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Summary: Easily one of my favorite DirectX programming books.
Review: Although this is a "... For Dummies" book, don't let it scare you away. This is not one of those braindead "Windows for Dummies" waste of money type things. Andre Lamothe has written an excellent intro into the fascinating world of DirectX, covering DirectDraw, DirectSound, and DirectInput, that is clear, concise, consistent, humorous, and very very well done. I've read about six or seven "intro" type DirectX books, and this is easily the best. Plus, it has the only discussin of DirectInput i've seen in a book that deals with anything besides joysticks. And the sample code actually compiles without any modification, always a good thing :-) If you've enjoyed any of Andre's other books, you'll agree with me that this is his best so far. Buy this book! Don't let the yellow and black cover scare you away! :-)
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Summary: The best DirectX tutorial for beginners yet!
Review: This book is awesome! After this one and the old "Teach Yourself Game programming in 21 days", Andre LaMothe has become my favorite author! From the beginning in this book he explains the essence of Windows programming, you will get into it even if you have never programmed in Windows environment before. On the CD he has many examples, sources and binaries, as well as shareware programs and bonus artwork which you can use in your own games! THe best part on the CD is the 2d game engine code (DirectX wrapper) which you can modify and use to write your own game. Trust me on this one, if you have never programmed in indows before, this is THE book to start.Thanks Andre for another excellent book. :)
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Summary: AWESOME a MUST BUY for Begginers
Review: This is a good book if u know c/C++ after you know c/c++ this book will really help you get started making games.It is awesome to make 2d games doesn't cover to much 3d or none at all for that matter.But who needs more 3d games but if you want to make a 2d game with this book you are in the right direction.....
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Summary: Brilliant!!!
Review: Brilliant!!! I programmed for many years in DOS, but I have also wanted to shift to windows for quite some time. I purchased many other books on the subject, but none of them came even CLOSE to actually TEACHING you directX as this one does. For example, another book, "Inside DirectX", is a fairly good book on the subject, but I simply did not understand most of the concepts until I picked up LaMothe's latest contribution to the game programming world. This dummies guide is PERFECT for anyone who wishes to journey into windows game programming, or simply leave the world of DOS behind. It teaches you only what you NEED to know about windows programming (which no other book I know of does) He doesn't dump a lot of useless knowledge of windows (we aren't trying to create apps here, you know!) and he doesn't try to confuse you. And to top it all of, this is one of the cheapest books on programming I have bought in a long time, and it is definitely the most excitin! g and important addition to any self-respecting game programmers library. (And he not a boring lecturer like most other authors, he has a really good sense of humour, which just makes the book so much more enjoyable.... BUY THIS BOOK!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A good buy
Review: This book does a great job of explaining Windows programming with DirectX. The pace is relatively slow and easy throughout most of the book, letting you understand concepts before you put them to use. It also includes information helpful to beginning game programmers - websites, newsgroups, etc. Although some parts are a little dry(like any good computer-related book), most of the book is easy to read, and at times, fun. There are a few confusing parts though, such as this: "You'll note that I often refer to the secondary surface as the backbuffer, or the secondary backbuffer. You can call the surface a backbuffer, but sometimes it is secondary - so it's a secondary backbuffer. But it's also a secondary surface, but it's a secondary surface that I have abstracted to think of as a backbuffer. Basically, this whole issue is just DirectX-speak. A secondary surface is a backbuffer; sometimes I just want to emphasize that it's secondary. Don't be confused by ! that usage."
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Summary: I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Man, Andre' breaks it down. He explains everything in a way that novice programmers like myself can understand! I'm not lying when I say this is one of the best tools I've purchased so far.
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Summary: Perfect book for game programmers at all stages
Review: This book is so well organized that even though I had NEVER programmed for the Windows operating system before, and did not even own a book purely on the subject of programming as it applies to the Windows operating system, I easily made the transition from 16-bit DOS to Win32/DirectX, and in a week I even understood how to convert my DOS code to the Microsoft Visual C/C++ compiler. I would recommend this book above all the other game programming books I have ever seen, and I have searched through FAR too many books to find all the information on particular subjects. LaMothe's books come the closest to containing all the information you need to know on game programming, and as if that was not enough He manages to make you laugh out loud very often while reading. To sum up exactly what you can expect in ANY of Andre LaMothes books: In the begining I was searching through book after book, and then I found "Tricks Of The Game Programming Gurus" and gave it a! quick scan like all the others, and I immediately was pleased by the layout so I purchased it, but I did not realize that it would contain every last thing I needed to know to write 16-bit DOS games. Later I need to know about 3D so when I went searching I found "Black Art Of 3D Game Programming" and searched through it to see if it contained everything I needed, and I realized that it was just as full of information on the subject as the last book was on its, so I purchased it as well. Now when I see a book my Andre LaMothe I just buy it regardless...and the content never fails to be complete as you would expect. I was so upset in the begining trying to gather all the right information that I decided I was going to write books like this when I learned it all, but they already exist. If there was an another star I could give this book, I would give it without thinking...so if you are a programmer interested in making games, go purchase every one of his boooks ! and you will be saving yourself a lot of time, money, and m! isery.
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Summary: Andre' gets better with each volume he writes.
Review: There is no other author that provides his readers with the level of access to the concepts - and usable game/graphics code - that go into today's top games, that Andre' Lamothe does. Within each book, Andre' hones the "voice" which he uses to walk his students through territory which might otherwise become pretty thorny indeed. Many people I know today run out to the web in search of the kind of programming knowledge Andre' offers in Windows Game Programming for dummies, and they've been coming up empty. Whether you want to "become one" with the inner workings of the code or the algorithms at work, or you simply want a DirectX game/graphics library to plug in to your applications, you'll find it here in Windows Game Programming for dummies.
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Summary: For ANYONE wanting to get going in Windows game development.
Review: This book will get you going quickly. It has possibly the ONLY good resource on DirectSound anywhere. All of Andre's books are great, but this one especially is because it's teaching something that's important to a lot of game developers if they want to sell their games... which is the latest technologies, for the consumer os (yeah, you guessed it, Windows)
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Summary: The absolute BEST book out there for DirectX Programming
Review: Out of all of my DirectX books that I own, this is the one I always refer to when I need some various DX component explained. This is about the 10th DirectX book I have bought, and the 1st I have read all the way through and understood what was being talked about after the second chapter. If it wasn't for Win Game Programming for Dummies I would still be clueless about DirectX. It teaches all of the DirectX components except Direct3D and DirectPlay, which are both advanced subjects and don't really need to be put in a "for Dummies" book anyway. The book does not mess around, and gets to the point very early in the text, unlike most of the other DirectX books out there. WGPFD does not waste your time talking about old school libraries like the others do (WinG, WinToon, etc.).. to give you a greater appreciation of the DX Libraries. You can get that by just looking at some of the books awesome sample programs. If you have a basic understanding of the C la! nguage and want to learn Windows/DirectX game programming, then this book is for you.
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