Game Engine Gems, Volume One [Hardcover]

Eric Lengyel (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0763778885 | ISBN-13: 978-0763778880 | Edition: 1st

Game Engine Gems brings together in a single volume dozens of new articles from leading professionals in the game development industry. Each gem presents a previously unpublished technique related to game engines and real-time virtual simulations. Specific topics include rendering techniques, shaders, scene organization, visibility determination, collision detection, audio, user interface, input devices, memory management, artificial intelligence, resource organization, and cross-platform considerations. A CD-ROM containing all the source codes and demos accompanies the book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eric Lengyel is a veteran of the computer games industry with over 16 years of experience writing game engines. He has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California at Davis and an MS in Mathematics from Virginia Tech. Eric is the founder of Terathon Software, where he currently leads ongoing development of the C4 Engine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers; 1st edition (March 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763778885
• ISBN-13: 978-0763778880
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #611,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing book, November 5, 2010

By 

Badger - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Game Engine Gems, Volume One (Hardcover)

When one buys a "gem" series book, it is to learn specific, useful techniques for implementing systems and algorithms. The "gems" themselves are the sought-after ideas and theories, formed into concrete examples that can be applied to ones needs.

Unfortunately, this book does not live up to its "gems" titling, only serving to dilute that designation with weak content. Many of the chapters read as if they were written by high school students that attended a seminar on "game engine issues" and were forced to write a paper to prove they paid attention. In other words, the chapters will talk about how you would go about doing something and what would be desired in the final product, rather than describing how it is actually done. As such, many of the chapters are extremely short, some as short as 2-3 pages, and have sparse generalization information in them--hardly "gems."

This book should be retitled, and directed towards people who want to read about general issues and ideas in game engines. It's not a "gem" book by any means, and you're not going to glean any sophisticated techniques from the authors. I also have to wonder about that "5 star" first review given to this book, whether it was a shill review, because I can't expect any professional keeping this book on hand, let alone as a reference. I wish I had spent more time looking at the "Look Inside" preview before laying my money down for this mediocre book.

6 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reference that should be on hand for any game developer, professional or amateur, April 12, 2010

By 

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

This review is from: Game Engine Gems, Volume One (Hardcover)

An engine is simply a set of tools to create one's art in video games. "Game Engine Gems 1" is a collection of tips and tricks from countless software experts who have figured out how to make their desired game engine do what they want to create what they want and reach for that hit game or make that breakthrough technological innovation. Wisely using one's art assets, smarter artificial intelligence, creative uses for a physics engine, more vivid environments, all are discussed with plenty of ideas to make them work. With lots of example code and plenty of diagrams, "Game Engine Gems 1" is a reference that should be on hand for any game developer, professional or amateur.