Overview
This tutorial will introduce you to game development on Windows 8 by using the MonoGame open source library, and Visual Studio 2012.
During the course of this tutorial, you will build a 2D game by using MonoGame while becoming familiar with the key concepts of game development.
The focus of this tutorial is writing a game that has multiple elements on screen at the same time. Since the game must keep track of the elements by rendering them, updating them and tracking the ways in which they interact with each other, this will present a challenge from both a logical and performance perspective.
This tutorial is an adaptation of the Honecomb Rush Hands-On-Lab originally published on the Xna Creators Club (located at http://xbox.create.msdn.com/en-US/education/catalog/lab/honeycomb_rush). Tara Walker (http://tarathegeekgirl.net) and I have taken the original lab and code and updated it to work with MonoGame instead of XNA Game Studio, and Windows 8 for this tutorial. Additional platforms like Windows Phone 8, Mac OSX, iPhone, iPad and Android Phones and Tablets will be covered in additional series.
As an added bonus, we will use the Buddy API (http://buddy.com) to implement the high scores screen. By using the Buddy API, you can enable your games to be more social and drive interest in your game.
This tutorial was originally presented in two parts at MonkeySpace 2013 in Chicago, IL USA. You can find both sets of presentations here.
Objectives
By the end of this tutorial you will have:
· A high-level understanding of the MonoGame application model within the Windows 8 operating system
· Learned how to use resources (images, fonts, et cetera) in your game
· Learned how to add game logic
· Learned about 2D rendering in MonoGame
· Learned how to use touch and gesture input to control your game
· Learned how to write a performance intensive game
· Learned how to call an external web api to save and load information
Prerequisites
The following is required to complete this tutorial:
· Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 and the Windows Phone 8 SDK, which will be used to compile the game assets.
-- or --
· Microsoft Visual C# Express 2012 for Windows 8 and the Windows Phone Developer Tools, which will be used to compile the game assets
MonoGame : http://monogame.net
Tasks
This tutorial includes two exercises built from the following tasks:
1. Create game project
2. Basic game rendering
3. Game logic
4. Polishing the game - sound and animation
5. Additional screens and menus
Estimated total time to complete this tutorial: 90 minutes.
The delivery of this tutorial is broken down into smaller bite-sized chunks that can be completed in a short period of time. At the end of each chapter you will have added more functionality to your game. The following table lists all of the chapters in this series with links to them for easier access.
Table of Contents
Exercise 1: Basic MonoGame Framework Game
Task 1 - Basic Game Project
Task 2 - Create Content Pipeline Project and Add Assets
Task 3 - Add Game State Management; ScreenManager Classes
Task 4 - Adding Helper Classes
Task 5 - Base Classes
Task 6 - Beehive Component
Task 7 - Bee Component
Task 8 - Worker and Soldier Bee Components
Task 9 - BeeKeeper Component
Task 10 - ScoreBar Component
Task 10 - HoneyJar Component
Task 12 - Vat Component
Task 13 - SmokePuff Component
Exercise 2: Game Polish and Menus
Task 1 - Background Screen
Task 2 - Main Menu Screen
Task 3 - Loading and Instructions Screen
Task 4 - Pause Screen
Task 5 - LevelOverScreen
Task 6 - Putting It Together
Task 7 - Adding Sounds
Task 8 - Integrating Components with Countdown Stage
Task 9 - HighScoreScreen and Logic
Task 10 - Integrating the High-Score Screen
Summary
