Book Image

Procedural Content Generation for C++ Game Development

By : Dale Green
Book Image

Procedural Content Generation for C++ Game Development

By: Dale Green

Overview of this book

Procedural generation is a growing trend in game development. It allows developers to create games that are bigger and more dynamic, giving the games a higher level of replayability. Procedural generation isn’t just one technique, it’s a collection of techniques and approaches that are used together to create dynamic systems and objects. C++ is the industry-standard programming language to write computer games. It’s at the heart of most engines, and is incredibly powerful. SFML is an easy-to-use, cross-platform, and open-source multimedia library. Access to computer hardware is broken into succinct modules, making it a great choice if you want to develop cross-platform games with ease. Using C++ and SFML technologies, this book will guide you through the techniques and approaches used to generate content procedurally within game development. Throughout the course of this book, we’ll look at examples of these technologies, starting with setting up a roguelike project using the C++ template. We’ll then move on to using RNG with C++ data types and randomly scattering objects within a game map. We will create simple console examples to implement in a real game by creating unique and randomised game items, dynamic sprites, and effects, and procedurally generating game events. Then we will walk you through generating random game maps. At the end, we will have a retrospective look at the project. By the end of the book, not only will you have a solid understanding of procedural generation, but you’ll also have a working roguelike game that you will have extended using the examples provided.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Procedural Content Generation for C++ Game Development
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgment
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Acknowledgment

First and foremost, I'd like to thank my family for their support throughout the project. Their encouragement and support kept me focused, determined, and most importantly, kept my cup filled with tea. Thanks, Mum!

Also thanks to Frank the kitty for trying to help. I assume that's what he was trying to do as he liked to walk on the keyboard so much! In the middle of a sentence, if you find "wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww", direct your complaints to him.

Thanks to Dino Kadric for his help and support with the earlier chapters. His guidance and feedback helped tremendously.

I'd also like to thank the editors at Packt who've made the whole process as comfortable as possible. They were always there to offer help and support when needed. I'd especially like to thank Priyanka Mehta and Indrajit Das.

Most importantly, I'd like to dedicate the book to my amazing gran, Joey Wheeler. Despite not knowing what a computer is, she calls my phone "the machine", she's read every word as I wrote them, including the code! Her enthusiasm towards the project rivaled my own, and her support really kept the ball rolling when things got tough. Thanks, granny!