Introduction

So you might be wondering why this tutorial is numbered Part 00.5 rather than Part 2. Since I released the first tutorial, I've been asked in the comments and through PM what type of game I am making and what concepts I plan on covering in this tutorial series. So without further adeu, I present my tutorial series overview.

Note:  Due to my busy schedule, I will most likely not be able to add a new tutorial part on a weekly basis as I originally planned. I will try and publish new tutorials as soon as I can, but this is no guarantee that I will be able to keep it on a weekly schedule.

Game Concept

This was one of the hardest things for me to decide on. I already knew I didn't want to create another FPS-type game (there are too many tutorials on that already), but I also wanted to choose a style and genre that would allow for almost infinite expansion. In the end, I decided to write this tutorial for an open-world action/adventure game. I'm thinking along the lines of Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead, and Midnight Club (all produced by Rockstar Games). Now, I'm not going to try and copy them, but rather develop a game with a similar gameplay style.

Tutorial Topics

Once we have a working game framework going, we'll start to expand onto more advanced topics. Some of these topics (in no particular order) include:

• Skeletal and vertex animations.
• Full and proper physics engine (with physically adjusted animation).
• Advanced rendering technques (e.g. tile-based deferred rendering, HDR, global illumination).
• Client-server and client-client multiplayer support.
• Scripting language support (either Python or Lua).
• Procedural game generation.
• Xbox 360 Controller support with XInput.

It should be noted that these aren't the only concepts that will be covered, but rather the more interesting ones. None of these will be covered though until we have a fully working framework (proper graphics, sound, and keyboard & mouse input).