Program 3D Games in C++: The #1 Language at Top Game Studios Worldwide

C++ remains the key language at many leading game development studios. Since it’s used throughout their enormous code bases, studios use it to maintain and improve their games, and look for it constantly when hiring new developers. Game Programming in C++ is a practical, hands-on approach to programming 3D video games in C++. Modeled on Sanjay Madhav’s game programming courses at USC, it’s fun, easy, practical, hands-on, and complete.

Step by step, you’ll learn to use C++ in all facets of real-world game programming, including 2D and 3D graphics, physics, AI, audio, user interfaces, and much more. You’ll hone real-world skills through practical exercises, and deepen your expertise through start-to-finish projects that grow in complexity as you build your skills. Throughout, Madhav pays special attention to demystifying the math that all professional game developers need to know.

• Set up your C++ development tools quickly, and get started
• Implement basic 2D graphics, game updates, vectors, and game physics
• Build more intelligent games with widely used AI algorithms
• Implement 3D graphics with OpenGL, shaders, matrices, and transformations
• Integrate and mix audio, including 3D positional audio
• Detect collisions of objects in a 3D environment
• Efficiently respond to player input
• Build user interfaces, including Head-Up Displays (HUDs)
• Improve graphics quality with anisotropic filtering and deferred shading
• Load and save levels and binary game data
  

Whether you’re a working developer or a student with prior knowledge of C++ and data structures, Game Programming in C++ will prepare you to solve real problems with C++ in roles throughout the game development lifecycle. You’ll master the language that top studios are hiring for—and that’s a proven route to success.

Sanjay Madhav is a senior lecturer at the University of Southern California, where he teaches several programming and video game programming courses. He has taught at USC since 2008. Prior to joining USC, Sanjay worked as a programmer for several video game developers, including Electronic Arts, Neversoft, and Pandemic Studios. His credited games include Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, Tony Hawk’s Project 8, Lord of the Rings: Conquest, and The Saboteur.

Sanjay is also the author of Game Programming Algorithms and Techniques and co-author of Multiplayer Game Programming. He has a B.S. and an M.S. in computer science and is pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science, all from USC.

Part I. Foundations
1. C++ Refresher
2. Game Programming Overview
3. Graphics Fundamentals
4. Basic Motion and Physics Using Vectors
5. Project: Asteroids in 2D

 

Part II. Into the Third Dimension
6. Input and Event-Based Systems
7. Sound
8. 3D Graphics
9. Project: Asteroids in 3D Sound

 

Part III. Adding Complexity
10. Artificial Intelligence Agents and State-based Behavior
11. User Interfaces
12. Project: Tower Defense

 

Part IV. Full 3D Movement
13. Cameras
14. Collision Detection
15. Project: 3D Space Racer Projection and Camera

 

Part V. Intermediate Topics
16. Intermediate Graphics Techniques
17. Animation
18. Networked Games
19. Project: Third-Person Platformer

 

Appendices
A. Useful Tools for Game Programmers
B. Game Framework Odds and Ends