Computer Games Programming

This site contains many pages of notes and tutorials on games programming. It is aimed mainly at the beginner to intermediate but has something for everyone. DirectX and C++ are used extensively.

Site Section Links

Games Programming

Many pages of notes on games programming. As well as notes on the DirectX SDK APIs there are many notes on general games programming techniques.

T2 is a free terrain texture generation program.

Games Resources

Many resources for the games programmer. Includes links, books, organisations and journals.

Latest

24th March 2008 - DirectX SDK March 2008 Update Released

See the DirectX 9.0c page for more details

18th January 2008 - Cube Demo with Source Code

I have added a basic demo application with source code showing how to get Direct3D up and running. This accompanies my notes. It can be found here: Cube Demo

3rd January 2008 - Reworked Animation Code

I get a lot of people e-mailing me about problems getting X files to animate. The code on my notes showed how to do it but was tied in with the Direct3D framework and used Unicode which made it somewhat tricky to decipher. So I have rewritten the code to hopefully make it a lot clearer and easier to learn from. You can download the source code from the Load X Hierarchy page.

I have not been able to add much to this site in recent months due to my lecturing commitments. I am hopeful though that I will be able to spend more time on it in the new year.

Latest Additions

Load X Hierarchy - 3rd January 2008
DirectX 9.0c page - 10th August 2007
C/C++ Libraries - 1st July 2007
Terrain Following - 24th March 2007
XInput - 15th March 2006

Site Contents Overview

Games Index
The main index page for the games programming section.

Beginners
If you are a complete beginner to games programming looking to get started you will want to first take a look at the beginners page. Other pages of interest are the resources page for books and links and the Glossary that describes some common terms.

Direct3D Basics
This section contains many pages of notes about Direct3D. It starts by describing how to get started with Direct3D (creating a basic Window, creating the Direct3D interfaces) and then moves on to 2D graphics describing how to use sprites, textures and display text. Also has a Direct3D FAQ

3D Rendering
Once you understand the basics of Direct3D you can move on to 3D rendering. This section describes each of the steps (Z buffer, Matrices, Lighting, Materials, FVF, Buffers and the Rendering Steps required to render a 3D world). More advanced Direct3D techniques are then introduced with 3D models (.x files) and notes on the different graphic card states that can be set. More recent additions include effect files and vertex and pixel shaders

Graphic Techniques
Graphic techniques used in games like collisions, skybox , camera , terrain and picking.

General Games Programming Techniques
This section includes answers to common game programming question and a section on 2D Games Programming Techniques, including 2D animation and 2D background scrolling. Other game areas like input, sound, terrain following and C++ basics.

Video & Music
This section describes how to use DirectShow to play back video in a new window or in the existing game window.

Games Industry
This is a growing section of the site describing what it is like to work in games, how to get a job and some of the current trends in the games industry.

Feedback is always useful, if you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail: webmaster@toymaker.info

Last modified: 24 March 2008