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Summary: Very chaotic package of articles
Review: The whole book looks like a chaotic package of articles. Some of them are too long, some are too short. There is no path, that leads you through the book. The author constantly tells you how great he is. The visual appearance of the example programs is not very pleasant. The performance of the examples is very low. You won't be able to use this engine in a real-world application.
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Summary: Software only, but still a good book
Review: This book covers software rendering, which is still useful to understand. I'm writing my own engine in DirectX, but this book helped me understand how rendering works underneath. If you are not writing a DirectX game using hardware, I'd say read this book.
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Summary: How to write a software renderer in one volume, amazing.
Review: As others have said, this book teaches you how to write a realtime software renderer. This is an amazing enough achievement--there is a LOT of information here. And unlike the SUPER MEGA DIRECT3D AWESOME PROGRAMMING sort of book that seems to come out every month, this is stuff that is useful over the long term, not just until the next API revision. There's no other current book I know of that teaches this--ever since 3d acceleration got on the scene every single book on game graphics programming seems to have been on how to use whichever API. The great things about Lamothe's book have been plentifully written about in other reviews on here, so I won't dwell on that much. Suffice to say, if you want to learn an API, don't bother with this. If you want to learn how 3D graphics actually work, this is the book you need.I do have a few problems with this book, though. LaMothe's writing style can get gratingly casual, and he's not nearly as funny as he seems to think he is. I'm not asking for an ultra-dry computer science textbook here, but the constant cheesy humor does get kind of tiring. LaMothe's coding style is ugly and haphazard (largely a personal judgement, I realize) and he uses very little in the way of C++ features, even in places where they would make things a lot more natural (again, personal preference). Finally, he spends far too much time explaining his own APIs, information that would really have been better off on the included CD, saving valuable pages for more rendering knowledge. So, overall, a wonderful and useful book, with a few rough spots. I hope there'll be a second edition.
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Summary: The Best book on software redering technique
Review: well, this book is not about how to use all sorts of spectacular graphics features out of today's hardware. this book teaches you how you can mimic those effects without calling a bunch of API calls. Yeah, it's true that you can't build a 3d engine that uses full features of geforce or radeon by reading this book. But, as the author points out in the book, to be a great graphics programmer, you need to know how to do it yourself!!!
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Summary: 3 simple words...
Review: Thank you Andre. I have read every book that I am aware of that Andre has had his hands in. All I can say with this title is "Bravo". It was worth the wait.
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Summary: The best investment I could have made
Review: There are about a million things I wanna say about the book. I think I'll start at 1. This is just about the most information jam packed book I've ever bought. Andre takes you *from the ground up*, explaining every nook and cranny to develop a 3D **realtime** engine. For those of you who wanna know how to use Direct 3D or openGL hardware, there are a million other books. If you wanna **understand** how the hardware is implemented, making your own engine, buy this book!! Andre explains the basic concepts, one at a time and provides the most astounding, dramatic, out of this world demos !!!! Everything from modelling, transformations, rasterization, viewing frustums, camera models, colour theory, samplng theory, animation, EVERYTHING is covered in the this - without any shortcuts. Aside from only gaining the knowledge on 3d engines, andre has set me in a different mode of thinking as far as programming is concerned. It definately has made me a better programmer, by applying techniques that he teaches, especially optimization. If you wanna know how to write your own 3D engine, wanna have a darn good time at doing it and dont mind spending a few bucks - BUY THIS BOOK ! It could not come more highly recommended. It is one of those best kept secrets.
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Summary: Best Yet
Review: This is by far the best book I have read for the combination of complete coverage, understandable descriptions of the algorithms, and working code examples. If you are new to 3D or confused by what you have read in the past, this is the book for you. I now feel I have a much better understanding of 3D that I can build upon. This book as given me new confidence and renewed my interest in a difficult subject.
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Summary: LaMothe at his best
Review: Without doubt Andre' LaMothe is the best Author in game programming filed , his book is the best book i have ever read , i have a large library of Game Programming Books , All My Books Includes His Name. The Book Teaches You The 3D Game Programming Using The Software what it means there is no DX or GL , but as He said ( If You understood This Book , You Will Learn Those Api(s) In a 2 weeks) , sure i belive him , my skills are updated when i read this book , i finished it , i think now im a master 3d games :) . i always buy all books written by LaMothe . Thanks Andre LaMothe For Your Efforts.
Note: If Author stayed about 4 years writting a book , what do you think of that ?! . Ahmed Saleh , CEO EgyptGames.llc
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Summary: Fantastic book, but I must respond to this review....
Review: In response to Eric H Lam's review, I must say something before people get the wrong idea about such an incredible book. First and foremost, the *title* of the book is ADVANCED 3D GRAPHICS AND RASTERIZATION. The keyword "rasterization" is a pretty big clue as to what it's about. Of course it's not about Direct3D-- there are a trillion and a half books on that subject. This is the first truly modern book to explain highly optimized software rasterization techniques inside and out. The word "Direct3D" isn't even in the title, or on the cover, or on the back, or anywhere inside. Secondly, anyone in a store can obviously take two glances at the inside of the book and realize that it's about software rasterization (again, see the title), and not about using a hardware API. Even Amazon has *97* sample pages printed. If you can't tell what a book is about in 97 pages, you may want to set your sights a bit lower than "3D game programming" and tackle "literacy" first. Anyway, I've been waiting years for this book, as have plenty of game programmers I know and work with, and it's upsetting to see the product of such obviously hard work get trashed by someone who dropped $$on a book without even understanding what it's about. This book was *intentionally* written about software techniques to teach anyone how 3D graphics *actually work* from the absolute ground up. If you want an API reference, please look elsewhere. This book is about genuine understanding. In short, this book is the complete package. Every last nut and bolt of 3D graphics is covered in detail. Faulting this book because it doesn't cover something it never intended to have anything to do with in the first place is ridiculous and totally unfair. It'd be like me complaining that Citizen Kane is a bad movie because it doesn't have enough robots and ninjas in it. Next time, please understand what you're paying for before you shell out the cash, and if you do find yourself repeatedly making mistakes on your purchases, please just accept the fault as your own instead of trying to blame the author. I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate toiling for 4 years on your masterwork only to find some uninformed reader trying to pin his own misunderstandings on you.
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Summary: Author Comments
Review: I want to make it clear to all that are potentially buying this book. Tricks II is about SOFTWARE algorithms and rasterization. There is NO coverage of Direct3D, OpenGL, etc. If you're interested in learning about APIs then this is the wrong place. If you're interested in learning about HOW TO DO IT from plotting a pixel to Quake II technology then this book will show the way. I can say that there is nothing like this on the market, and probably never will be. The amount of time needed to illustrate multiple 3D engines, and technologies, build the demos, and try and make it fun, and engaging is simply too time consuming. I wrote this book for myself, when I was learning 3D graphics all I had was the BIBLE "Computer Graphics - Principles and Practice" which is fantastic, but lacks implementation, and practical examples. Thus, my goal for Tricks II was to re-create the algorithmic and mathematical vigor of Principles, but with a more grounded, and practical approach with real-time considerations. I personally guarantee you won't be dissapointed, the demos are very cool, and good starting points for a number of games types from; space, indoor, water, road, and fighting -- But, once again, if you want to learn boring APIs and not understand the fundamentals of 3D graphics, then don't look here! :) Andre'
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