It was once common knowledge that anyone interested in making Web-based games must learn Flash and ActionScript. Things have changed with Silverlight 4—now you can leverage your existing C# language skills to produce high-quality and feature-rich games for the Web.

Pro Game Design with Silverlight 4 teaches you how to build a flexible and feature-rich Web-based game engine using Microsoft’s Silverlight 4 Web plug-in for Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. You’ll learn the fundamentals of game design and how to implement them in a flexible and highly re-usable Silverlight game “template,” or engine. Throughout this discovery process, you will find new and innovative ways to apply the C# programming language and XAML markup language.

• Build your own flexible game engine—this book covers the fundamentals of game engine design from scene management to score keeping, and everything in between.
• Quickly build Web-based games—this book reveals the power of component-based game building to quickly prototype new game ideas and maximize code re-use.
• Leverage the power of Silverlight 4, C#, and XAML—this book describes how to leverage the newest features of the .NET 4.0 Framework and the flexibility of the XAML markup language.

What you’ll learn

• The inner-workings and architecture of a Web-based game engine, such as scene and component management.
• How to wield C# and XAML to implement core game services, such as input management, storage, and physics.
• How to leverage new .NET features, such as Dependency Properties, to create flexible game objects that can be extended.
• How to design custom game components that plug-into the game engine framework to accelerate game prototyping and maximize code re-use.
• How to incorporate media elements, such as audio and video, to polish your games and make them appeal to millions of internet players.
• How to create online multiplayer Web games that utilize powerful networking features offered by .NET and Silverlight 4.

Who this book is for

This book is ideal for any software developer that is interested in making games for the Web using C# and XAML.

John Kanalakis is senior director of software development at LoanCity. John has designed and built a number of large-scale enterprise applications and XML-based distributed application frameworks. During his professional career, he has worked with a range of programming platforms but has focused mainly on C++ and Java. Most recently, he designed and implemented a multitiered application that captures, manages, and analyzes new product requirements. This is John's first book, although he has published numerous magazine articles and white papers.