Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming in 24 Hours

Hour 9. A Crash Course in Game Animation

The heart of graphics in almost all games is animation. Without animation, there would be no movement, and without movement, we'd all be stuck playing board games and card games. This hour presents the fundamental concepts surrounding animation in games and, more specifically , sprite animation. As you'll soon learn, practically every game with animation employs some type of animation engine, typically involving sprites . Although this hour is primarily a theoretical discussion of animation, it is a necessary stepping stone in your path to adding advanced animation features to your games.

In this hour, you'll learn:

• The basics of animation and how it works in games

• The difference between 2D and 3D animation

• The different types of 2D animation, and when to use each one in games