Rating: 
Summary: Excellent how-to for intermediate programmers.
Review: Two days after my order shipped, I read other customers reviews for this book, and thought I had bought a lemon. Quite the contrary. This book is a godsend for those of us creating games, and not interested in acquiring PHD's in "Theoretical Aspects of DirectX Implementation and Their Implications for Quantum Physics." Microsoft may make the most user-fruendly OS on the market, but when it comes to developer APIs, MS makes the most convoluted, user-unfriendly, documentation sparse code out there.Ever wondered why some many programmer's re-invent the wheel and emulate MS APIs with their own original code? I am an intermediate programmer and find the most time-wasting part of coding is try to interface with MS APIs - they are a nightmare to work with. As for this book, I say buy it. Personally, I found about half of the book to be stuff that I already know. What made the book worthwhile were the specific examples of implementing it in DirectX. True you can find some of the info on the web. But most is poorly documented or overly complicated - I don't care how DirectX does what it does, I just want to know how to implement it with the fewest migraines. This book accomplishes that superbly. Unlike most Delphi books which can spend upwards of 50 pages covering REALLY basic stuff, Ayres only spends a 1-2 pages to refresh your memory of the concepts, before diving into how to best implement it using DirectX. You should already be familiar with the basics of DirectX, bitmap and GDI manipulatiion via TBitmap / TCanvas, sprite animation, MCI / sound playback, etc. before purchasing this book. Background on these topics is minimal, the majority of the book and it's examples show how to get them working under DirectX, and point out many of the MS-centric quirks and how to avoid them. Buy this book. If you already know the stuff covered in it, then buy it anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Delivers, though probably not for advanced programmers
Review: Unlike some of the reviewers, I had no problems with any of the examples (remember to change the read-only status of the files to archive), nor with the Delphi 4 installation (a great bonus). But this book is probably not for advanced game programmers. For me, the presentation of the basic framework for games was very helpful. Ayres' code was clear, instructive, and always worked. In addition, he does at least introduce the reader to some of the more complex aspects of game programming and shows the reader how to do some of the more interesting and useful special effects.
Rating:
Summary: Much needed book
Review: Until now, the Delphi DirectX examples available on the web are Delphi translations of original C++ examples, mostly from the DirectX SDK. If DirectX programming with Delphi is to become a serious subject, then we need books that approach DirectX purely in Delphi terms - you don't need C++ knowledge to program with DirectX. Ayres is the first to take up this challenge; Applause! This book will make DirectX programming possible for many Delphi programmers. When will we see the first commercial Delphi-DirectX product (game, educational, scientific,....)? WELL DONE, JOHN AYRES!
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