Customer Reviews

Black Art of Java Game Programming with CDROM

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great book. I really enjoyed networking chapters - there are lots of examles useful in everyday work even if you are not a game developer. Although a little obsolete (escpecially in the time I am writing this), I would recommend this book to anyone interested in game programming and/or java networking. Part one is really an easygoing and fun introduction into Java and OOP concepts. I was really suprised how authors were paying attention to OOP concepts and clean object oriented design. Part two is the where real stuff begins - networking, advanced graphics, multiplayer gaming, etc... Part three is a veru useful and interesting to study collection of games (with sources and explanations of key features and used programming techniques). Appendix E even explains some basic math background useful if you want to understand a little bit how 3D engines work.

Although this is a VERY old book, which was published early in the life of Java 1.0, it is filled with excellent game programming examples. I found it to be a good general reference to Java as well. It is fun being able to run your programs on any computer and any environment, even from your own personal web page! I used the techniques I learned about Java graphics programming to build an entire front end to my web site in Java. No HTML links, all Java links, with animated GIFs (Java draws these automatically!), buttons that click, scrolling text, and other neat features. I was even able to create a cool scrolling news reader for my web site using techniques from this book. It's a great resource even if you are not interested in game programming, because the graphics techniques are very useful.

This book is great for beginners, but does not get into any deep game programming issues. Several example games are fun to examine and play.

I wish my textbooks were written like this! This book is the complete package for anyone who always wanted to write a game but didn't have an idea where to start. 'Black Art' begins by assumming you >*don't even know Java*<, and teaches all about variables, methods, object construction and inheritence in the first tenth of the book with incredibly compact examples that are both fun (bouncing rectangles and a sushi chef, cool!) and encourage you to mutate the code (the sushi chef burps when he bounces off walls!) to create other effects. Building a full game is not easy, but building a Galaga-type vertical shooter is covered over several chapters, with the game increasing in complexity each time. Collison detection, animation, mouse and keyboard imput, anti-flicker techniques, multiplay over the internet..it's all there, and the examples run on my Java 2 compiler with few quibbles. For icing, the last half of the book shows how to construct several arcade classics (Asteroids, Daleks, Growing Snake and Treats, Trivia match) ending in a 3D combat sim that automatically adjusts the framerate to avoid flickering. Forget classes, get this book!

I knew nothing about Java when I started this book, and after only four chapters I was able to write a decent pong simulation. No, pong isn't innovative, I'm just saying this book can teach ANYBODY Java. Yes, it's old, it does use the Java 1.0 API, but Sun's website has all the info for making your code "new and improved" if that's what you want. The book says on the back it's Intermediate to Advanced, though I believe that means you have to know SOME programming (not necessarily Java), so don't shy away from this just because you don't know Java. If you've ever programmed in anything, this book can teach you.

The Java world has passed this book by. Black Art is based on
a completely outdated version of Java. It amazes me that this
book is even still on the shelves. I am a professional Java
developer and I simply cannot recommend a book that relies on
obsolete technology like this.

this book is pretty old, but if your a beginner to both game programming and java then there is no other better book than this...it will teach you about classes, interfaces, inheritance...and all the while making it fun and iteresting... you'll develope little games along the way and learn about some simple AI too...so old and outdated...true...but worth every penny!!!

This book was generally very good. It suffers in that it is very old for a programming book and uses a lot of deprecated Java API. It also barely touches on some essential topics such as MediaTracker (for example, how do you implement a load bar for your game?) which is important for most games which will be played over the Internet. But it does have some very useful sections and will hand-hold you through building a 2D game. It also discusses how to build multi-player Java game applets, a topic I haven't seen discussed anywhere else. If you are new to game programming or game programming in Java, this book is an excellent source of information.

This book could be called 'The Fun Way to Learn Java'. I think it's the best introduction to Java in print... all the examples in the book just happen to be games! (I learned to program writing BASIC games for the TRS-80 Model I in the late 70's and early 80's and still think games are the best way to introduce someone to algorithmic thinking)

This book will stay in print along time, which is more than can be said for almost every other Java book.

It's very informative and covers many advanced subjects, but not all you need for Java game programming. The 3D section assumes advanced math experience... They could provide the methods and explain how to use them. All the unneeded classes -- gunManager, for example -- make the examples hard to understand... A Sprite class should handle everything related to it. There are other minor errors -- IE: An asteroid example runs in a Frame that won't close the normal way -- which make it a big resource instead of a complete learning book. All in all, there's a lot of good and a little bad. Strong points are its concise, easy to understand writing and wide range of subjects (being like 1,000 pages long). Overall, it's a comprehensive resource that no Java game programmer should be without. In comparison to the other available books, this one's by far the best. Get it if you have any interest in Java game programming.

This book is very old (in computer years) but still useful as long as you know enough about Java to update the code yourself. The section of the book that covers 2D games is very good. I use a lot of the techniques described there in my own games. The 3D section is another story. It tries to cover all of 3D programming in one chapter then build a 3D game in the next. Needless to say it skips over a lot of important stuff. The 3D engine supplied on the CD and partially explained in the book is pretty good but the code is not very well documented. They should have left out the games section and replaced it with more 3D chapters. Why did everyone stop writing new Java game books?