2D Game Programming

with XNA 4.0

Principles of Game Programming

Game Programming Basics

Mouse & Keyboard Controls

Sounds

Sprites and Animation

Collision Detection

Arcade Style Games

Scrolling

Game Physics

Orthogonal Projections

Design Implementation

Game Design Basics

Game Genres

Paper Design

Backgrounds/Environments

Graphical Elements

Gameplay

Dialog and Story

Issues of Style

Playability

Game Basics

The Game Loop

Game Initiated Events

User/Player Initiated Events

Game Physics

Game AI

The Game Loop

Genres

Action Games

Arcade Games (Locked Position Shooters)

First-Person Shooters

Third-Person Games (Orthographic Projections)

2D Action Games

Side-Scrollers

Platformers (Mario, etc…)

Fighting Games

Strategy Games

Real-Time

Turn-Based

Massively Multiplayer RPG’s

Sports Games

Simulators

Car/Racing Games

Flight Sims

Construction and Management Sims

Puzzle/Board Games

Paper Design

Game Backgrounds and Environments

Graphical Elements

Gameplay

The term gameplay can be quite ambiguous to define, thus it has been differently defined by

different authors.

"A series of interesting choices."

"The structures of player interaction with the game system and with other players in the game.“

"One or more causally linked series of challenges in a simulated environment.“

"A good game is one that you can win by doing the unexpected and making it work.“

"The experience of gameplay is one of interacting with a game design in the performance of

cognitive tasks, with a variety of emotions arising from or associated with different elements of

motivation, task performance and completion.“

"Gameplay here is seen as the interactive gaming process of the player with the game."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gameplay

Dialog and Story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialog_tree

Game Style and Attitude

Satisfaction - degree of gratification of the player

Learning - the facility to understand and dominate the game system and mechanics

Efficiency - the necessary time and resources to offer fun and entertainment while players

achieve objectives

Immersion - the capacity to believe in the game contents and/or the virtual game world

Motivation - the characteristics that provoke a player to realize concrete actions and persist

until success is achieved

Emotion - to induce feeling of happiness, fear, intrique, curiosity, etc.. using the game

challenges, story, and aesthetic

Socialization - enjoyment derived from playing the game in collaboration, cooperation and/or

competition with others

Playability

Game Programming Basics

User Interaction

Mouse

Keyboard

Gamepad

Monitor

Speakers

Animation

Double-Buffering (non-blinking Animation)

Loop Timing (fixed frame-rate and/or pacing)

Blitting

Environment

Laws of Motion (Physics)

Collision Detection/Interaction (Geometry)

Laws of Behavior (AI)

Getting Familiar with XNA 4.0

for this Course

The textbook Learning XNA 4.0 covers game programming for both 2D and 3D using the

XNA 4.0 Game Development Environment. This course is intended as a first course in

game programming and will emphasize 2D games. We will cover the first 8 chapters of

the textbook.

The course lecture notes and projects will cover game programiing for desktop

computers, however your games and demos are equally well suited for running on Xbox

and iPhone platforms.

Tuning your Games to Match your Computer

Your XNA game graphical resolution, maximum background image sizes and other

characteristics are determined by the specific capabilities of your computer. XNA provides

you with two graphics profiles from which to choose called Reach (low res) and HiDef. It is

not necessary to understand all the details now but we will want to consider the hardware

of the target machine as well as our own for games we intend to publish.

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