Palm OS Game Programming (Game Development) [Paperback]

Nicholas Pleis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1931841195 | ISBN-13: 978-1931841191 | Publication Date: January 2, 2002 | Edition: 1

A guide to Palm OS game programming.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Game programming is without a doubt the most intellectually challenging field of computer science in the world. However, we would be fooling ourselves if we said that we are 'serious' people! Writing (and reading) a game programming book, should be an exciting adventure for both the author and the reader." Andre LaMothe, Series Editor

From the Publisher

Premier Press's Game Development series is one of the first on the market dedicated exclusively to game developers and the applications and topics relevant to their field. Series editor Andre LaMothe brings his sound reputation in the game development community along with rigid standards of excellence to this new series, which covers topics that range from basic game programming to advanced animation.

Premise:

Developed in close cooperation with Andre LaMothe, a legend in the gaming community as well as a best-selling author and game creator, these tutorials cover every aspect of game programming and development. Books range from theory-based tutorials offering advice on breaking into the gaming industry to hands-on books for creating amazing special effects and animation.

Typical Topics:

DirectX, Mac Game Programming, Linux Game Programming, AI, OpenGL, Direct 3D, Game Boy Programming, Pocket PC, and Multiplayer Programming.

Level:

For experienced programmers who may or may not be new to game programming. Books are tutorial-based with projects throughout and annotated code examples.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 423 pages
• Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade; 1 edition (January 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931841195
• ISBN-13: 978-1931841191
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,489,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nicholas Pleis's Rogh Draft, March 18, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Palm OS Game Programming (Game Development) (Paperback)

Premier Press categorized this book as "Intermediate" - it's not! This book is so BASIC (maybe shallow is a better adjective), it lacks any value. Some grave omissions include:

* Color: no discussion of color lookup tables and related portability problems.
* Networking: the Chapter 11 coverage is totally anemic (contains a topical discussion of "peer to peer" versus "client/server" networking) with no discussion of designing games to handle wireless issues.
* Sound: coverage was relegated to an appendix and treated as a total after thought.
* Performance: No discussion of game performance issues and how to profile code on the Palm OS.
* Deployment: no consideration of Palm OS versions/hardware features and their impact on game deployment.

This list could go on and on - but why bother. The book amounts to a "rough draft" that's missing about 200 pages of critical information on Palm game development. For anyone really serious about Palm game programming, read the "Palm OS Companion" book and look at the sample game code that shipped with the Palm SDK (both are free and downloadable from palm's web site).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thumbs down! Don't buy this book!, July 4, 2002

By 

Carlo R. Montoya "Toy photographer" (Cebu City, Cebu Philippines) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palm OS Game Programming (Game Development) (Paperback)

I should have believed the two readers who rated this book with
2 stars. I'm not sure if they found the same errors that I have
found below but I don't think my debug-ROMs on POSE with all
debug options turned on lied to me.

I bought the book based on its Table of Contents. What a fool
I've been!

I tested the first example Chapter3.prc and it gave the
following error after I tapped any of the launchers :

"Found 3 memory leaks for Chapter3(unknown version) Information

concering the leaks can be found in the log file."

Chapter4.prc ran ok.

Chapter6.prc's animated sheep application ran but again when I
tap any of the application launchers:

"Found 12 memory leaks for Chapter6(unknown version). Information
concerning the leaks can be found in the log file."

Chapter7.prc = "Found 31 memory leaks..."

Chapter8.prc ran but provided no way out. Tapping or pressing
the application launcher and hard buttons can't exit the program.

Chapter9's Elastic.prc & Inelastic.prc = "Found 13 memory leaks..."

Chapter10.prc = "Found 19 memory leaks..."

Chapter12.prc = "Chapter12(unknown version) called SysFatalAlert
with the message "DataMgr.c, Line 3362, Null dbID passed".

The book is hypocrital in the sense that it says to turn ON ALL
debugging options and yet I feel the author turned his OFF when
he developed the applications in the book.

Plus the makefile doesn't work using GCC! I assume the makefile
is specific to one of the proprietary tools he used.

I'll still read this book for the theory but I will definitely
write my own game engine. I can't trust his engine.

Next time, I won't buy books with reviews/ratings split two
ways. I wish I could return this book but I can't since
returning it to Amazon will be a costly excercise on my part.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disgrace for Palm programming community, September 4, 2002

By 

D. Slogar "goorn" (London, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palm OS Game Programming (Game Development) (Paperback)

Shortly, this is probably most useless computer programming book ever. On the other hand it is a perfect example how to waste 400+ pages without saying anything. Some chapters like multiplayer game programming, explanation of A* or fuzzy logic clearly show that author have no clue about game programming. Regarding Palm OS, there is no single advance topic covered; (Actually they are in the contents summary).
AVOID at all cost !