Learning C# by Programming Games

✍ Scribed by Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 2019
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 518
• Edition: 2nd ed. 2019
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Developing computer games is a perfect way to learn how to program in modern programming languages. This book teaches how to program in C# through the creation of computer games – and without requiring any previous programming experience.
Contrary to most programming books, van Toll, Egges, and Fokker do not organize the presentation according to programming language constructs, but instead use the structure and elements of computer games as a framework. For instance, there are chapters on dealing with player input, game objects, game worlds, game states, levels, animation, physics, and intelligence. The reader will be guided through the development of four games showing the various aspects of game development. Starting with a simple shooting game, the authors move on to puzzle games consisting of multiple levels, and conclude the book by developing a full-fledged platform game with animation, game physics, and intelligent enemies. They show a number of commonly used techniques in games, such as drawing layers of sprites, rotating, scaling and animating sprites, dealing with physics, handling interaction between game objects, and creating pleasing visual effects. At the same time, they provide a thorough introduction to C# and object-oriented programming, introducing step by step important programming concepts such as loops, methods, classes, collections, and exception handling.
This second edition includes a few notable updates. First of all, the book and all example programs are now based on the library MonoGame 3.6, instead of the obsolete XNA Game Studio. Second, instead of explaining how the example programs work, the text now invites readers to write these programs themselves, with clearly marked reference points throughout the text. Third, the book now makes a clearer distinction between general (C#) programming concepts and concepts that are specific to game development. Fourth, the most important programming concepts are now summarized in convenient “Quick Reference” boxes, which replace the syntax diagrams of the first edition. Finally, the updated exercises are now grouped per chapter and can be found at the end of each chapter, allowing readers to test their knowledge more directly.
The book is also designed to be used as a basis for a game-oriented programming course. Supplementary materials for organizing such a course are available on an accompanying web site, which also includes all example programs, game sprites, sounds, and the solutions to all exercises.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter ....Pages i-xxvi
Front Matter ....Pages 1-1
Building Your First Game Application (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 3-8
What Is Programming? (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 9-23
Game Programming Basics (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 25-40
Creating a Game World (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 41-63
Front Matter ....Pages 65-68
Showing What the Player Is Doing (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 69-89
Reacting to Player Input (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 91-106
Basic Game Objects (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 107-143
Communication and Interaction Between Objects (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 145-172
A Limited Number of Lives (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 173-187
Organizing Game Objects (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 189-209
Finishing the Game (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 211-222
Front Matter ....Pages 223-226
Dealing with Different Screen Sizes (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 227-239
Arrays and Collections (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 241-261
Game Objects in a Structure (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 263-284
Gameplay Programming (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 285-308
Finishing the Game (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 309-324
Front Matter ....Pages 325-328
Better Game State Management (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 329-347
User Interfaces and Menus (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 349-369
Loading Levels from Files (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 371-400
Gameplay Programming (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 401-419
Finishing the Game (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 421-430
Front Matter ....Pages 431-434
Creating the Main Game Structure (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 435-449
Animated Game Objects (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 451-459
Game Physics (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 461-479
Intelligent Enemies (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 481-490
Finishing the Game (Wouter van Toll, Arjan Egges, Jeroen D. Fokker)....Pages 491-504
Back Matter ....Pages 505-512

✦ Subjects

Computer Science; Programming Techniques; Programming Languages, Compilers, Interpreters; Personal Computing; Multimedia Information Systems