Customer Reviews

Introduction to 3D Game Engine Design Using DirectX 9 and C#

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I didn't expect this book to teach me C# or DirectX, so no worries there.

The book, along with the code that you have to download from apress, shows how to design & code a game engine. Actually, it's pretty weak on the design, since there are NO diagrams, and very little doc in the code, to help me understand what I'm reading. No explanation of relationships between the various objects & classes. What's especially confusing is trying to find methods that are called by the sample code. Is the method in a base class? Do I need to override it? Is it in another object that I have to write...? If there's one thing that might save this book, it would be more diagrams, such as UML.

After reading Chapter 1 and its code (which calls game engine methods but doesn't explain them), I had to download the code and go through it line by line. I wrote out the method calls by hand, and now I finally understand the high-level structure of the engine and the sample game. But that doesn't even include AI, input, lighting, sound, and how game objects are organized inside the engine. I guess I've got my work cut out for me.

Like so many other readers, I've been waiting for any book about Managed DX with C# for quite a long time since we definetely can't count on Microsoft's documentation that is only for full-time game programmers out there which I guess won't need it anyway since they're programming in C/C++ so what's the point MS???!!! Anyways, let's go back to the "book"...

But I never expected that you could just throw in some notes about some source code and call it a book, not even one single diagram that shows you where you've reached, what are you looking at, etc... I read the first sample chapter online at apress.com and it looked promising, I wish there was any other chapter that was sampled because that's the only chapter that you can read and understand. After you get to Chapter 2, you start wondering what is he talking about?! This is probably the worst technical book I ever got...

I don't mind getting the source code online and even that it does not seem to work after reading the forums at forums.apress.com but you don't learn anything useful this way, you might as well just get some source code from gotdotnet or c-sharpcorner...

I can't wait for Tom Miller's book that's being released this week I think, the table of contents and sample chapter look very promising (samspublishing.com sample chapter is 3rd chapter so you get a better idea of how the book is written) but hey, I've been fooled once, I hope this doesn't happen again!!!

Don't waste your money or your time on this so-called book!

I had been eagerly waiting for this book for almost 6 months and was disapointed in the results. While the author does show some mastery over the subject material, he demonstrates very little attention to detail and I got a distinct impression that the author could not be bothered.

This is evident throughout the book. The cover of the book is the only place you will find anything relating to 'multiplayer'. You wont even find mention of it in the glossary. The logic flow of physics makes me think that not enough time was put in to make sure that is was a sound design before writing about it and slapping it on the shelf.

Also, The example binaries provided do not function and the source has already gone through an update post release due to bugs. Even after you manage to compile the code yourself, the examples do not work properly, feel very amateurish and are based on the examples that come with the DirectX9 SDK! (Note the cheesy file menu for an obvious example)

There is also very little error checking and things could have been structured a little more efficiently(this is obviously an opinion). And while its not related directly to the book, the author didnt even bother spelling the name of his publisher right on his tag on the APress forums(where you can go to complain the code doesnt work), which shows up on every post he makes.

In summary, you can pick up some structring techniques and also see some examples of what not to do from this book, but you might be happier spending your money and time elsewhere.

For those who have already had an introduction into DirectX, this book is a godsend. If you know a little bit about DirectX and are ready to take the next step in designing your own engine this is the book to get. Just for the engine structural knowledge I have gained from reading this book it was well worth it, and that's not including all of the implementation examples it gives you, such as Terrains, Meshes, Cameras, and Particle Effects to name a few that I liked. If you don't know anything about DirectX, this book will probably be hard to follow. If you do know DirectX then this book will be very easy to follow. What isn't in comments is explained enough (in my opinion) in the paragraphs preceding each class and method. If you are still having trouble understanding this book then I would recommend reading an 'Introduction to DirectX' book, not an 'Introduction to Game Engine Design USING DirectX' book. All in all, this book was extremely worth it. The author definitely has experience in this field. The book's title may be deceiving to some, if you only read the first and last couple words and skip the 5 words in the middle. The previous reviews were incorrect about this book. If you have a little bit of understanding of DirectX, and would like to see how to implement some elements of a game, like the ones i mentioned previously(and there are more than that), then definitely buy this book.

This was a total waste of my money. If you plan on compiling the code then dont purchase this book. It will not compile and they have known it for a while. But refuse to release a code update.

If you dont believe this visit the Apress website. They know the code is bad.

This book is not an introduction to DirectX, D3D, or C#. It is a very high-level introduction to game engine design. One could almost gain as much from saying "Compartmentalise your objects" several times a day.

The title implies that it will give you some help understanding how DirextX and C# work together to create a game engine. This is false. There is a lot of uncommented code in this book (half the first chapter of 26 pages is uncommented code). The explanations given are abstract to the point of being worthless to someone who truly needs an introduction, giving only light glances at the example code. It is impossible to get a clear picture of everything involved.

There are doubtless those for whom this book is the perfect level of abstract discussion. However, I believe this is the exception rather than the rule. Highly not recommended.

If you're looking at engines like axiom, ogre, irrlicht, etc... and wondering how they do that... THIS is the book for you.

Just make sure you've read at least an intro c# book and 1 or 2 direct3d books.

I'm loving this book, I've read 1/4th of it over the period of my workshift... just can't put it down.

Things like octrees were completely confusing me, and lynn does a great job explaining it.

-1 star for not doing an octree implementation instead of a quad tree (so far... i haven't read the whole book yet), oh and i saw a "GOTO" statement in his code, which always urks me in OOP.

Lynn T. Harrison, Introduction to 3D Game Engine Design in C# (Apress, 2003)

The main problem with Lynn Harrison's book is that, well, the code doesn't compile. Which isn't his fault; Microsoft made some changes in the version of the DirectX Software Development Kit that came out just after the book's release that compromised the code. But nine months go by, and no code update? Not a promising sign.

That aside, this is a lucid, easy-to-understand book about, well, 3D Game Engine design. There could have been clearer explanation in some places, and it should have been noted at the start that the book wouldn't be presenting the code in an order the reader could type it in himself (typing in book code will beat downloading it from the website, where learning is concerned, every time). But getting past those minor problems, this is a quite workable piece of writing, and anyone who's been programming in C# for a few months should know enough to get the hang of the basics, and be able to pick up the rest from the book itself. Recommended. *** ½

This book has given me a good overview of 3D programming with .NET and C#. It was not too easy, and not too hard.

Also, it covers some game programming concepts that I would need to know whether or not I was using .NET.

This is a must have if you want to get into the brave new world of Managed DX.

I purchased this book in hopes that I would be able to use the code for examples and as a guidance. However, the code is outdated and unusable. You can download a more updated version of it off of a "fan" website, though still doesn't work. I contacted the author on the matter, and he said, "I'm afraid it is now becomes an exercise for you and the other readers to take the concepts in the book and work out the latest implementation. " I don't see how one can work out the exercises on their own when they're trying to learn the exercise itself!


The concepts in the book are a little useful, though without working code it seems so close yet so far away.

I would not recommend this book to those looking to learn from it.