A guide to designing full-featured video games with Microsoft's development platform for Xbox 360 and Windows. It explains the fundamentals of game design, and covers various features of the XNA game-development platform. It helps you learn how to create 3-D models and control them with code as well as how to custom-program a game engine.

A complete guide to designing full-featured video games with Microsoft's new free development platform for Xbox 360 and Windows. Creating and sharing games is now within everyone's reach! Ideal for anyone who wants to take advantage of all the powerful game-development tools available in Microsoft XNA, this hands-on guide explains the fundamentals of great game design and offers examples that are easy, exciting, and effective. Written by game design experts, "Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express Creator's Guide" covers all the features of the XNA game-development platform. You will learn how to create 3-D models and control them with code as well as how to custom-program a game engine, add animations, launch projectiles, and add lighting and special effects. By the end of the book, you will be able to create playable games for Xbox or the PC.

Chapter 1: Set up an XNA Development Environment Chapter 2: Developer Basics Chapter 3: Introduction to XNA Graphics Programming Chapter 4: Shaders Chapter 5: Animation Introduction Chapter 6: Character Movement Chapter 7: Timers Chapter 8: Texturing Your Game World Chapter 9: Adding Skies and Horizons to your Levels Chapter 10: Index Buffers Chapter 11: Combining Images for Better Visual Effects Chapter 12: Score Tracking and Game Statistics Chapter 13: 3D Models Chapter 14: Vectors Chapter 15: Matrices Chapter 16: Building a Graphics Engine Camera Chapter 17: Collision Detection Chapter 18: Particle Effects Chapter 19: Keyframe Animations Chapter 20: Lighting Chapter 21: Input Devices Chapter 22: Content Pipeline Processors Chapter 23: Animated Models Chapter 24: Adding Audio to Your Game Chapter 25: Terrain with Height Detection Chapter 26: Multiplayer GamingIndex