You love 3D games. You have always wanted to develop a 3D game with amazing characters, dazzling scenarios, outstanding effects, and many skill levels. And now you have the opportunity. A legendary game developer drives a new game contest. He challenges Silverlight developers to show him some ideas for a modern 2D Invaders game. If he likes a developer's idea, he will contract him to develop 3D games for his well-known gaming web site using Silverlight 3. This web site pays high wages to developers. It is an incredible opportunity and you cannot miss this train. Tickets, please!
Developing 3D games is an exciting process, but it is also difficult. However, working with a 2D game before moving into the 3D world is a nice starting point. That is exactly what we are going to do.
During our journey, we will need to exploit our creativity as much as possible. Game development requires many heterogeneous skills. However, the most important ingredient is creativity.
We already know how to develop some applications using the C# programming language. However, RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) offer an exciting way ahead for game development because they provide a rich experience for users without the need to install software on their computers. Users expect RIAs to be like conventional downloadable games that offer amazing graphics, impressive performance, and a very interactive experience. Silverlight is a great (and growing) RIA platform, and games are the next level to exploit in Silverlight. 3D games represent our challenge in this book and we shall take full advantage of our C# knowledge here.
So, let's take our C#, XAML, and Silverlight development skills to the next level. We want to take full advantage of modern technologies. First of all, we must install the latest tools and begin working on some 2D games' basics. Later, we will use that knowledge in developing 3D games using Silverlight 3, the newest kid on the block from Microsoft.
The only requirements needed to develop 3D games using Silverlight are to understand the basics of the C# programming language, XAML code, and the Visual Studio IDE. We will cover the rest of the requirements in our journey through the 3D game development world!