Preface

The Microsoft XNA Framework provides a powerful set of tools to allow development teams of any size, from the individual developer to larger independent teams, to rapidly develop high-performance quality games for multiple Microsoft-related platforms.

This book will present a series of video games, utilizing Visual Basic and the XNA Framework, to delve into the world of 2D game development, targeting the Microsoft Windows environment. We will utilize XNA's 2D graphics capabilities to present our games to the player, and we will also look at the fundamental systems behind several game design challenges, such as pathfinding, collision detection, special effects, and more.

Each of the four games in this book cover a new gaming style and introduce progressively more advanced techniques and systems to provide a foundation for bringing your own creations to life.