Move beyond the world of flat 2D-based game development and discover how to create your own exciting 3D games with Microsoft XNA 4.0. Create a 3D maze, fire shells at enemy tanks, and drive a rover on the surface of Mars while being attacked by alien saucers."XNA 4 3D Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide" takes you step-by-step through the creation of three different 3D video games with Microsoft XNA 4.0. Learn by doing as you explore the worlds of 3D graphics and game design.This book takes a step-by-step approach to building 3D games with Microsoft XNA, describing each section of code in depth and explaining the topics and concepts covered in detail. From the basics of a 3D camera system to an introduction to writing DirectX shader code, the games in this book cover a wide variety of both 3D graphics and game design topics. Generate random mazes, load and animate 3D models, create particle-based explosions, and combine 2D and 3D techniques to build a user interface."XNA 4 3D Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide" will give you the knowledge to bring your own 3D game creations to life.
The core concepts of 3D graphics and how XNA describes the 3D world
Build a 3D maze that the player can explore in search of the mysterious spinning cube
Create 3D terrain based on a 2D height map image, adding texturing and lighting to the terrain s surface
Load, display and animate 3D models
Build a button-based user interface overlay for your 3D game
Create a billboard particle system to produce dynamic explosions
Build a skybox to give your worlds full 3D backgrounds
Detect collisions between 3D objects and have your game react accordingly