Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Games in Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written
Review: On the outside, this book looks excellent for those wanting to create 3d games in director. On the inside, the book is shallow and un-engaging. Most concepts are covered poorly and are made hard to understand. One of my biggest gripes about this book is how the author tells you "Now lets learn how to make _____", and instead of explaining things, just dumps 4 pages of lingo code on you. I feel that a good book should break down the code and explain what it is doing. Copying a hundred lines of code form a book does not teach you anything. The book is also very dry and a bore to read. I fell asleep several times while reading, no joke.

If you want a book that touches on some of the same principles, take a look at "shockwave 3d" by Jason Wolf. This book was excellent, explained concepts with sufficient detail, and will give you that "That is exactly what i wanted to do, lets do it!" feeling.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent insight into game conception and design
Review: This is a book of two halves - game programming and game design. At the heart of it is the new Director 3D programming engine, which is a major new addition to the capabilities of the software. Allen Partridge's book is aimed principally at those who are familiar with Director and comfortable with lingo, but may be new to 3D as a whole. The first half of the book goes through the capabilities of the 3d engine in detail, including shaders, lights, textures, physics and vector maths, as well as some insights into using 3D modelling software to its best advantage. The second half looks at the process of creating an actual game, and one of its most valuable features is that the accompanying CD includes the game at many stages of the design process.
If you're looking purely for 'how to program in 3d', you may find that half the book is not what you're looking for: much of it is given over to game storyboarding, character design, marketing etc. But if you're looking for an all-round approach to game design, then this is a great introduction and inspiration.