Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus: Fundamentals of 2D and 3D Game Programming

by André LaMothe

bThe Barnes Noble Review/bbrAndre LaMothe s been a legend among game programmers since the DOS ages. His iTricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus, Second Edition/i is a rollercoaster of a book. First, you slowly edge your way up to the top, reviewing the fundamentals of Windows programming as the anticipation builds...then, instantaneously, you start a wild ride that doesn t stop for more than 1,000 pages, when -- ibreathless/i -- you look back and realize you ve covered the most intense terrain of your programming life.
pThe book s definitive coverage of DirectX includes everything from simple DirectDraw interfaces to vector rasterization; 2D transformations; force feedback controls via DirectInput; MIDI; and a whole lot more. Then it s on to hardcore stuff: advanced gaming algorithms; optimization theory; data structures; memory management; and multithreading.
pLaMothe surveys today s most powerful AI game development techniques, from pathfinding to collision avoidance, genetic algorithms to fuzzy logic. There s a full chapter on physics modeling for more realistic collisions, bounces, acceleration, trajectories, friction, and gravity effects. Finally, you wrap up with a complete case study that takes you from initial design to runtime files. What a ride!
iBill Camarda/ipiBill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include/i a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/book... Edition Using Word 2000/a iand/i a href="http://cart2.barnesandnoble.com/books... Fixing Networks For Dummiesreg;, Second Edition/a.

Genres: Programming, Computers, Technical, Reference

1040 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 1999

Reviews

[Mark Rebane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book back in 2002. At the time I was a first year in a Computer Science degree and this book was a breath of fresh air for practical advice and provided my first understanding for how a game works from the inside-out.

Unfortunately, while the core structure is still true (to some extent) and the underlying algorithms are worth any game programmer knowing (Bresenham's line algorithm, matrix transformations, etc), the technologies used are both platform dependent and, at this time, utterly outdated (DX7 and Win32 SDK). Modern game engines require programmers to understand completely different technologies with entirely differing pipelines. And while I don't see this book doing any particular harm to anyone—given how much things have changed since this book was published—it will waste your time.

If you want to learn game programming, find another book. Something more recent. There are dozens, if not hundreds, on the subject.

[Aimal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good thing for every one

[Alexey Dubkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! Had read it about 2002, when I was 19 yo. I read it from cover to cover and will recommend for all who want to learn the gamedev. Book detailed review all aspects of game development: 2D graphic, input\output, sound, algorithms, gamedev patterns and so forth. This book don't reviews 3D game at all. For 3D games I recomend another book of this author is "Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus".
Thank you Andre for so good book!

[James Ravenscroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting chronicle of using microsoft products to program things. Even though it's aimed at Windows and uses the Direct X Toolkits, it contains some great fundamentals on programming games in general. A fantastic addition to any computer scientist's library.

[Jonathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage.

[Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book that I read when I was 15 years old. A great book from my teacher, my friend Andre' LaMothe.

[Jonathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage.