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Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 11 Pap/DVD Edition

by Frank Luna (Author)

112 ratings

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Updated bestseller provides an introduction to programming interactive computer graphics, with an emphasis on game development using DirectX 11.

ISBN-10

1936420228
ISBN-13

978-1936420223
Edition

Pap/DVD
Publisher

Mercury Learning and Information
Publication date

February 28, 2012
Language

English
Dimensions

7 x 1.75 x 9 inches
Print length

600 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

intended for C++ programmers and other intermediate level 3D programmers interested in the intricacies of DirectX, this volume on game oriented 3D graphics provides practical instruction for performing common tasks within this popular Microsoft Windows based graphics API. Beginning with an overview of required mathematical prerequisites, the volume covers topics such as Direct 3D foundational principles; lighting, texturing, and blending; shaders; cube mapping; ambient occlusion; meshes; and character animation. A series of appendices cover technical data and additional advanced topics and examples. Chapters include numerous code examples and screenshots, as well as chapter exercises. An accompanying DVD includes source code and digital copies of all example images used in the text. Luna is a 3D programming expert and the author of several books on DirectX programming.

With the latest developmental tools, one can create wonderful and vivid worlds. "3D Game Programming with DirectX 11" elaborates on how to get the most out the DirectX tools, the processes used by many recent 3D game developers. Frank D. Luna explores the newest developments that come with this edition of DirectX, how to make the most of 3D lighting, texturing, reflections, animation, and other vital elements. With exercises to practice with the ideas within, and a DVD with further resources and lessons, "3D Game Programming with DirectX 11" is a strong pick for anyone seeking to further their skills, be it for their career or as a hobby.

About the Author

Frank Luna has been programming interactive 3D graphics with DirectX for more than fifteen years. He is the author of three bestselling books on DirectX and has worked in 3D medical visualization, 3D architectural design software, and gaming. He holds a BS in mathematics from the University of California, Irvine.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mercury Learning and Information; Pap/DVD edition (February 28, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 600 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1936420228
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1936420223
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.75 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #268 in Computer & Video Game Design
- #827 in Game Programming
- #2,070 in Introductory & Beginning Programming

Customer Reviews:
112 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

112 global ratings

5 star		54%
4 star		23%
3 star		10%
2 star		8%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Great book for people who want lots of info up front

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 18, 2012

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Frank Luna's book is great. It's stated goal is to make you comfortable enough that you can use Microsoft's MSDN documentation and understand everything they're talking about, which is a very useful goal. There's no way you're going to memorize API calls, and yet MSDN assumes you have quite a bit of understanding about the rendering pipeline and the structures that DirectX uses.

I find this book to share an interesting dichotomy with the OpenGL Superbible's 5th edition, the one that teaches version 3.3 and completely eschews the fixed pipeline of earlier OpenGL versions. Let me compare the two books, not to compare DirectX and OpenGL, but to compare the way each book teaches its topic.

Mr. Luna's strategy is to give you a lot of information up front. Chapter 4 discusses DirectX initialization, and it is full of the structures and API calls you need to actually get something on the screen. As a result, you actually end up going through a couple chapters before you draw the typical 'Hello World' application of 3D graphics - putting a single triangle on the screen. Before you get there, you have about 60 pages of theory and function calls to work through, which for some people can seem quite intimidating.

The OpenGL Superbible takes a different alternative. Instead of giving you the API data right up front, the author has written a series of wrapper classes that allow the user to do the drawing before understanding the API. Once you get some graphics on the screen, the book will begin to look into the wrapper classes, and teach you the API by showing you what each class actually does. By the end of the book, you will understand exactly what OpenGL is doing.

Personally, I like the method of teaching that Mr. Luna's DirectX book takes better. If you are the kind of person that finds this unloading of information up front daunting, perhaps you should get the OpenGL Superbible instead, which takes a different teaching method. Learning the 3D rendering pipeline is a different process than learning DirectX or OpenGL, so once you learn that pipeline through one API, you shouldn't have too much trouble with the other.

For me, however, this book is the better way to learn, and if you are okay with digging in deep before actually drawing anything on screen, you will like this book too.

4 people found this helpful

Probably was good in its day, now outdated

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

I'm sure the book has its useful points, but it's outdated now, and the fact that it forces you to used code that it provides for you leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

They use the XNA library a fair amount, which Microsoft doesn't really support or develop any more. I believe Microsoft now provides <DirectXMath.h> instead of <xnamath.h>. And the suggestion that you can still use d3dx10.h (it's mostly support functions, not any core DX stuff) seems insulting in a book purporting to teach you how to use DX11.

I acknowledge that there may well be some good functions made available in older versions of DX, and that 11 is an extension of 10 so all of 10's extra functions still should work; and I get that as a DirectX programmer you will likely see these functions and it might be nice to know what they are when you see them. But this book is supposed to be about learning DirectX11. Not XNA. The two may well have been linked enough back in the day to justify it, but not it just feels old.

Also, I believe that some of the headers this book expects you to have were removed from the default install with Windows 8 and Visual Studio 2013/2015.

I have instead been using the free tutorials here: http://www.directxtutorial.com/LessonList.aspx?listid=11 They have versions of their tutorials for Desktop, Windows 8 (which is the not-Metro, weird full-screen apps stuff requiring DX 11.1) and "Universal" apps (requiring DX 11.2). They explain everything at least as well as this book, and they don't set up weird object-oriented frameworks of their own, forcing you to learn their functions as well as the DirectX ones and then learn which ones AREN'T DirectX. Also, they do a solid job of marking variables as "global" which you can use if you're writing classes to know that you need to store those variables in your objects somewhere, and the other ones can be handled incidentally within each function's scope. That should get you up and running, though their tutorials start costing money after you draw a triangle on screen.

Maybe the DX12 book will be good again whenever it comes out. But for now I heartily recommend using the free resources available online.

2 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Chris Donnelly

A flawed Gem

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 13, 2017

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Pretty much a 'de-facto' DirectX 11 book, this covers the basics (from a quick chapter on linear algebra) to advanced topics (shaders, shadows, etc). This book is a 'framework' book - building your own framework or 'engine' (not really an engine at all). This sits well with some, not with others. I prefer a smaller approach, so as not to drown the reader in your chosen design decisions, etc. Sadly, due to the advances of Operating systems and technology, this framework is difficult to compile under newer operating systems, compilers and SDKs, although this isn't Luna's fault at all. He has addressed this on his website (in part) at d3dcoder.net

The shader work is also focused on the effects framework - which has deprecated (although moved to open source), and can be tricky to implement on modern operating systems (Windows 10 'creators' edition at the time of writing). A chapter which deals with shader functionality alone (no fraeworks) would help the user understand how not to depend on libraries, frameworks and structures which may deprecate.

Overall, a must-own if you want to learn D3D11, but remember - if you're not using Windows 7 and Visual studio 2010, you may need to translate a lot of this work into another framework yourself - which the book could have avoided.

2 people found this helpful

J. A. White

Good Book - Read caveat in review for readers using Windows 8 and later.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

50% of the book covers much of the material in the author's book for Direct 3D9. However, Direct3D11 is so completely different to Direct3D9 that you really need the book. (For example, you have to use programmable shaders with Direct3D11 which was optional with Direct3D9.)
The reason I didn't give the book 5 stars is that the source code for the book uses the Microsoft D3DX library that is not available for Windows 8 and some tweaking is required to get the examples working. At the time the book was written, using D3DX was a reasonable approach so it's not really the author's fault.
However, there is still a lot in the book that does not require D3DX and the book explains the material really well. There's lots of exercises and the book comes with a CD. Bear in mind that it's not a simple subject.

One person found this helpful

Callum

Great introduction to DirectX and Direct Compute

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

I'm fairly new to C++ but still found this book great; a no nonsense guide to getting started with 3D graphics. It assumes no prior knowledge of gpu programming and takes the reader from the basics of device initialization up to more fancy Directx 11 features such as tessellation and direct compute. A basic knowledge of C++ is essential - though I've never worked with COM objects I got along just fine. It helps if your linear and vector algebra is up to scratch, but there are a couple of refresh chapters if you are rusty. There are nicely illustrated diagrams throughout the book to help visualize the effects of some of the algorithms. All the example code is well commented, clean and compiles successfully under the free version of Visual studio 2010 (Remember to get the microsoft windows sdk, it is not included in the free version).

2 people found this helpful

9bjames

Definitely a good book, although it's not brilliant at walking you ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

Definitely a good book, although it's not brilliant at walking you through how to put everything together from start to finish. DirectX is a confusing subject in and of itself, so it's recommend to have a strong understanding of programming as a bare minimum (also don't forget a brick wall to bang your head against... this is seriously hard stuff).

Paolo

Very nice reference book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 16, 2013

Verified Purchase

I wanted a book specific on DX11 and I found the Mr Luna had a long history in DX books, reading the comment on the previous editions of his books I bought it and I reccomend it as well organized manual about DX11. It also covers some basic concepts related with Computer Graphic. It requires a basic knowledge of C++ but if you are familiar with COM, it's better.

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