Table of Contents

Preface	1
Chapter 1: Making a Game Tick	7
Introducing SFML	7
Downloading and installation	8
A minimal example	9
A few notes on C++	10
Developing the first game	12
The Game class	13
Game loops and frames	16
Input over several frames	17
Vector algebra	19
Frame-independent movement	21
Fixed time steps	22
Other techniques related to frame rates	24
Displaying sprites on the screen	24
File paths and working directories	25
Real-time rendering	25
Adapting the code	27
Summary	28
Chapter 2: Keeping Track of Your Textures – Resource
Management	29
Defining resources	29
Resources in SFML	30
Textures	31
Images	31
Fonts	32
Shaders	32
Sound buffers	33

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Table of Contents

Music	33
A typical use case	34
Graphics	34
Audio	35
Acquiring, releasing, and accessing resources	35
An automated approach	36
Finding an appropriate container	37
Loading from files	38
Accessing the textures	39
Error handling	40
Boolean return values	41
Throwing exceptions	41
Assertions	42
Generalizing the approach	43
Compatibility with sf::Music	45
A special case – sf::Shader	45
Summary	47

Chapter 3: Forge of the Gods – Shaping Our World	49
Entities	50
Aircraft	51
Alternative entity designs	52
Rendering the scene	53
Relative coordinates	53
SFML and transforms	54
Scene graphs	55
Scene nodes	55
Node insertion and removal	56
Making scene nodes drawable	58
Drawing entities	61
Connecting entities with resources	61
Aligning the origin	63
Scene layers	64
Updating the scene	64
One step back – absolute transforms	66
The view	67
Viewport	68
View optimizations	68
Resolution and aspect ratio	69
View scrolling	70
Zoom and rotation	71

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	Table of Contents
Landscape rendering	71
SpriteNode	71
Landscape texture	73
Texture repeating	73
Composing our world	74
World initialization	76
Loading the textures	77
Building the scene	78
Update and draw	80
Integrating the Game class	81
The run() method	81
Summary	83
Chapter 4: Command and Control – Input Handling	85
Polling events	86
Window events	87
Joystick events	88
Keyboard events	88
Mouse events	89
Getting the input state in real time	90
Events and real-time input – when to use which	92
Delta movement from the mouse	93
Playing nice with your
application neighborhood	94
A command-based communication system	95
Introducing commands	96
Receiver categories	98
Command execution	100
Command queues	101
Handling player input	102
Commands in a nutshell	106
Implementing the game logic	107
A general-purpose communication mechanism	108
Customizing key bindings	109
Why a player is not an entity	111
Summary	112
Chapter 5: Diverting the Game Flow – State Stack	113
Defining a state	113
The state stack	114
Adding states to StateStack	117
Handling updates, input, and drawing	118

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Input	119
Update	119
Draw	119
Delayed pop/push operations	120
The state context	121
Integrating the stack in the Application class	121
Navigating between states	123
Creating the game state	123
The title screen	124
Main menu	125
Pausing the game	128
The loading screen – sample	129
Progress bar	130
ParallelTask	132
Thread	133
Concurrency	133
Task implementation	134
Summary	136

Chapter 6: Waiting and Maintenance Area – Menus	137
The GUI hierarchy, the Java way	138
Updating the menu	146
The promised key bindings	147
Summary	150

Chapter 7: Warfare Unleashed – Implementing Gameplay	151
Equipping the entities	151
Introducing hitpoints	152
Storing entity attributes in data tables	152
Displaying text	154
Creating enemies	156
Movement patterns	156
Spawning enemies	158
Adding projectiles	161
Firing bullets and missiles	163
Homing missiles	167
Picking up some goodies	170
Collision detection and response	173
Finding the collision pairs	174
Reacting to collisions	176
An outlook on optimizations	179
An interacting world	180
Cleaning everything up	180

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Table of Contents
Out of view, out of the world	181
The final update	182
Victory and defeat	183
Summary	183
Chapter 8: Every Pixel Counts – Adding Visual Effects	185
Defining texture atlases	186
Adapting the game code	187
Low-level rendering	189
OpenGL and graphics cards	189
Understanding render targets	189
Texture mapping	190
Vertex arrays	191
Particle systems	192
Particles and particle types	193
Particle nodes	194
Emitter nodes	197
Affectors	199
Embedding particles in the world	200
Animated sprites	200
The Eagle has rolled!	204
Post effects and shaders	205
Fullscreen post effects	205
Shaders	208
The bloom effect	208
Summary	215
Chapter 9: Cranking Up the Bass – Music and Sound Effects	217
Music themes	218
Loading and playing	219
Use case – In-game themes	220
Sound effects	221
Loading, inserting, and playing	223
Removing sounds	224
Use case – GUI sounds	224
Sounds in 3D space	225
The listener	226
Attenuation factor and minimum distance	227
Positioning the listener	227
Playing spatial sounds	228
Use case – In-game sound effects	230
Summary	233

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Chapter 10: Company Atop the Clouds – Co-op Multiplayer	235
Playing multiplayer games	236
Interacting with sockets	236
TCP	237
UDP	238
Socket selectors	239
Custom protocols	240
Data transport	241
Network architectures	242
Peer-to-peer	242
Client-server architecture	243
Authoritative servers	244
Creating the structure for multiplayer	245
Working with the Server	246
Server thread	246
Server loop	247
Peers and aircraft	248
Hot Seat	250
Accepting new clients	250
Handling disconnections	252
Incoming packets	253
Studying our protocol	256
Understanding the ticks and updates	257
Synchronization issues	258
Taking a peek in the other end – the client	258
Client packets	261
Transmitting game actions via network nodes	261
The new pause state	263
Settings	263
The new Player class	264
Latency	264
Latency versus bandwidth	265
View scrolling compensation	265
Aircraft interpolation	266
Cheating prevention	267
Summary	268
Index	269

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