Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely no Direct3D covered
Review: I already bought this book hoping that it will give me insight on working with Direct3D code. Unfortunately, there isn't a single line of Direct3D code in this book. The entire book covers DirectDraw 7, and imitates all 3D graphics rendering in software mode. All the CD examples are in DirectDraw 7, the book does give you some insight and explanation in understanding 3D on how to code them in case you don't have a 3D graphics API available.
If you are programming games for the PocketPC and wanted to write your own custom 3D engine, this book is for you. This book is kind of the missing documentation for the "Doom" and "Doom II" source code.
If you want to learn the theories or get a better understanding of what 3D is, then get this book, but don't expect to see any Direct3D samples because there are none. There are no example code for it. All the code examples is emulated 3D using DirectDraw 7, not TRUE Direct3D.
I'm only keeping this book so I can use it to write my own 3D API for the PocketPC and Java-enabled cell phones.
Rating: 
Summary: Yet another gem!
Review: I can't stop raving about this series. I admit it took me about 2 years to fully digest the first book (Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus) but I got there and now I am busy with the first couple of chapters. All I can say is that if I can understand this stuff, then anyone can thanks to the authors clear and concise style. What really amazed me about Andre is how ready and willing he is to personally respond to problems and queries. Unfortunately the book I bought contained a physically cracked CD rendering it unusable. A quick email to Andre and he very kindly helped me to get my hands on the source code. It is great to see that this GURU can still find the time to respond to the 'little people'. Andre, many thanks and keep up the good work.....
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have for 3D Game Programmers
Review: Simply put, this book is amazing. I'm a 3D game programmer myself, even written a couple books on the matter (*cough* Focus on 3D Terrain Programming *cough*). I've read just about every major book on 3D graphics and a heck of a lot of books on game programming, and I can safely say that this is THE best of both worlds. I've never seen a book this thorough before in my life. Andre, who I know from personal experiences as a great guy, really shows his incredible knowledge of 3D graphics, and even game programming in general. It's nice to be able to read through an explanation and think "wow, this guy definately knows his stuff inside and out". Absolutely great work. I know it was a long time in the writing, but, from my point of view at least, it was very much worth it. Don't listen to the nay-sayers that throw this book off the mark due to it's lack of using Direct3D or OpenGL. This book teaches you what's most important about 3D graphics: THE THEORY! How are you supposed to program 3D games by solely knowing how a 3D API function changes a scene? You can't. You not only need to know how the function changes the scene, but WHY it works the way it does and, some times, how it can be improved. If you're a beginner lost in a 3D void, this is definately the book for you. However, it's almost more important to note that if you're an intermediate programmer who has EVER wondered about the "why" behind 3D graphics, then this book is also definately for you. Just buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant solution to the wrong problem...
Review: Before you buy this book, be warned that it will only teach you how to develop a software rendering engine, that is to render graphics without taking advantage of hardware acceleration... and you should know that this is not how modern games are developed. So if you want a kick by the humorous Lamothian style
and a not too abstact introduction to 3D graphics concepts buy this book, but if you are looking for a good text on how to implement a real world 3D engine or game, well you will have to wait since this book doesn't exist yet! Or you will have to do like all other newbies game developers.. hunt through lots of books and SDK documentations....
I am very disappointed because I had the impression that with this book Lamothe had stopped writing "fake, for dummies" books
useful only for his bank account and had taken the effort to write something less nice and easy but "REAL"
Rating:
Summary: So You Want To Be A Game Programmer?
Review: Andre Lamothe easily stands out as one of the most well written programming authors in the business, and for those of us that actually want to learn how to blit sprites to a screen or manipulate 3d space, Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus and Tricks of the Windows 3D Game Programming Gurus are required reading. And not only required, but fun and inspiring. These books are more a Compendium of game design methodologies than tricks, so expect to learn ALOT of useful information that you can apply. My only nag was the absence of workspaces from the cd in this version, but that's easily overlooked when you see the size of this book, and the sheer quantity of knowledge it contains. Lamothe is a master, and gives his readers everything he has-the result is excellence.
Rating:
Summary: Best 3D book available
Review: Unlike most of the books I have on the subject of 3D programming in Windows, this book DOES NOT regurgitate or
paraphrase the Microsoft MSDN about Direct3D. This is one of the few books with real, reusable algorithms and code for building real 3D game engines :)
Rating:
Summary: Info! Info! DAMN GOOD INFO!
Review: If you want to learn how to use Direct3D, you will not find anything in this book telling you how to initialize/create/ call methods or any of that stuff. But what you will find is how to write your own engine and how Direct3D or similar APIs work. Once you can absorb the content of this book -and there is a lot of it once you hit chapters 9 and up -learning Direct3D/OpenGL would be a breeze. Refresh your MATH skills cause you'll need it!
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: Ever want to build a complete 3D game engine from scratch, including a level editor? This book is totally impressive. I was eagerly anticipating this book after having read Lamothe's Tricks I.. this has gone WAY beyond what I expected. From a deep matrix math primer including quaternions, to scratch-loading and transforming mesh objects, camera and lighting elements, all without DirectX calls. A MUST for definitive game programming. If you're new to game programming I highly recommend reading Tricks I, then this one...you'll be blown away!
Rating:
Summary: ...WOW!
Review: LaMothe has done it again, he wrote another GREAT book.. I really like his style of writing and the humor mixed through the technical details...
Better refresh your math skills, before reading this book! It contains lots of it!
Also you might want to visit a sports school before you start reading. You will feel it in your arms when reading this book, its HEAVY! Stuffed with information!
Rating:
Summary: Very nice!
Review: This book is pretty much one of a kind; there no other books out there that can demonstrate the creation of a basic software 3D engine while covering 3D theory in depth! Really, I would advise anyone and everyone against buying any general 3D programming book that only demonstrates the use of an API: You can learn that stuff from the SDK docs, folks! Although the things you learn in this book will not be directly applicable to PC programming (there is absolutely no more reason to write a software 3D engine for the PC anymore regardless of what anyone thinks), this book will tremendously help your understanding of 3D graphics and make it a piece of cake to master any 3D API. Of course, I can't end this review without complaining about something, even if it's not a huge issue: I really can't stand LaMothe's coding style. It's so ugly it just pisses me off, especially the naming conventions he uses for his functions. He himself says he uses C++ in his own projects, so would it really kill him to use at least a little overloading here and there to make his code a bit more readable? Also, many of the code optimizations he proposes are rather ridiculous. Bit shifts are NOT going to speed up your code, and the very idea of using all those globals gives me nightmares. =) Regardless, since you are expected to already be a competent programmer in order to understand this book, you probably won't be infected by the style he adopts here, so the above is not much of an issue. If you want an in-depth introduction to computer graphics and are willing to take the time and effort to thoroughly learn this complex subject, I highly recommend this book.
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