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

Simple and Fast Multimedia Library (SFML)


Whilst you will have experience with C++, you may not have any prior experience with SFML. That's fine, the book doesn't assume any, so now let's take a brief tour through it

Defining SFML

SFML, short for Simple and Fast Multimedia Library, is a software development library that provides easy access to multiple system components. It's written in C++ and is split into the following succinct modules:

  • System

  • Windows

  • Graphics

  • Audio

  • Network

With this architecture you can easily pick and choose how you want to use SFML, ranging from a simple window manager to use OpenGL, to a complete multimedia library that is capable of making full video games and multimedia software.

Why we'll be using SFML

SFML is both free, open-source, and has a vibrant community. With active forums and a selection of great tutorials on the official site, there are plenty of resources available for those who wish to learn. Another compelling reason to use SFML is that it's written in C++...