Customer Reviews

Visual Basic Game Programming with DirectX (Premier Press Game Development (Software))

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am awestruck! Jonathan Harbor has written the specific book, the manual for how to develop the game I've always wanted to make! I'm only half way through and I've learned more about VB's graphics and programming capabilities than I've learned in all the rest of my experience with the program. And I've even taught MS Visual Basic certified classes!

If you want to know about the graphic muscle that is hidden under the mild-mannered Visual Basic application language, look here. The limitations that I thought were inherent in VB just don't exist. Couple this with VB's superior ability to manipulate databases and you have a terrific platform to deliver high-performance, highly detailed strategy games! Sid Meier could have programmed all of the versions of Civilization in VB with this book!

Most impressively, this author also includes help for the artist that must be involved in the process and for the designer who must decide how things will be done as well as for the programmer. It's a manual for writing games as well as a tutorial on how to use an everyday language to program games competitive with C and C++ games in the market today. He maintains his emphasis on game playability while supplying all the tools to implement your game idea.

For the first time, I wish I had some more stars to award....

Without this book many people would have been deprived of the very powerful graphic and gaming capabilities of VB6. This book also proves convincingly that game development is not exclusive to C or assembly programmers.

The sometimes very complex topics are attenuated with the addition of some gaming history and fun personal anecdotes, making these topics more enjoyable and digestible for the reader. The author clearly shows his passion for game development and gaming in general and the desire to share his knowledge to the readers.

2d & 3D Bitmap handling, sprites, vertical scrolling, sound effects, background music, basic AI (Artificial Intelligence), control input, even multiplayer network programming using DirectPlay are covered with detail. My primary interest was to create 2d games using sprites, but soon I realized reading further along the wealth of new and interesting concepts I didn't have an idea existed in the first place.

Deep down in more advanced chapters it is apparent that in practice game development is a very complex process. But then again the author effectively provides a means of removing the complexities of DirectX and the Windows Application Programming Interface (API) by devoting an entire chapter for building a solid game library, with a set of classes that make it much easier to code your software.

With the addition of several games developed by the author throughout the book, all the concepts are nicely put into practice. Game projects include Block Attack (a classic "Breakout" arcade game), War birds 1944 (a scrolling game), Stellar War (a multiplayer game), and pong 3d (a 3d classic).

The book is not intended for inexperienced Visual Basic programmers and its scope is not to teach you the language for gaming purposes. It assumes knowledge of the interface and language structure as well as VB class instancing, functions, procedure and variable scoping, which are used extensively throughout the book; object oriented programming style is the focus in every chapter.

Minimum requirements for coding and running the programs in this book:
Visual Basic 5.0
DirectX 8
Direct X 8.0 SDK (available on the bundled CD)
Video accelerator 32MB

It is highly recommend having the following to obtain a better overall benefit from this book and the sample code:
Visual Studio or Visual Basic 6 (any edition), SP5
MSDN Library (highly recommended although not strictly necessary)
PC with 512MB and a 32MB video accelerator or better

Most of the sample code is included in the book for the benefit of readers who prefer learning by typing. Those who are in a hurry have a convenient bundled CD. In addition to all the code from the book, the CD includes trial versions of Jasc's Paint Shop Pro 7 and Syntrillium Cool Edit 2000 as well as demos of Mechwarrior 4, Crimson Skies and Motown/Motocross Madness 11

In summary, a very effective, well written, entertaining textbook and a valuable tool for future game developers and enthusiasts.

5 stars

As an experienced VB programmer who has followed the language since it's inception, I have to say that this is the first time I have ever been so excited at the possibilities of VB; and it's all thanks to this book.

This book presumes a basic knowledge of VB, of course; but beyond that, it will do wonders to get you out of the 'Application' programming mindset, and into GAME programming. And the book makes an excellent case for why Visual Basic is entirely acceptable for programming Windows games.

Unlike any other VB Game programming book I've ever seen, this one goes far beyond card games or a bad remake of an old arcade game. The information in this book will have you pushing the very limits of VB and DirectX together... and it will surprise you with exactly how far out those limits are.

If you are serious about VB, and serious about game programming, this book is an absolute MUST.

Also.. one thing that wasn't too clear to me before I bought this book was what version of VB it applies to. While it does include some info on VB.NET, everything in it is made for VB6.0, so don't feel shy about picking it up if you only have 5.0 or 6.0.

Get it!

I haven't read the whole book yet, but I've gone through the first 6 chapters. I consider myself to be an intermediate vb programmer, and I learned a lot in just the first few chapters; far from getting into game programming. I glanced at the rest of the book, and it looks awesome. Toward the end of the book it takes you through the designing and programming of a couple complete games. The book also goes through programming a graphics library that you can use in later projects. Overall, this book is just amazing.

Before meeting this book I never even imagined that Visual Basic was reading for game programming, and after reading the introduction, I thought for sure that this guy was a has been programmer trying to write a book about something seemingly impossible just to sell it and reassure everyone of just that.

A few chapters in, I realized just how wrong I was. Mr. Harbour digs right in and clears up all doubts before you even reach the hardcore code.

This book is remarkable, and though I cannot compare it to the other DirectX with Visual Basic 6 books (as this is the only one I have read), I can assure you that it is indeed a GREAT buy. The sample code alone earns the five stars.. wow, if only I could write more than 1,000 words in this review.

This book is good for beginners and advanced programmers alike, and even if you have absolutely no intention of writing your own game in Visual Basic, it is still a supurb resource for giving your user interfaces a makeover.

This book was very informative and helpful although several things keep it from being perfect. First of all, because the author is a fan of 2d games more of the book is set aside explaining how to produce these than 3d games. In fact, its coverage of Direct3d is small. If 2d games are what you want, then its great for that purpose.
Also, the beginning focuses too much on the windows api as opposed to directx. And although the writers seem to think that someone with very little experience could jump in and understand everything, I do think that one should have a little experience with vb to understand it. Aside from this, it covers direct sound, input and draw nicely, and has good example programs.
Very Helpful.

I just bought the book. Haven't finished it yet but it's a truly amazing book. I've browsed through the content and it will answer the questions of any aspiring VB game developper and will teach a few things to seasoned developpers.

I was one of those guys that thought VB wasn't for game programming. Since I started reading the book and tested the examples, I am now convinced that VB can do the job quite well.

The author walks us through the game programming philosophy, wich is not the same mindset as non game development and he uses sound arguments to explain why VB is a perfect alternative (should I say choice) for game development.

The examples are clear and to the point. They are written for VB 6.0. The author talks a little about VB.Net but the game library that you will build throughout the book is aimed at VB 6.0 and will not work with VB.Net without modification.

All the examples ran flawlessly on my main computer (AMD ATHLON 1900+), but I had some difficulties running some of them on my laptop machine. So I wrote to the author and guess what? He answered me the same day!! Talk about support!!!

If you are serious about game development or just a hobbyist that wants to learn a few skills this book is a must. We could probably already call it a classic!

Steve Grant

This is an excellent book. It not only covers DirectX, but also covers many aspects of the theory of game programming. While it does cover Direct3D, 2D is covered more. Covers all aspects of DirectX including DirectDraw7 (this is the only thing covered from DirectX7, but DX7 and DX8 can be used together, which is also covered), Direct3D, DirectMusic, DirectSound, DirectX Graphics, and so much more! Also, it comes with a game library on the CD so you can get to work on a game right away! Overall, it's an excellent book and a great resource for anyone looking to make games in Visual Basic!

I have long felt that VB is a valid option for the production of high quality games. Most game programmers disagree with this and think the only real option is to use VC++. These programmers should really read this book- it will do away with this commonly held misconception! The truth is, most windows API's and DirectX functions work just as fast or nearly as fast with VB as with VC++. However, the ease of use of VB will likely cut the production time in half. This book clearly presents just about everything one needs to program games with VB and DirectX. I am not talking about silly shareware-quality card games like so many other VB game books present, but rather high end professional quality 2D and 3D game engines.

I am going to be teaching a programming class next year. I feel that game programming is the best way to teach the subject as it covers just about every aspect of programming in a fun and exciting way. I have been looking for a good book to use for this class but I always ended up dissapointed... that is until I read this book! I will surely use it to help teach the course. I have read well over 100 programming books, and I probably own every game-related VB book ever written. None can compare to the clarity and depth of this book which is stuffed with 1100 pages of helpful information and professional insight.

There are so many things I like about this book that it is hard for me to know where to begin. The logical progression is nice to see and makes it suitable even for those who may be new to game programming. Harbour starts by convincing the reader to stop using VB's graphical interface. He claims this will make it harder to think like a game programmer- and I totally agree! (Funny how every OTHER game book for VB I have ever read starts off by using a picture control to load a sprite- that is garbage and not how a professional game programmer would do things!) He then shows the inefficiencies of the inherent VB graphical functions and introduces some solid API replacements. Next he covers DirectDraw with DirectX7 (2D), DirectSound, DirectInput, and 3D graphics using DirectX8. It even explains how to make network games! Basically, everything you probably thought you couldn't do with VB is explained in this book. He even has a lighthearted writing style which makes it much easier to read. It only took me a few days to traverse the entire book. He even covers some very interesting historical aspects of game programming. The code examples are very clear and well commented. The examples alway start small and simple so new concepts are not lost in a clutter of code but then they progress to full game projects. The author must have spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to teach each subject. I would like to personally thank Jonathan Harbour for writing such a wonderful book.

I always try to write a balanced review by discussing the aspects of the book that I think could be improved. It is hard to come up with anything I didn't like about this book. I guess I would have liked to see a few more advanced topics covered related to Direct3D like directional lighting- but let's be real, a single book can't cover everything (But this one sure comes close!) With any luck, perhaps he'll write a second book dedicated solely to 3D graphics with VB.

This book was written about the time VB .Net was coming out and the author even mentions that he considered writing some of the code in .Net. I bought the book, realizing it was dated, thinking that it would be a good learning experience to convert the examples to VB .Net. Of course, it's proving to be very frustrating.

This is a good book and well written and if you are determined to stick with VB6 and want to learn game programming. However, if you're moving on to .Net I would suggest looking for a different title. (If you find a good one let me know.)

I really wish they would publish a new edition with re-written examples. That would be ideal.