3d Concepts for Game Programming
10 Mar 2009

We will update the C#2005 licenses in AH1112 today as our first task. Please get one of the notebook computers and fire up Game Studio 2/XNA / C#2005. A screen will come up insisting that the C# software be registered. One of the options is to Register, so select that.

You will be asked for your Microsoft LiveID. If you already have your own Microsoft Live-ID lcgin, you can enter that information. You will need to continue through the next two screen (that say email was sent to your registered address), but this does not happen. Just hit the "Continue" button for each of these screens and a screen will come up with the Registration Key. Copy and paste this into the prompt from C# 2005, and we are in business. If you do not have your own Xbox LiveID, let me know so that I can enter my LiveID on your system and get the software updated.

We want to take time to review some background materials on 3d Concepts in lecture.

In terms of a current topic, there is the recent IEEE Institute 10 March 2009 feature story
Play to Learn
along with the IEEE announcement of sponsoring contest "Can a Video Game Save Earth?"
www.saveearthgame.org/
Devise a Game to Save the Earth The IEEE Committee on Earth Observation has launched a pair of computer-game design contests referred to as the SaveEarthGame. Contestants are asked to create a concept for a computer game using Earth observations that addresses areas such as disaster prevention, energy conservation, and climate control. Entries for the first contest are due 10 April. The second contest starts on 1 May, with entries due 30 June. Submissions should focus on using Earth observation data to forecast and respond to environmental challenges. For more information, visit bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/14285/03794724

These international news items from the IEEE professional society demonstrate that game programming is being recognized as a valued activity and that our study of this field in this class helps keep you current in our field of computing.

I hope this helps by helpiing you see the big picture. We need to understand only a few of the details of the 3d concepts that are key to our work with XNA this semester.

MIT course Principles of Computer Graphics (CG)
Lec1: Intro to Displays and CG Uses pdf This presentation provides an excellent overview of computer graphics (CG), though not the focus of our class, highlighting CG in movies, in games, in medical imaging, in computer aided design and scientific visualization. The slides nicely present the technical background for the display technologies: CRT, vector displays, raster displays, color video, LCDs, plasma, FEDs [field emission devices], DMDs [digital micromirror devices], LED [light emitting diode] arrys, 3d rooms or head-mounted displays.
Lec10: 3d Transformations & the 3d Graphics Pipeline (slides) pdf

computer.howstuffworks.com/3dgraphics.htm How 3d works
Fundamental 3d Concepts from Ken Finney outline - txt

XYZ-axis system

Right-handed coordinate system with vertical Y-axis

Parts of a 3d shape

Fully transforming the cube

Back to our text, Chapter 7 3-D Game Programming Basics