Microsoft Xna Game Studio Express Creator's Guide

Bring your gaming visions to life with Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express
Create complete 3D games using Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express and this hands-on guide. Written by experienced game developers, Microsoft XNA Game Studio Creator's Guide details the fundamentals of great game programming and offers detailed examples.
Inside, you'll learn to program a game engine, write shader code, create and animate 3D models, and add fluid motion and special effects. You'll also find out how to launch ballistics, add realistic scenery and terrain, and integrate lighting and textures. Step-by-step tutorials on underlying C# code and explanations of vector and matrix techniques are included.
Build and dynamically update XNA game windows and custom 3D objects
Learn scintillating animation techniques
Create lifelike skyboxes, textures, lighting, and shading effects
Program shaders using high-level shader language
Develop single- and multi-player games
Generate and code terrain with height detection
Construct impressive graphics using sprites, multi-texturing, and blending
Integrate audio, game dashboards, and score tracking
Develop realistic collision detection, ballistics, and particle effects
HaHHhhndle keyboard, mouse, and game controller input
Create static *.fbx and animated Quake 2 models and control them in code

Stephen Cawood is a former program manager at Microsoft Corporation. He has written several gaming titles.Pat McGee is a faculty member and course developer at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He is a game programmer.

Chapter 1: Set up an XNA Development Environment
Chapter 2: Developer Basics
Chapter 3: Introduction to XNA Graphics Programming
Chapter 4: Shaders
Chapter 5: Animation Introduction
Chapter 6: Character Movement
Chapter 7: Timers
Chapter 8: Texturing Your Game World
Chapter 9: Adding Skies and Horizons to your Levels
Chapter 10: Index Buffers
Chapter 11: Combining Images for Better Visual Effects
Chapter 12: Score Tracking and Game Statistics
Chapter 13: 3D Models
Chapter 14: Vectors
Chapter 15: Matrices
Chapter 16: Building a Graphics Engine Camera
Chapter 17: Collision Detection
Chapter 18: Particle Effects
Chapter 19: Keyframe Animations
Chapter 20: Lighting
Chapter 21: Input Devices
Chapter 22: Content Pipeline Processors
Chapter 23: Animated Models
Chapter 24: Adding Audio to Your Game
Chapter 25: Terrain with Height Detection
Chapter 26: Multiplayer Gaming
Index