Windows Game Programming with Visual Basic and DirectX [With CDROM]

Freeze, Wayne S.

ISBN 10: 0789725924 / ISBN 13: 9780789725929

Verlag: Que, 2001

Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.65. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers G0789725924I5N00

Inhaltsangabe:

Building a computer game is one of the most challenging things you can do with a computer. Most modern computer games rely on DirectX support for 3D graphics and other functions. Until recently, you were forced to learn C or C++ if you wanted to learn game programming. Now, with as little as six months' knowledge of Visual Basic, you too can learn how to use DirectX to create your own games. This book guides you through the creation of a SimCity like game called Swim Mall. Set underwater and featuring stores such as Barnacles and Noble and Kelp-Fil-A, Swim Mall places you in the role of mall manager. Your goal is to make as much money as possible while keeping your customers happy through advertising and offering the right mix of stores. The game features true 3D graphics that you can move, rotate, or zoom, plus support for MP3 background music, coupled with a real-time simulation of a shopping mall. The learning doesn't end when you finish the book, either. With the source code provided, you can modify the game to add new features and submit them to the book's Web site. While you are there, you can check out the changes other readers have created. Then you can use the information you learned from Windows Game Programming with Visual Basic and DirectX as a springboard to designing your very own computer games. CD-ROM Includes: Microsoft DirectX 8.1 SDK, Microsoft Speech SDK, Caligari trueSpace 5.1, Adobe PhotoShop 5, Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7, code examples, images, and Web resources. Design a simulation game using Visual Basic and DirectX. Display 3D graphics using Direct3D. Rotate, zoom, and scroll the 3D graphics display. Create your own 3D graphics with trueSpace 5. Learn how to simulate character movement through the game. Build time-driven simulations using finite state machines. Construct your own random number generators. Play MP3 files and sounds using DirectAudio. Edit sounds and music with Cool Edit 2000. Process game commands using DirectInput. Use the Microsoft Speech API to make your characters speak.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor:

Wayne S. Freeze started working with computers in 1975 and he hasn't stopped yet. Along the way, he's held nearly every computer-related job available in a large computer organization. Before he started writing full-time, he was the technical support manager at the University of Maryland at College Park, where he was responsible for a large IBM mainframe and a diverse collection of smaller computers.

This is his tenth computer book and his first for Que. Until now, he's spent most of his time writing about Visual Basic, databases, or some combination thereof. He also writes magazine articles for several different magazines on topics ranging from how to create Office macros to digging into the guts of the Common Runtime Library in Microsoft's new .NET framework.

Now, Wayne works out of his house in rural South Dakota with his lovely wife Jill (who also writes computer books) and his two children, Christopher (age 8) and Samantha (age 6). Jill, whom Microsoft crowned an "Internet zealot," is a prize-winning beta tester and has worked extensively with products like Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. Her books are aimed at consumers and her Sams Teach Yourself Computer Basics in 24 Hours, Third Edition (Sams, 2001, ISBN: 0-672-32301-X) has received rave reviews from her readers. Chris is only eight years old, but is one of the sharpest game players Wayne knows. He can easily beat kids twice his age with most computer games. Wayne rarely plays multiplayer computer action games with Chris anymore, simply because he consistently beats him! Chris was the only person in the state of South Dakota to win a prize in Gateway and Microsoft's nationwide computer game contest, and he ranked in the top 200 players in his age range in the country! When Wayne was looking for a beta tester for Swim Mall, Chris was a natural choice, and made countless valuable suggestions for the game's improvement.

Like Chris, Wayne's daughter Sammy is also a whiz with computers, though given a choice between playing with her computer and dancing, she'll pick dancing every time.

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Windows Game Programming with Visual Basic ...
Verlag: Que
Erscheinungsdatum: 2001
Einband: Paperback
Zustand: Fair
Zustand des Schutzumschlags: No Jacket