Book Image

CryENGINE Game Programming with C++, C#, and Lua

Book Image

CryENGINE Game Programming with C++, C#, and Lua

Overview of this book

CryENGINE is a complete 3D game development solution that can run on multiple platforms. It is orientated around giving intuitive tools to the developer. A variety of interactive video games can be created using CryENGINE. CryENGINE is one of the most beginner-friendly engines out there to learn. If you are interested in diving into the various systems and understanding their workings in a way that is easily understood, then this book is for you. This book provides you with the knowledge to tame the powerful but hard-to-master CryENGINE. CryENGINE Game Programming with C++, C#, and Lua dives into the various systems and explains their workings in a way that can be easily understood by developers of all levels. It provides knowledge on the engine along with step-by-step exercises and detailed information on the backend implementation of the subsystems, giving you an excellent foundation to build upon when developing your own CryENGINE games. Written by developers with years of CryENGINE experience, this book breaks down the common confusion that encompasses the CryENGINE engine code, guiding you through a series of chapters aimed towards giving you the ability to create your own games in a rapid yet productive fashion. You will learn everything you need to know in order to create your own CryENGINE-powered games as well as detailed information on how to use the engine to your advantage. By teaching systems such as audio, particle effects, rendering, AI, networking, and more, we'll be exposing the most inner parts of CryENGINE that commonly confuse programmers. If you want to quickly gain the knowledge required to create your own CryENGINE game title, then this book is for you.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
CryENGINE Game Programming with C++, C#, and Lua
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

The renderer details


The CryENGINE renderer is a modular system that allows the drawing of complex scenes, the handling of shaders, and more.

In order to facilitate different platform architectures, there exist multiple renderers for CryENGINE, all implementing the IRenderer interface. We have listed a selection as shown:

  • DirectX: Used on Windows and Xbox

  • PSGL: Used on PlayStation 3

There is also most likely an OpenGL renderer in development, for use on platforms such as Linux and Mac OS X.

Shaders

Shaders in CryENGINE are written using a specialized language based on HLSL, called CryFX. The system is very similar to HLSL, but is specialized for core engine functionality such as material and shader parameters, #include macros, and more.

Note

Note that shader authoring was not enabled in the Free SDK at the time this book was written; however, this might change in the future.

Shader permutations

Each time a material alters a shader generation parameter, a permutation of the base shader will be created...