Customer Reviews

Multiplayer Game Programming w/CD (Prima Tech's Game Development)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

OK well I know many people who are really serious about game programming get turned off by the Lamothe books because they basically go over the same old 2d information over and over again, and never actually seem up to date. This book is up to date, and has good information. It uses DirectX 8.0, and actually goes into 3d programming which is nice. I personally do not care for the DirectPlay information, I like Sockets, but either way they are both there. I will go through the pro's and cons.

Pros:
Easy to read and understand
Has quite a bit of good information and history
Definately good as a reference book
Covers DPlay and Sockets
Covers D3D, which i believe is nice to have even though it doesnt pertain to the multiplayer end.
Great service, I emailed the author and he emailed back. Can be quite a useful thing

Cons:
The code is poorly documented in many spots. While it is explained afterward, it would be nice to have a lot more comments. (which is something that Lamothe does quite nicely in his books)
Not very much ACTUAL GAME SERVER type code.. I've practically read over the book already, and while I have a general idea of how I will get this going, I feel more like i'm adapting chat programs to make my game.
Not enough on sockets... The sockets information was just too vague to me.
The DirectPlay information seemed mostly like pasted information out of the SDK Documentation. Honestly, the reason I bought the book was because I didn't get what was in the documentation very well.
And lastly i'd like to see more information on actually obtaining and setting up your server for a MMORPG. Things like security, what type of connection to get and how to get it etc.

Well, the cons seem bigger than the pros, but its really not like that. Just be warned that there are only about 200 or 400 pages out of this 800 page book that really focus on the issue of writing your server. Really, i'd like to see a sequel that really delved into the advanced issues, and really layed out things like sockets.

OK well finally, i'm glad I bought this book. I enjoyed it, and still am. It's a good book definately, and the perks of it are nice. I just feel like I want more, and there is nowhere to get it as of now. Based on this book, I would buy a sequel if it was put out. If I had it to do again, i'd buy this book again. Enough said, if you want to program games, buy this book. It's one you need on your shelf, as well as "Tricks Of The Windows Programming Gurus", and your most MOST important resource, the DirectX SDK. Because most of these books out today are just people who read and interpret the samples from it, and just print em out in a book. I learned most of the stuff from the SDK.

I bought the book online without seeing it first so its likely was my own fault. If I had a chance to browse it I would never have bought it. It wasn't the wasted coin that bothered me it was the let down when it contained almost no useful information. Going by the title, I would expect 50% of the book to be about Multiplayer Game Programming and it wasn't. What was wrong. Basiclly it is a Dummies book that holds your hand through the whole thing. Skims over all the real problems in multiplayer gaming.

1) A history of Multiplayer games is important but it should be shorter and I don't need reminiscing.

2) Its fine to have DirectPlay but skip the whole sockets thing if your not going to explain the important/relevant parts such as UDP.

3) The book has major fill. Redundant code listings fill a lot of the book. Having C and then C++ versions of the same code was a huge filler. If you want to provide that then put it on the CD.

4) I don't need a course on 3D graphics thanks. Thats another book.

5) Skip the C++ course also. The author is likely new to C++. A statement that C++ has shorter compile times is off the wall.

6) Visual C++ course could be left out.

7) Having DirectInput only and since most of the book talks DirectPlay maybe "for Windows" should be in the title?

Talk about false advertising. The title of this book should be "game programming for idiots." I bought this book hoping to find some insight into multi-player game design with an emphasis on massively multi-player applications, and what I got was a phonebook sized stack of paper that does an excellent job of explaining the issues involved without actually giving any solutions! Let me sum up the knowledge contained within...

When implementing a multiplayer game you can use a client-server or peer to peer architecture. Peer to peer results in more connections. And you might look into using sockets or DirectPlay, but you'll need to buy a different book to really understand what is going on...oh and with mmporpg applications you'll have to worry about zones and server boundaries, but how to solve those problems is left as a exercise for the reader!

To be honest, I expected this book to contain more coverage of Sockets, as well as DirectPlay...unfortunately, there is a lot of unnecessary info within the content of this book. As other reviewers have said, there is a significant amount of space dedicated to covering "generic game development", including Direct3D, sound, as well as C++...none of which should feature in this book.

Since another reviewer has already gone on to say what is *wrong* with the book, let me hit this with a different angle and suggest what I would think would've have made this book (at its size) outstanding:

1. More chapters on pure Sockets code. Peer to Peer. Client/Server. Additions on support for NAT/Firewalled clients would be nice (maybe an advanced chapter). Less on "chat" clients and more on game-related network communications (ie The Tic-Tac-Toe example should have been a complete, working application w/source on the CD, instead of "alluded to" in the book.)

2. More information on TCP vs. UDP, why online games mostly use the latter. Code that examines these issues.

3. More problem solving with multiplayer issues. Code that deals with latency. Code that dynamically handles server dropping (ie assigning one of the clients to be the new server).

Mostly, I was looking for a lot more source code looking at complete, yet simple games using networking in multiple formats (real-time, turn-based, etc). Instead, I felt a rush from pratically no knowledge (basics of send/recv) to almost instantly dealing with MMORPG architecture (!!!) A little unbalanced, at best.

I had been waiting a long time for a book to come out that covers game networking and this book is well worth the wait! Everything I was looking for to get started with incorporating network code into my game is included.

I like it that the programs start out easy and add complexity as you progress through the book. Finally, there are Direct Play examples that don't use Windows interfaces! The coverage of the major DirectX 8 components alone makes the book worth it. One of my favorite aspects of the book is the inclusion of complete games. I can't count how many books I have read that talk all about game programming but don't actually include any complete game code examples.

I strongly recommend you add this one to your game development collection.

After several attempts to learn game programming over the Internet, I have finally figured it out. I owe it all to this book.

Sure, I have read many articles posted on the Internet about this topic but none of them seemed very complete. This book starts you with entry level information and then takes you through the entire process. Nothing is left out, its great.

Take for example the sockets code. Instead of starting you out with a complete chat program, he shows you how to connect/send data/receive/etc. in simple little programs. Then, you are shown how to bring it all together. The same holds true for the Direct3D information. Everything starts out simple and then gets more complex.

Another item I see overlooked quite often by other authors/readers is the inclusion of an actual working game. This book includes two games that are fully working! I have read way too many game dev books that never deliver with a working game, this book does not suffer from this ailment.

Now, there is some information not covered, some of the super advanced items are not here. But heck, I wanted to know how to get started with Internet gaming, not how to tweak my existing engine. I hope the author comes out with another book, I can't wait.

The book starts off with a long history of game programming, but since the book is huge, that portion is small compared to the rest. I went directly to chapter 8 and read up on DirectPlay and its great. I couldnt figure out DirectPlay from the DirectX SDK, but this book explained it extremely well. I have also skimmed over the other chapters, and it has large sections on writting multiplayer code for linux too, so you can make a game server run on linux.

Its a good book, I recommend it for anyone interested in multiplayer programming. And it goes through the building of a complete multiplayer game.

I have many programming books and all of them assume you know all about the subject matter. This book is the first one I have read that assumes very little on the readers part. It walks you through each step thoroughly.

I like the fact that most of the code is covered in multiple areas. Since I tend to jump around a lot when reading a book, it helps me from missing something.

I have seen some other people complain about lack of sophisticated content and do not agree with them. I found information on synchronization, packet-loss, UDP, and other topics. Some of the super difficult stuff is not covered, but what do you expect, it is not for someone who already knows about multiplayer development.

I really like the fact that the author gives you two working game examples to follow. I have already modified the SpacePirates code with many additions.

I recommend this book to anyone who needs help getting started with DirectPlay.

How many books have you bought for DirectX that "forget" to include Direct Play? I have bought many and every single one either A) Doesnt include Direct Play information or B) Includes very little about it (mainly repeating what is in the SDK documentation.)

This book is the first one I have ever read that covers tons of information about Direct Play and making games for the Internet. It's all there: Peer-to-peer, client/server, custom packets, packet queues, synchronization, etc. Even 3D is made amazingly simple to understand.

Before reading this book I didnt much like Direct Play. But after seeing how DirectX 8 uses a completely rewritten DPlay system, I am now an advocate of it. DPlay is amazing! It has almost everything you could ask for in a communication API and much more. On that note, I never would have realized how cool DPlay is if I hadnt read this book. The SDK documentation does not come even close to explaining it like this book does.

Now that I understand the core of Dplay, I am hoping that Advanced Multiplayer Game Programming will be released. One reason I cant wait is that the author answered my email questions very promptly. Other authors could learn from this guy what customer service should be like for all tech books.

This book was the answer to my prayers.

Although I have a fair bit of programming experience, I'm new to C++ and even newer to client/server programming. I've been digging through page after page after page of code from open-source games and other assorted game projects, and mostly getting swamped. This book and the CD with it saved my sanity.

After an overview of the field, it starts out with the simplest communication examples, and then builds from there. By the time you get to where you're putting the code to practical use, you thoroughly understand what it is, what it's doing, and why.

Todd Barron's friendly, programmer-to-programmer style made it much more enjoyable than the dry-as-dust books that you have to soak in water for an hour before reading. I emailed the author with a few questions, and had an answer the next morning. The answer I needed, I should add.

If you want to not just learn but understand the essentials of writing a multiplayer game, this is the book to start with.