Beginning C++ Through Game Programming, Fourth Edition

This completely updated fourth edition of the popular BEGINNING GAME PROGRAMMING will introduce you to the fascinating world of game programming for Windows using Visual Studio 2012 and DirectX 11. The book requires only a basic understanding of the C++ language and provides a solid introduction to DirectX 11 programming. You’ll learn the basics of making sprite-based games without getting bogged down in complex 3D rendering. The instruction is step-by-step, building as you go. Even if you’re new to the subject, you will be able to follow along, learning how to take your game ideas from concept to reality using today’s standard professional game-creation tools. At the end of the book, you will put your new skills to use creating your own complete, fully functional game. Get started in game programming today, with BEGINNING GAME PROGRAMMING, FOURTH EDITION. The fourth edition of Beginning Game Programming has been released to celebrate it's 10th anniversary! First published in 2004, this book has been a mainstay for aspiring DirectX programmers and teachers around the world. This new edition updates the source code to Visual Studio 2013 without losing the reader with advanced techniques in the latest versions of DirectX (version 12 recently announced). Instead, this book sticks to the basics like it always has, covering the mainstay of PC development with strict and reliable lessons in DirectX 9.0c. The beginning reader who is likely new to the C++ language as well as to game programming, will find the advanced topics in the latest versions of DirectX completely indecipherable. For this reason, Beginning Game Programming keeps it simple and understandable, maintaining the high quality of previous editions while updating support for Microsoft's latest development environment. "You have to start somewhere", but that somewhere doesn't have to be hard! Teachers will appreciate the consistency of this new edition as well as improvements to the sample projects. Coming up from the 3rd edition, the chapters remain in the same order, but the source code for every project has been updated and verified with several rounds of heavy technical review. The most notable improvement in this edition is the readability! All of the figures have been enlarged to clearly illustrate the tutorials on using Visual Studio, especially when creating and configuring C++ projects--which can be very difficult to the uninitiated. The chapters on 3D rendering have also been greatly improved with more concise explanations and simpler examples showing how to render a stock mesh and loaded model with a simple pixel/vertex shader. Advanced, complex treatment of shaders is strictly avoided in this Beginning title, with suggestions for further reading provided instead. So, you're an aspiring game programmer or designer, perhaps with no prior experience with DirectX, perhaps not with C++ either. Where do you begin? RIGHT HERE! "This completely updated fourth edition of the popular Beginning Game Programming will introduce you to the fascinating world of game programming for Windows using Visual Studio 2013 and DirectX. The book requires only a basic understanding of the C++ language and provides a solid introduction to DirectX programming. You'll learn the basics of making sprite-based games without getting bogged down in complex 3D rendering. The instruction is step-by-step, building as you go. Even if you're new to the subject, you will be able to follow along, learning how to take your game ideas from concept to reality using today's standard professional game-creation tools. At the end of the book, you will put your new skills to use creating your own complete, fully functional game. Get started in game programming today, with Beginning Game Programming, fourth edition." -- Unedited summary from book "This completely updated fourth edition of the popular Beginning Game Programming will introduce you to the fascinating world of game programming for Windows using Visual Studio 2013 and DirectX. The book requires only a basic understanding of the C++ language and provides a solid introduction to DirectX programming. You'll learn the basics of making sprite-based games without getting bogged down in complex 3D rendering. The instruction is step-by-step, building as you go. Even if you're new to the subject, you will be able to follow along, learning how to take your game ideas from concept to reality using today's standard professional game-creation tools. At the end of the book, you will put your new skills to use creating your own complete, fully functional game. Get started in game programming today, with Beginning Game Programming, fourth edition." --Publisher's description Annotation When it comes to game programming, C++ is the name of the game. If you aspire to move from game player to game creator, it all starts with learning the fundamentals of C++ and game-programming basics. With BEGINNING C++ THROUGH GAME PROGRAMMING, FOURTH EDITION, you will find an up-to-date and thorough introduction to everything you need to get started--with no previous programming experience required. In the new fourth edition of this popular guide to learning C++, you will work with a complete program while learning each new concept and a game program at the end of each chapter. A final game project at the end of the book draws together everything you've learned. Written with the beginning programmer in mind, BEGINNING C++ THROUGH GAME PROGRAMMING, FOURTH EDITION is a great way to get started in game programming Annotation;Types, Variables, and Standard I/O: Lost Fortune -- Truth, Branching, and the Game Loop: Guess My Number -- for Loops, Strings, and Arrays: Word Jumble -- The Standard Template Library: Hangman -- Functions: Mad Lib -- References: Tic-Tac-Toe -- Pointers: Tic-Tac-Toe 2.0 -- Classes: Critter Caretaker -- Advanced Classes and Dynamic Memory: Game Lobby -- Inheritance and Polymorphism: Blackjack -- Appendix A: Creating Your First C++ Program -- Appendix B: Operator Precedence -- Appendix C: Keywords -- Appendix D: ASCII Chart -- Appendix E: Escape Sequences. When it comes to game programming, C++ is the name of the game. If you aspire to move from game player to game creator, it all starts with learning the fundamentals of C++ and game-programming basics. This book presents an introduction to what you need to get started-with no previous programming experience required.