Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization

by Lamothe, Andre

• ISBN13: 9780672318351
• ISBN10: 0672318350
• Format: Paperback w/CD
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Sams

Summary

Today is the greatest time in history to be in the game business. We now have the technology to create games that look real! Sony's Playstation II, XBOX, and Game Cube are cool! But, all this technology isn't easy or trivial to understand - it takes really hard work and lots of Red Bull. The difficulty level of game programming has definitely been cranked up these days in relation to the skill set needed to make games. Andre LaMothe's follow-up book to Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus is the one to read for the latest in 3D game programming. When readers are finished with Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization, they will be able to create a full 3D texture-mapped, lit video game for the PC with a software rasterizer they can write themselves. Moreover, they will understand the underlying principles of 3D graphics and be able to better understand and utilize 3D hardware today and in the future.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Introduction TO 3D Game Programming

A Brief Introduction

The Elements of a 2D/3D Game

General Game Programming Guidelines

Using Tools

A Sample 3D Game: Raiders 3D

Summary

A Crash Course in Windows and DirectX

The Win32 Programming Model

The Bare Minimum for a Windows Program

A Basic Windows Application

DirectX and COM Crash Course

Flash Introduction to COM

Summary

Introduction to the Virtual Computer Interface

Building the Virtual Computer Interface

The T3DLIB Game Console

The T3DLIB1 Library

The T3DLIB2 DirectX Input System

The T3DLIB3 Sound and Music Library

The DirectMusic API Rapper

Building the Final T3D Game Console

Sample T3LIB Applications

Summary

3D Math and Transformation

Mathematical Notation

2D Coordinate Systems

3D Coordinate Systems

3D Cylindrical Coordinates

3D Spherical Coordinates

Trigonometry. Vectors

Matrices and Linear Algebra

Computing the Inverse and Solving Systems

Basic Geometric Entities

Lines in 3D Space

Using Parametric Equations

Introduction to Quaternions

Basic Calculus

Summary

Brief Overview of the Math Engine

Data Structures and Types

Math Constants

Macros and Inline Functions

Prototypes

Globals

Math Engine API Listing

Floating-Point Unit Math Primer

Notes on Using the Math Engine

Comments on Math Optimization

Summary

3D Engine Philosophy

The Structure of a 3D Game Engine

3D Coordinate Systems

Basic 3D Data Structures

3D Tools

Loading Data from the Outside World

Basic Rigid Transformations and Animation

Review of the Viewing Pipeline

Types of 3D Engines

Integrating Everything into a Final Engine

Summary

General Wireframe Engine Architecture

Writing a 3D File Loader

Building the 3D Pipeline

Rendering a 3D World

3D Demos

Summary

Basic 3D Rendering

Basic Lighting Models for Computer Graphics

Lighting and Rasterizing Triangles

Shading in the Real World

Depth Sorting and the Painter''s Algorithm

Working with New Model Formats

3D Modeling Tools Review

Summary

The New T3D Engine Features

Upgrading the T3D Data Structures and Design

Rewriting the Object Loaders

Polygon Rasterization Review

Implementing Gouraud Shading

Basic Sampling Theory

Updating the Lighting/Rasterization Engine for Textures

Final Thoughts on Optimization Strategies for 8- and 16-Bit Modes

Final Demos

Summary

Introduction to Clipping

Theoretical Coverage of Clipping Algorithms

Practical View Frustrum Clipping

A Little Fun with Terrain

Summary

Introduction to Depth Buffering and Visibility

Z-Buffering Basics

Creating the Z-Buffer System

Possible Z-Buffer Optimizations

Problems with the Z-Buffer

The Software and Z-Buffer Demos

Summary

Advanced 3D Rendering

Texturing-The Second Wave

Building a New Rasterizer Base

Gouraud-Shaded Texturing

Transparency and Alpha Blending

Perspective-Correct Texturing and 1/z-Buffering

Bilinear Texture Filtering

Mip Mapping and Trilinear Texture Filtering

Multiple Pass Rendering and Texturing

Wrapping Things Up with a Single Call

Summary

The New Game Engine Module

Introduction to Spatial Partitioning and Visible Surface Determination

The Binary Space Partition

Potentially Visible Sets

Portals

Bounding Hierarchical Volumes and Octrees

Occlusion Culling

Summary

The New Game Engine Module

Introduction and Game Plan

The Simplified Physics of Shadows

Simulating Shadows with Projective Images and Billboards

Planar Mesh Shadow Mapping

Introduction to Light Mapping and Surface Caching

Putting Everything Together

Summary

Advanced Animation, Physics Modeling, and Optimazation

The New Game Engine Module

Introduction to 3D Animation

The Quake II .MD2 File Format

Simple Non-Character-Based Animation

3D Collision Detection

Summary

Introduction to Optimization Technologies

Profiling Your Code with Microsoft Visual C++ and Intel Vtune

Using the Intel C++ Compiler

Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) Programming Primer with SSE

General Optimization Tricks

Summary

Cd-Rom Appendixes

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.