Beginning Game Programming: A GameDev.net Collection (Course Technology Cengage Learning) [Paperback]

John Hattan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2009 | ISBN-10: 159863805X | ISBN-13: 978-1598638059 | Edition: 1

Welcome to "Beginning Game Programming: A GameDev.net Collection," the second in a series of books published in collaboration with GameDev.net, the online community where game developers worldwide can network and freely exchange information and ideas. Assembled in print for the first time, and comprised of the best introductory programming articles that have appeared on GameDev.net over the past decade, this volume features invaluable information and ideas for anyone looking for a solid foundation in the basics of game programming. Truly dedicated to the beginner, as you dive into the fun and challenging world of game development, you'll clear up the mystery of what programming language to use, find information on coding best practices, explore graphics creation, get an introduction to scripting, learn about debugging, and much more. All articles have been updated to comply with the latest technology, and as a bonus, this volume also features exclusive, new content that cannot be found anywhere else. Continuing in their tradition of excellence, "Beginning Game Programming: A GameDev.net Collection" captures the best of GameDev.net and is an invaluable resource in your pursuit of game development success.

Product Details

• Paperback: 514 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (February 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159863805X
• ISBN-13: 978-1598638059
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,494,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An authors view., August 28, 2009

By 

Casey Wireman (Augusta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning Game Programming: A GameDev.net Collection (Course Technology Cengage Learning) (Paperback)

First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I must mention the fact that I am a contributing author to this book. Hopefully however this will not cloud my review.

Having said that, this book is interesting. Are you going to go out and make the next AAA hit after reading this book? No. You're not even going to be coached from beginning to end on making a single cohesive game through the book unlike many others. This is not a hand-holding book, but a loose guide that hits on the important topics that will set you on your way to developing your own games. Topics range from the ever debated "What language should I use?", several graphics techniques, an introduction on common artificial intelligence methods and many more.

All articles in the books have been updated to reflect technological changes in the years since they were originally written (my original article was written in 2003 for example, so there have been marked changes in that time) and in some cases there are articles that aren't even available on the site. Updated content is only one draw. I, like many other people, prefer hard copy to staring at a screen all day. It's nice to have a bound copy to reference, but this is purely individual taste.

Could you get by with the information on the site to achieve the same goals? Sure. For the most part all of the information is on the site along with the priceless resource that is the [...] (which I highly recommend even if you don't happen to order any of the books). The collection of articles in this series however were handpicked for relevance in the topics and I think it's a great starting point for novices and a good reference for advanced users. Happy reading and good luck in your game development ventures.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It is for intermediates, November 21, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Beginning Game Programming: A GameDev.net Collection (Course Technology Cengage Learning) (Paperback)

This book tells us about some aspects of game programming and gives some tips for good programming. However for some subjects such as Networking, Sockets, Scripting you need to know C / C + +. I recommend this book if you have knowledge of algorithms, networks and at least some programming language, I remind you that this book are articles compiled from Game Dev, if you're a complete beginner and know nothing about programming you will need other books.

The good thing for beginners:

- It gives us good recommendations for a good understandable code (Singlenton, Standards).
- It teaches us to document our code.
- It teaches vectors and matrices to beginner level.
- Articles of exclusive Pathfinding for beginners.
- Articles about pointers and memory.
- Article about the collision Detection.

Too bad for beginners:

- You have to know c / c + + to understand some topics (tcp, Sock, Isometric Height Maps)

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with details on everything from coding best practices and graphics to debugging and scripting, February 21, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Game Programming: A GameDev.net Collection (Course Technology Cengage Learning) (Paperback)

Beginning Game Programming: A [...] Collection, is the second in a series of books published in collaboration with [...], the online gamer networking community, and offers the best introductory programming articles that have appeared there over the past decade. Any library catering to beginning game programmers must have this: it's packed with details on everything from coding best practices and graphics to debugging and scripting.