Beginning Game Programming

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT INTRO
Review: I can only second the other reviews here and say that this is an EXCELLENT introduction to 2D game programming, and priced reasonably. I wish all authors were as good as M. Morrison.

Rating:
Summary: Download Free Example Games
Review: I'm the author of the book, and I want to point out that you can download all of the example games directly from my Web site (www.michaelmorrison.com) for free. Think of it as a "try before you buy" option so that you can see exactly what kinds of games are developed in the book. I also offer online support forums for the book on my Web site, so if you have questions or suggestions about the game code you can share them and get feedback directly from me and other readers.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding introduction
Review: I've been a game hobbyist for about 2 months. I started out by jumping straight to the top by trying to tackle Direct3D but soon learned that I was missing several important concepts. During my search to fill this void I stumbled across this book while browsing the shelf at Books-A-Million (which I normally do before I buy on Amazon so that I can get a feel for what I am ordering online). I sat down in the store and was quickly plunged into the design of a 2D GameEngine class. Here's the good part: It made perfect sense! I broke my own rule and bought the book from somewhere besides Amazon but I couldn't wait to get home and start reading it. Morrison then walked me through the design of several games (most of which can be found in the download section of his site www.michaelmorrison.com) clearly explaining the source code without regurgitating each and every line (which could be found on the included CD).

If your C/C++ is weak then do not worry. This book was written with the beginner in mind. All of the source code is clearly written and easy to understand (with the exception of the Bitmap class which took a little time to study -- but this is the nature of digging into the GDI). I had a very, very limited exposure to C++ (coming from a java background) and had absolutely no trouble picking it up. Towards the end he really emphasizes the OO paradigm but still at a level suitable for beginners like me.

So what will you learn from this book? You will learn the basics behind Game Engine design including what your game engine should be expected to do. This was a big problem for me, because I had no idea what an engine was supposed to do and how it was supposed to make my life easier. Not only will you know what the game engine is supposed to do, you will have a working model in front of you! I have already written several games using it. After that he demystifies sprite animation laying to rest all of my questions on basic animation. You will learn how to double buffer (essential unless you wanna watch your games flicker constantly) and even the basics of windows programming. You will be experienced with basic collision detection and become exposed to the methods behind the more advanced ways to detect collisions. As a bonus he has included several games that go well beyond the scope of the book and will propel you into the intermediate/advanced range of GDI programming. I have only glanced at these but am excited to dissect them when I get the time.

In short, if you are serious about game programming you cannot skip the fundamentals that this book offers. Forget about making the next Doom3 (for now) and focus on learning the basics. I have just finished this book and started reading LaMothe and it gave me the tools to understand what he is talking about!

For more information visit the download section of his site:

www.michaelmorrison.com

and try a few of the games there. If you like them (which i know you will) buy the book and learn how to write them.

Rating:
Summary: learn Object Oriented Programming
Review: Morrison concentrates on showing how to write game programs for a personal computer, PDA or mobile phone. The first tends to have far more resources (memory, screen size...) than the others. But all 3 have the common feature of fairly open operating systems (even Microsoft Windows!), and you don't need specialised tools or licenses to build games. Essentially, given a good C++ compiler and a good game programming text (like this one), you can start designing and coding your own game.

He quickly points out that the most important task in game design is playability. All the many technical items that necessarily take up the book's bulk are subordinated to this.

If you follow his suggestions, one side effect of this book is that you can get a good grounding in object oriented programming (OOP). For newcomers to C++, OOP can seem a little abstract. But the coding of game elements as objects can make OOP come alive. Because of the very direct mapping of code to object; and enhanced by the strong visual feedback that is a natural part of the development process.

By the way, all the games in the book use graphics in a two dimensional world. You don't get to reimplement a Doom-like three dimensional scenario because this is an introductory book. Going into even a simple three dimensional environment raises rendering issues and a level of maths beyond the scope of a first course.