Introduction

This page supports the 3D Graphics & Audio-2 subject of the 3rd year of the Computer games development degree at I.T. Carlow

This page provides an overview of the course.

Topics Covered

• C#
• XNA
• Shaders
• 3D Graphics
• Game Audio

Recommended Reading

XNA Game Studio Creator's GuideA basic introduction into programming in XNA, suitable for beginners, advanced game programmers will need something with more depth.

Professional XNA Game ProgrammingDetailed look at building a complete game in XNA.

XNA Game Studio Express Good clear book. Details many non-graphics features of XNA. Analyses several simple games as case studies. Concentrates on 2D Graphics, only basic info on working with 3D.

Programming Vertex and Pixel Shaders Very good introductionto HLSL. Develops many different types of shaders (Samples are in DirectX not XNA)

Hardware requirements

Please bring a pair of headphones to every lab session, they will be needed when watching to video tutorials(screencasts) and when audio programming.

Assessment

The assessment of this subject is evenly split between the final written exam and ongoing continual assessment.

Final Written Exam 50%

Satisfactory participation in labs 10%

Mid-term written exam 10%

3-part game prototype assessment 30%

Final Exam Sample Questions

Lab Exercises

2D XNA Exercises

1. Setup & installation
• Check if Visual Studio 2008 or Visual C# 2008 ) are installed. If not, then install Visual Studio C# 2008 from Dreamspark
• Install XNA Game Studio3.1(free download)
2. Your First Game: Microsoft XNA Game Studio in 2D
3. Working with arrays and text
4. Creating classes in XNA

3D XNA Exercises

1. First 3D XNA Application
2. Managing a camera
3. Primitives and Classes
4. Vertex Buffers and Textures
5. Creating a terrain

Shader Exercises

1. Intro to shader programming
2. Textures
3. Environment Mapping

Audio Exercises

1. Audio with XACT

2. XACT Terminology

3. Video:Making Sounds with XNA

4. How To: Add a Sound File to Your Game Using XACT

5. How To: Play a Sound

6. How To: Stop or Pause a Sound

7. Video: Controlling Pitch and Volume with Variables

8. How To: Change Sound Volume Levels

9. How To: Apply Basic 3D Positional Effects to a Cue

10. How To: Apply Attenuation and Doppler 3D Audio Effects

11. Video: 3D Audio Effects in XACT

C# Notes

• [Video] Intro to C# language - basic introduction to c# and Visual Studio (ignore the stuff about windows forms)
• [Video] Introduction to visual studio
• Moving from C/C++ to C#: What to Expect
• [Video] Learn to program in C# good intro to working with C# classes & properties
• Migrating from C++ to C# (Advanced Material)
• Top Ten Traps in C# for C++ Programmers (Advanced Material)
• Properties in C#

XNA Notes

1. Introduction to XNA
2. [Mp3]DotNet Rocks' Podcast on XNA
3. DrawingSprites
4. XNA utility Classes
5. XNA Input
6. Collisions
7. Simple Camera
8. Drawing Primitives
9. Models
10. Textures in XNA
11. Index & Vertex Buffers
12. Catmull-Rom Splines

XNA Books

XNA Game Studio Creator's GuideA basic introduction into programming in XNA, suitable for beginners, advanced game programmers will need something with more depth.

Professional XNA Game ProgrammingDetailed look at building a complete game in XNA.

XNA Game Studio Express Good clear book. Details many non-graphics features of XNA. Anayses several simple games as case studies. Concentrates on 2D Graphics, only basic info on working with 3D.

Programming Vertex and Pixel Shaders Very good introductionto HLSL. Develops many different types of shaders (Samples are in DirectX not XNA)

Useful XNA links here .

Shader Notes

1. Shaders & Hardware programming
2. Shaders & Effects in XNA
3. Basic lighting with a shader
4. Textures
5. SkyBox
6. Environment Mapping
7. Normal Mapping
8. Simple Reflection & Shadows
9. Shadow Mapping

Shader Resources

HLSL Reference on MSDN (microsoft.com)

HLSL (Wikipedia)

Introduction to the DirectX® 9 High Level Shading Language

Graphics Notes

1. Spatial Sorting

2. Collision Detection

3. Level of Detail

4. Advanced Texture & Lighting

5. Object Picking

6. Splines

Audio Notes

1. Environmental Audio