Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus

New from bestselling video game guru, André LaMothe, Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus provides an incredibly rich tour of today's video game programming techniques for the Microsoft DirectX gaming platform. Filled with entertaining and challenging code examples in C, this book sets a high standard as a tutorial for getting started with game programming and will certainly earn a place on the bookshelf of any working (or aspiring) game developer.
The incredibly rich detail within this book on virtually all facets of game development on the DirectX platform is what sets it apart from other titles. The author, a truly legendary game programmer, conveys his expert knowledge with a sense of authority and flair in a massive format (nearly 1,000 pages). After a tour of basic Windows C programming, this book centers on Microsoft DirectX for game development. Though most of the printed book centers on DirectDraw (for 2D APIs), these APIs are used to render 3D worlds. (A wide variety of articles on Direct3D are included on the accompanying CD-ROM.) The author also shows how to get the most out of other Microsoft APIs for high-performance gaming, including sound (DirectSound and DirectMusic) and input (with DirectInput).

Rarely does the ordinary programmer get a glimpse into the high-powered world of video game development. That's what's offered here with plenty of techniques and tips for creating leading-edge game effects (such as simulating the laws of physics in your games, like gravity, or creating smarter characters with artificial intelligence). Whether you are an aspiring game developer or an interested game enthusiast with a programming background who wants a peek under the hood, Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus shows you how it's done in an exciting, technically rich, and authoritatively told tutorial on how to use DirectX for creating realistic video games.

Table of contents

Introduction I

Part I Windows Programming Foundations

Journey into the Abyss

The Windows Programming Model

Advanced Windows Programming

Windows GDI, Controls, and Last-Minute Gift Ideas

Part 11 DirectX and 21) Fundamentals

DirectX Fundamentals and the Dreaded COM

First Contact: DirectDraw

Advanced DirectDraw and Bitmapped Graphics

Vector Rasterization and 2D Transformations

Uplinking with DirectInput and Force Feedback

Sounding Off with DirectSound and DirectMusic

Part III Hardcore Game Programming

Algorithms, Data Structures, Memory Management, and Multithreading

Making Silicon Think with Artificial Intelligence

Playing God: Basic Physics Modeling

Putting It All Together: You Got Game!

Part IV Appendixes