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Beginning C++ Game Programming

You're reading from   Beginning C++ Game Programming Learn C++ from scratch by building fun games

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Product type Paperback
Published in May 2024
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781835081747
Length 648 pages
Edition 3rd Edition
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Author (1):
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John Horton John Horton
Author Profile Icon John Horton
John Horton
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Table of Contents (24) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Welcome to Beginning C++ Game Programming Third Edition! FREE CHAPTER 2. Variables, Operators, and Decisions: Animating Sprites 3. C++ Strings, SFML Time: Player Input and HUD 4. Loops, Arrays, Switch, Enumerations, and Functions: Implementing Game Mechanics 5. Collisions, Sound, and End Conditions: Making the Game Playable 6. Object-Oriented Programming – Starting the Pong Game 7. AABB Collision Detection and Physics – Finishing the Pong Game 8. SFML Views – Starting the Zombie Shooter Game 9. C++ References, Sprite Sheets, and Vertex Arrays 10. Pointers, the Standard Template Library, and Texture Management 11. Coding the TextureHolder Class and Building a Horde of Zombies 12. Collision Detection, Pickups, and Bullets 13. Layering Views and Implementing the HUD 14. Sound Effects, File I/O, and Finishing the Game 15. Run! 16. Sound, Game Logic, Inter-Object Communication, and the Player 17. Graphics, Cameras, Action 18. Coding the Platforms, Player Animations, and Controls 19. Building the Menu and Making It Rain 20. Fireballs and Spatialization 21. Parallax Backgrounds and Shaders 22. Other Books You May Enjoy
23. Index

Updating the HUD

As you might expect, we will update the HUD variables in the updated section of our code. However, we will not do so at every frame. The reason for this is that it is unnecessary, and it also slows our game loop down.

As an example, consider the scenario when the player kills a zombie and gets some more points. It doesn’t matter whether the Text object that holds the score is updated in one-thousandth, one-hundredth, or even one-tenth of a second. The player will discern no difference. This means there is no point rebuilding strings that we set for the Text objects every frame.

Therefore, we can time when and how often we update the HUD. Add the following highlighted variables:

// Health bar
RectangleShape healthBar;
healthBar.setFillColor(Color::Red);
healthBar.setPosition(450, 980);
// When did we last update the HUD?
int framesSinceLastHUDUpdate = 0;
// How often (in frames) should we update the HUD
int fpsMeasurementFrameInterval = 1000;
//...
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