Rating: 
Summary: Good book to learn with...
Review: I've been looking to develop my programming skills for over a year and this book has really helped me move beyond the basic MS MFC style books into a new realm of programming. The coverage of Direct X is great. I'm a newbie to DX and this book has given me the knowledge to get the ball rolling on my own. Thanks.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good on 2D, kinda on 3D, repetitive
Review: This book is a very good 2D graphics engine book. Unfortunately, the 3D in the title is not in the book and Lamothe works exclusively in 8-bit palletized mode, almost obsolete now. Also, this book goes over much of the same material as Windows Game Programming for Dummies. But his sample engines, wrapper functions and explanations are very, very good. Had this book contained more 3D aspects and included 16/24-bit modes instead of 8-bit mode, it would have undoubtedly been 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book - even for beginners!
Review: I read this book with no background in MFC or windows programming, and came out with the ability to write a mid-range game. I'm not writing Quake, but the book is excellent for those who know and understand C++. The T3D library (included with the book) is excellent and makes programming MUCH easier. I believe that it is a better book for beginners than his Dummies book! The samples are plentiful and useful. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all and haven't even read 1/2 of it
Review: This might sound silly, but I bought this book around the same time I started learning OpenGL with the OpenGL SuperBible. The thing is, the OpenGL SuperBible's examples for the most part relied on GLUT rather than WinMain (and etc). So, I've found this book extremely useful as a reference for many things such as setting up needed Windows calls, multithreading, and sound. I would have given this 5 stars, but I've yet to jump fully into the DirectX world and finish reading this book. However, I can tell you that my other Andre Lamothe's books kick arse!
Rating:
Summary: Ingenuity is the ability to make complex things look simple
Review: Four years ago I started to look for information on programming games, something really scarce here in Europe and I saw the books of André LaMothe in several Internet sites so I decided to give them a try. Man! I can't tell you how much have I enjoyed his books! It is a real pleasure to read them. Not only are you going to learn a lot about programming, basic maths, basic physics and basic technical drawing: you'll also love it! He is able to make complex things look simple and enjoyable. The CD's in the book are also great. They have a lot of good stuff: articles, sound, art, code that works the first time... You can find the articles in Internet but then you should look for them and that takes time... His website is also a jewel and you can find real good stuff there. He will answer your e-mails (at least he has answered the one I sent him) as long as you don't ask him about how to use basic compiler features. I don't know what happened to some people's book. The CD's in my book are perfect. Also if you want to compile the code in the CDs you should feel confortable with your compiler and C language. I'm an electronics engineer so I had already some technical background but I can assure you that you could build fairly good code in C in two or three months if you don't have any idea now. For the compiler you would just need a couple of weeks to get to know the basics, but you should be able to program in C. Knowledge in C++, maths and physics would also help. If you are new and trying to start with game programming try this book. I would also recommend buying first his "Windows Game Programming for Dummies". A lot of the stuff in that book is covered in this one, but it will be an easier start. The results: I decided to start programming my first game two months ago (I had a robotics project in mind and had to postpone writing games for some time) and I finished it just two weeks ago. Yes, I think I learned a lot with his books and now I'm starting to build my own functions and 2D engine. I'm eager to see Volume II. I hope it delves deeper into 3D programming... Anyway, if you're a beginner (like me) stick to 2D first. Game programming is a complex thing and you shouldn't make it impossible trying to bite 3D the first time.
Rating:
Summary: A great way to start learning game programming
Review: At the time of writing, this book is the best introduction to game programming in DirectX available. LaMothe covers much of the same material covered in Windows Game Programming for Dummies, but does so in much greater detail. He also covers game physics and AI. There are a few problems with the code, it's direct and easy to understand, which is the whole point of the book. I'd highly recommend this book to any beginning-intermediate game programmers. Advanced programmers, or readers of WGPFD, may want to wait for Volume II.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book but code is FILLED with bugs
Review: The book itself is really good but unfortunately alot of the code is buggy as hell. First of all the source code from the early chapters have lots of useless code that you dont need till a few chapters later. You can cut out about 200 lines of code from them. And worst of all is that code from the later chapters wont even compile half the time. Andre could easily fix this by posting updated code on his site but for some reason refuses to. Also Andre seems to insist on using straight C instead of C++ which is kind of aggravating. I would only suggest this book to a complete beginner.
Rating:
Summary: Whoa! Andre, you the man!
Review: OK. So this review might be a little late and from the looks of the other reviews, it isn't even necessary. But I hope I can give you a little more detail than the average bear. So hear is my 2 cents, in a million words or less. Well Andre LaMothe has done it again! I loved this book! Andre takes you step by step through DirectX, specifically, DirectDraw, DirectInput (with force feedback!) DirectSound and DirectMusic. As everyone has already noticed, the 3d work was delegated to the online books and articles. Adrian Perez's new book is on its way to my house, but I can't wait for Andre's Vol II! And true to Andre's form, he takes you through the current topic with understandable explanations, lot's of code and plenty of figures! Each chapter has several working demos with source code. Andre graciously takes the bits and pieces from the demos and puts them in a library providing you with a "2D 8-bit/256 color back buffered DirectX engine that has support for any resolution, along with clipping to the primary display surface" (that's a quote). He also provides the 16 bit version of this library on the CD. I'm going to try and give you a good idea of what is in the book (beyond regurgitating the table of contents). So if you don't want to read this, just buy the book! You won't regret it. The book is for new comers to DirectX. But, even if you are a DirectX guru, you may still want to get this book for its chapters on AI and Basic Physics Modeling. The book is divided into 4 parts. Part 1 is "Windows Programming Foundations" which I really enjoyed because I don't program in Windows (I'm a Unix weenie). If you already know how to program in Windows, you can skip part 1. But I suggest you check out the end of chapter 4. Andre gives you a complete Windows shell for all of your future game needs. All you have to do is fill in the Game_Main() function. And get this, you will write your first game in chapter 1! Part 2 is "DirectX and 2D Fundamentals" which has a great intro to COM (did you know DirectX was a COM library? Now you do!). Part 2 is the heart of the book with chapters 5 - 10 covering DirectDraw, Bitmapped Graphics, Vector Rasterization and 2D Transformations, DirectInput with Force Feedback, DirectSound and DirectMusic. This part of the book is about 2D Game programming with DirectX. Part 3 is "Hardcore Game Programming" Chapters 11 - 14 are sweet! Andre covers Algorithms and Data Structures, which, in my opinion, are what make or break a well designed piece of software. Memory Management and Multithreading cap off chapter 11. The rest of part 3 is the much acclaimed AI and Physics Modeling chapters. Get a load of this. Andre covers: Deterministic AI Algorithms, Tracking Algorithms (so your missile can find it's target), Evasion Algorithms (so your plane can get away from the missile), Patterns and controlling game components with scripts, Patterns with Conditional Logic, Modeling Behavior State Systems (to include modeling personalities), giving your game components memory (so they can "remember" things) and teaching them how to Learn from other components (as well as from the player), Planning and Decision Trees, Pathfinding (getting around those obstacles), Advanced AI Scripting, Artificial Neural Networks, Genetic Algorithms (way out there stuff) and Fuzzy Logic (with 6 sub technologies on fuzzy logic). AND THAT IS JUST ONE CHAPTER! Granted though, this chapter grazes these subjects but in a way that makes you say "Whoa!" Part 3 ends with chapter 13, Basic Physics Modeling (Oh, Andre, Morpheus did not tell Neo to "Follow the white rabbit." That message was from Trinity :) ) Part 4 is the Appendices, which covers what is on the CD, Installing DirectX and Using the Compiler. It also has a nice little Math and Trigonometry Review, a C++ Primer, a list of Game Programming Resources and, finally, (drum roll) an ASCII Table which every programming book should have but rarely does. Whew! I honestly don't believe I have ever seen such complete coverage of Game programming in one book. Albeit, 2D Game programming. Now, the biggest complaint about this book is the lack of 3D material. And I have to agree. Even though the CD covers 3D game programming with online books and articles from other authors (and Andre), the "and 3D Game Programming" should have been left out of this books title. Authors and publishers must understand that a books title makes a promise. Ergo, 4 stars. Gotchya's: dmusic.lib, dsound3d.lib are not on the CD (or did I do something wrong?)! (They didn't get installed with DirectX). Consequently demo10_5 cannot link (it needs dmusic.lib). I don't think dsound3d.lib is used in the book. Oh! Andre, what the heck is "<BG>? " So thats it. Like I said at the start, just buy the book. And when your done with it, "you'll feel right as rain." :)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Buy this book
Review: Andre has the best writing style I have every come accross. I was introduced to it with "The Black Arts of 3D games programming" and now with this latest book I am not dissapointed. I've always had a problem understanding the in's and out's of windows programming. With this book I finally understood the basics by Chapter 2. A stunning book. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Get This Book !
Review: I was new to game programming, and this book was the best book I read on the subject. The code works, the tips and tricks are really useful, not nly in game programming, but loads of other apps that i've wrote. I can't recommend this book enough as a great start to those who want to learn how to program in DirectX. The books starts off with a look at how to write apps unsing the Win32 API, and explains why these function calls are no good for fast game programming. It then goes on to teach you basic Direct Draw functions, and each chapter build on the last, before going into AI and other topics like that. This book is a must.
| 
