Learning Windows 8 Game Development

Michael Quandt

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781849697446
• Topic: Ciencia de la computación
• Subtopic: Desarrollo de aplicaciones

In Detail

With the recent success of a lot of smaller games, game development is quickly becoming a great field to get in to. Mobile and PC games are on the rise, and having a way to create a game for all types of devices without rewriting everything is a huge benefit for the new Windows 8 operating system. In this book, you will learn how to use cutting-edge technologies like DirectX and tools that will make creating a game easy. This book also allows you to make money by selling your games to the world.

Learning Windows 8 Game Development teaches you how to create exciting games for tablets and PC on the Windows 8 platform. Make a game, learn the techniques, and use them to make the games you want to play. Learn about graphics, multiplayer options, how to use the Proximity + Socket APIs to add local multiplayer, how to sell the game outright, and In-App Purchases.

Learning Windows 8 Game Development guides you from the start of your journey all the way to developing games for Windows by showing you how to develop a game from scratch and sell it in the store.With Learning Windows 8 Game Development, you will learn how to write the code required to set everything up, get some graphics on screen, and then jump into the fun part of adding gameplay to turn a graphics sample into a proper game. From there, youll look at how to add awesome features to your game like networking, motion controls, and even take advantage of new Windows 8 features like live tiles and sharing to make your players want to challenge their friends and keep playing.

This book wraps up by covering the only way a good game can finish development: by shipping the game on the Windows Store. Youll look at the things to remember to make certification painless and some great tips on how to market and sell your game to the public.

Approach

A standard practical tutorial running people through Windows 8 RT with a specific focus on game development is the approach chosen here. This type of approach will more likely appeal to an audience that is in need of a structured guide that they can emulate and learn from, unlike the usual reference text available in the market.

Who this book is for

Learning Windows 8 Game Development is for any developer looking to branch out and make some games. Its assumed that you will have an understanding of C++ and programming. If you want to program a game, this book is for you, as it will provide a great overview of Direct3D and Windows 8 game development and will kick-start your journey into 3D development.

Learning Windows 8 Game Development

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Table of Contents

Learning Windows 8 Game Development

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

www.PacktPub.com

Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more

Why Subscribe?

Free Access for Packt account holders

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

NuGet and DirectXTK

MSDN

Languages and other resources

WinRT

Components

Threading

C++ Component Extensions

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the example code

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Getting Started with Direct3D

Setting up the stage

Applications and windows

Structuring each frame

Initializing the Direct3D API

Graphics device

Device context

Swap chain

Render target, depth stencil, and viewport

Down the graphics pipeline

Understanding the game loop

Updating the simulation

Drawing the world

Clearing the screen

Presenting the back buffer

Summary

2. Drawing 2D Sprites

Installing DirectXTK

What a sprite is

Textures

File formats

Loading

Co-ordinate systems

Drawing the sprites

Sorting modes

Finishing the batch

Vectors

Text rendering

TTF versus BMP

Building the font

Drawing the font

Summary

3. Adding the Input

Input devices

Pointers

Keyboard input

GamePad input

Multiple controllers

Buttons

Deadzones and thumbsticks

Summary

4. Adding the Play in the Gameplay

Structuring a game

Traditional object-oriented design

Components and entities

Putting it all together

Subsystems

Refining the input system

Trigger

Action

InputManager

Triggers

Renderer

Resource management

Culling

Implementation

Collision detection

Rectangle collision

Fighting for score

Summary

5. Tilting the World

Orientation

Accelerometer

Shaking things up a bit

Spinning with gyros

Compass

Inclinometer

Orientation for games

Practice makes perfect

Other sensors

Light

Locking on with a GPS

Status

Position

Polling

Summary

6. Bragging Rights

Game state and progression

Sharing in Windows 8

WinRT components

Live tiles

Summary

7. Playing Games with Friends

A better menu system

Networking

Choosing between client/server and peer-to-peer models

The client/server model

The peer-to-peer model

Maybe a hybrid?

The first stage

Using the PeerFinder

Communicating the gameplay

TCP – StreamSocket

UDP – DatagramSocket

Reading and writing data

Side note – Async

The DataReader

The DataWriter

Summary

8. Getting into the Store

Getting into the store

Free accounts

Submitting your game

GDF Certificates

App packages

Capabilities

Adding a privacy policy

Declarations

Certification kit

Creating your app packages

Uploading and submitting

Certification tips

Privacy

Features

Legacy APIs

Debug

WACK

Summary

9. Monetization

Selling your games

Monetization models

The freemium model

The traditional model

The hybrid model

The trial mode

In-app purchases

The consumables

Testing with the simulator

Summary

A. Adding the Third Dimension

Vertices and triangles

Indices

Cameras

DirectXMath

Buffers

Building the vertex and index buffers

Setting the buffers

Using the buffers

Constant buffers

Updating the buffers

Mapping the buffer

The UpdateSubresource() method

Shaders

Vertex shaders

Pixel shaders

Compiling and loading

Input layouts

Drawing the model

Setting the buffers and drawing

Summary

Index

Learning Windows 8 Game Development

Copyright © 2013 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: October 2013

Production Reference: 1181013

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-84969-744-6

www.packtpub.com

Cover Image by Suresh Mogre (<[email protected]>)

Credits

Author

Michael Quandt

Reviewers

Anthony E. Alvarez

Laurent Couvidou

Hexuan

Andrei Marukovich

Mark Sinnathamby

Acquisition Editor

Antony Lowe

Lead Technical Editor

Chalini Snega Victor

Technical Editors

Vrinda Nitesh Bhosale

Ritika Singh

Project Coordinator

Kranti Berde

Proofreaders

Lawrence A. Herman

Christopher Smith

Indexer

Monica Ajmera Mehta

Graphics

Ronak Dhruv

Yuvraj Mannari

Production Coordinator

Prachali Bhiwandkar

Cover Work

Prachali Bhiwandkar

About the Author

Michael Quandt has been working with games, from XNA to DirectX to Unity, as a hobbyist and professional for four years. He has spoken at local game development conferences and workshops while working with Microsoft Australia as a Technical Evangelist. Since then he has contributed to the translation of multiple major franchise games to the Windows Store platform, and continues to work with local developers and students to get them involved in game development and bringing their best to the Windows platform.

About the Reviewers

Anthony E. Alvarez is a native New Yorker. His hobbies include photography, singing, and cooking. He is a food activist and a political atheist. He loves the great outdoors and travelling.

Anthony has held positions such as Software Engineer, Webmaster, Unix Administrator, Customer Service Representative, Marketing Systems Manager, and Salesforce.com Database Administrator. He speaks three foreign languages: Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.

After returning from a study abroad scholarship in Guangzhou, China, Anthony changed his major to Asian Studies. While attending university, he worked at IBM for three semesters where he developed presentation materials for field sales teams. After graduating CCNY with a Bachelors degree in Arts (BA), Anthony was hired as a computer consultant by a Japanese Architecture company. His clients included Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), IBM Japan, Taisei Construction, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), Budweiser Japan, and Polaroid Japan.

After working three years in Tokyo, Anthony returned to the USA and settled in the Boston Metro area. He was employee number 3 of a startup company specializing in e-commerce projects. Anthony taught adult education courses on e-commerce.

Four years later, Anthony moved to Atlanta to become the first webmaster at Panasonic Wireless Research and Design Center (PMCDU). The company was designing a flagship smart phone for the American market.

Moving to New Jersey, he held the position of a web marketing manager at Casio America, Inc.

Currently a director at Pucho Web Solutions, Anthony specializes in marketing and e-commerce projects using Open Source Software. In order to manage business development issues at the firm, Anthony has completed Entrepreneurship training from Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO.org) and Kauffman FastTrac (Kauffman.org). Anthony is a Free Culture advocate using open source methods and tools. He is a volunteer copy editor for the Wikipedia project, an online encycl...

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• Learning Windows 8 Game Development