XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers

Length: 432 pages
Edition: 1
Language: English
Publisher: Course Technology PTR
Publication Date: 2011-02-16
ISBN-10: 1584505370
ISBN-13: 9781584505372
Sales Rank: #5652429 (See Top 100 Books)

Description

Discover how to create exciting and challenging games for the Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio 4.0 and the Visual C# programming language. XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers provides experienced game developers with a comprehensive overview of the XNA Framework, providing all the tools, source code, and information you need to develop Windows and Xbox 360 games. You’ll find an introduction to programming in XNA, the XNA Framework, and all the new features included in XNA 4.0 to get you started. The bulk of the book focuses on the XNA Framework, in particular the features of the Xbox 360, including the controller, playing audio, and creating graphics. The final part of the book covers the major features of Xbox Live, including creating and rendering an avatar, 3D programming, loading and rendering a mesh using a basic shader, and networking via system link and online. You’ll tie together all the skills you’ve learned in a final game project that demonstrates the networking capabilities of XNA and acts as a rudimentary, sprite-based networked game engine for your own projects.
Source code and artwork from the book as well as Visual C# 2010 projects for Windows and Xbox 360 are available as accompanying downloads.

Features of XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers

The only book on the market to cover advanced-level XNA features.
Can be used as a reference or worked through in sequence.
Covers the new version of the XNA toolkit, version 2.0.
All source codes and artwork from the book is available for download.
Notes and sidebars throughout the book highlight important portions of text.

The book is divided into three major parts:

Part I: Introduction and Primer
This part includes two chapters that will help get you started programming in XNA, with an introduction to the new features in XNA 4.0 as well as coverage of the XNA Framework and how to create new projects with Visual C# 2010.

Introduction to XNA Game Studio 4.0
Peeking Under the Hood

Part II: XNA Framework Library
This part includes nine chapters that provide a reference for the NXA Framework with sample codes to show how each namespace in the XNA Framework can be used in a game project.

XNA Framework Overview
Audio
Content
Gamer Services
Graphics
Input
Media
Net
Storage

Part III: XBOX Live
This part includes six applied chapters covering the major features of Xbox Live that can be utilized in an XNA 4.0 project, including coverage of avatars and multiplayer networking. The final chapter culminates in a multiplayer Tank Battle game that demonstrates the networking capabilities of XNA and acts as a rudimentary networked game engine for your own projects. Chapters 12 and 15 both cover 3D programming, loading a mesh, and rendering it using a basic shader.