Part 4. Silverlight and the XNA Framework

Windows Phone 7 is an exciting platform for both application and game development. The final part of this book demonstrates how Silverlight and the XNA Framework can be used together to build exciting games and applications. The XNA Framework includes a rich library for three-dimensional modeling and rendering. Three-dimensional models have been used for years in drafting applications and simulations of real-world environments such as buildings, open space, landscaping, and maps.

In chapter 14, you’ll use the Windows Phone Silverlight and XNA Application template to create a Hello World game, and learn the techniques used to render Silverlight user interface elements with the XNA graphics framework. We give you a crash course in XNA concepts such as 3D animation techniques, collision detection, and the game loop.

You continue working with the sample game in chapter 15, where you learn how to use sprites for 2D graphics and animation. You’ll use raw touches, gestures, the motion sensor, and the Mouse API to let a game player wander around the game world. We also show you how to integrate a Silverlight Button control into the game.