Tricks of the Game-Programming Gurus

Rating:
Summary: Where once I was blind, now I can see!
Review: After reading this book cover to cover, I felt confident that I could both grasp and program the essentials of what went into a game from the DOS-era. Though familar with C, it took two months to read the volumous book, but it really is a delight to read. The code is commented superbly (after a while, you almost don't even have to read the code to understand it) and I would recommend running the conveniently provided demo *.exe files for each example to get a better idea of how it works after reading each one.

The first few chapters on I/O and 2D and the later chapters on AI and interrupt handling provide more than enough to begin programming your own games using C in DOS (DJGPP compiler is great for this - the web of course provides the rest).

The chapters on 3d ray-castering, etc, provide a good understanding for how Wolf-3D might have worked, but falls slightly short of Doom. This is not such a bad thing if you are new (as I was) to games programming. Less forgiving though, was the disappointment to find that after reading the whole book, the final chapter does not deliver on coding a 3D game with monsters, etc. I can understand that after the effort of all the previous chapters with their carefully-coded examples, the author may have been keen to finish the book, but it was like a finishing a game without a "Hey you just won now watch this ultra-cool sequence" ending.

That aside though, this is an exceptional book for beginners to game programming. After reading it, you will be able to look at any game and start to see the cogs ticking behind the scenes. If nothing else, it will give you an appreciation of the programming effort put into games. For those seeking instant gratification with Windows/directX games, this book can be skipped. But for those with an interest in learning games programming, I couldn't think of a better place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Andre: Top-notch as always.....
Review: This book is great for beginners. Don't expect to create the next Quake because this book was written long before those quality/style of games. Andre does an excellent job of explaining his point(s) and this book helped me write a 3D game in 3 days with no prior game experience. Even though this book is old, it is still a good resource. Andre is my favorite game author to date, so if you're looking for more up to date information (i.e., DirectX game programming) I would recommend that you read some of Andre's more recent work (i.e., Windows Game Programming for Dummies). All of his writings have helped me become better and better. Keep up the good work Andre....

Rating:
Summary: The coolest author!!! A world of discovery...
Review: This is the best introduction to DOS games programming there is. And this author knows how to get your attention.
It is a world of discovery into the art of plotting pixels in video memory to create graphics, animation and 2D games. It teaches you to program your sound card, joystick and other I/O devices.
The examples are in C, not C++; so they are easily digestable. No 'hidden' classes to decipher - you get everything straight.
I really enjoy reading the book and I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn to program games.

Rating:
Summary: Great book... but dated and with some typos
Review: This is the first book I picked up when I had the vaguest idea of turning my programming skills towards game writing. In no time I had some pretty cool stuff running. I docked a star because some of the code (at least on the CD anyway) was incorrect and Lamothe doesn't help you out when it comes to different C compiler syntax. In addition, sometimes he'll leave out the smallest piece of information which will make you spin your wheels for a few days until you figure it out on your own. As someone else said, this book is dated now and I'm looking at his new "Dummies" book for advice on DirectX topics related to Windows. "Gurus" tends to revolve around mode 13h... a limitation to its usefulness in 1998.

Rating:
Summary: You can teach an new dog, old tricks.
Review: To be honest, I've been programming in many languages since I was in middle school. I have a basic understanding for many programming languages. It was my first time really working with C/C++, and I was able to understand it. The author made everything clear for the reader, yet I do sugguest some programming experience for a better understanding of the code found through out. There are tutorials to be found on the Internet in C/C++. At any rate, I bought this book some time after it was published. It makes for a nice reference to graphics programming in both 2d and 3d graphics. It introduce the reader to some very basic concepts by todays standards. When this book came out, it was and excellent read; nevertheless, there are all sorts of new tricks out today that are not covered. Read this if you want to learn the general make up of a video game. Don't expect design concpets or anything else. These are the graphics, sound, and AI programming routines, which made some games like Id Software's first 1st person shooter popular. Great book for building a foundation. Don't expect to be programming windows when you are through... On the whole, I have no regret in buying this book. Good to have it in my book case. I still pick it up every now and then.

Rating:
Summary: It's a good introduction.
Review: Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus is a good introduction to creating 2D games for the PC. The techniques used describe the standard DOS libraries for the C programming language. The demonstrations are very thorough, and the descriptions are well written and easy to understand. New concepts, such as fast-drawn pixels, lines, sprite animation, and sound, are learned with ease. This book isn't a walk in the park for the novice, however. Although the descriptions are thorough, the authors expect the reader to have some understanding of 'C' and general programming concepts. The chapter on artificial intelligence contains more theory than demonstration. For someone designing a standard, DOS 2D game engine, I would recommend another Andre LaMothe book--Teach Yourself Game Programming in 21 Days. If you're more interested in what the concepts mean and how to perform tasks, this book is great. Where "Teach Yourself..." is more of an instruction manual, this book is more of an encyclopedia.