Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists

Whether you're a hobbyist or a budding game design pro, your objective is probably the same: To create the coolest games possible using today's increasingly sophisticated technology. To do that, however, you need to understand some basic math and physics concepts. Not to worry: You don't need to go to night school if you get this handy guide! Through clear, step-by-step instructions, author Wendy Stahler covers the trigonometry snippets, vector operations, and 1D/2D/3D motion you need to improve your level of game development. Each chapter includes exercises to make the learning stick, and Visualization Experience sections are sprinkled throughout that walk you through a demo of the chapter's content. By the end of the volume, you'll have a thorough ...

"Data Structures for Game Programmers" replaces endless pages of boring text with exciting gaming technology and eye-catching graphics. The complex subject of data structures is made easy to understand and fun to learn. Start with an explanation of how the most popular data structures and algorithms work. Then you're on your way as you create your own! From simple arrays and bit vectors to intense binary tree graphs and hash tables, this book covers it all. It even tackles the algorithms used for sorting, searching, compression, and recursion. Plus, you will actually see each concept put into practice through interactive graphical demonstrations included on the CD!...

Pixel shaders are some of the more powerful graphic tools available for XAML programmers, but shader development bears little resemblance to traditional .NET programming. With this hands-on book, you';ll not only discover how to use existing shaders in your Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight applications, you';ll also learn how create your own effects with XAML and Microsoft';s HLSL shading language.In the process, you';ll write, compile, and test custom XAML shaders with the Shazzam Shader Editor, a free utility developed by author Walt Ritscher. The book includes XAML and C# sample code, and Shazzam contains all of the sample shaders discussed.Learn how shaders help you extend the GPU';s rendering capabilitiesExplore prevailing s...