This journey will be smooth as we will learn about the fundamentals of the super-fast C++ language one step at a time, and then put this new knowledge to use by adding cool features to the five games we are going to build.

The following are our five projects for this book.

Timber!!!

The first game is an addictive, fast-paced clone of the hugely successful Timberman, which can be found at http://store.steampowered.com/app/398710/. Our game, Timber!!!, will introduce us to all the basics of C++ while we build a genuinely playable game. Here is what our version of the game will look like when we are done and we have added a few last-minute enhancements:

Pong

Pong was one of the first video games to be made, and you can find out about its history here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong. It is an excellent example of how the basics of game object animation and dynamic collision detection work. We will build this simple retro game to explore the concept of classes and object-oriented programming. The player will use the bat at the bottom of the screen and hit the ball back to the top of the screen:

Zombie Arena

Next, we will build a frantic, zombie survival shooter, not unlike the Steam hit Over 9,000 Zombies!, which you can find out more about at http://store.steampowered.com/app/273500/. The player will have a machine gun and must fight off ever-growing waves of zombies. All this will take place in a randomly generated, scrolling world. To achieve this, we will learn about how object-oriented programming allows us to have a large code base (lots of code) that is easy to write and maintain. Expect exciting features such as hundreds of enemies, rapid-fire weaponry, pickups, and a character that can be “leveled up” after each wave:

Thomas was late

The fourth game will be a stylish and challenging single-player and co-op puzzle platformer. It is based on the very popular game Thomas was Alone (http://store.steampowered.com/app/220780/). Expect to learn about cool topics such as particle effects, OpenGL Shaders, and split-screen cooperative multiplayer:

Tip

If you want to play any of the games now, you can do so from the download bundle in the Runnable Games folder. Just double-click on the appropriate .exe file. Note that, in this folder, you can run either the completed games or any game in its partially completed state from any chapter.

Space Invaders ++

The final game will be a Space Invaders clone. In some ways, the game itself is not what is important about this project. The project will be used to learn about game programming patterns. As will become abundantly clear as this book progresses, our code keeps getting longer and more complicated. Each project will introduce one or more techniques for coping with this, but the complexity and length of our code will keep coming back to challenge us, despite these techniques.

The Space Invaders project (called Space Invaders ++) will show us ways in which we can radically reorganize our game code also that we can take control of and properly manage our code once and for all. This will leave you with all the knowledge you need to plan and build deep, complex, and innovative games, without ending up in a tangle of code.

The game will also introduce concepts such as screens, input handlers, and entity-component systems. It will also allow us to learn how to let the player use a gamepad instead of the keyboard and introduce the C++ concepts of smart pointers, casts, assertions, breakpoint debugging, and teach us the most important lesson from the whole book: how to build your own unique games:

Let’s get started by introducing C++, Visual Studio, and SFML!

Now that we know what games we will be building, let’s get started by introducing C++, Visual Studio, and SFML. One question you might have is, why use the C++ language at all? C++ is fast – very fast. What makes this true is the fact that the code that we write is directly translated into machine-executable instructions. These instructions are what make the game. The executable game is contained within a .exe file, which the player can simply double-click to run.

There are a few steps in the process of changing our code into an executable file. First, the preprocessor looks to see if any other code needs to be included within our own code and adds it. Next, all the code is compiled into object files by the compiler program. Finally, a third program, called the linker, joins all the object files into the executable file for our game.

In addition, C++ is well established at the same time as being extremely up to date. C++ is an object-oriented programming (OOP) language, which means we can write and organize our code using well-tested conventions that make our games efficient and manageable. The benefits as well as the necessity of this will reveal themselves as we progress through this book.

Most of this other code that I referred to, as you might be able to guess, is SFML, and we will find out more about SFML in just a minute. The preprocessor, compiler, and linker programs I have just mentioned are all part of the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE).

Visual Studio hides away the complexity of preprocessing, compiling, and linking. It wraps it all up into the press of a button. In addition to this, it provides a slick user interface for us to type our code into and manage what will become a large selection of code files and other project assets as well.

While there are advanced versions of Visual Studio that cost hundreds of dollars, we will be able to build all five of our games in the free “Express 2019 for Community” version. This is the latest free version of Visual Studio.

SFML is the Simple Fast Media Library. It is not the only C++ library for games and multimedia. It is possible to make an argument to use other libraries, but SFML seems to come through for me every time. Firstly, it is written using object-oriented C++. The benefits of object-oriented C++ are numerous, and you will experience them as you progress through this book.

SFML is also easy to get started with and is therefore a good choice if you are a beginner, yet at the same time it has the potential to build the highest-quality 2D games if you are a professional. So, a beginner can get started using SFML and not worry about having to start again with a new language/library as their experience grows.

Perhaps the biggest benefit is that most modern C++ programming uses OOP. Every C++ beginner’s guide I have ever read uses and teaches OOP. OOP is the future (and the now) of coding in almost all languages, in fact. So why, if you’re learning C++ from the beginning, would you want to do it any other way?

SFML has a module (code) for just about anything you would ever want to do in a 2D game. SFML works using OpenGL, which can also make 3D games. OpenGL is the de facto free-to-use graphics library for games when you want it to run on more than one platform. When you use SFML, you are automatically using OpenGL.

SFML allows you to create the following:

• 2D graphics and animations, including scrolling game worlds.
• Sound effects and music playback, including high-quality directional sound.
• Input handling with a keyboard, mouse, and gamepad.
• Online multiplayer features.
• The same code can be compiled and linked on all major desktop operating systems, and mobile as well!.

Extensive research has not uncovered any more suitable ways to build 2D games for PC, even for expert developers and especially if you are a beginner and want to learn C++ in a fun gaming environment.

In the sections that follow, we will set up the development environment, beginning with a discussion on what to do if you are using Mac or Linux operating systems.

Now that you know a bit more about how we will be making games, it is time to set up a development environment so we can get coding.

What about Mac and Linux?

The games that we will be making can be built to run on Windows, Mac, and Linux! The code we use will be identical for each platform. However, each version does need to be compiled and linked on the platform for which it is intended, and Visual Studio will not be able to help us with Mac and Linux.

It would be unfair to say, especially for complete beginners, that this book is entirely suited for Mac and Linux users. Although, I guess, if you are an enthusiastic Mac or Linux user and you are comfortable with your operating system, you will likely succeed. Most of the extra challenges you will encounter will be in the initial setup of the development environment, SFML, and the first project.

To this end, I can highly recommend the following tutorials, which will hopefully replace the next 10 pages (approximately), up to the Planning Timber!!! section, when this book will become relevant to all operating systems.

For Linux, read this to replace the next few sections: https://www.sfml-dev.org/tutorials/2.5/start-linux.php.

On Mac, read this tutorial to get started: https://www.sfml-dev.org/tutorials/2.5/start-osx.php.

Installing Visual Studio 2019 Community edition

To start creating a game, we need to install Visual Studio 2019. Installing Visual Studio can be almost as simple as downloading a file and clicking a few buttons. I will walk you through the installation process a step at a time.

Important note

Note that, over the years, Microsoft is likely to change the name, appearance, and download page that’s used to obtain Visual Studio. They are likely to change the layout of the user interface and make the instructions that follow out of date. However, the settings that we configure for each project are fundamental to C++ and SFML, so careful interpretation of the instructions that follow in this chapter will likely be possible, even if Microsoft does something radical to Visual Studio. Anyway, at the time of writing, Visual Studio 2019 has been released for just two weeks, so hopefully this chapter will be up to date for a while. If something significant does happen, then I will add an up-to-date tutorial on http://gamecodeschool.com as soon as I find out about it.

Let’s get started with installing Visual Studio:

1. The first thing you need is a Microsoft account and login details. If you have a Hotmail or MSN email address, then you already have one. If not, you can sign up for a free one here: https://login.live.com/.
2. The next step is to visit https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/ and find the download link for Community 2019. This is what it looks like at the time of writing:
   
3. Save the file to your computer.
4. When the download completes, run the download by double-clicking on it. My file, at the time of writing, was called vs_community__33910147.1551368984.exe. Yours will be different based on the current version of Visual Studio.
5. After giving permission for Visual Studio to make changes to your computer, you will be greeted with the following window. Click Continue:
   
6. Wait for the installer program to download some files and set up the next stage of the installation. Shortly, you will be presented with the following window:
   
7. If you want to choose a new location to install Visual Studio, locate the Change option and configure the install location. The simplest thing to do is leave the file at the default location chosen by Visual Studio. When you are ready, locate the Desktop development with C++ option and select it.
8. Next, click the Install button. Grab some refreshments as this step might take a while.
9. When the process completes, you can close all open windows, including any that prompt you to start a new project, as we are not ready to start coding until we have installed SFML.

Now, we are ready to turn our attention to SFML.

Setting up SFML

This short tutorial will guide you through downloading the SFML files that allow us to include the functionality contained in the library in our projects. In addition, we will see how we can use the SFML DLL files that will enable our compiled object code to run alongside SFML. To set up SFML, follow these steps:

1. Visit this link on the SFML website: http://www.sfml-dev.org/download.php. Click on the button that says Latest stable version, as shown here:
   
2. By the time you read this book, the latest version will almost certainly have changed. This won’t matter as long as you do the next step just right. We want to download the 32-bit version of Visual C++ 2017. This might sound counter-intuitive because we have just installed Visual Studio 2019 and you probably (most commonly) have a 64-bit PC. The reason we chose to download the 32-bit version is that Visual C++ 2017 is part of Visual Studio 2019 (Visual Studio does more than C++) and we will be building games in 32-bit so that they can run on both 32- and 64-bit machines. Click the Download button that’s shown in the following screenshot:
   
3. When the download completes, create a folder at the root of the same drive where you installed Visual Studio and name it SFML. Also, create another folder at the root of the drive where you installed Visual Studio and call it VS Projects.
4. Finally, unzip the SFML download. Do this on your desktop. When unzipping is complete, you can delete the .zip folder. You will be left with a single folder on your desktop. Its name will reflect the version of SFML that you downloaded. Mine is called SFML-2.5.1-windows-vc15-32-bit. Your filename will likely reflect a more recent version. Double-click this folder to see its contents, then double-click again into the next folder (mine is called SFML-2.5.1). The following screenshot shows what my SFML-2.5.1 folder’s content looks like. Yours should look the same:
5. Copy the entire contents of this folder and paste all the files and folders into the SFML folder that you created in Step 3. For the rest of this book, I will refer to this folder simply as “your SFML folder”.

Now, we are ready to start using C++ and SFML in Visual Studio.

Creating a new project

As setting up a project is a fiddly process, we will go through it step by step so that we can start getting used to it:

1. Start Visual Studio in the same way you start any app: by clicking on its icon. The default installation options will have placed a Visual Studio 2019 icon in the Windows start menu. You will see the following window:
   
2. Click on the Create a new project button, as highlighted in the preceding screenshot. You will see the Create a new project window, as shown in the following screenshot:
   
3. In the Create a new project window, we need to choose the type of project we will be creating. We will be creating a console app, so select Console App, as highlighted in the preceding screenshot, and click the Next button. You will then see the Configure your new project window. This following screenshot shows the Configure your new project window after the next three steps have been completed:
   
4. In the Configure your new project window, type Timber in the Project name field. Note that this causes Visual Studio to automatically configure the Solution name field to the same name.
5. In the Location field, browse to the VS Projects folder that we created in the previous tutorial. This will be the location that all our project files will be kept.
6. Check the option to Place solution and project in the same directory.
7. Note that the preceding screenshot shows what the window looks like when the previous three steps have been completed. When you have completed these steps, click Create. The project will be generated, including some C++ code. This following screenshot shows where we will be working throughout this book:
   
8. We will now configure the project to use the SFML files that we put in the SFML folder. From the main menu, select Project | Timber properties…. You will see the following window:

Tip

In the preceding screenshot, the OK, Cancel, and Apply buttons are not fully formed. This is likely a glitch with Visual Studio not handling my screen resolution correctly. Yours will hopefully be fully formed. Whether your buttons appear like mine do or not, continuing with the tutorial will be the same.

Next, we will begin to configure the project properties. As these steps are quite intricate, I will cover them in a new list of steps.

Configuring the project properties

At this stage, you should have the Timber Property Pages window open, as shown in the preceding screenshot at the end of the previous section. Now, we will begin to configure some properties while using the following annotated screenshot for guidance:

We will add some fairly intricate and important project settings in this section. This is the laborious part, but we will only need to do this once per project. What we need to do is tell Visual Studio where to find a special type of code file from SFML. The special type of file I am referring to is a header file. Header files are the files that define the format of the SFML code so that when we use the SFML code, the compiler knows how to handle it. Note that the header files are distinct from the main source code files and they are contained in files with the .hpp file extension. All this will become clearer when we eventually start adding our own header files in the second project. In addition, we need to tell Visual Studio where it can find the SFML library files. In the Timber Property Pages window, perform the following three steps, which are numbered in the preceding screenshot:

1. First (1), select All Configurations from the Configuration: drop down.
2. Second (2), select C/C++ then General from the left-hand menu.
3. Third (3), locate the Additional Include Directories edit box and type the drive letter where your SFML folder is located, followed by \SFML\include. The full path to type, if you located your SFML folder on your D drive, is as shown in the preceding screenshot; that is, D:\SFML\include. Vary your path if you installed SFML on a different drive.
4. Click Apply to save your configurations so far.
5. Now, still in the same window, perform these steps, which refer to the following annotated screenshot. First (1), select Linker and then General.
6. Now, find the Additional Library Directories edit box (2) and type the drive letter where your SFML folder is, followed by \SFML\lib. So, the full path to type if you located your SFML folder on your D drive is, as shown in the following screenshot, D:\SFML\lib. Vary your path if you installed SFML to a different drive:
   
7. Click Apply to save your configurations so far.
8. Finally, for this stage, still in the same window, perform these steps, which refer to the following annotated screenshot. Switch the Configuration: drop down (1) to Debug as we will be running and testing our games in debug mode.
9. Select Linker and then Input (2).
10. Find the Additional Dependencies edit box (3) and click into it at the far-left-hand side. Now, copy and paste/type the following: sfml-graphics-d.lib;sfml-window-d.lib;sfml-system-d.lib;sfml-network-d.lib;sfml-audio-d.lib; at the indicated place. Be extra careful to place the cursor exactly in the right place and not to overwrite any of the text that is already there.
11. Click OK:
    
12. Click Apply and then OK.

Phew; that’s it! We have successfully configured Visual Studio and can move on to planning the Timber!!! project.

Whenever you make a game, it is always best to start with a pencil and paper. If you don’t know exactly how your game is going to work on the screen, how can you possibly make it work in code?

Tip

At this point, if you haven’t already, I suggest you go and watch a video of Timberman in action so that you can see what we are aiming for. If you feel your budget can stretch to it, then grab a copy and give it a play. It is often on sale for under $1 on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/398710/.

The features and objects of a game that define the gameplay are known as the mechanics. The basic mechanics of the game are as follows:

• Time is always running out.
• You can get more time by chopping the tree.
• Chopping the tree causes the branches to fall.
• The player must avoid the falling branches.
• Repeat until time runs out or the player is squished.

Expecting you to plan the C++ code at this stage is obviously a bit silly. This is, of course, the first chapter of a C++ beginner’s guide. We can, however, take a look at all the assets we will use and an overview of what we will need to make our C++ code do.

Take a look at this annotated screenshot of the game:

You can see that we have the following features:

• The player’s score: Each time the player chops a log, they will get one point. They can chop a log with either the left or the right arrow (cursor) key.
• Player character: Each time the player chops, they will move to/stay on the same side of the tree relative to the cursor key they use. Therefore, the player must be careful which side they choose to chop on.
• When the player chops, a simple axe graphic will appear in the player character’s hands.
• Shrinking time-bar: Each time the player chops, a small amount of time will be added to the ever-shrinking time-bar.
• The lethal branches: The faster the player chops, the more time they will get, but also the faster the branches will move down the tree and therefore the more likely they are to get squished. The branches spawn randomly at the top of the tree and move down with each chop.
• When the player gets squished – and they will get squished quite regularly – a gravestone graphic will appear.
• The chopped log: When the player chops, a chopped log graphic will whiz off, away from the player.
• Just for decoration: There are three floating clouds that will drift at random heights and speeds, as well as a bee that does nothing but fly around.
• The background: All this takes place on a pretty background.

So, in a nutshell, the player must frantically chop to gain points and avoid running out of time. As a slightly perverse, but fun consequence, the faster they chop, the more likely their squishy demise is.

We now know what the game looks like, how it is played, and the motivation behind the game mechanics. Now, we can go ahead and start building it. Follow these steps:

1. Now, we need to copy the SFML .dll files into the main project directory. My main project directory is D:\VS Projects\Timber. It was created by Visual Studio in the previous tutorial. If you put your VS Projects folder somewhere else, then perform this step there instead. The files we need to copy into the project folder are located in your SFML\bin folder. Open a window for each of the two locations and highlight all the files in the SFML\bin folder, as shown in the following screenshot:
   
2. Now, copy and paste the highlighted files into the project folder, that is, D:\VS Projects\Timber.

The project is now set up and ready to go. You will be able to see the following screen. I have annotated this screenshot so you can start familiarizing yourself with Visual Studio. We will revisit all these areas, and others, soon:

Your layout might look slightly different to what’s shown in the preceding screenshot because the windows of Visual Studio, like most applications, are customizable. Take the time to locate the Solution Explorer window on the right and adjust it to make its content nice and clear, like it is in the previous screenshot.

We will be back here soon to start coding. But first, we will explore the project assets we will be using.

Assets are anything you need to make your game. In our case, these assets include the following:

• A font for the writing on the screen
• Sound effects for different actions, such as chopping, dying, and running out of time
• Graphics for the character, background, branches, and other game objects

All the graphics and sounds that are required for this game are included in the download bundle for this book. They can be found in the Chapter 1/graphics and Chapter 1/sound folders as appropriate.

The font that is required has not been supplied. This is because I wanted to avoid any possible ambiguity regarding the license. This will not cause a problem, though, as I will show you exactly where and how to choose and download fonts for yourself.

Although I will provide either the assets themselves or information on where to get them, you might like to create or acquire them for yourself.

Outsourcing the assets

There are a number of websites that allow you to contract artists, sound engineers, and even programmers. One of the biggest is Upwork (www.upwork.com). You can join this site for free and post your jobs. You will need to write a clear explanation of your requirements, as well as state how much you are prepared to pay. Then, you will probably get a good selection of contractors bidding to do the work. Be aware, however, that there are a lot of unqualified contractors whose work might be disappointing, but if you choose carefully, you will likely find a competent, enthusiastic, and great-value person or company to do the job.

Making your own sound FX

Sound effects can be downloaded for free from sites such as Freesound (www.freesound.org), but often the licence won’t allow you to use them if you are selling your game. Another option is to use an open source software called BFXR from www.bfxr.net, which can help you generate lots of different sound effects that are yours to keep and do with as you like.

Adding the assets to the project

Once you have decided which assets you will use, it is time to add them to the project. The following instructions will assume you are using all the assets that are supplied in this book’s download bundle. Where you are using your own, simply replace the appropriate sound or graphic file with your own, using exactly the same filename:

1. Browse to the project folder, that is, D:\VS Projects\Timber.
2. Create three new folders within this folder and name them graphics, sound, and fonts.
3. From the download bundle, copy the entire contents of Chapter 1/graphics into the D:\VS Projects\Timber\graphics folder.
4. From the download bundle, copy the entire contents of Chapter 1/sound into the D:\VS Projects\Timber\sound folder.
5. Now, visit http://www.1001freefonts.com/komika_poster.font in your web browser and download the Komika Poster font.
6. Extract the contents of the zipped download and add the KOMIKAP_.ttf file to the D:\VS Projects\Timber\fonts folder.

Let’s take a look at these assets – especially the graphics – so that we can visualize what is happening when we use them in our C++ code.

Exploring the assets

The graphical assets make up the parts of the scene that is our Timber!!! game. If you take a look at the graphical assets, it should be clear where in our game they will be used:

The sound files are all in .wav format. These files contain the sound effects that we will play at certain events throughout the game. They were all generated using BFXR and are as follows:

• chop.wav: A sound that is a bit like an axe (a retro axe) chopping a tree
• death.wav: A sound a bit like a retro “losing” sound
• out_of_time.wav: A sound that plays when the player loses by running out of time, as opposed to being squashed

We have seen all the assets, including the graphics, so now we will have a short discussion related to the resolution of the screen and how we position the graphics on it.