows you how to take full advantage of the many features the XNA Framework provides; you will learn the intricacies of important tasks such as adding sound and music to games, as well as creating, loading, and texturing 3D objects. In addition to providing coverage of 2D programming, the author shows you how to create sophisticated 3D games. All the important topics such as physics, artificial intelligence, and special effects are covered in detail. Chad Carter is the CTO at Robertson Marketing Group. Many Fortune 500 companies use the ecommerce system he architected and developed from the ground up for the promotional business sector. He has been creating DirectX applications since 1996 and has developed games using Managed DirectX. Chad created a 3D locomotive simulator for Norfolk Southern that is used to teach children to obey railroad crossings signals. Chad’s website devoted to the XNA Framework can be found at www.xnaessentials.com.
Learn how to install and use XNA Game Studio Express
Discover how to build, deploy, and debug games for the Xbox 360 and Windows
Examine the XNA Framework in depth: 2D, 3D, sound, input, and HLSL
Learn how to create game components and game services
Delve into performance tuning techniques
Discover how to extend the Content Pipeline
Learn how to use the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) to add sound and music to games
Create a full 2D parallax side-scroller game
Discover how to use sprite batches
Learn to make the most of sprite fonts
Create 2D components such as splash screens and progress bars
Examine the different sprite batch blending modes
Discover 2D cel animation
Examine the High Level Shader Language (HLSL) in detail covering basic HLSL as well as vertex deformations and post-processing effects
Create a full 3D game that includes a 2D radar in the Heads Up Display (HUD), and much, much more
CD-ROM includes
• All C# examples and source code presented in this book.
• Explosion Generator tool for generating explosion animations.
Introduction
Part I Get Up and Running with XNA on Your PC and Xbox 360
1 Introducing XNA and XNA Game Studio Express
2 XNA and the Xbox 360
3 Performance Considerations
Part II Understanding XNA Basics
4 Creating 3D Objects
5 Input Devices and Cameras
Part III Content Pipeline
6 Loading and Texturing 3D Objects
7 Sound and Music
8 Extending the Content Pipeline
Part IV 2D in XNA
9 2D Basics
10 2D Effects
11 Creating a 2D Game
Part V High Level Shader Language
12 HLSL Basics
13 Advanced HLSL
Part VI Physics and Artificial Intelligence
14 Physics Basics
15 Finite State Machines and Game State Management
16 AI Algorithms
Part VII 3D Effects
17 Advanced Texturing Techniques
18 Special Effects
19 Particle System
Part VIII Putting It Into Practice
20 Creating a 3D Game
21 Improving the Game
22 Finishing Touches
Index
