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Peter Walsh
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Advanced 3D Game Programming With Microsoft Directx 8.0

by Peter Walsh (Author)
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
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Microsoft’s DirectX is a powerful set of application programming interfaces used for multimedia application development. The latest version offers increased performance, better usability, and more power to create the next generation of interactive entertainment products that rival anything seen in the past. This revision of the best-selling Advanced 3-D Game Programming Using DirectX 7.0 focuses on the new features of DirectX 8.0, providing plenty of code to help readers understand how to create computer games using this advanced multimedia application development platform.

Among the topics discussed are: * Lighting and shading schemes * Networking and multithreading * Texture mapping * Scene management

Along with several sample applications that target specific algorithms, full source code is provided for a client-server networked 3-D first-person game that demonstrates many of the techniques discussed in the book. This gives readers the opportunity to develop their own code easily, basing it upon the technology discussed in the book.

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  1. ISBN-10
    155622513X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1556225130
  3. Publisher
    Wordware Publishing, Inc.
  4. Publication date
    October 25, 2001
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    7.54 x 1.64 x 9.26 inches
  7. Print length
    564 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Walsh has over six years experience in the interactive entertainment field using DirectX, starting with version 1.0. He is studying gaming technology and development at Abertay University in Scotland, which is a university at the forefront of gaming technology. Peter also worked with IC-CAVE, a research, development, and consultancy firm specializing in increasing the future significance of the gaming industry.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wordware Publishing, Inc. (October 25, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 564 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 155622513X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1556225130
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.78 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.54 x 1.64 x 9.26 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

About the author

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Peter Walsh

Peter Walsh

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Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
6 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Gary McCray
3.0 out of 5 stars So So Advanced Game Programming
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2002
Verified Purchase
I think Peter Walshs book The Zen of 3D Game Programming in DirectX 8.0 is the best book written for Direct3D beginners to own for initially starting out in Direct3D. Period. This book, however, isn't in the same league, It feels like something he inherited from somebody else and tried to fix up rather than something he did from scratch.
It does provide some interesting insights into network based game interaction and an interesting chapter on game AI. It also provides some interesting source code relating to a networkable game engine.
However, it covers the same old entry level "this is how 3D stuff works" and "this is how to initialize direct3D" that Non-Advanced books cover as well as numerous other introductory features out of place in an "Advanced" book.
And, unfortunately, when all is said and done, most of the really Advanced material is covered in a less than thorough manner. Many truly important topics in advanced Direct3D like Animated character mesh objects (Skin and Bones) are covered skimpily at best.
Also, at least on my system (1.4ghz 64mb Geforce3), the example codes performance was much less than you would hope for. The main Game engine codes primary example is only usable in a networked client / server environment. Maybe if theyd said Networked Game Programming instead of Advanced it would have been better.
All in all, If you are a Direct3D programmer and especially if you have a genuine interest in client server based games, it is probably worth owning this book for the odd bits you can pick up. Peter still knows a great deal more about D3D than I do and I will no doubt buy any more books that he continues to make.
Frankly though I wish Peter would go back to the style of his previous book and make a Advanced version of it. Perhaps building on the starter Game engine he provided in that maybe adding collision detection, character animation sequencing and actual game construction info.
12 people found this helpful
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Dash
3.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful reference but lacking.
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2001
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This book is a great reference. There is alot of material here that is covered. The author goes thru his book building his code library for you to use and tries to explain some of it.
The problem is that alot of us learn via examples. This book has page upon page of code for the author's library, but only a handful of examples in the book. The biggest gains I get from a book is when I can work thru the most basic example, isolating each piece as the author covers it. A full fledged networking game comes with the book for you to improve and build upon. This is a great concept, but I would have learned sooo much more if the author would have isolated each part of the game that pertains to the topics covered and gave mini examples so that I could see how everything works. If the author produced a "workbook" to go with this text, alot of the concepts would be easier to learn.
The author slacks on Collision Detection and Game Physics as well as descriptions to some of the code. He lets "the code speak for itself". It is a great reference book, but it will not teach you how to be an Advanced Game Programmer. I consider myself an intermediate game programmer, but I didnt advance much with this book because I couldnt visualize the concepts the author was trying to get across.
Good luck with this book. I would recommend buying it, but dont plan on it being the only book you buy.
23 people found this helpful
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Peter Wall
5.0 out of 5 stars A very In depth book
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2002
After recently purchasing SAMS learn DirectX 7 in 24 hours I was put off programming for a while, it contained a lot of unexplained code, that the reader was expected to remember without understanding.
When I received this book for christmas however I was delighted to find that right from the start every peice of code is explained. The author also explained the advantages of various operating systems and programming langauges, which I found quite usefull. I was also pleased to see that the book not only explained just the direct X programming langauge, but also covered many other aspects of game programming, such as the creating of windows, using the message pump and various other functions in the windows API. The CD which comes with the book also contains some very usefull source code including the Quake 3 engine source code.
To sum things up this is a great book, for programmers who wish to write efficient code and understand what they are actually writing. I would recommend it to Advanced programmers, Intermediate programmers and possibly even ambitious beginners.
2 people found this helpful
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A-man
5.0 out of 5 stars Super Fast Seller!
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2002
Instant shipping of great item. Good seller!
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Steve
3.0 out of 5 stars A good book, some advanced stuff included.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2002
Verified Purchase
This book will not disappoint. There are a couple of points worth noting though. If you are not totally familiar with C++, you will really struggle. Some of the code used is very clever (and very badly commented!) but it is not immediately clear. The use of library files etc also cuts down compile time but does not allow access to the code being used. Another reviewer mentioned the use of wrapper classes, and I agree totally with him. This book does not really show you how to use DirectX, it simply provides you with a set of Classes and Member Functions that do it all for you. If you want to see the ugly stuff, like the DirectX structures, then you won't find them here. Nor will you find a simple program to set up a 3D surface and draw graphics on it. (unless you use his own code). In that respect, this book misses the point a little. It shows you how to use the Author's own code, not how to program in DirectX. The code used is awesome - but a little unclear with the lack of //comments. The content of the book, including the maths sections are the best I've seen for clarity - and there are good lists of other recommended books. Overall, I'd recommend the book, but be prepared to struggle a little with the code and keep the SDK Help open on your desktop! Good Luck!
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