Book Image

Microsoft XNA 4.0 Game Development Cookbook

By : Luke Drumm
Book Image

Microsoft XNA 4.0 Game Development Cookbook

By: Luke Drumm

Overview of this book

Microsoft XNA attempts to free game developers from writing "repetitive boilerplate code", allowing them to focus on producing enjoyable gameplay rather than tedious and complicated setup. The Framework has reduced the once steep learning curve for game development, transforming it into something more attainable, and this cookbook will help you to take full advantage of XNA to bring reality into your virtual worlds. "Microsoft XNA 4.0 Game Development Cookbook" is the perfect resource for propelling your game development capabilities from the simple 2D demo towards engaging and exciting, professional looking games. With a diverse selection of game-related topics covered, discover how to create rich 2D and 3D worlds filled with interesting characters, detailed scenery and dynamic special effects applicable to PC, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 7 game play. There is no shortage of introductory texts available for XNA, a number of which are fantastic for getting started with simple 2D games, but "Microsoft XNA 4.0 Game Development Cookbook"ù will help you take the steps to start producing games that have deeper gameplay, compelling graphics and that little bit of extra polish! The book's recipes will get you up and going quickly with the next level of game features such as 3D graphics, AI, and network play. With this practical cookbook to hand, even the more experienced developer will be better equipped to achieve high level tasks with XNA in a quick and efficient manner.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Microsoft XNA 4.0 Game Development Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface

Introduction


A quick review of any of the major modeling packages, along with a number of popular helper libraries, will confirm that the animation of 3D models is both a common and popular requirement in games production.

Given that the main task of animation is covered elsewhere so regularly, this chapter takes a slightly different approach by highlighting what lies at the foundation of some common animation techniques; namely two different ways of generating it, how it can be applied to one or many models in a performant fashion.