Introduction

Many developers became interested in programming because they saw a video game and thought, “How did they do that?” This book helps demystify what is required to make video games. Being able to write games on a next-generation console such as the Xbox 360 has never been an option for the masses before. Now with the XNA Framework, games can be written for the console.

By the end of this book, you will have created four complete games and many demos along the way. This book takes a serious look at performance-related issues when writing games using XNA for Windows and the Xbox 360. Two chapters are devoted to the High Level Shader Language (HLSL), which is a necessity for writing great games. The book covers physics and artificial intelligence (AI). It also covers special effects, including explosions, transitions, and how to create a 3D particle system. It demonstrates how to create a sound project using the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) and how to directly access sound files in a game. Two chapters are devoted to programming games for the Zune. Saving and loading a high score list and creating a full menu system are also taught in this book. Five chapters are devoted to creating multiplayer games. Writing network games can be challenging, and this book covers networking in detail. The final two chapters are on best practices and provide tips on how to sell games on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. In general, this book contains a great foundation for many topics that need to be learned to create and sell a full-featured single-player or multiplayer game.