Advanced 2D Game Development [Paperback]

Jonathan S. Harbour (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1598633422 | ISBN-13: 978-1598633429 | Edition: 1

Get ready to build a complete, professional-quality 2D game engine from start to finish! "Advanced 2D Game Development" is your comprehensive guide to 2D game development using DirectX in the C++ programming language. Each chapter of the book covers one major component of the game engine, including 2D and 3D rendering, DirectInput, FMOD audio, game math, multi-threading, Lua scripting, and more, and the game engine is built upon chapter by chapter. Through the creation of the game engine, you'll learn step by step how to write solid code for multiple compilers, adding to the code as you work through each chapter. And every chapter includes an example game that illustrates the new techniques being taught. Perfect for game programming students and professionals alike, this book is your ultimate guide to awesome 2D game development.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

01 Building A 2D Game Engine
02 3D Rendering
03 2D Rendering
04 Animation
05 Input
06 Audio
07 Entities
08 Fonts
09 Physics
10 Math
11 Threading
12 Scripting
13 Games

Source code for the projects in this book may be downloaded from these book resource locations:

• jharbour.com/forum (must create a free account first)

About the Author

Jon Harbour has been programming video games since the 1980s. His first video game system was an Atari 2600 which he played with disassembled on the floor of his room as a kid. He has written on languages and subjects that include: C++, C#, Basic, Java, DirectX, Allegro, Lua, DarkBasic, XNA Game Studio, Pocket PC, Nintendo GBA, and game console hacking. He is the author of Visual Basic Game Programming for Teens, 3rd Edition; Visual C# Game Programming for Teens; Beginning Game Programming, 3rd Edition; Multi-Threaded Game Engine Design and XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers. Visit his blog and forum at jharbour.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Cengage Learning PTR; 1 edition (June 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598633422
• ISBN-13: 978-1598633429
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1.2 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #521,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jonathan S. Harbour was born in Sacramento, California, and has lived in Oregon, Arizona, and Ohio where he now resides with his wife and four children. Now a full-time writer, he previously worked as an Associate Professor for five years at UAT (Tempe, AZ) working on the Bachelor and Master programs in game development (computer science). His books cover many languages (C++, C#, VB, Basic, Lua, Python, Java), libraries (DirectX, Allegro, XNA), and hardware (GBA, Xbox, Xbox 360, cell phones). For fun, he enjoys reading books on physics, cosmology, metaphysics, anthropology, and science fiction with a personal library of over 500 books. He also enjoys bike riding, long hikes, and mind-expanding TV shows and movies of the futurist variety.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great addition to basic game programming knowledge! June 29, 2008

By C. Moeller

Format:Paperback

Great book if you've already read begining game programming 2nd edition. It goes into more advanced topics compared to the first book, and gives you some better structure to get your games developed quicker, with reusable code.

The book even includes a surprise bonus- a chapter on adding some 3d models and different types of rendering to your 2d games!! One great reason for this is that 2d is 3d in directX- looking straight down at the 2d plane. DirectDraw was taken out years ago, and many books don't explain this as well as this one.

The game takes you through developing a complete 2d engine with audio, input, animation and scripting! Using the engine you should have a much easier, and quicker time creating 2d games, since all the basic stuff is done in the engine.

I would definitely recommend this to someone trying to learn better techniques after learning the basics from the first book(or web). Since most people want to go 3d as well, he does include code to import 3d models, set up camera and lighting, so you could use this as a starting point to develop further in 3d, or just add some 3d effects into your 2d game.

Author doesn't spend much time horsing around with a lot of code, but explains the new stuff as it is added. He also has his own forum which is very helpful- And as is normal for a forum, research your questions first.
Great book to be able to re-use code and develop games quicker if you haven't built many/any engines before!

Since there is no Table of contents listed here, here it is:
1. Building a 2D game Engine
2. 3D rendering
3. 2d Rendering
4. Animation
5. Input
6. Audio
7. Entities
8. Fonts
9. Physics
10. Math
11. Threading
12. Scripting (using Lua)
13.... Games Read more ›

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best title on the subject to date July 24, 2008

By A. Hollis

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a fabulous addition to the Beginning Game Programming, Second Edition by the same Author. The main reason why I purchased this new book was because of his fantastic teaching style and the speed at which I progressed. Most books are so dry that you need to dip them in water or literally smack yourself with them to stay interested. In the end, you are left with gaps in your knowledge and most of the time cant get out of your own way. Which leaves you more often than not back looking for another text.

After finishing the first book, I had the complete confidence to create a couple of 2D games on my own and a better picture of how to use the API . It was definitely money well spent the first time around. This second title ups the ante and is now the spring board for developing a complete and powerful 2D engine from scratch with the focus being engine design & architecture. By the end of the read your confidence and ability to create just about any 2D game of choice should easily be within your reach.

Being that this is an advanced title, I would suggest getting the Beginner companion to this text mentioned above as this makes for an excellent reference and starts off at a joggers pace if your a beginner. Intermediates can still benefit from the text because good 2D information and techniques are hard to come by.

Jonathan seems definitely dedicated to the genre and the results of both books reflect best of breed IMO. Going from beginner to intermediate/advanced very quickly is highly likely armed with both at your side. Highly recommended.

Lastly, as a bonus the author is totally accessible and is fully immersed within the game development community with his own forum.... This is not a forum just for the book but a fully dedicated community for game programming in general. Having access to the author along with updates and tips to the engine developed within the book makes the price a steal.

Why are you still reading this? Buy it already.

As for the negative reviews, game programming isn't for everyone or maybe your just too advanced? Although, it would help if "someone" actually "read" the book and not skimmed through it.

So if your looking for an "Easy Button" you might want to try Staples. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of more advanced engine design. January 5, 2010

By Jon Parrott

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I did not read the first book in the series and I mostly bought this book as a reference for the techniques he was using in engine design. That said, the book is a fantastic and fast overview of doing 2D rendering in DirectX. It expects you to know a lot ( just like any other 'Advanced' title would ) and moves quickly. I found a couple of chapters to be extremely useful: the chapters on Sprites, Threading, Audio, and Scripting. Although the book is very brief on these subjects ( especially threading ), it does give you a lot to go on. I would definitely suggest this to anyone looking to make a more advanced 2d engine, but if you're looking for a book on advanced 2d game techniques, this isn't the one- This book is based on engine design.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Didn't get what I was promised. January 5, 2013

By Kelly

Format:Paperback

For a book with the title of "Advanced 2D Game Development", I expected something more heftier and more detailed than what this book offers.

There is no explanation of 2D camera support, and nothing about common data structures, level editor design, or anything essential about "advanced" game development. At best, this book gives you the source code for a bare-bones game engine that features FMOD audio support. That is it. It doesn't provide any information beyond the explaining the source code.

A better title for this would've been "2D Engine Code."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for the underserved "Intermediate" game coders September 29, 2011

By Dan Sopel

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book after using Beginning Game Programming as a textbook for an API class. When you know how to get pretty pictures on the screen and get a basic game loop going from the more basic texts, you're left wondering how it all fits together to make a cohesive product. This book has great explanations of core engine components, including:

* automating your game loop, and exposing just what you need for game logic
* an entity management system
* automating your Sprites
* an easily accessible Audio system
* handy Math utilities, including easy-to-read explanations of how/why/when to use them
* the Timer class, a concept that I have carried over into many projects since
* a particle emission system that, while fairly simple, gives a firm base for the reader to create a more dynamic one if so inclined

The only reason I did not give it full 5 stars is that I felt the sample game projects did not did not exercise the same modularity taught throughout the engine (most were just a bunch of functions in game.cpp). Some examples of how and when to inherit from Sprite or Entity, or how to incorporate them into your game's classes would have gone a long way.

Anyway, a minor quibble to a book that vastly accelerated my game programming proficiency. Using this book and virtually nothing else, I wrote an engine that I used for nearly 10 full applications, from a Tetris clone to a very complex turn-based RPG battler. Along with this book, I would suggest some Googling of state management, and you can create any 2D game you could think of.