Todd Barron
1 New publisher, same old crap
Publishing one bad game development book wasn't enough for this author, he had to try to do worse...and finally succeded! Here's the typical example of a "game development" rip-off book. Some amateurish programmer with no deep and solid game programming knowledge and absolutely no clue about how to effectively teach the little he knows has been playing around trying to implement his little game. Realizing his work is no good he stumbles upon the idea that he could scrap up a few bucks writing a book on what he is unable to do. Unscrupulous publishers aren't hard to find it seems: the leading champion being Premier Press, who has been a road opener to publishing trash game development books (and a few good ones, probably by accident). Now Wordware seems to have happily joined in the business...inside this book you will find countless pages in which the author passionately reminisces about his teenager gaming habits, some general considerations about gaming and programming, and quite a few irritating jokes.And yes there is some working code coming with the book, but lost in his blabbering the author gives to it just a passing look and very shallow coverage. I understand that plastering a book with source code might not be the best tactic to teach programming, but exlaining only 5% of the code you present is even worse ...but certainly quicker and easier. That this peace of junk made it to the press is unbeliavable, and that its price was $40 is outrageous. My advice: stay clear from this title and from the upcoming (inevitable I guess) books from the same author.
2 Solid Intro to Basic Topics
My review of this book is based on my interests and experieces, which are: 1) I have basic computer programming skills; 2) I didn't know anything at all about game programming prior to this book; and 3) I am interested in developing 2D strategy combat games as a hobbyist.
That said, I enjoyed this book and found it very helpful to explain basic game development topics, such as the types of classes to set up for units and terrain tiles, how to load game maps, how to set up default unit data vs. individual unit data, etc. While I could have figured all of this out on my own eventually, this book provided a decent jump start (from a knowledge base of zero). If you know ANYTHING about developing games, this book is probably a waste for you.
This book served my purposes by showing the concepts to use, and I didn't actually rely on running the code provided with the book (just looked at the code as a starting point for the concepts). Nonetheless, I think that the book should have used .NET.
I didn't like the following things about the book: the author tries a little too hard to be flip or funny, but it didn't work for me. Also, he focuses mainly on using 3d tools for 2d graphics, which I never really understood, other than his explanation that all games are going toward 3d, so that is what people should learn.
Bottom line: helpful book for absolute beginners at game development, probably too light for anyone else. Moreover, I have not found any better alternatives to this book. Worth buying for beginners, especially if you can buy it used for cheap!
3 ok
This book is a good start, but just that. No hand holding here of any coding.
If you want to design you book on paper first, this book will help you with that, but coding is another story.
4 WARNING! Don't buy this book based upon its title!
[Note: I have recently changed my rating for the book to ONE star.]
To sum this book up in one thought: Based upon the information in the book, I have serious doubts that the author has ever written a strategy game.
The Amazon book info reads: "Text covers everything needed to create a strategy game using C++ and DirectX 9.0," and the description tells us "Strategy Game Programming with DirectX 9.0 covers everything necessary for you to create a strategy game using C++ and DirectX 9.0." This is simply not true. While this book covers many subjects, it only barely touches upon any important aspects of strategy game (either real-time or turn-based) programming. I was appalled at the absence of information on selection boxes and "picking" units, specifically (and absolutely) necessary for RTS game programming!
The main faults with the book are poor organization, absence of essential information for creating a working strategy game, and lack of topic depth where it's needed most. The majority of the book is not relevant to the subject of the book (programming strategy games with DirectX 9.0), and is already covered by books particular to those subjects. Also, while there are code samples, none of them culminate into a working sample of a strategy game (although the map editor is commendable). Finally, at the listing price of $60 US, the book is simply not worth the money - in fact, I purchased the book used on Amazon for about $25, and it's not worth even $25! (...except maybe as a lesson in how not to write a book on programming strategy games.)
If you are looking to learn to creating strategy games, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Spend your money on a different book. I seriously do not see how other reviewers could have given this book a high rating, but everyone is entitled to an opinion. (Although I seriously wonder how many readers found it possible to build a strategy game after reading this book.) I wish there were more out there on strategy game development, but unfortunately there isn't.
[I revised this review after reading the book a second time.]
(...)
5 Easy to read, easy to follow and reasonable coverage
I am generally on the lookout for books to recommend to my students on games. This is a relatively easy read and the layout is clear. In other words it is a book that you could hand to a student and expect him or her to make some progress. That's a plus in my opinion. The author takes pains to elaborate various input and manipulation strategies and there is a sense of completeness about the work (though the domain is limited). There is a good discussion of the practical use of textures in games with a supporting short appendix on Photoshop. Artifical intelligence doesn't make any appearance, unless you count the A* algorithm. D3DX is covered but not as a central theme - more of a case of fit it in because readers will expect it. In general, there is a lot of programming material in the book to keep students busy.
The book has a number of limitations. It may not be the most appealing text to anyone with game development experience. In the main the game concept in the book is a bit dated - combat strategy. Secondly, there is a large 2D dependency in the book arising from its reliance on tiled graphics. This shouldn't phase a student but a commercial developer may think otherwise. Thirdly, even though the book was published in June 2003 it relies on the older VC++ 6.0 rather than VC++ .net 2002 (obviously it couldn't use .net 2003). This is simply sloppy and suggests that the code from earlier projects was dusted off for the book. I would be more comfortable recommending the book if the publishers brought all the code up to .net 2003 standard.
6 Great book!!!
This book covers it all! There are chapters on everything from tile graphics to path finding. My favorite aspect of the book is how easy it is to pick up. The examples are VERY easy to follow and use. The code is straight forward and easy to read. The author also goes to great lengths to keep the book code up to date (he has posted code updates for the latest DX SDK on his website.) I can't say enough good things about this book.
7 Great Book on Tile-Based Strategy Games
I've been waiting a very long time for the followup strategy book from Wordware and all I can say is, it was worth the wait!!! This book covers many aspects of strategy game development from tile-based rendering to path-finding. I really enjoy the laid-back style of the author and recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about this type of programming.
8 low quality
When I picked up a copy of this book, I was quite disappointed since I was looking forward to its release. What you get is basically an ordinary book that sweeps across game programming related topics with not enough depth at all. Along the way, you get to read about personal opinions of the author which are less then interesting. The chapter titles seem to hit the heart of game programming, but the quality of the material is very low.
Unless you are an absolute beginner who knows absolutely nothing about game programming, you will get the feeling "I paid my hard earned money for this? I could have written this myself". That's the feeling I got. If you have your heart set on writing games, you can learn the material in this book on your own without needing to spend this much money.
In short, if you are looking for anything deeper than an introductory to game programming kinda book, steer away from this one. Save yourself some time and money and look at other titles. There are plenty of other books out there with more in-depth information.
