Game Programming Starter Kit 4.0

Other products by Pearson Software

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004U2IF
• Item model number: 1575954133
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 13, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,330 in Software (See Bestsellers in Software)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #34 in	Software > Programming > Training & Tutorials
  #55 in	Software > Programming > Development Utilities

• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
For those interested in a powerhouse of programming and game designing capabilities, Macmillan's Game Programming Starter Kit 4.0 will be the place to start your journey. The package is a virtual compendium of resources for creating your own games and is designed for those with some previous knowledge of gaming, animation, and C++ programming. The package comes with gamer Marc Saltzman's book, Game Design: Secrets of the Sages, Second Edition, Genesis 3D SDK world generator and editor, Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 Introductory Edition, Shadow Realm Model Animator, and Microsoft DirectX 7.0, plus two e-books from the Sams Teach Yourself series: Visual C++ 6 in 21 Days and DirectX 7 in 24 Hours.

Starting with characters, you can tinker with Shadow Realm Model Animator's samples (a complete soldier plus six geometric simple examples) to understand what SRMA has to offer. The brief, straightforward tutorial keeps things in perspective and walks you through your model animation from the early steps (importing a mesh, designing and modifying bones and their orientation and joints) to the more crucial stages (defining components, model animation, and animation frames).

Your folks will need a place to interact in, so next you can start working on the environment with the Genesis world generator and editor. Not for the faint of heart or impatient, this package rivals some of the most complex, and most capable, design utilities available. You will begin by gaining an understanding of the terminology and language used by this application; once you're onboard in that regard, you'll be using its features with abandon. You'll have a plethora of textures at your fingertips for the variety of shapes and constructions offered; you can modify everything from the sky to the fixtures on a wall. And best of all, if you're terribly persnickety about the angles of things, degrees of rotation, or vantage points, you'll have modifiable numeric control of virtually every aspect of your world.

You'll then turn to the nuts and bolts design of your game with Microsoft's Visual C++ 6.0 Introductory Edition compiler and DirectX 7.0 development libraries. For the newbie, you'll want to check out the e-books, as well as any other material on C++ that you can find (we recommend Borland C++ Programming Starter Kit Deluxe 5.0. And even when you're done reading the books, you'll find that both the compiler and DirectX have extensive online tutorials and help sheets to get you through any rough spots.

For those experienced in the beauties and intricacies of C++, you'll find this compiler ready to go and complete with a debugger (for those errant typos and oversights) and a resource editor. And, for those who want to make the most of their game (and isn't that all of us?), the DirectX libraries will provide you with the support for two- and three-dimensional graphics, plus sound and music.

To tie it all together, and possibly to get a little inspiration, browse the Game Design: Secrets of the Sages. Here you'll learn about everything from basic design to artificial intelligence, puzzle workings to agents and headhunters. --Emilie Dirks

Amazon.com Product Description
Make your game ideas a reality with this comprehensive programming toolkit that includes Visual C++ compiler, Genesis 3-D engine and level editor, DirectX 7.0 SDK development library, and Shadow Realm 3-D game animator. Discover the secrets of the experts with the included developer's guide by gaming guru Marc Saltzman. Everything you need to program your own games is included!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected..., July 11, 2000

By	"afewbricksshort" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This kit does give you many neat tools for making video games, but it's missing one important thing: a book that tells you how to use it. The only "instructions" it includes are the two electronic books, one about Visual C++ and one about DirectX. I personally find it hard to learn from reading a computer monitor, but maybe that's just me (and it doesn't help that they're in Adobe Acrobat format... yuck). There is a physical book included, but it has nothing to do with programming. Instead, it deals with game design and the development process. It's interesting, but it's not going to help you if you're trying to make your first game. I was under the impression that there would be some tutorials available and maybe a few example programs to study. Nope.

This may be good for people with a background in the featured programs (Visual C++, DirectX, Genesis3D, and Shadow Realm Model Animator). But if you're a semi-novice C++ programmer trying to make your first game (like me, I've only been programming for a year), find a good Windows game programming book first. Without it, this stuff is pretty useless. If you have the knowledge, though, it may be a very powerful tool.

I should also mention that the Visual C++ compiler is an Introductory Edition, so you can't distribute any programs without upgrading to the [expensive] professional edition.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!, July 7, 2000

By	Rick (Randolph,MA USA) - See all my reviews

This product is not what the illustration and labeling on the box suggests. Game programming is a difficult multidisciplinary expertise that integrates storytelling, artwork, modeling, programming and strategy. Each skill must be explained separately and in detail. Then these skills must be learned and integrated to give you your expertise.

This product does not do this. It is little more than a crippled Visual C++ 6.0 compiler, a couple of third party game development tools and a book full of game developers' anecdotes. It's a joke.

Worse, the C++ documentation is in PDF(hard on the eyes) and VC++ is already difficult for a newbie. The two third party tools are poorly documented, at best.

Wanna learn the basics of game programming? I suggest Java Game Programming for Dummies. Ready to learn Windows game progamming technology? Consider *Windows Game Programming for Dummies*. But don't throw your hard earned dineros in this landfill.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Straight forward review, June 8, 2001

By	Martin (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews

The reason that people dislike this product is becuase they dont understand what they are doing. True the software included is total crap. You can't just go and make something like Quake 3 but the software is powerfull enough for you to creat some basic 3d games for windows. I belive that this product is useless to professional game developers and people who dont know jack about programming. It is intendet for the people in the middle. People who have a basic idea of what Visual C++ programming and 3d texturing is about. If you know how to make games don't buy this, instead buy a descent engine and a powerfull programming software like codewarrior. If you know the basics of Visual C++ programming and want to make a 3d game than it pays of for you to buy this. But dont expect to make something very cool and powerfull because of the totally crapy engine and software. And if you wanted to publish it you couldnt! Because the VC++ edditor is just a learning version you would have to buy the professional version on order to make a .exe file. So as I said this is just meant to teach you, not to publish or anything.So if you dont know anyting about programming or using game development software dont buy this because you will end up like the other people complaing and getting mad.