Game Programming for Teens, Second Edition

by Sethi, Maneesh

• ISBN13: 9781592008346
• ISBN10: 1592008348
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-05-06
• Publisher: Cengage Learning PTR

Summary

You've played plenty of games. Now it's time to create your own! "Game Programming for Teens, Second Edition" helps you develop the skills you need to create every element of your first video game - from graphics and animation to sound and music. You'll even learn how to incorporate artificial intelligence. You don't have to have any programming experience to get started. You'll learn everything you need to know along the way using BlitzPlus, an easy-to-learn programming language that the author will teach you. By the end of the book, you will have created your first computer game. Game programming doesn't have to be difficult. With a copy of this book and your own curiosity, you're off to the perfect start!

Author Biography

Maneesh Sethi is a high school student in California who will be attending Stanford University in 2006. He has worked with Web design and development since he was in fifth grade and was the founder and head designer of Standard Design, a Web site design company. Sethi has taught game programming on TechTV's Call for Help and at game programming conferences such as the Xtreme Game Developer's Xpo. He is the author of Web Design for Teens and the first edition of Game Programming for Teens, both from Thomson Course Technology, as well as How to Succeed as a Lazy Student. Learn more about him at www.maneeshsethi.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
Part I: The Basics of Basic	1	(104)
Getting Started	3	(16)
A Brief History of Basic	3	(4)
Installing BlitzPlus	4	(1)
Windows and Panels	5	(1)
Toolbars	6	(1)
Menus	7	(1)
The First Game: KONG	7	(11)
Compiling the Code	16	(2)
Summary	18	(1)
Getting to Know Basic	19	(22)
Hello, World!	19	(4)
Variables	23	(3)
Declaring Variables	23	(1)
Using Variables	24	(2)
Input	26	(2)
Conditionals	28	(5)
Truth and Falsehood	28	(1)
If...Then	29	(1)
If...Then...Else	30	(2)
Select...Case	32	(1)
Logical Operators	33	(2)
The NOT Operator	35	(1)
The Goto Command	35	(2)
A Text-Based Guessing Game	37	(2)
Summary	39	(2)
Loops, Functions, Arrays, and Types	41	(54)
Understanding Loops	41	(10)
For...Next	42	(4)
While...Wend	46	(2)
Repeat...Until	48	(3)
Understanding Functions	51	(7)
Scope Considerations	53	(4)
When to Use Functions	57	(1)
Understanding Arrays	58	(9)
Multi-Dimensional Arrays	64	(3)
Using Types	67	(12)
Coordinate Systems	75	(2)
For...Each...Next	77	(2)
Putting It All Together: Textanoid!	79	(14)
Summary	93	(2)
The Style Factor	95	(10)
Developing Style	95	(2)
White Space and Indentation	96	(1)
Comments	97	(4)
Pre-Program Comments	99	(1)
Main Program Comments	100	(1)
Function Comments	100	(1)
Function and Variable Names	101	(4)
Names	101	(1)
Naming Format	101	(2)
Summary	103	(2)
Part II: Getting Graphical	105	(170)
Beginning Graphics	107	(26)
Creating the Graphics Window	107	(7)
Width and Height	108	(1)
Color Depth	109	(1)
[Mode]	110	(4)
Images	114	(11)
LoadImage	114	(2)
DrawImage	116	(2)
CreateImage	118	(4)
MaskImage	122	(3)
Colors	125	(6)
RGB	126	(2)
Color	128	(2)
Cls and ClsColor	130	(1)
Summary	131	(2)
Page Flipping and Pixel Plotting	133	(48)
Page Flipping	133	(23)
Buffers	136	(1)
SetBuffer	137	(6)
CreateImage	143	(13)
Locking and Unlocking Buffers	156	(10)
Lock/Unlock	156	(1)
ReadPixel()/ReadPixelFast()	157	(4)
WritePixel/WritePixelFast	161	(5)
Using Buffers: A Paint Program	166	(14)
Initialization	168	(2)
Main Loop	170	(2)
Functions	172	(8)
Summary	180	(1)
Basic Image Programming	181	(46)
Transformations	181	(36)
Translating	181	(5)
Scaling	186	(23)
Rotation	209	(8)
Parallaxing	217	(8)
TileBlock and TileImage	218	(7)
Summary	225	(2)
Animation	227	(22)
Using Bitmaps in Animation	227	(20)
Making Bitmaps	234	(5)
Displaying Movement	239	(8)
Summary	247	(2)
Collision Detection	249	(26)
Basic Collisions	249	(4)
Bounding Circles	253	(7)
Distance between Points	253	(2)
Radii	255	(5)
Bounding Boxes	260	(8)
Pixel-Imperfect Collisions	268	(4)
Pixel-Perfect Collisions	272	(2)
Summary	274	(1)
Part III: Completing the Puzzle	275	(96)
Handling Input	277	(36)
Handling the Keyboard	277	(17)
KeyDown()	278	(7)
KeyHit()	285	(9)
Mapping the Mouse to the Screen	294	(16)
Displaying the Mouse Cursor	295	(3)
What Was That? Handling Mouse Key Presses	298	(8)
The Middle Mouse Wheel	306	(4)
Handling Joystick Input	310	(2)
Summary	312	(1)
Sounds and Music	313	(24)
Sound	313	(17)
Loading Sounds	314	(2)
Listen Closely---Playing Sounds	316	(14)
Music	330	(5)
Channels and PlayMusic()	330	(1)
Messing With 'Da Channels	331	(4)
Summary	335	(2)
Artificial Intelligence	337	(22)
Random Numbers	337	(12)
Creating a MilliSecs() Timer	342	(7)
Chasing and Evading	349	(7)
Chasing	349	(5)
Evading	354	(2)
Summary	356	(3)
The Final Frontier: Invaderz!!!	359	(12)
Let's Bust It: Planning the Game	359	(3)
Constants, Functions, and Types in Invaderz!!!	362	(4)
Playing Invaderz!!!	366	(2)
Epilogue	368	(3)
Part IV: Appendixes	371	(13)
Appendix A Scan Code Reference	373	(6)
Appendix B Useful Links	379	(2)
Blitz Basic Links	379	(1)
General Game Programming Links	380	(1)
Appendix C What's on the CD	381	(3)
Source	382	(1)
Art	382	(1)
Sounds	382	(1)
Games	382	(1)
Programs	383	(1)
Index	384