Beginning XNA 3.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional

Would you like to create your own games, but never have the time to dig into the details of multimedia programming? Now you don’t have to! XNA 3.0 makes it simple to create your own games, which will run on your PC and Xbox 360 console. Even if you don’t know how to program at all, Beginning XNA 3.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional will teach you the basics of C# 2008 programming along the way. Don’t get overwhelmed with details you don’t need to know—just learn what you need to start creating your own games right now!

This fast–paced introduction to XNA 3.0 and the C# language provides you with a quick–start guide to creating high–quality XNA games. You’ll be introduced to the key concepts and ideas you need to know in a gradual fashion so that you master one concept before using it as a foundation for the next. Before long, you will have the skills to create smooth, professional–looking results in a range of gaming genres. By the end of the book, you will have constructed several working games and have an excellent knowledge base from which to investigate more advanced techniques.

• Master game planning and programming basics
• Understand 2–D graphics, audio, and input basics
• Create your first 2–D game
• Improve your first 2–D game
• Explore the basics of game networking
• Deal with sound in XNA 3.0
• See how to create a 2–D multiplayer game, Rock Rain Live!
• Understand 3–D game programming basics
• Render pipelines, shaders, and effects
• Work with lights, cameras, and transformations
• Generate a terrain
• Learn skeletal animation techniques
• Create a third–person shooter game
• Play games on the Zune console

This book is for anyone approaching XNA programming for the Xbox 360 for the first time, whether they have experience programming computer games or not.