What this book covers
Chapter 1, Basics of the Game Engine, covers important algorithms and the basic design of a game engine written in the Lua programming language, as well as LuaSDL multimedia module preparation, which is the main part of all the recipes in this book.
Chapter 2, Events, deals with handling input events that are an important part of any game engine.
Chapter 3, Graphics – Common Methods, contains basic concepts used in computer graphics. You'll learn how to initialize the graphics mode, use basic OpenGL functions, load images, create textures, and draw text on the screen.
Chapter 4, Graphics – Legacy Method with OpenGL 1.x-2.1, explains how to use the intermediate mode of OpenGL, which is intended for use on older GPUs. Even when this mode is currently deprecated, it holds important information that is vital when using modern versions of OpenGL. It may be used as a precursor to more advanced topics in Chapter 5, Graphics – Modern Method with OpenGL 3.0+.
Chapter 5, Graphics – Modern Method with OpenGL 3.0+, covers the basics of using the GLSL shading language with the Lua language to draw various scenes. You'll also learn how to use per-pixel lighting, render into textures and apply surface effects with normal maps.
Chapter 6, The User Interface, covers the implementation of the custom user interface from simple windows to window controls.
Chapter 7, Physics and Game Mechanics, explains how to prepare and use the LuaBox2D module with the Lua language for physics simulation. The Box2D library is quite popular in modern side-scrolling games mainly because it offers great flexibility.
Chapter 8, Artificial Intelligence, deals with pathfinding algorithms and fuzzy logic. You'll learn how pathfinding works in games with simple maze or even tiled environments. More advanced topics cover decision making with fuzzy logic. In combination with pathfinding algorithms, you can create intelligent game opponents that won't jump into a lava lake at the first opportunity.
Chapter 9, Sounds and Networking, covers how to initialize the sound card, play sounds, and music. The second part covers network communication with the high-performance ZeroMQ library. It contains many improvements over traditional socket communication and it's used by companies such as AT&T, Cisco, EA, Zynga, Spotify, NASA, Microsoft, and CERN.
