Game Programming All in One

This book is divided into four parts. Each relies on the preceding part to explain the concepts. If you already know C++ programming, you can just skim through the first part and move to Parts 2 and 3, but if you are a beginner, I suggest you read this book linearly, from start to finish. Part 1 covers C++ programming. You will learn the basics and the most important aspects of C++ programming, such as text input and output, file manipulation, and pointers. You will also develop two simple text games. Part 2 explains Windows programming and DirectX. It covers the basics to get your Windows application running and covers in detail the three main components of DirectX: DirectXGraphics, DirectSound, and DirectInput. In this part, you will build Mirus, the game library you will be using in this book. In Part 3, you will see many game programming related fields, such as mathematics, physics, and artificial intelligence. You finish this part by building a breakout type of game. Part 4 contains the appendixes, where you can find information about using the CD-ROM, the debugging application, the chapter exercises’ answers, and some references you may want to check while you read the book. Don’t forget to check out the CD; it contains loads of cool tools and all the source code included in the book (which should save you a lot of time). You will need your own copy of Microsoft Visual C++ to compile the source code from the CD-ROM.