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Rating: 
Summary: Could be much better
Review: Does anyone notice that this book is rather boring. I started off excited to learn something, but that wore off when I was forced to read page after page of code. The author never explained why there are certain files, or even what files are neccessary.
Rating:
Summary: The many faces of Torque Game Programming
Review: I purchased this book about two months ago on the recommendation of the GarageGames.com site, which sells the Torque Game Engine upon which the book is based. I also purchased the Torque Game Engine (TGE) at the same time from GarageGames. I was hoping to use the book to learn the Torque Game Engine because the book uses the TGE as the basis for its tutorials.
I quickly learned, however, that the TGE has many faces and that this book examines only a few of them. For example, the TGE is a C++ based engine that must be compiled before it can be used to build a game. The book includes a pre-compiled version of the TGE, however it is not a stock version and no source code is included in the book, so the book's engine cannot be re-compiled or debugged. The TGE included in the book also has been modified by the book's author at the C++ code level. Therefore, it doesn't behave like the stock TGE in all respects. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to run any other TGE samples from other sources using the book's TGE engine. I ended up running one version of the TGE when using the book, and the other (stock) version of the TGE for all of my other learning experiences. This makes for some confusing learning cycles.
I thought I might be able to use the stock TGE to run the tutorials in the book, but I found out through experimentation that the tuturials depend on the custom code in the TGE that comes with the book. Again, I was thwarted in trying to use the book to learn the stock TGE. I really don't understand why the author chose to modify the TGE. All of the tutorials in the book could have been built on a stock TGE. In the end, I set the book aside for the most part and am learning the TGE from the GarageGames.com forums and from other resources on the net.
I also had some issues with the code included in the book samples. For instance, the Chapter 3 tutorials worked fine, but the Chapter 4 tutorials would not run at all on my computer, but froze up instead. The audio libraries included in the book did not work on my computer, but I am able to use the stock audio libraries from the TGE just fine, so I assume this is some sort of bug in the author's compile. I also had trouble with some of the demo software that came on the CD. For instance, Milkshape 3D expired two days after I installed it, leaving me with no choice but to purchase a 3D modelling tool to complete the tutorials on modelling. No big deal for me since I was planning to purchase Caligari Gamespace anyway, but it would probably upset less resourceful programmers.
The upshot of this review is this: I don't think the book is going to be really helpful to folks who are trying to learn game programming with the TGE because it doesn't in fact teach game programming, it tries instead to teach TGE scripting, but is hampered in this effort by its own proprietary use of the TGE source code. I recommend getting the stock TGE instead, and learning it through experimentation. This book may occasionally assist that effort by example, but that's about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book but...
Review: I'd probably rate this about 3 1/2 stars for one major reason.
The book itself covers a huge area of game development and in that respect is a great resource. Yes it uses the Torque engine but a lot of the concepts and art aspects can be shared with any 3D engine. My one major gripe with the book is the amount of errors in the code and in the working of the artistic aspects. I find at least one error every chapter, syntax, filenames being wrong, wrong function names, etc. which could give some people some frustration if they are a complete newbie to scripting. Another problem seems to be that when installing the base files to work with, some of them are actual final versions. i.e. when editing graphic A to B, graphic B was already installed as the file that was supposed to be A so you work with file B instead of A.
There are some forum postings on gargagegames.com that help fix and resolve some issues but there is no one page that lists all the fixes of the code or in the writings of the book.
This is a hard review since I do enjoy the book and it's been great, but it has been frustrating at points due to some of the errors, some easily fixable, some not. I do recommend the book with the note, don't expect anything to work right away and you must have access to the garagegame forums to help fix some of the larger issues in the book. Keep that in mind while reading and using this resource and it would be a great intro into 3d gaming, if not in a rush, I'd probably recommend waiting for the next version though.
Rating:
Summary: Book's OK,but 3D Game Prog. All in 1 is a misleading Title..
Review: I've just got and read most of this book and I'll try to give my personal opinions, but from what I hope it could be a somewhat objective point of view. For starters, I can say book is really well written, but still, I'm just giving it book 3 stars, just becouse I was actually expecting something more from it, and the book title was a little misleading to me... PROS:
Well Written
Comprehensive
Written for Beginners CONS:
Too Specific to the Torque Game Engine (the word Torque is actually repeated infinitely through the book).
DirectX and OpenGL aren't sufficiently covered (just hint at).
For REAL Beginners (even teaches you how to use Paint Shop Pro)
Doesn't go into mid-low levels (no C++ code, hardware issues, etc)
A bit repetitive sometimes OVERALL:
As the heading says, calling it 3D Game Programming All in One is maybe a bit misleading, whereas "Creating Games From Scratch w/ the Torque Engine" could have been a more suitable title.
Anyways, the book is very well written, so go ahead and get it if you're a real beginner and you're intrested in learning how to make a game from scratch, just from the designer (not programmer) point of view. You'll be taught some TORQUE, Paint Shop Pro, Ultraedit 32, Milkshape and other tools/game design issues, to make a complete game, at the end; a bit of everything is covered, really.
It's probably not the book for you though, if you know something about programming already and especially if you expect to learn (like I did) some gaming 3D math issues and some "mid level" development stuff (like C++, DirectX, OpenGL).
Rating: 
Summary: Torque or bust!
Review: If you are aspiring to learn TGE, the Torque Game Engine from http://garagegames.com, then buy this book right this moment! It's well written, and covers the most awesome game development tool there is: Torque. My only gripe is that it's super-specialized to the particular tools on the CD. For example there is 14 pages on "Ultraedit 32", a Windows programmer's editor. And Milkshape is used instead of Blender for character modeling. But, OTO that's one of the nice aspects of the book it's "All in One". Like the swiss-army-knife of game development.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: My boyfriend bought this book originaly, but I picked it up to read a bit when we brought it on our camping trip. I'm almost finished it now (I'm on the sound and music chapters) and I just have to say how impressed I am with this book.
The only previous experience i've had was with VBA, and no game development. Me and my boyfriend are now planning to make a puzzle game together based on things we've learned in Ken's book. For me, the best parts were the model making chapters, but I also worked through the programming chapters. I had a few problems with chapter five and 6, but a visit to the GarageGames board that discusses the book helped me find out where I went wrong. There were some typos in an early chapter, but again, the Garage Games board had the needed corrections.
Ken's writing style pulls you in - you feel like he is sitting next to you explaining stuff as you go along without seeming too cute or patronizing. The converstation-style tone he uses is what kept me reading the book while on vacation, and by the time we got home I could not wait to get started with my computer on the tutorial things.
There is lots of reference material throughout the book and in the appendixes. As mentioned by someone else, the "Programming" part in the name is a bit of a misnomer, since the book has lots of programming ***and*** many chapters of model-making, sound-editing and recording, texture making and other things.
It is so much more than just programming.
Rating:
Summary: Nice book on Torque... but
Review: Torque badly needs a book like this, but I hope some of the faults in this work are addressed in a second edition. First, the good stuff. There is no book to offer a holistic overview of the mighty Torque Game Engine. This book has broken that sad deficiency. The author also writes at a level that will not alienate the experts overly as it offers the neophtes a leg up. The text is playful and fun, but not caked in silliness as I've found similar volumes seeking the same touch. As such, it is a true invitation to explore and learn how to use a complex and capable game engine that has suffered from a "by coders, for coders" darkness in the documentation department for years. However, as I work through the book, I find a considerable number of errors in the text/code and comments of the sample scripts in the book. There is a threaded post or two on the www.garagegames.com forums where Ken is patiently noting corrections offered by the enthusiastic readers, but one cannot help but feel that the barriers these mistakes will present true newbies are more considerable. The CD ROM is a misfire, in my opinion. One of Torque's greatest advantages over other game engines is that it support Linux and Mac in addition to Windows machines. But the CD ROM has setup.exe's and such whose function is nothing more involved that to extract compressed data from the CD and place it on your hard disk. This is just a sad mistake which alienates the subset of his audience who would most keenly benefit from having good documentation for such a gem as Torque in that they have so many fewer choices available to them. I strongly urge the publisher to replace such executable archives with plain ZIP files... at least for those containing only chapter "RESOURCES" materials. This would allow Torque to reach its greatest possible audience and put all platforms on a more even footing. I look forward to finishing the book and walking through its lessons, but the CD ROM has failed to expedite my quest.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK!
Review: Wow. This book is stellar. If you own, or want to get, the Torque Game Engine, there is no better resource. Even if you aren't interested in Torque, this book serves as an excellent guide to modern game development. Today, we can finally start abstracting away from the game engine and produce games without worrying about the intricacies of an engine's innards. With this black-box engine approach, Torque users and non should find this text very useful. Torque is probably the most powerful, affordable solution for game developers today, and it appears that the author seeks to leverage the engine for his readers. Still, he never lets the engine dominate the text. This is a book about modern 3D game development, straight up; using Torque simply allows the author (and the reader) to skip over trying to create a powerful, modern, AAA engine like Torque by himself (which would take another book or two and as many years). The book covers not only 3D game design and programming tools, but level editing and modeling tools as well. These sections are thorough, and offer many examples. There are details on how to get the tools to interface with Torque, but they do not dominate the lessons. I would like to thank Mr. Finney (and Andre La Mothe) for creating such an outstanding text. The book's writing is clear, concise, and entertaining. I tore through it in two days (and it's long!). The book doesn't fall prey to long code dumps, but the references are excellent. The author produces a full game, step-by-step... and not a typical, chintzy 2d or ridiculously simplistic 3d demo, but a functional 3D game. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say I've read a heck of a lot of books on 3D game development, and I can honestly say this is the singular best I've read for beginning and intermediate game developers-- designers, artists, or programmers. If you want to start *MAKING* a game, and not just learn theory, *get this book*.
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