Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Beginners only..., September 2, 2003
By A Customer
I ordered this book after installing DarkBasic Pro on my PC. By time the book arrived, I'd had already outgrown the material.
If you have never programmed before, this book would probably be useful, as the first 200 pages cover basic programming techniques; loops, data types etc.If you are already familiar with programming, then there is not much useful information. There are only a 50 pages on 3d programming and only a few of the relevent funtions are covered. Mostly the book is fluff. There are shots of every screen that comes up during the install of Dark Basic.(7 pages)
"Figure 1.60 The Setup Status screen, which displays the installation progress" I realize that the book says 'Beginners Guide', but I thought that meant it was for someone who was new to the language, not new to computers. If you know the difference between an integer and a float, save your money.
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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A note from the author, January 12, 2005
"Congratulations, you have just found the one and only book you will need to learn the basics of game programming!"
I decided to comment on this book (now 2 years after release) in order to clear up some misconceptions about it. We had to choose between two approaches for this book, to either follow the goal we set out to meet with this book, or to truly delve into the capabilities of DarkBasic. The publisher wanted an entry-level book for their game development series, so this book filled that role. As the title suggests, this is a "Beginner's Guide" to game programming. The title is somewhat confusing because DarkBasic is the tool we used, not the focus of the book. DarkBasic was just the means for teaching this course in game programming--for an audience with absolutely no experience. This book is being used as a first-semester textbook in some middle and high schools.
The unfortunate result of this decision is that DarkBasic fans wanted more of a comprehensive manual for DarkBasic, something to show them how to take advantage of the advanced features of DarkBasic. But what you must understand is that DarkBasic Pro was not even released yet when we completed this book. We had to struggle to queeze in DBPro support at the last minute before the book was printed. Most of the projects in the book are available on the CD-ROM for DBPro as well, with code changes made to suit those programs for DBPro. Most of the code from DarkBasic does run fine in DBPro without modification.
To address some of the harshest reviewers, I will say this: Look at the title; what did you expect, to learn how to write Quake III by reading this book? The title is not "Quake III Programming with DarkBasic" is it? It says "Beginner's Guide". Look at the title again--if it doesn't meet your needs, then the fault is your own for making a poor decision. I find that the same sort of people who complain about this book are the same people who will tell a beginner to "RTFM" instead of trying to be helpful--and I disagree with that attitude. To be honest, if you have enough experience to complain about the content of this book, then it was clearly not written for you, and the fault is your own. I would not buy a C primer if I already know C--and then complain about it! This book's title is all you need to judge whether you will benefit from reading it.
That explanation aside, I hope you will see this book for what it is, not what you want it to be. This book succeeds as a "Beginner's Guide" to game programming first and foremost, and secondly, as a DarkBasic reference (note that a language reference is available on the CD-ROM). The last chapter teaches you how to write your own 3D multiplayer car combat game called Crazy Carnage, which you can play against a friend over the Internet.
If you are a complete beginner, I think you will enjoy this book, because it is very patient, moves along at a slow pace, and describes the basic concepts of computer science like a mentor tutoring an apprentice. I think you will enjoy the nature of this book if you are in need of a no-pressure introduction to programming--because the CD-ROM includes a trial version of DarkBasic.
The Foreword by Lee Bamber--the creator of DarkBASIC--describes the goal of this book succinctly well: "Let's suppose a few years from now a programmer working for a game company...will mention the early days, and how a little-known language called DarkBASIC inspired him to great things. Might that programmer be you?"
"Will YOU write the next blockbuster game with DarkBASIC?" Take a look at the table of contents below to see the subjects that you will learn about in this book.
Part I: The Basics of Computer Programming
1: Welcome to DarkBASIC
2: Introduction to Computer Programming
3: Basic Commands, Variables, and Data Types
4: Characters, Strings, and Text Output
5: Looping Commands
6: Making Programs Think: Branching Statements and Subroutines
7: More Power To The Numbers: Data Sequences and Arrays
8: Number Crunching: Mathematical and Relational Operators and Commands
Part II: Game Fundamentals: Graphics, Sound, Input Devices, and File Access
9: Basic Graphics Commands
10: Game Graphics: Learning To Use Bitmaps
11: The Art of Using Animated Sprites for 2D Games
12: Programming the Keyboard, Mouse, and Joystick
13: Adding Sound Effects To Your Game
14: Playing Some Tunes: CD Audio, MIDI, and MP3 Music
15: Loading and Saving Information Using Files
16: Playing Intro Movies and Cut-Scenes
Part III: Advanced Topics: 3D Graphics and Multiplayer Programming
17: Fundamentals of 3D Graphics Programming
18: Multiplayer Programming: The Crazy CARnage Game
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book for a begginer, July 14, 2004
This book, I believe has been purchased by the wrong people. The book clearly states that it is a begginers guide and never prettended to be anything else. It basicly fills in the huge gaps from the manual. DarkBasic claims to be a very easy programing language for begginers, strange that the manual is designed for people who know what they are doing.If you are already a programer, you should not have purchased this book. I guess many people who got dissapointed are the die hard fans of darkbasic who already knew what they were doing and expecting some advanced tips and tricks for optimising their code. I think that this book is great for what it was made to be, a begginers guide. It teaches good programing habbits, explains things clearly and helps guys like me who have not programed since they left college 6 years ago get their act back together. I heartily recomend this book to anybody who purchased darkbasic or darkbasic pro and had no idea where to start.
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by Jonathan S. Harbour
