Game Programming Books - Page 14

3ds Max 2008 Bible

Kelly L. Murdock

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Pretty Good Reference Book... 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book if you want to learn buttonology, but it seems to lack in student projects and exercises. I certainly cannot recommend this book for beginners, unless you want to use it as reference/supplemental guide to other training material. The author goes in to great deal on the "how" but doesn't really explain the "why" portion as well as I hoped he would. Definetely go to your local bookstore and glance through it before purchasing. As for my rating, I gave it a marginal rating of 3 stars simply because I thought it to be average at best, but far from bad.

Editorial Review:

Master the complexities of 3ds Max by working through more than 150 short tutorials under the guidance of 3D expert Kelly Murdock. If you're a beginner, a Quick Start chapter shows you how to create an exciting animation your first day using the software. You'll find extensive detail on the latest features, allowing quick ramp-up for veterans of earlier 3ds versions. In addition, the book includes a 16-page, full-color insert with examples of cutting-edge 3ds Max art as well as a DVD with all the examples in the book, models and textures you can customize, a full-color and searchable PDF of the book.

Production for Graphic Designers (4th Edition)

Alan Pipes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An excellent resource for Graphics students. 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is the SECOND year I will be ordering this title for my Graphic Art Production students. I hope Mr. Pipes plans to keep this publication up to date with another edition. What I like about this book is manifold: the author's clear, intelligent and succinct language tops my list. My students and I both found his prose not just informative, but interesting. The information covers all the basic concerns of a designer involved in production for print and the internet (it gives a well fleshed-out overview of all our areas of study at least). The section on Typography is also quite thorough and far less ponderous than other commonly used Type texts. All the chapters lay down a perfect bridge to a full lecture. Students come to class comprehending the basics, thus adding to their ability to build on that knowledge. The bios throughout the book are of great interest and focus on contemorary designers of note. The attractive layout supports the notion of Grahic Design, not too common these days. I have viewed many texts in the related areas of Graphic Design and find this book to be a perfect example of what a text should be. Bravo Mr Pipes, and thank-you! I will be watching to see what you publish next.

Editorial Review:

KEY BENEFIT: Production for Graphic Designers gives clear and concisely written advice on preparing artwork for printers, examines the creative potential of typography in a digital environment, and provides comprehensive coverage of working with illustrations, layout and proofing in both computerized and conventional workflows. KEY TOPICS: This book covers the most up-to-date technological advances in graphics and print production, fully explaining all the standard prepress and printing processes, including detailed coverage of the latest digital direct-to-plate offset and small-run on-demand color printing. MARKET: Graphic designers and print professionals.

Digital Game-Based Learning

Marc Prensky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Interesting overview but bland critques spoil the effect 4 out of 5 stars.
22 of 23 people found this review helpful.

This is a very timely book in my opinion. Prensky gives a reasonable overview of trends in games and several likely future developments. Copious lists of heuristics and tips are offered to the reader. Almost all the case studies have at least one useful insight - however many case studies drag on too long and are in need of substantial editing. Moreover, at least 50% of the case studies relate to corporate programmes which are not accessible to the general public - or the research community.

Prensky's writing style is intensely personal and his judgements are often based on subjective assesments. Worst of all, he turns over large sections of the book to game designers that uncritically trumpet their products. There is still something of value here, once you read between the lines.

In summation I found the reviews of trends and products useful. His explanation for what keeps a game's audience and market together (content) resonates with my own experiences. The book fell down by being mistitled. It is not about game based learning but about games and the opportunities for game based learning. Do no expect to build a 'learning' game from what is here - just not academic enough. The book has little if any information on existing game engines and how they might accommodate learning initiatives which is a major shortcoming. Secondly, many of the major points in the book flow from anecdotes and opinions. It is hard to assess their worth, but experience can be a better teacher on occasions than a library. Thirdly, the book plugs Prensky's own work fairly relentlessly. Good for him but it creates an imbalance in the presentation.

Overall, I found much in the book that was interesting and useful to know. If the opinion pieces were supported by more complete referencing it would be an excellent text.

Editorial Review:

Today's workforce is quicker, sharper, more visually oriented, and more technology-savvy than ever. To truly benefit from the Digital Natives' learning power and enthusiasm, traditional training methods must adapt to the way people learn today. Written by the founder of Games2train, this innovative book is filled with examples and information to meet the demands of both educators and employers.

AI Game Programming Wisdom 4 (AI Game Programming Wisdom (W/CD))

Steve Rabin

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Editorial Review:

Welcome to the latest volume of AI Game Programming Wisdom! AI Game Programming Wisdom 4 includes a collection of more than 50 new articles featuring cutting-edge techniques, algorithms, and architectures written by industry professionals for use in commercial game development. Organized into 7 sections, this comprehensive volume explores every important aspect of AI programming to help you develop and expand your own personal AI toolbox. You’ll find ready-to-use ideas, algorithms, and code in all key AI areas including general wisdom, scripting and dialogue, movement and pathfinding, architecture, tactics and planning, genre specific, and learning and adaptation. New to this volume are articles on recent advances in realistic agent, squad, and vehicle movement, as well as dynamically changing terrain, as exemplified in such popular games as Company of Heroes.You’ll also find information on planning as a key game architecture, as well as important new advances in learning algorithms and player modeling. AI Game Programming Wisdom 4 features coverage of multiprocessor architectures, Bayesian networks, planning architectures, conversational AI, reinforcement learning, and player modeling.These valuable and innovative insights and issues offer the possibility of new game AI experiences and will undoubtedly contribute to taking the games of tomorrow to the next level.

Game Programming Gems (Game Programming Gems Series)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For the countless tasks involved in creating a game engine there are an equal number of possible solutions. But instead of spending hours and hours trying to develop your own answers, now you can find out how the pros do it! Game Programming Gems is a hands-on, comprehensive resource packed with a variety of game programming algorithms written by experts from the game industry and edited by Mark DeLoura, Software Engineering Lead for Nintendo of America, Inc.

From animation and artificial intelligence to Z-buffering, light maps, dark maps, bump maps, environment maps, and music and sound effects, all of the major techniques needed to develop a competitive game engine are covered. Game Programming Gems is written in a style accessible to individuals with a range of expertise levels. All of the source code for each algorithm is included and can be used by advanced programmers immediately. For aspiring programmers, there is a detailed tutorial to work through before attempting the code, and suggestions for possible modifications and optimizations are included as well.

The companion CD-ROM contains all of the source code written in C and C++, and it is easily portable to both Windows and Linux. All graphics displays use Open GL. Also as a supplement to the reader, Game Programming Gems offers access to an associated Web site which contains up-to-the-minute information on additional game programming resources, research papers, and ongoing algorithm optimizations.

Key Features

-- A must-have for every game programmers library! -- Written by game programming experts and edited by Nintendo's Mark DeLoura -- Comprehensive coverage of all major techniques used in game devleopment -- CD-ROM is packed with the source code in C & C++, completely portable to Windows and Linux, and Open GL is used for the graphics display

Practical WPF Graphics Programming

Jack Xu

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a next generation graphics platform that is part of .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5. It allows you to build advanced user interfaces that incorporate documents, media, 2D and 3D graphics, animations, and web-like characteristics. "Practical WPF Graphics Programming" provides all the tools you need to develop professional graphics applications using WPF and C#. This book will be useful for WPF and C# programmers of all skill levels. It provides a complete and comprehensive explanation of the WPF graphics capability, and pays special attention to the details of code implementation. The book shows you how to create a variety of graphics ranging from simple 2D shapes to complex 3D surfaces and interactive 3D models. It includes over 120 code examples, which cover broad array of topics on WPF graphics programming. You will learn how to create a full range of 2D and 3D graphics applications and how to implement custom 3D geometries and shapes that can be reused in your WPF projects. Please visit the author's website for more information about this book at www.authors.unicadpublish.com/~jack_xu.

Beginning C# Game Programming (Game Development)

Ron Penton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Are you ready to try your hand at programming games using C#? "Beginning C# Game Programming" is your ideal introductory guide—designed to jumpstart your experience with C# and DirectX 9. It includes the fundamental topics you’ll need to know and covers additional topics that you’ll find helpful along the way. Begin with a comprehensive look at programming with C#—from the basics of classes to advanced topics such as polymorphism and abstraction. Then it’s on to DirectX 9 as you learn how to create a basic framework and a Direct3D device. You’ll also cover DirectSound and DirectInput. Put your newfound knowledge to the test as you program a complete game!

Provides true beginners with the programming skills they need to create games using C#.

Shows readers how to combine C# with DirectX 9.

Covers comprehensive game development topics, including sound and graphics.

Comes complete with Q&As, extensive end-of-chapter exercises, and a CD to reinforce self-practice and learning.

GPU Gems 2: Programming Techniques for High-Performance Graphics and General-Purpose Computation

Matt Pharr, Randima Fernando

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Pretty pictures 2 out of 5 stars.
20 of 54 people found this review helpful.

This book is targeted at people who have a good solid grasp of either OpenGL or D3D as well as a grounding in programming languages such as C/C++ or Java. While this much is obvious, the book is still painfully difficult to get anything useful out of.
The problem amounts to the fact that there is no cohesion between chapters - each one is written by a different author (and clearly they have not read each other's material) - there is no reference or introduction but worst of all, no common terms.
Example; What D3D calls a "pixel shader", OpenGL call "fragment shader", but there are also "vertex shader", "vertex program", "pixel program" and "fragment program"... some of these are the same thing while others are wildly different, but I found at least 4 references in this book to what I could only make sense of by substituting another term (the correct one). Each author has written their part from their own view point using their own terms.
The code snippets contained rarely have any comments or even descriptions of how they work.
Overall I generally felt like I was either reading someone's thesis or a marketing spiel about a particular aspect of some game.
There are many pretty pictures though.

Game Programming for Teens, Second Edition

Maneesh Sethi

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A good starting point 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Short: I am writing this review from the perspective of a high school student who started with Blitz, went on to a more advanced language, and is now revisiting Blitz again.

Long: When I first picked up the book, I was a high school student with no prior programming experience. I had written code before, but it was HTML so I didn't actually write programs.

I abandoned Blitz for a while when I finally got the chance to take a programming class(C++) in school and have recently returned and thus revisited the book to brush up. I took this oppertunity to write a review here.

C++ is a more advanced, powerful, and widely used language but I still use Blitz to make simple games because it's hard to get good graphics in a C++ compiler without costly graphics pacakges to go with it.

Opinion

Short: The book is very intuitive and well written. The author does a very good job at explaining things and the book is very well paced. When going to a more advanced language I was helped significantly by the concepts I learned when using Blitz. I would highly recommend this book.

Long: When I first got this book, I thought programming would be a daunting task. This book goes through it very well and has a nice pace that keeps you from getting overwhelmed. The author writes very clearly and is very good at explaining concepts. This is a great book to get started with programming.

When I dropped this because I started programming in C++, I found transfering languages easier than I had hoped. I learned a lot of basic concepts in Blitz and was able to take many of them over into C++.

For a short time, the only real changes that I experienced were different syntax between the two languages and some other basic priciples (such as library functions) not used in Blitz. By the time I got to a point where most of the material I was learning had no equivalent in BLitz, I had been using C++ long enough not have any problems.

Conclusion

Short: It's a great, well written introductory book for those looking to program for fun or those who want to go further but need a good starting point.

Long: When I got this book, my purpose was to get something to introduce me into programming in a simple, easy to understand manner. I am happy to say that it works very well for this purpose. The Blitz language will not carry you especially far but if you are in it for fun or are just looking for a starting point, this will work very well. I still program with it myself a bit even after learning a more advanced language.

Editorial Review:

You've played plenty of games. Now it's time to create your own! "Game Programming for Teens, Second Edition" helps you develop the skills you need to create every element of your first video game - from graphics and animation to sound and music. You'll even learn how to incorporate artificial intelligence. You don't have to have any programming experience to get started. You'll learn everything you need to know along the way using BlitzPlus, an easy-to-learn programming language that the author will teach you. By the end of the book, you will have created your first computer game. Game programming doesn't have to be difficult. With a copy of this book and your own curiosity, you're off to the perfect start!

Introduction to Game Development (Game Development Series)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Based on the curriculum guidelines of the IGDA, Introduction to Game Development is the first book to survey all aspects of the theory and practice of game development and design. The book, which might be used as a textbook for an introductory course, or for newcomers to the game development arena, is divided into several independent parts, including game programming, game production/design, and the business of game development. Selected topics include discussions of basic programming in C++ and Java™, visual design, culture and society, mathematics, physics, artificial intelligence, business, level design, game genre, sound, and many more. The accompanying CD-ROM covers tutorials, animations, images, demos, source code, and Microsoft PowerPoint lecture slides to reinforce the concepts presented in the book. Each chapter has been written by leading game developers in their respective areas. This is a must-have resource for anyone looking to understand the entire! game development process.

KEY TOPICS: * Critical Game Studies: The History of Video Games Game Studies (Ludology) Games and Society * Game Design: Conceptual Game Play Play Mechanics Ideas Game Theory Abstract Design Elements Psychological Design Considerations Interface Design Gender Inclusive Design; Practical Game Design Spatial Design Task Design Design Integration Control Schemes Training Play Testing Player Analysis Design Implications of Platform Choice * Game Programming: The Process of Game Programming Practical Game Programming Issues Programming Fundamentals Math and Physics Artificial Intelligence Graphics and Animation Audio Programming Network Programming * Visual Design and Production: Graphics Design User Interface Design 3D Modeling 2D Textures and Texture Mapping Animation Cinematography in Games 3D Environments Lighting and Shadows Surface Effects * Audio Design and Production: Audio Design Skills Fundamentals Interactive Audio Sound Effects;Music 3D Audio * Game Production and Management: Team Make-up Phases of Game Development Group Dynamics Design Documentation Scheduling Quality Assurance Coordinating Efforts Product Post Mortems * The Business of Games: Business of Gaming The Publisher-Developer Relationship Marketing Intellectual Property Content Regulation