Introduction
It seems almost everyone who wants to try their hand at game development wants to create either a regular RPG (role-playing game) or an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game). However, many do so without fully understanding what it takes to make even the smallest game of any type, let alone an RPG, which usually has tons of content. All this content takes considerable time and effort by many different people — artists, level designers, audio engineers, voice actors, writers, producers, and programmers — to tie all the content together. With XNA Game Studio making game development easier than ever, it’s almost inevitable that many will try to develop an RPG using their knowledge of playing RPGs. Unfortunately, playing an RPG doesn’t mean you have a full understanding of what it takes to create one. Those new to game development are usually frustrated once they realize that they’ve gotten in over their head.
As an avid RPG player myself, I love seeing interesting and fun RPGs released. Other players have an idea of what makes them fun and interesting, but not enough knowledge to create them from the ground up. My desire to write this book is therefore somewhat selfish in that I want to see more games that I can play. Hopefully this book will give those who want to try RPG game development enough knowledge to make the games they see in their minds.
Who Should Read This Book?
Although this book is geared specifically toward developing RPGs, anyone who is interested in game programming for the PC and/or the Xbox 360 will benefit from it because the skeleton of almost every type of game is the same. You should have a good understanding of the C# language in order to take full advantage of the material in this book. If you’re comfortable with VB.NET, C++, or Java, you should be able to quickly pick up the nuances of C#. If you have no experience with any of the languages mentioned, you might want to pick up a good book on C# programming before diving into this book. Even if you’re not an experienced programmer, we’ll discuss plenty of game development techniques that will help increase your knowledge of the field.
Experienced game developers who haven’t looked at XNA Game Studio will gain from this book since it shows how XNA Game Studio can be used to quickly and more easily get the basics of a game up and running, allowing the developer to concentrate more on specific gameplay code than the code needed to create the skeleton onto which the gameplay code is built.
Conventions
The C# language will be used exclusively throughout this book. The coding conventions for the .NET Framework will be followed with only minor changes due to the style preferences of the author. These conventions can currently be found at the following location — http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229042(VS.80).aspx.
It’s recommended that, if you haven’t already done so, you adopt a set of coding conventions and stick to them. It makes your code easier to read and follow, especially if you’re looking at code that you’ve put aside for a while and gone back to. It will also make it easier for the people you work with to follow your code.
System Requirements
The following is required to run XNA Game Studio:
Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista (Windows Server 2003 and older operating systems are not currently supported)
At least the DirectX 9.0c runtime (the SDK is not needed)
A video card that supports at least Shader Model 1.1 (2.0 support is recommended as many samples and starter kits require it)
Visual C# Express 2008 or Visual Studio 2008
Installing and Using the Code
All code for the book can be downloaded from http://www.wordware.com/files/XNARPG. You’ll find links there for other relevant downloads and information as well. Extract the downloaded file(s) onto your hard drive. After the code has been placed on the hard drive of your PC, you can simply navigate to the appropriate folder for a chapter and open the solution file in XNA Game Studio. Steps for installing XNA Game Studio can be found on the Creators Club site — http://creators.xna.com/en-US/quickstart_main.
Support for This Book
Support for the material covered in this book, including updates and errata, can be obtained from the publisher’s web site at www.wordware.com/files/XNARPG.
Any questions or comments about the book can be emailed to the following address — [email protected]. The author welcomes feedback and will reply when possible.