Customer Reviews

Introduction to Game Development (Charles River Media Game Development)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, for those that think that this book is about game programming: it is not (just to let some of you guys warned).

Now... the book is VERY good for what it proposes itself: a introduction to the process of game development. Like stated on the book description ,it might be used as a text book for a introductory course. It covers all parts of the game development process, from designing to shipment, considering legal issues, such as IP, Copyrights and Trademarks, and development issues like engine programming, model creations, sound, etc.

The book is divided in seven parts:

Part 1 - Critical Game studies: This is an overview of the whole history and concept behind games. It covers the historic of games (where we came from, and to where are we going), social issues, and (my personal favorite) ludology for game development. This is a whole chapter dedicated to discuss what is fun, and how to achieve it. This chapter really made me think about a couple of things :).

Part 2 - Game Design: Expanding on the last chapter of part 1, here is explained HOW to make games fun. Issues like multiple choices, types of fun, characterization of games and such are all presented here.

Part 3 - Game programming: Languages and architecture: To me, this part didn't bring much new stuff (then again, i'm doing a PhD in computer science, so i have experience in programming). But i recognize some VERY interesting points, and possibilities shown in the first chapters. In special, the chapter that talks about Flash and Action script really got my attention.
The latter chapters about debugging, game architecture and memory I/O, are VERY interesting and offered me many insights about the game development process and needed technology.

Part 4 - Game programming: Math, Collision detection and Physics: Despite the title this part will not teach you how to implement these things in your game (well... not directly). This chapters will give a "brief" introduction about each of the topics mentioned. But be aware, while "introductory", some parts can get really complicated (like the physics part).

Part 5 - Game programming: Graphics, animation, AI, Audio and Networking: Again, lots of interesting stuff here. The chapter about graphics and animation really got me confused at some parts :)
The AI chapters are REALLY cool, and give you some interesting concepts. The only part of the book i think that lacks something is that chapter about networking: it just talks about architecture, no much about programming (but then again, i was already well versed in this topic).

Part 6 - Audio visual design and production: Ok, so we have programmers, but what about the rest?
This part describes lots of technics and areas of expertise that i didn't even know that existed :)
Musicians, composers, modelers, texturers... everything is described here.

Part 7 - Game production and the business of game: Another VERY interesting part. With tons of infos from the people already familiar with the industry. What is publisher, how to get one, why do your game costs 50 bucks when it goes to the shelves, what is Intellectual Property, how to assures yours, how to sell your game... everything is described here.


As you can see, this is book that covers a lot of ground. And one of its features that i find more interesting are the references in each chapter.
While the book just gives an introduction, the references allow the interested ones to go look in depth for a specific topic that might interest them.

This huge book is the best attempt yet to cover virtually all of game development while still maintaining the depth necessary to truly understand and appreciate the state of the art as it exists today. The book is based on the International Game Developers Association Curiculum Framework.

Steve Rabin, the editor of the book is a ten year vet in the game industry, and is currently a senior software engineer at Nintendo. He contacted twenty seven of the world's leading game developers, programmers, and designers to do chapters on their specialty. These are not professional writers, but are actively engaged in and work for some of the best known companies in the gaming business.

Game programming is nothing without movement, so the book almost had to contain a CD. On the CD are all the animations, documents, source code, demos, etc that are referenced in the chapters. In addition are the actual images being discussed in the text. Finally there is a PowerPoint presentation that complement each chapter.

This is perhaps the most complete book on gaming development that exists.

"Game development" is no longer a one-man job: it's now a collaborative undertaking not unlike a film production: with producers and designers and a whole team of specialized craftsmen.

This book is a collection of individual articles covering the whole spectrum of contemporary game development.

It covers technical aspects from programming fundamentals (compiled executables vs. interpreted scripts, and their respective strengths and weaknesses) through game physics (with great explanations, some daunting math, and sample pseudocode).

But the book is equally comprehensive in production issues: from project management (why "code-and-fix" is bad - even though far too many teams do it anyway!), through contract and negotiation issues with publishers, through timely issues like "intellectual property" (DRM) and "content management" (as in the "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" backlash).

This is an excellent book with something for everyone interested in - or working with - professional game development.

I just ordered the book last week and I am impressed. The chapters were very detailed and readable. I am having a few issues playing the CD in my laptop, but it is only a minor issue to me. Even though the price is steep, you get the wisdom of game industry veterans. I think this is a great textbook for an introductory college course on game development.

Any library serious about catering to computer game developers will find the weighty, extensive updated second edition of Introduction to Game Development to be a key acquisition. It is divided into seven independent sections, each featuring articles written by experts in their field, and covers all the basics of game design, programming languages and physics, audio visual design, and more. The editor is a software engineer at Nintendo: his professional background lends to an outstandingly well detailed survey of the entire field of game programming.

This is a good book introducing game programming. It is massive, trying to cover almost every essential aspect of game programming. This book would be a great supplemental text, along with another code specific book, for a two-semester game programming class. If you are a newbie looking for a quick way to learn basic game programming techniques on your own, this book is probaly not for you. (Not that there is truly a quick way.) It is a long read with little code. Let me make it clear this is a good book worth reading: it is just not the quick and dirty introduction that I was looking for. I suggest a step-by-step type book that offers a working game at the end, along with this book.

I am a Instructor who adopted this book for a College Course, Intro to Game Design. This book is well organized and goes over numerous major concepts that apply to all interested people in the game field. The only complaint is there is almost no pictures, so that makes the text extremely heavy being 945 pages.

I've used this as the textbook for my graduate (500-level) course on game production, which is a management degree program. I agree with some reviewers that this is not a good text for purely programming instruction, nor it is particularly great for designers either. But as an introduction to the overall subject it excels at explaining the whole of the game industry and development process from a very high viewpoint. Anyone wishing to adopt this as a textbook for their course cannot go wrong because it covers so much in one huge hardcover volume, and includes PowerPoints on the CD. I was able to jump into a new coures with very little prep time thanks to Steve Rabin and this fantastic book. I would highly recommend it for anyone wishing to get a high-level (i.e. managerial) overview of the whole industry and all of the key topics that a manager should know about, with enough technical detail to satisfy a 500- level or higher computer science course as well. (Note: My review applies to the first edition; I have not yet adopted the 2nd edition yet, but have no qualms about doing so with Rabin's good track record).

I am a newbee in video game creation but so far with this book, it seems pretty complete and a ''bible'' to which to refer too. I am very satisfied with it.

This is a very useful book with respect to tying the elements of a game together as well as giving a broad outline of game program flow. It highlights necessary business considerations toward completing the final product.

Sadly, as a programming book, it falls short of the mark with respect to teaching any programming code. It aludes to examples on the included CD but does not explain concepts covered in the code.

This book is useful to a person who already has a strong programming background who is looking for ways to tie things up and market their final product. For a person who is looking for a tutorial for programming games, I would look somewhere else.