Game Programming Interfaces

In the beginning, No Time To Play was all about learning how to make games, and helping others do the same. The first five years yielded few finished works, and many experiments worth pursuing further. But then all the research and practice started paying off, and with that came an interest in making bigger, more polished games.

That didn't work out. People continued to be interested in the quirky little prototypes, and the research behind them (that were now taking a back seat), while the new multi-month efforts tanked shamefully. So a little over a year ago I started a new effort to get back on track. Due to various factors, it took longer than expected, but here it is.

It may seem quaint in the age of visual tools to teach people how to code games directly. Doubly so with less known programming interfaces. But that's how you keep things fresh... and how you set yourself apart from the crowd.

This book comprises seven guides introducing five APIs for three different languages. They range from solutions everyone uses to those nobody's heard of. All however are fun and effective, and will serve you well for other purposes, too. So let's get started.

Table of contents

Preface

• Brief guide to the 2D canvas in HTML5
  
• Game loops, input and sound in HTML5
  
• A brief guide to Pygame
  
• Making simple games in sdlBasic
  
• Making text-based games with Python and curses
  
• More useful tricks for sdlBasic games
  
• Using Python and Tkinter for desktop games
  

12400 words / e-book made with Sigil and Calibre

Errata

On page 30, chapter "More useful tricks for sdlBasic games", section "2.5D camera", the text "the camera uses a right-hand system" should refer to a "left-hand system" instead.