Customer Reviews

The Zen of Direct3D Game Programming (Prima Tech's Game Development)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

As a long-time video game fan and experienced C++ programmer, I bought this book to join the two and start a new hobby - 3D game programming. This book lets you stick your toe in, but that's it. You will come away with knowledge of how to access the DirectX API calls and make the graphics card do something. You will also be introduced to all of the basic 3D game concepts - vectors, matrix math, texture mapping, the game pipeline and rendering, etc. However, you won't be able to do much with it - the tools you are given are way to basic for anything but 10-fps rotating cubes.

Pros:
- very clear and concise introduction to all major 3D concepts
- good introduction to C++ programming for those not already familiar with it
- examples included on CD
- easy-to-read writing style

Cons:
- the sample code on the CD and in the book do not match
- many of the code samples on the CD are broken and do not compile (though you can download them if you hunt on the web)
- the website link from the CD does not exist
- the most advanced examples run at 9 fps (on my P3 900) - too
slow to be much use

I am glad I bought this book, but I skimmed much of it since I was already familiar with C++. I was able to dig into the rest and get a feel for working with DirectX and the graphics card.

In the end, though, I have had to buy several other books in order to be able to produce a workable game-like program. Like I said, this is a very basic introduction - you will need more resources before you can do useful game programming.

I waited a very long time for this book to come out and I'm VERY dissapointed in it's content. First off, the first 400 pages of this book have NOTHING to do with Direct3D. What do we get? - YET AGAIN another book that discusses in detail the differences between C vs C++ (come on!!), basic Windows programming, SPRITE concepts, very basic 3D math, etc. The next 100+ pages covers 2D sprite engines / animations. The last 100 pages is a useless reference of Direct3D interfaces that you can get from the Direct3D docs. ALL OF THIS STUFF has been covered MUCH BETTER in other books. How often can the same book be written?

The actual Direct3D stuff is beyond basic. There is no detailed discussion of multi-textures, bump mapping, etc. Most importantly, however, and the BIGGEST OMMISSION IN ALL BOOK OF THIS KIND(!!) is the fact that it does not implement a simple 3D shooter type game whatsoever. What it gives you is a few libraries for making cubes and spheres (wow...how useful). And there is no discussion of LOADING and USING any actual 3D ANIMATED models. Forget about things like collision detection and scene management.

PLEASE!! Someone write a book that actually implements (and, just as important, discusses the implementation in detail) a very simple 3D shooter game - complete with .X file animated model loading, advanced multi-texturing, collission detection, scene management, etc!! There have been totally terrible books like this that don't even allude to these things, and also books that discuss these items THEORECTICALLY. But PLEASE someone write one that actually shows HOW.....LaMothe, please move your books in this direction and STOP writing the same book over and over.....This is the last book I'll ever buy from PrimaTech otherwise.

The Zen of Direct3D Game Programming is an absolutely excellent book that truly accomplishes what it sets out to do.

Direct3D Immediate mode is one of the most demanding programming challenges in the Universe, period. This book, if pursued studiously, absolutely will give you a very solid foundation in Direct3D and how to use it effectively.

The books only presumptions are that you are able to program somewhat adequately in "C" and that you possess, and have at least a little familiarity with, Microsoft's Visual C++ Compiler.

This book provdes excellent, appropriately sequential and insightful coverage of Windows graphics programming, 2D DirectX Programming, 3D concepts and beginning to moderately advanced 3D Direct3D concepts and implentation methods. It is written in a very coherent and easy to follow manner, with complexity of concept increasing only as our ability to understand also increases, a rare feature in this level of technical book.

The game engine that Peter continuously helps you develop and refine throughout the book is truly a tour de force. Its development is clear and logical and it's increasing sophistication and complexity follows our advancing learning curve very tidily. As Peter progresses through the book, he uses more and more sophisticated coding techniques, but he always demystifies them and explains them adequately before moving on. Part way through the book, Peter introduces and begins using classes for encapsulation of the functions that he includes in his "game engine", but the book also includes a very nice appendix item that is a short introductory course to C++ classes that is just right for the level of C++ specific implementation that he uses in the book.

For most books, the learning about Direct3D methods that takes place would be quite sufficient, but this book packs a real bonus in the parallel development of its game engine. This engine is really useful, truly powerful and imminently extensible. Most previous attempts of this sort resulted in an engine that may have been suitable for learning, but was certainly not so for any more serious implementation. Peters engine can easily be used as the primary basis for construction of advanced 3D projects and games. It is heavily optimized for speed and utility. Moreover, the principals of engine construction that are continuously reinforced as you proceed leave you more than adequate to the task of engine enhancement or even to begin constructing engines of your own.

This book does not cover: advanced animation methods, character animation, 3D collision detection, game theory or how to build your own game. However, without this book those things are moot. I look forward to a volume 2. But even without that, Peter has given me the capability and the confidence to move forward confidently on my own and undertake those missions with a certainty that I can make sense out of them and produce coherent, tidy and powerful implementations of my own.

By the way, Don't knock this book because it doesn't cover mesh skinning, and advanced game architecture. It provides a superb knowledge base for you to start with as well as an equally excellent tool, the engine and it's probably hard to get publishers to publish books for a qualified world wide audience of less than 200. This book will get you a long, long way down the road in every respect and it is by far the best one you can get. Period!

This book covers a lot of fascinating topics surrounding DirectX Graphics. What I found especially useful was the detailed explanation of doing 2D sprites and fonts with Direct3D, which is a complicated subject. The sprite engine is really cool, because it uses the Direct3DX library, and there is not a lot of reference available for it. 3D math is covered in detail, showing how to maximize performance out of 3D code. The Zen3D engine is pretty cool, capable of rendering scenes using a ton of included C++ classes for doing all kinds of things, like CZenLight, CZenFace, CZenCube, etc. These classes make it really easy to create a 3D scene. I especially liked the CZenMouse class--that is so cool, a 3D mouse that you can use in a game. It's a subject most people overlook. The appendixes are kind of ridiculous, but then I started to actually refer to the DX8 function listings (a whopping 100 pages worth at the end), so it is definitely easier than looking this stuff up in the SDK.

There is no coverage of sound, which I thought was pretty strange. Sound is mentioned in Chapter 3, but I couldn't find any coverage of DirectSound anywhere. There is also no coverage of DirectPlay, but that's an off topic. I think that when you combine this book with Todd Barron's Multiplayer Game Programming book, the two books together are a great pair. Todd's book actually covers more of DX8, and still has some cool D3D stuff (like the Space Pirates game) that help to fill the gaps in Zen3D. I own both books, and they are very cool together. Unfortunately, with a book of this size, I think it should have covered this stuff. Oh well, it was written to cover just D3D, and it does that better than any other book I have read.

...The book has too many errors and some of the code won't compile, UNLESS you are experienced enough with C++ and Windows and DirectX to fix the errors. Well, that's just a little ironic, now isn't it, since it wastes a lot of pages trying to teach you how to turn on your computer and write a "Hello, World!" program in Windows.

If you browse the CD Examples directory you will end up pulling out all your hair because almost none of it corresponds to the code or explanations in the text. I don't know how they could have made such a mess of it. Many of the support files like bitmaps are missing, the same executable appears in every chapter's subdirectory, it's REALLY a horrible mess. My biggest gripe is with Mr. Lamothe for coming out with a well-intentioned series of Game Programming books, then wasting so many pages of introductory Windows programming IN EVERY BOOK! Why wasn't one book made for the intro stuff, then other books specializing. This really makes me loathe to buy more books in the series.

This book was rushed out the door like so many games are these days...Too bad, because I kind of like the humourous explanations a-la Michael Abrash and fundamentally the theory is good to get you started on DirectX.

I waited a very long time for this book to come out and I'm VERY dissapointed in it's content. First off, the first 400 pages of this book have NOTHING to do with Direct3D. What do we get? - YET AGAIN another book that discusses in detail the differences between C vs C++ (come on!!), basic Windows programming, SPRITE concepts, very basic 3D math, etc. The next 100+ pages covers 2D sprite engines / animations. The last 100 pages is a useless reference of Direct3D interfaces that you can get from the Direct3D docs. ALL OF THIS STUFF has been covered MUCH BETTER in other books. How often can the same book be written?

The actual Direct3D stuff is beyond basic. There is no detailed discussion of multi-textures, bump mapping, etc. Most importantly, however, and the BIGGEST OMMISSION IN ALL BOOK OF THIS KIND(!!) is the fact that it does not implement a simple 3D shooter type game whatsoever. What it gives you is a few libraries for making cubes and spheres (wow...how useful). And there is no discussion of LOADING and USING any actual 3D ANIMATED models. Forget about things like collision detection and scene management.

PLEASE!! Someone write a book that actually implements (and, just as important, discusses the implementation in detail) a very simple 3D shooter game - complete with .X file animated model loading, advanced multi-texturing, collission detection, scene management, etc!! There have been totally terrible books like this that don't even allude to these things, and also books that discuss these items THEORECTICALLY. But PLEASE someone write one that actually shows HOW.....LaMothe, please move your books in this direction and STOP writing the same book over and over.....This is the last book I'll ever buy from PrimaTech otherwise.

As a software engineer and beginning DirectX hobbyist, I was looking for a book to guide me through the bottom of the game development learning curve. Although I code for a living, I'm not too proud to be coddled with the basics. This book does that, and much more.

If you're a Windows programmer (as I am) the first few chapters might be mostly review. The author recognizes and openly admits this, but still manages to offer some useful tips about developing "the game loop" and suggestions for optimal message handling.

The book then goes through 2D (with Direct3D, including sprite creation and animation) and finally to 3D development. At the end of the book, I was able to write my own fairly complex 3D game engine--the author took me through it, practically line by line (the engine is also on the companion CD).

The book is written with refreshing humor and clarity, and it seems the author and publishers spared no expense in terms of book size to fully educate the reader (the book has almost 900 pages).

In my opinion, if you're looking for a great starting point, this is it.

Don't get this book, even if you are a beginner. I bought it and was really dissapointed when I found the examples to run at 30-40 fps ( GeForce 3 Ti200 ) with simple 2D blitting. He makes horrible use of any hardware rendering.. His excuse is he is not familiar with D3D v 8.0 and his work arounds are a disaster that will only start someone new off on the wrong track. I recommend the Role Playing book, it has exactly the same chapters on Windows programming, the sample code runs perfectly, and the humor is bearable!

Reading this book is like having a friend looking over your shoulder while you're programming, giving you pointers and tips and gently guiding you through the basics of the different components of a 3D engine. You don't get perfect or complete answers to everything, but you get enough really good starting information to be able to get started and figure the rest of things out on your own.

The bad. The code he provides isn't perfect. I just compiled one of his examples (the solar system one) for the first time, and it ran at a whopping 8fps and had some minor texture problems. Also, throughout the C++ code in the book, there are few strange, very non-C++ ways things are done, like using void pointers to get around forward class declarations. Another example - the entire game engine he provides is written entirly in a single, gigantic Engine.h file!

The different. The book is written with a very personal, non-formal approach. I know the author wears contacts, lived in Scotland, loves the word "jiggy", and got food poisoning from a spicy-chicken pizza on his birthday once. I actually liked this style. By giving the book personality it helped prevent it from being just another dry romp through 3D programming. But if you think it would bother you, stay away.

The good. The book contains a ton of informative and useful steps towards building a 3D engine. This is the most important thing, and I thought the book really delivered in this area. Each concept is clearly presented and very carefully explained. You can't necessarily cut and paste the code he gives you, but it's the ideas and new ways of doing things you're reading this for, not to copy someone else's code for your own use (right?).

I could make this review very short by just saying that this presumed "Zen" of D3D shows you
how to draw your first TRIANGLE on page 500.. I am not kidding! That is 70% along the length of the
book! To make this skimpy introduction look like an advanced tutorial they have inserted chapter after
chapter of useless windows bs and annoying prose like "Hey dude", "Get it?", "Cool eh", "It is getting
late and I feel like eating some junk food" etc etc. Am I the only one to be sick of all this?
What an aspiring game programmer wants and expects is a solid, clear, detailed, no bs introduction,
made by a professional not some sort of silly chit-chat by a standing comedian. I do praise Lamothe
for having showing that techical books don't have to be boring, but still very much prefer a boring
but instructive and complete text to an empty pretentious booklet. Really a pity, since Peter Walsh
really looks like someone who could produce a great game programming text with a little more time and
effort.