Customer Reviews

Beginner's Guide to DarkBASIC Game Programming (Premier Press Game Development)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered this book after installing DarkBasic Pro on my PC. By time the book arrived, I'd had already outgrown the material.
If you have never programmed before, this book would probably be useful, as the first 200 pages cover basic programming techniques; loops, data types etc.

If you are already familiar with programming, then there is not much useful information. There are only a 50 pages on 3d programming and only a few of the relevent funtions are covered.

Mostly the book is fluff. There are shots of every screen that comes up during the install of Dark Basic.(7 pages)
"Figure 1.60 The Setup Status screen, which displays the installation progress"

I realize that the book says 'Beginners Guide', but I thought that meant it was for someone who was new to the language, not new to computers.

If you know the difference between an integer and a float, save your money.

"Congratulations, you have just found the one and only book you will need to learn the basics of game programming!"

I decided to comment on this book (now 2 years after release) in order to clear up some misconceptions about it. We had to choose between two approaches for this book, to either follow the goal we set out to meet with this book, or to truly delve into the capabilities of DarkBasic. The publisher wanted an entry-level book for their game development series, so this book filled that role. As the title suggests, this is a "Beginner's Guide" to game programming. The title is somewhat confusing because DarkBasic is the tool we used, not the focus of the book. DarkBasic was just the means for teaching this course in game programming--for an audience with absolutely no experience. This book is being used as a first-semester textbook in some middle and high schools.

The unfortunate result of this decision is that DarkBasic fans wanted more of a comprehensive manual for DarkBasic, something to show them how to take advantage of the advanced features of DarkBasic. But what you must understand is that DarkBasic Pro was not even released yet when we completed this book. We had to struggle to queeze in DBPro support at the last minute before the book was printed. Most of the projects in the book are available on the CD-ROM for DBPro as well, with code changes made to suit those programs for DBPro. Most of the code from DarkBasic does run fine in DBPro without modification.

To address some of the harshest reviewers, I will say this: Look at the title; what did you expect, to learn how to write Quake III by reading this book? The title is not "Quake III Programming with DarkBasic" is it? It says "Beginner's Guide". Look at the title again--if it doesn't meet your needs, then the fault is your own for making a poor decision. I find that the same sort of people who complain about this book are the same people who will tell a beginner to "RTFM" instead of trying to be helpful--and I disagree with that attitude. To be honest, if you have enough experience to complain about the content of this book, then it was clearly not written for you, and the fault is your own. I would not buy a C primer if I already know C--and then complain about it! This book's title is all you need to judge whether you will benefit from reading it.

That explanation aside, I hope you will see this book for what it is, not what you want it to be. This book succeeds as a "Beginner's Guide" to game programming first and foremost, and secondly, as a DarkBasic reference (note that a language reference is available on the CD-ROM). The last chapter teaches you how to write your own 3D multiplayer car combat game called Crazy Carnage, which you can play against a friend over the Internet.

If you are a complete beginner, I think you will enjoy this book, because it is very patient, moves along at a slow pace, and describes the basic concepts of computer science like a mentor tutoring an apprentice. I think you will enjoy the nature of this book if you are in need of a no-pressure introduction to programming--because the CD-ROM includes a trial version of DarkBasic.

The Foreword by Lee Bamber--the creator of DarkBASIC--describes the goal of this book succinctly well: "Let's suppose a few years from now a programmer working for a game company...will mention the early days, and how a little-known language called DarkBASIC inspired him to great things. Might that programmer be you?"

"Will YOU write the next blockbuster game with DarkBASIC?" Take a look at the table of contents below to see the subjects that you will learn about in this book.

Part I: The Basics of Computer Programming
1: Welcome to DarkBASIC
2: Introduction to Computer Programming
3: Basic Commands, Variables, and Data Types
4: Characters, Strings, and Text Output
5: Looping Commands
6: Making Programs Think: Branching Statements and Subroutines
7: More Power To The Numbers: Data Sequences and Arrays
8: Number Crunching: Mathematical and Relational Operators and Commands

Part II: Game Fundamentals: Graphics, Sound, Input Devices, and File Access
9: Basic Graphics Commands
10: Game Graphics: Learning To Use Bitmaps
11: The Art of Using Animated Sprites for 2D Games
12: Programming the Keyboard, Mouse, and Joystick
13: Adding Sound Effects To Your Game
14: Playing Some Tunes: CD Audio, MIDI, and MP3 Music
15: Loading and Saving Information Using Files
16: Playing Intro Movies and Cut-Scenes

Part III: Advanced Topics: 3D Graphics and Multiplayer Programming
17: Fundamentals of 3D Graphics Programming
18: Multiplayer Programming: The Crazy CARnage Game

This book, I believe has been purchased by the wrong people. The book clearly states that it is a begginers guide and never prettended to be anything else. It basicly fills in the huge gaps from the manual. DarkBasic claims to be a very easy programing language for begginers, strange that the manual is designed for people who know what they are doing.

If you are already a programer, you should not have purchased this book. I guess many people who got dissapointed are the die hard fans of darkbasic who already knew what they were doing and expecting some advanced tips and tricks for optimising their code.

I think that this book is great for what it was made to be, a begginers guide. It teaches good programing habbits, explains things clearly and helps guys like me who have not programed since they left college 6 years ago get their act back together.

I heartily recomend this book to anybody who purchased darkbasic or darkbasic pro and had no idea where to start.

Even tho this book got some negative reviews, I just knew that a 700+ page book would have to teach something. I will admit that the beginning of the book does make you wonder how so many words can say so little, but after you get past that part, the book is great. I've programmed in Basic on my Commodore computer and used QBasic and Blitz Basic on my PC, and just discovered and purchased DarkBasic and it looks like it's going to be awesome! But the book that comes with the DarkBasic program really only describes the commands. You'd have to download the examples and print them out to learn how to program. Even it you do that, I'd still recomment getting this book, because I like to learn from more than one source.

The CD that comes with the book is also terrific. It's jammed packed with all the source code from the book, and has many completed games and demos of programs. I can't imagine learning DarkBasic without this book!

Overall, I thought that this was an above average book. Considering the fact that there really isn't all that much DB information (gathered it one place) out there, this book brings alot of key concepts together. The authors really take a programming language and put it on a beginner's level. They make relevant comparisons to today's popular games in their examples. The only complaint that I have is that they should have included more ground-up projects like first person shooters or fight sims. Most programming or database books usually have about three "real world" projects that take you from start to finish, all based on what was taught in the book. Basically, if you are a first-time Dark Basic developer, then you need to pick this book up. Otherwise, ask someone on the forums for help or source code.

I was excited to get this book, and, after reading it, I am happy to say it was worth every penny!

I especially liked the way the early chapters catered to the beginning programmer. I would recommend this book to anyone who has never programmed before, but, wants to learn. The authors never talk down to you or go over your head with the specific topics.

Even though I have programmed before, I was new to DarkBASIC, and, even though I still don't know everything there is to know about DB, at least I have a solid foundation to build on.

Regarding others criticisms of this book, sure there were some source code inconsistencies, but, if you followed the book you could have easily corrected them yourself, think of it as a bonus test of your new skills. If you thought the book was too simplistic, then, it wasn't for you anyway, so why did you buy it?

You won't be an expert after you finish this book, but, you will know enough to write some pretty decent games. The next logical step after reading this book is to logon to the DarkBASIC website, and, start reading some of the advanced 3D tutorials there. Also please make sure you read the forums, there are a lot of helpful programmers there always willing to lend a hand.

I hope the authors will follow up this book with the "Advanced Guide to DarkBASIC Game Programming".

I agree with the previous commenter, that this is a really good book for beginners that are new to DarkBasic.

Jonathan and Joshua both did really excellent jobs on this title as for being able to make it easy to follow. The subjects covered are very basic, but you have to start somewhere.

And also, as for covering "real world" projects, to have tried to cover a "First Person Shooter" (FPS), or even a "Flight Sim", would have taken up a lot more than just this one volume could summize.

The topics covered are pretty much what ALL beginner's need to cover with ANY language. And After all, that is what DarkBasic is, just another development language. But one that is aimed primarily at game development.

All in all, I'd say that they [the authors] did an excellent job with "Beginner's Guide to DarkBasic Game Programming".

For those looking for an excellent introduction to this marvelous game/graphics development tool, then THIS is definitely the book you've been looking for.

I'll read any book by Jonathan Harbour, and this one did not disappoint me. In fact, I've read it three times! Jonathan and Joshua Smith do a great job of making DarkBASIC easy for beginners to use. However, this book is good for people who have some programming experience too. It starts at the very beginning, but quickly brings you to a point where you can start writing games. Two thumbs up!

I love this book, and I feel it is very well written. The author gives pretty good examples and explains the code that he writes line by line. Perfect for the beginner.

However, nothing frustrates me more than a programming book with source code that does not work. It is very discouraging! What is the use of writing a book with bad source code? Programmers, especially beginners, look forward to the end of every chapter so they can try out their newly learned skills, and work with the end of chapter project. Now I know typos happen from time to time. Usually the correct code will either be on the CD or a support webpage with the company that published. Nope, the source code on the CD was also incorrect. Premiere Books doesn't offer a support website with up to date source code. Sad. I guess there is no QA process with writing tech manuals, eh?

The book was advertised as "good" condition; I would characterize it as "very good." The original CD was included, and works perfectly. Perhaps the best news is that it came in just 3 days!