Introduction to SDL Game Development

Introduction to SDL Game Development - C++

Have you ever wanted to create games? This is the course for you! In this course, you will learn how to use the C++ language with the popular SDL graphics framework to create a classic arcade game while learning the fundamentals of game development.

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Course curriculum

1. Feedback and Course Reviews
1. Downloading the Art Assets
1. What is SDL?
1. Setting up SDL and the Recommended Setup
2. SDL3 - install and setup from Source (Linux demonstration)
3. SDL3 - install and setup from Source (Mac demonstration)
4. SDL3 - install and setup from source using mysys2 (Windows Demonstration)
5. SDL3 - install and setup from Source on Windows using Virtual Box (Beta video - first Cut)
6. SDL3 - install and setup from Source on Windows using WSL
1. SDL Initialization (SDL_Init)
2. Creating a window (SDL_CreateWindow)
3. Introduction to SDL Game Dev - SDL_Event Loop and handling a key press event
1. [Theory] Game Application and Loop
2. Game Application and Loop
3. Setting up our physical codebase structure
4. (Aside) Investigating Game Engines ‘Main Loops’ and their extensibility
1. Understanding SDL_Surface
2. SDL_Renderer and Primitives
3. Challenge
4. Challenge Solution
1. Frames Per Second (FPS)
2. Frame Capping
3. Frame Independent Movement
1. Textures
2. Transparency
3. A Sprite Class
1. Game Demo and Design Document
2. Enemy Grid
3. Game Entity (Game Object) Abstraction
  FREE PREVIEW
4. Player and Enemy Behavior
5. Projectiles (Live Code)
6. Intersection (Continued)
7. Enemy Fires Back!
8. Winning! Completion of your first game!
1. Code Organization
2. Adding a Resource Manager
3. Resource Manager fix -- and optional abstracting our resource manager
1. Components Idea
2. Component-Based Refactoring - Part 1
3. Components Refactoring Part 2 - GetComponent Map
4. Components Refactoring Part 3 - Bug fix (rendering enemies fire -- and win condition!)
5. Components Refactoring Part 4 - Input Component and Refactoring of 'Component' with GameObject Reference
6. Components Refactoring Part 5 - Renaming SpriteComponent to TextureComponent
7. Components Refactoring Part 6 - Transform Component Refactoring
8. Components Refactoring Part 7 - Collision2D Component Refactoring
1. Creating a Scene Abstraction
1. Polishing the GameObject Class with children Game Entities and removing Player Game Entity
2. Pybind11 Setup Videos

About this course

$49.99
48 lessons
15.5 hours of video content

What YOU will Learn

In this course, you will learn how to utilize your C++ skills for game programming using the popular Simple Directmedia Layer (SDL) library. I will start off by showing you how to get the SDL library installed for your platform, and then we will go through fundamental concepts in SDL so you understand the basics of graphic programming. As I show you each new SDL topic, I will also show you alongside the documentation, so you understand how to learn and get help in the future beyond this course. The latter part of the course will then focus on game development. You'll see me as I think, design, and develop a game from scratch. Sound like fun? Join in!

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Reviews

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FAQ

Is there a free preview available?

If you enroll on the website, you can view many of the lessons free. I also have a YouTube Channel that I think will give you an idea of my instruction style (as well as with a few free lessons on this course as well!)
Can I use SDL 2 or SDL 3 for this course?

This course uses SDL 3 -- which is the latest and greatest. That said, you can also use SDL 2, and I will show you in the documentation the difference between the functions.
Why SDL? (Versus SFML, glfw, etc.)

SDL provides an excellent low-level framework for game development and multimedia applications. It is supported on nearly every desktop, mobile, and even console platforms. SDL has been used to create many commercial and indie applications and games, and it has a vast amount of supporting resources on the web and YouTube (including my channel!).

Mike Shah