Rating: 
Summary: A Great beginers guide for Game programing
Review: This book is one of the best books if you know C++, but want to get into game programming. It's fluff is kept to a minimum, and it's information is top notch. It walks you though the code, explaining what each portion does. If you are a starting Game Programmer, this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent entry point for learning directx
Review: This book is recommended for anyone starting out in the world of game programming. Ian's writing style is friendly and laidback without getting too cutsey-poo like some of those "Dummies" guides. It is NOT a C++ primer (this knowledge is assumed), nor is it a reference for DirectX (in fact direct sound and direct draw are the only features he uses - maybe Direct Input in the next edition, Ian?). It's just a really good book that teaches you step-by-step how to build a game engine from scratch.
Rating: 
Summary: Strange book
Review: This book teaches you how to develop a very simple old fashion game( 2D ,256 colors 640x480 , one aircraft and some birds , that's all!!!) but it expects that you know C++ at a senior class level. It is a nonsense, in my opinion. The book is however well organized, you can see that the author is a professor , by the way, this was the main reason why I purchased it. This is also the only reason why I rate it 2 instead of 1 star.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst DirectX books ever
Review: This book [is] so bad it's hard to describe. I've read several books on DirectX, and this is definitely the worst.. This book does not attempt to give you useful information on the API, it simply gives you the code, and then you compile it. Not a single scrap of code is explained, he just writes his program, and then says "See! wasn't that easy!?" It feels like someone forced him to write the book with a gun to his head, it's really that bad. I'm a very fluent programmer, and this was total dificult for me to follow. When you're done, you'll know how to program the one game in the book, but nothing else. Terrible.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's be realistic
Review: This goes for all "game programming" books:
If you don't know how to program, don't start here. None of the code in this book is particularly difficult or obscure, but you will not find a C++ review in its pages. What you do find is a pretty clear and useful step-by-step guide to creating a simple game. Dr. Parberry uses object-oriented programming to make his game easier to follow (again, you need to know about programming *first*), and I found his example to be a great starting point for my projects. Another thing about DirectX: it's big, and reasonably well documented. Granted, DirectDraw isn't supported by Microsoft anymore, but you can still download the 7.0a SDK. No book is going to hold your hand for the whole thing. This book gives you enough of a start to get you going, but you'll need to have the documentation handy while you're working. Bottom line: if you know how to code in C++ using OOP techniques, and you know a little about bitmapped images and cartesian coordinates, this book will guide you to structured game programming. If not, get up to speed before trying to write games. The only complaint that I have is that I found a couple of logic errors in the code. I haven't checked online to see if they are covered in an errata because I was able to figure them out.
Rating:
Summary: Let's be realistic
Review: This goes for all "game programming" books:
If you don't know how to program, don't start here. None of the code in this book is particularly difficult or obscure, but you will not find a C++ review in its pages. What you do find is a pretty clear and useful step-by-step guide to creating a simple game. Dr. Parberry uses object-oriented programming to make his game easier to follow (again, you need to know about programming *first*), and I found his example to be a great starting point for my projects. Another thing about DirectX: it's big, and reasonably well documented. Granted, DirectDraw isn't supported by Microsoft anymore, but you can still download the 7.0a SDK. No book is going to hold your hand for the whole thing. This book gives you enough of a start to get you going, but you'll need to have the documentation handy while you're working. Bottom line: if you know how to code in C++ using OOP techniques, and you know a little about bitmapped images and cartesian coordinates, this book will guide you to structured game programming. If not, get up to speed before trying to write games. The only complaint that I have is that I found a couple of logic errors in the code. I haven't checked online to see if they are covered in an errata because I was able to figure them out.
Rating:
Summary: This book is EXCELLENT!
Review: This is a great book! It goes over the basic concepts of programming and explains them in terms that one can understand. The other guy that left the bad review on here obvioulsy wanted a book that had a game he could copy. The game in the book is simplistic enough to explain concepts explained in the chapters, so the programmer may build on the knowledge he gains. This has by far been the best and most helpful game programming book that I have purchased.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This is a very good book, I like how he wrote it so you learn by building from the previous chapter. Like first you'll learn DirectDraw, then you'll learn DirectSound, and how to implement DriectSound into the demo. Which I think it's great. I have probably every other book out there on game programming. I'm not saying the other books weren't good or anything but this book really got me hooked on how everything worked. He made it seem easy...(well not easy, but you know) This is the first book which actually thought me how to me a not only a game but a complete game everything all the way to the little details like high score list. Again Great Book. I would like to state that Ian is great. I had problems compiling the code for some reason. So I sent him an Email asking for some advice. With the few messages I sent him, I had a reply withen 3 to 20 hours. I thought that was great. His advice was very helpfull. Plus he is taking extra time by putting new things on his website, like high-res stuff and lots of neat things.
Rating:
Summary: Directly take you to game programming, excellent !!
Review: This is an excellent book that I've ever read for game programming, 3-D graphis, etc. I read some other books that claim they will teach you how to program a game....actually, they won't. But this book shows you the basic that you need, at least you can have your little game which is created completely by yourself. It's not like other game programming books that just show you all the functions of how to create graphis, sound or whatever it is, it is a book that if you read it, try it and follow it step-by-step, finally you will have a GAME!!!! Amazing?? ha.... I agree with the other reader, Newson, El-Hage that the game is not supposed to be too complicated (don't expect you can create a game like Tomb Raider if you are a rookie), it shows you the basic and later on, of course, you will make up your own fantastic games. One more thing is that this book is not for you if you have too little programming experiences, I had 4 classes of C++ and Java in school so I did not find this book hard to follow. If you don't have much experience in C++, you may need to take a good look at your C++ book before you start.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent entry point to DirectX and game programming
Review: This is an excellent book, but only for certain people. You have to already have a good grasp of C++, including inheritance and so on, and if you have even a relatively little experience with DirectX or Game programming, you will probably find it a little simplistic. If you expect to create Diablo II or AOEII or some game on that level by reading this book, you need a thorough reality check before you buy ANY book. If you understand c++ and want a good way to start game programming, this book is excellent. Each chapter builds very clearly on the previous one, telling the steps in creating a simple side scrolling game. Some people complain that the game sucks. It does. But that is not the point. It's not supposed to be good, it supposed to teach you the basics: DirectDraw and DirectSound, and about game programming concepts such as AI. It assumes no knowledge of game programming or DirectX whatsoever, and guides you easily into these subjects. An excellent buy for anyone with a solid understanding of C++ and who wishes to program games, but doesn't know where to begin.
|
