5 Best SFML Books to Learn SFML Library in [2024]

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In this post we have compiled a list of 5 best SFML books that will help you to learn every aspect of SFML library with ease. Take a look over the list and see which titles stand out to you.

SFML is a cross-platform software development library written in C++ with bindings available for many programming languages. It provides a simple interface to the various components of your PC, to ease the development of games and multimedia applications.

SFML is an Open Source C++ library designed to make game development more accessible, exposing multimedia components to the user through a simple, yet powerful interface.

Best SFML Books You Should Read

  1. Mastering SFML Game Development
  2. SFML Game Development
  3. C++ Game Development By Example
  4. SFML Blueprints
  5. SFML Game Development by Example

 

1. Mastering SFML Game Development

Best Books for Mastering SFML Game DevelopmentThis book will help you become an expert of SFML by using all of its features to its full potential. It begins by going over some of the foundational code necessary in order to make our RPG project run.

Mastering SFML Game Development, Dive deep into creating complex and visually stunning games using SFML, as well as advanced OpenGL rendering and shading techniques. You will be able to build an advanced, dynamic lighting and shadowing system to add an extra graphical kick to your games and make them feel a lot more dynamic.

You will be able to craft your own custom tools for editing game media, such as maps, and speed up the process of content creation.

This book will teach you how to optimize your code to make it blazing fast and robust for the users, even with visually demanding scenes.

You will get a complete grip on the best practices and industry grade game development design patterns used for AAA projects.

 

2. SFML Game Development

best books to learn SFML Game DevelopmentIf you’ve got a firm grasp of C++ with a secret hankering to create a great game, this book is for you. SFML Game Development is a fast-paced, step-by-step guide, providing you with all the knowledge and tools you need to create your first game using SFML 2.0

This book will provide you with all the guidance you need to create your first fully featured 2D game using SFML 2.0. By the end, you’ll have learned the basic principles of game development, including advanced topics such as how to network your game, how to utilize particle systems and much more.

SFML Game Development starts with an overview of windows, graphics, and user inputs. After this brief introduction, you will start to get to grips with SFML by building up a world of different game objects, and implementing more and more gameplay features. Eventually, you’ll be handling advanced visual effects, audio effects and network programming like an old pro. New concepts are discussed, while the code steadily develops.

What You Will Learn:

  • Learn the basics of SFML and render an airplane to the screen.
  • Make your game richer with support menus, settings, and other states
  • Create a game world to play in using entities and handle input from the player
  • Implement the foundation for a GUI library
  • Populate the world with enemies and let them interact
  • Load resources like textures from the hard drive and learn about resource management
  • Implement multiplayer over a network to indulge in gameplay over the Internet
  • Animate the game object, build a particle system and look behind the scenes of rendering
  • Add music and sound effects to your game to create an immersive gaming experience

 

3. C++ Game Development By Example

best sfml books to readIf you’re a developer keen to learn game development with C++ or get up to date with game development, this book is for you. Some knowledge of C++ programming is assumed.

C++ Game Development By Example starts by touching upon the basic concepts of math, programming, and computer graphics and creating a simple side-scrolling action 2D game. You’ll build a solid foundation by studying basic game concepts such as creating game loops, rendering 2D game scenes using SFML, 2D sprite creation and animation, and collision detection.

The book will help you advance to creating a 3D physics puzzle game using modern OpenGL and the Bullet physics engine. You’ll understand the graphics pipeline, which entails creating 3D objects using vertex and index buffers and rendering them to the scene using vertex and fragment shaders.

Finally, you’ll create a basic project using the Vulkan library that’ll help you get to grips with creating swap chains, image views, render passes, and frame buffers for building high-performance graphics in your games.

By the end of this book, you’ll be ready with 3 compelling projects created with SFML, the Vulkan API, and OpenGL, and you’ll be able take your game and graphics programming skills to the next level.

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4. SFML Blueprints

Best SFML BooksThis book is for developers who have knowledge of the basics of the SFML library and its capabilities in 2D game development. Minimal experience with C++ is required.

This book contains useful information that you’ll need to create any kind of 2D games. Starting with the basics of game programming, resource management, and building simple 2D games, you’ll then delve into more complex features such as the physics engine, constructing a game UI, and more advanced concepts of 2D gaming using SFML.

You’ll develop advanced functionality in your game using the concept of multithreading and learn how various threads interact.

What You Will Learn:

  • Build a complete game and integrate advanced features by adding a multiplayer layer
  • Get to grips with SFML resources and build a generic and reusable resource manager
  • Add networking and learn about serialization and database management using Sqlite3
  • Add a nice user interface to your game to make it more user friendly
  • Discover the SFGUI library and learn how to customize your game
  • Delve into the importance of multithreading and boost your code
  • Gather knowledge about different entity models and build your own 2D games
  • Explore the Box2D engine and add physics properties to your game

 

5. SFML Game Development by Example

Best Books to learn SFMLThis book is intended for game development enthusiasts with at least decent knowledge of the C++ programming language and an optional background in game design.

The book starts by building a clone of the classical snake game where you will learn how to open a window and render a basic sprite, write well-structured code to implement the design of the game, and use the AABB bounding box collision concept.

The next game is a simple platformer with enemies, obstacles and a few different stages. Here, we will be creating states that will provide custom application flow and explore the most common yet often overlooked design patterns used in game development.

This book also teach you how to implement networking features that will allow other players to join and play together.

By the end of the book, you will be an expert in using the SFML library to its full potential.

What You Will Learn:

  • Create and open a window by using SFML
  • Utilize, manage, and apply all of the features and properties of the SFML library
  • Employ some basic game development techniques to make your game tick
  • Apply common game development and programming patterns to solve design problems
  • Build your own code base to make your game more robust and flexible
  • Develop and provide networking capabilities to your game
  • Handle your visual and auditory resources properly
  • Construct a robust system for user input and interfacing