DVD I
Have you ever been interested in creating your own games? Welcome to the XNA Xtreme 101 video training course! This first volume covers nearly 30 hours of lecture and is specially geared toward the first-time programmer interested in creating games for the PC and Xbox 360 platforms!
Volume I will quickly get you up to speed in programming with a strong foundation in the C# programming language. Youll also get a clear description of the .NET infrastructure, while learning precisely what .NET is and how it is defining the next generation of computer programming. The lessons have a strong emphasis on programming using proper design principles, including creating your initial requirement spec, moving on the design phase, and laying out a solid implementation plan.
DVD II
This second volume of the XNA Xtreme 101 series continues with the foundation of programming with the C# language with over 50 hours of lecture. Volume II begins by expanding upon the C# language foundation already set forth in the first volume. You’ll see how to work with variables, including predefined data types and value reference types. From there, you’ll be introduced to various ways you can loop your code for purposes of automation. This volume also teaches you the key concepts behind Object-Oriented Programming, introducing you to classes, inheritance, and polymorphism. You’ll also learn about constructors, the use of static members, as well as virtual methods. Volume II concludes with the creation of the game Precision, a fast-paced top-down casual action game in which a player’s goal is to navigate a ‘nanite probe’ around the screen to save endangered cells from a degrading disease while avoiding enemy antibodies. During gameplay, any cells that are fully infected will be converted into more antibodies, thereby increasing the number of enemies on the screen. If an antibody touches the nanite probe, the player will lose a life. Once all lives are gone, the game will be over.
DVD III
In this, the closing volume of the XNA Xtreme 101 series, we take a look at some key techniques and topics that you'll need in order to push your programming skills to their maximum potential. From there, you start to really strike out and become a game developer as you are given thorough design specs and construction techniques for a variety of game engines!
The key educational element of this volume is that the viewer is given a much greater degree of freedom over their coding process. With so much programming knowledge gained in Volumes I and II, this third volume does considerably less hand-holding, instead focusing on new topics that have not been covered, and giving discussions on how these new concepts can be worked into existing knowledge to create the final game. Put simply, this volume contains fewer examples coded in their entirety, opting instead for teaching you new skill sets and showing you how they can be implemented to create each new game.