Customer Reviews

Going to War: Creating Computer War Games

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

 

 

I've been using Multimedia Fusion for a few years now and one thing I always wanted to do was make my own war game. I used to love playing war board games when I was younger. But when making a war game there is so much to consider. How to create maps, troop movement, enemy AI, combat and the list goes on. This book covers all of that and so much more.
Jason Darby's book begins with a brief history of war gaming and then a tutorial on using Multimedia Fusion (the demo version is included). Then starting with map creation he takes you step by step through the process of creating a war game. All the files you need are included on the accompanying cd. Jason also covers such topics as terrain and weather effects, morale and using money. At over 400 pages this book contains a wealth of information
Going to War can be used to make all types of war games from ancient warfare to science fiction without the need of learning a programming language like C++. If this is something your interested in then do yourself a favor and buy this book. I'm glad I did.

Going To War is the latest in a series of books by Jason Darby using Click Team products. It is also the best. The author goes to great lengths in introducing Multimedia Fusion 2 and War Gaming. The history of War Gaming is described in detail and included with the book is a CD that includes a trial period for Multimedia Fusion 2, example files, tiles, and sounds.

Jason Darby uses easy to understand, down to earth language when describing the coding you will need to make your war game a reality. Each chapter is illustrated with screen shots, side bars, and event guides. This is the best 400-page book that I have ever used for Multimedia Fusion 2.

Marvin Hull

There is no way to get the CD-ROM contents electronically! Hard to believe, but true nonetheless. I called the publisher and was told to buy the hardcopy. I'm hoping I can return mine.

Enjoyed the book - but I'd like to work on the project...

GOING TO WAR: CREATING COMPUTER WAR GAMES is for any programmer or IT industry person who wants to know how to get started with game programming. It covers the basics of using the drag/drop game engine Multimedia Fusion 2 and shows how to use the interface to create a game that forms the basis of every lesson in the book, producing a working result at books end. Any game programmer or library catering to beginning computer game creators will find this inviting.

I ordered this book due to the all-5-star ratings. Unfortunately I consider this book to be of sub-standard. It is completely built around that Multimedia Fusion framework. If you don't want to use it: forget this book immediately. If you want to make your own game the "classic way" i.e. using a real framework like SDL, DirectX or something similar then this book isn't for you. You won't learn how to build a hex-map, transform mouse-clicks (position) to the hex under the mouse cursor and so on. You'll find that on the internet - but NOT in this book. A pity! As this is probably the only book claiming to aim at computer-wargame-making it should have gone more into detail.
All in all: two stars - because if you want to "program" with that MF2 engine, then this might be for you. I will return my copy tomorrow.