Book Image

SFML Game Development By Example

By : Raimondas Pupius
Book Image

SFML Game Development By Example

By: Raimondas Pupius

Overview of this book

Simple and Fast Multimedia Library (SFML) is a simple interface comprising five modules, namely, the audio, graphics, network, system, and window modules, which help to develop cross-platform media applications. By utilizing the SFML library, you are provided with the ability to craft games quickly and easily, without going through an extensive learning curve. This effectively serves as a confidence booster, as well as a way to delve into the game development process itself, before having to worry about more advanced topics such as “rendering pipelines” or “shaders.” With just an investment of moderate C++ knowledge, this book will guide you all the way through the journey of game development. The book starts by building a clone of the classical snake game where you will learn how to open a window and render a basic sprite, write well-structured code to implement the design of the game, and use the AABB bounding box collision concept. The next game is a simple platformer with enemies, obstacles and a few different stages. Here, we will be creating states that will provide custom application flow and explore the most common yet often overlooked design patterns used in game development. Last but not the least, we will create a small RPG game where we will be using common game design patterns, multiple GUI. elements, advanced graphical features, and sounds and music features. We will also be implementing networking features that will allow other players to join and play together. By the end of the book, you will be an expert in using the SFML library to its full potential.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
SFML Game Development By Example
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

What is a GUI?


A GUI, short for Graphical User Interface, is a visual intermediary between the user and a piece of software which serves as a control mechanism for digital devices or computer programs. Using this type of interface is faster and easier than relying on text-based controls, such as typing commands.

Before any code is written, we need to outline the desired features of our GUI system, which is going to consist of three major components:

  • Element: Every GUI surface that is drawn onto the screen

  • Interface: A special kind of element that serves as a container for other elements and can be moved around as well as scrolled

  • Manager: The class that is in charge of keeping GUI interfaces in line and behaving

All of the elements in this system need to be able to adapt to a different state when they are hovered over by a mouse or clicked on. Style-sets also need to be applied to different states, resulting in interfaces becoming responsive. Lastly, you must be able to load the interfaces...