Win95 Game Programming [Paperback]

Mathias Rasch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

Introducing the developer to WinG with practical, not theoretical examples, this book takes users through three complete projects to demonstrate the graphical programming techniques. The CD-ROM contains the complete code for these projects ready for users to "borrow" for their own graphical projects.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Windows is a graphical operating system - all of the video output is generated from discrete pixels. Even text is generated graphically. It's ironic that most of today's successful graphics games are written at the DOS-level. How can this be? If Windows is a graphical operating system, why would one of the most intensive users of graphics choose to ignore the built-in graphics features of Windows? The truth is that Windows 3. 1 can't deliver the performance needed to produce the smooth animation, vibrant sound and immediate response that these skillful gamewriters demand in their software. With the launch of the new Windows 95 operating system, all of this is about to change. The new 32-bit Win-G library is a giant toolbox of graphics capabilities that insulate the gamewriter from the hardware, yet delivers the performance that they need to write fast, responsive games and animations. Win95 Game Programming introduces the developer to WinG with practical, not theoretical, examples. Win95 Game Programming takes you through three complete projects to demonstrate the graphical programming techniques: Jump n' Run, Space Simulator, and a Doom-like game. The CD-ROM included contains the complete code for these projects ready for you to "borrow" for graphical projects. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 395 pages
• Publisher: Abacus Software Inc (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557552940
• ISBN-13: 978-1557552945
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,780,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of money, May 19, 2000

By 

Ross Diankov (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Win95 Game Programming (Paperback)

I bought Win95 Game Programming with real high hopes oflearning something about programming games. I was real disappointed soI decided I should write something about this before any of you make the mistake of buying this book as I have. First of all, the title is very misleading. The book has very little to do with Win95 besides give you the functions for rendering 2D bitmaps onto the screen. Everything else is written in Assembly. Basically anything that can be made in Assembly is in Assembly. That really [ticked] me off. Second, the code is very disorganized. In the beginning of a project the author goes into a little design and then starts right away implementing the specifics. First he begins to implement a little of the movement, then he starts on collision detection, halfway through he begins the level editing, and then he finishes the movement. And you never know how to organize the code or what goes where without looking at the samples on the provided CD. Most of the time the author will have you guessing what his next step is (which is covered much later in the chapter) for you to understand the current section. He doesn't explain the structures and the purpose they serve in the game. He just gives them to you and expects you to figure out where they will be used and how. Third, his code is very cryptic. I bet I could have written the games that he wrote in ½ the lines of code. I have to say the format for how he presents his code is VERY bad and uneducational. A professional programmer wouldn't be able to figure out what the author was thinking even if he designed a similar game and knew assembly. Oh, and don't let the graphics in the title page persuade you to buy the book. The only 3D you'll be doing is a cheap space simulation game that has flat shaded polygons as enemies.