PC Game Programming EXplorer: The Easiest Way to Blast through the Mysteries of Game Programming

Rating:
Summary: Has a FEW good points, but HARDLY worth the money or time
Review: I got this book as an introductory offer for joining a club, so I'm glad I didn't buy it. This book is beyond pathetic. The only parts of the book that are good are the input chapters (kbd, mouse, etc), and the video routines. Unless you plan to program in Mode X (320x240, NOT Mode 13 which is 320x200), don't waste your time. Mode X is not a popular mode. He does give a lot of source code and has little comments. He taken twice as much time as he needs to when he describes a function and it STILL doesn't make sense. It looks to me like he just threw it together. And worst of all, unless you plan to write a Mode X 320x240, space scrolling shoot-em-up game, this book is worthless. If you want to write any other kind of video game (if for example you wanted to write a Street Fighter, car racing, Pac-man clone, whatever), this book would be your worst option. It won't help. This book is not *entirely* bad. If you want to write the kind of game I mentioned, then by all means, pick it up because you will probably learn something, otherwise, don't waste your money on his book. I bought Teach Yourself Game Programming in 21 Days by Andre LaMothe. It is 10 times better than this piece of junk Dave Roberts wrote. In fact, I've owned Dave's book since June and it's now collecting dust on my shelf. Andre's book is the one that gets read.So unless you plan to write a space scrolling war game that uses an unpopular video mode, I wouldn't waste my time or money with his book. I was extremely disappointed. I only gave it a 3 rating because of his input and video routine chapters.

Rating:
Summary: If you want to actually learn how to write a game. READ THIS
Review: This is a GOOD book. You can actually READ this book, unlike most computer books! The way the chapters build upon each other is great! Chapter 1 teaches you input devices. Once you finish chapter 1 you never have to deal with input devices again! You just re-use the same module! The module you write outputs the same info no matter what the user uses for input! Every chapter is like this! learn it once and then reuse your code! Teaches you everything you need to complete a full featured game!joystick/mouse/keyboard/midi/wav/VGA/collision detection/dirty rectangles/doublebuffering/ and MORE!