Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization (Other Sams) [Paperback]

Andre LaMothe (Author)

Book Description

Series: Other Sams | Publication Date: June 2, 2003

Today is the greatest time in history to be in the game business. We now have the technology to create games that look real! Sony's Playstation II, XBOX, and Game Cube are cool! But, all this technology isn't easy or trivial to understand - it takes really hard work and lots of Red Bull. The difficulty level of game programming has definitely been cranked up these days in relation to the skill set needed to make games. Andre LaMothe's follow-up book to Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus is the one to read for the latest in 3D game programming. When readers are finished with Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization, they will be able to create a full 3D texture-mapped, lit video game for the PC with a software rasterizer they can write themselves. Moreover, they will understand the underlying principles of 3D graphics and be able to better understand and utilize 3D hardware today and in the future.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

To be an ordinary programmer is one thing: You need only learn how to interact with the computer on its own terms, creating buttons and combo boxes that have no significance away from the screen. To be a game programmer--particularly one that writes games with environments that appear three-dimensional to their players--is something else entirely. Such work requires that the flat screen simulate the real world, complete with light, shading, texture, gravity, and momentum. It's all quite complicated. Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus helps its readers make great progress in creating 3D worlds and the action that goes on in them.

That this large, dense book manages to explain how to design and implement a 3D game while neither glossing over too many details nor swamping the reader with trivia is a credit to author André LaMothe. He opens by showing (and explaining) the C++ source code of a simple but full-fledged 3D spaceflight shooter game--a real boost to the reader's confidence. From there, he explains the complicated geometric concepts and mathematics that underlie realistic games (always with an eye toward software algorithms) and shows how to use the many APIs and libraries (including Microsoft DirectX 9.0) that make the world-builder's job easier. Make no mistake: Designing and building convincing games with 3D visuals and behaviors that convincingly approximate real-world physics is hard work. In this book, LaMothe helps you get it done and enjoy the process. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to design and build 3D worlds and the goings-on within them. Aside from mathematics and geometry, this book focuses on wireframe models, shading, rendering, and animation. Microsoft DirectX 9.0 gets special attention.

From the Back Cover

Today is the greatest time in history to be in the game business. We now have the technology to create games that look real! Sony's Playstation II, XBOX, and Game Cube are cool! But, all this technology isn't easy or trivial to understand - it takes really hard work and lots of Red Bull. The difficulty level of game programming has definitely been cranked up these days in relation to the skill set needed to make games. Andre LaMothe's follow-up book to Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus is the one to read for the latest in 3D game programming. When readers are finished with Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization, they will be able to create a full 3D texture-mapped, lit video game for the PC with a software rasterizer they can write themselves. Moreover, they will understand the underlying principles of 3D graphics and be able to better understand and utilize 3D hardware today and in the future.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1728 pages
• Publisher: Sams (June 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672318350
• ISBN-13: 978-0672318351
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #759,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author Comments, July 25, 2003

By 

"sfwebwraith" (Danville, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization (Other Sams) (Paperback)

I want to make it clear to all that are potentially buying this book. Tricks II is about SOFTWARE algorithms and rasterization. There is NO coverage of Direct3D, OpenGL, etc. If you're interested in learning about APIs then this is the wrong place. If you're interested in learning about HOW TO DO IT from plotting a pixel to Quake II technology then this book will show the way. I can say that there is nothing like this on the market, and probably never will be. The amount of time needed to illustrate multiple 3D engines, and technologies, build the demos, and try and make it fun, and engaging is simply too time consuming. I wrote this book for myself, when I was learning 3D graphics all I had was the BIBLE "Computer Graphics - Principles and Practice" which is fantastic, but lacks implementation, and practical examples. Thus, my goal for Tricks II was to re-create the algorithmic and mathematical vigor of Principles, but with a more grounded, and practical approach with real-time considerations. I personally guarantee you won't be dissapointed, the demos are very cool, and good starting points for a number of games types from; space, indoor, water, road, and fighting -- But, once again, if you want to learn boring APIs and not understand the fundamentals of 3D graphics, then don't look here! :)

Andre'

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have for 3D Game Programmers, July 15, 2003

By 

mittens (MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization (Other Sams) (Paperback)

Simply put, this book is amazing. I'm a 3D game programmer myself, even written a couple books on the matter (*cough* Focus on 3D Terrain Programming *cough*). I've read just about every major book on 3D graphics and a heck of a lot of books on game programming, and I can safely say that this is THE best of both worlds. I've never seen a book this thorough before in my life. Andre, who I know from personal experiences as a great guy, really shows his incredible knowledge of 3D graphics, and even game programming in general. It's nice to be able to read through an explanation and think "wow, this guy definately knows his stuff inside and out".

Absolutely great work. I know it was a long time in the writing, but, from my point of view at least, it was very much worth it. Don't listen to the nay-sayers that throw this book off the mark due to it's lack of using Direct3D or OpenGL. This book teaches you what's most important about 3D graphics: THE THEORY! How are you supposed to program 3D games by solely knowing how a 3D API function changes a scene? You can't. You not only need to know how the function changes the scene, but WHY it works the way it does and, some times, how it can be improved.

If you're a beginner lost in a 3D void, this is definately the book for you. However, it's almost more important to note that if you're an intermediate programmer who has EVER wondered about the "why" behind 3D graphics, then this book is also definately for you. Just buy it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to write a software renderer in one volume, amazing., September 12, 2003

By 

specularity (Germantown, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization (Other Sams) (Paperback)

As others have said, this book teaches you how to write a realtime software renderer. This is an amazing enough achievement--there is a LOT of information here. And unlike the SUPER MEGA DIRECT3D AWESOME PROGRAMMING sort of book that seems to come out every month, this is stuff that is useful over the long term, not just until the next API revision. There's no other current book I know of that teaches this--ever since 3d acceleration got on the scene every single book on game graphics programming seems to have been on how to use whichever API. The great things about Lamothe's book have been plentifully written about in other reviews on here, so I won't dwell on that much. Suffice to say, if you want to learn an API, don't bother with this. If you want to learn how 3D graphics actually work, this is the book you need.

I do have a few problems with this book, though. LaMothe's writing style can get gratingly casual, and he's not nearly as funny as he seems to think he is. I'm not asking for an ultra-dry computer science textbook here, but the constant cheesy humor does get kind of tiring. LaMothe's coding style is ugly and haphazard (largely a personal judgement, I realize) and he uses very little in the way of C++ features, even in places where they would make things a lot more natural (again, personal preference). Finally, he spends far too much time explaining his own APIs, information that would really have been better off on the included CD, saving valuable pages for more rendering knowledge.

So, overall, a wonderful and useful book, with a few rough spots. I hope there'll be a second edition.