Review of Beginning Direct3D Game Programming w/CD (Prima Tech's Game Development) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I've been waiting for a long time for a decent Direct3D book to refer beginners to, and this is one of the best so far. On the other hand, being the "best" among Direct3D books really isn't saying much, and this book is far from perfect.

Overall, this book covers a lot of good material, including some of the more advanced aspects of DX8, and the code itself is pretty solid. Unfortunately, the explanations can be a little hard to understand, partially due to the fact that the author isn't a native English speaker (the chapters on physics and collision detection don't suffer this problem, though, being written by someone else), so you may find yourself having to reread things several times.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't have some game programming and DirectX knowledge, but I would recommend it for someone who wants to get up to speed on the latest version of D3D, especially if they have used a previous version of Direct3D - or even another 3D API - or if they are willing to put the effort into working through the chapters to dig out the (truly useful) information they contain.

Product Description
Guide to creating Direct 3D games for personal computers, covering all aspects and elements of programming, from objects to file formats. The CD-ROM contains a number of features, including software for creating games, the source code from the text, and games. For beginner to intermediate level gamers. System requirements: CD-ROM drive. Softcover.

About the Author
Wolfgang Engel is CEO of SoftGroup GmbH and SoftGroup Plska, which offer IT and game development services. These companies produce 3D animations for marketing and advertising activities.He is the author of "Beginning Direct3D Game Programming" (0761531912).

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Review of Pocket PC Game Programming w/CD (Prima Tech's Game Development) (Paperback)

If you know how to program and want to try out the Pocket PC then this is a great book to own.It gives you some background, spends just a little time on the "structure of a Windows app", then gets into doing cool things on the PocketPC.The chapters on getting images to the screen faster using the Game Api (DirectX precursor) were great.I've always wanted to do Sockets/Networking programming and this book is where I learned.Btw, I'm not a game programmer!

Only downside is the cd which contains a number of errors in the example code.Since the code is also in the book, its not that big of a deal (just a little shoddy).The cd also comes packed with a ton of games.

Product Description
Pocket PC Game Programming will help you develop the tools and source code needed to write multiplayer games that can be played on wireless devices and the Internet. You will not only learn essential programming skills for the Pocket PC, but you will also create a programming resource that contains routines that will come in handy when writing a variety of games. Pocket PC Game Programming covers the history and future of the Pocket PC platform, essential programming tools, Windows messages, the game loop, loading bitmaps, drawing animated sprites, playing sound effects, advanced programming techniques, and much, much more!

About the Author
Jonathan S. Harbour has been an avid gamer and programmer for 17 years, having started with a Ti-99, Commodore PET, and a Tandy 1000.In 1994, he earned a B.S. in computer science. He has since earned the position of senior programmer with 7 years of formal programming experience. Jonathan is a member of the "Starflight III" team, working with the original designers and other volunteers on a sequel to the first two Starflight games (using Allegro), originally published by Electronic Arts in 1985 and 1989, respectively. He has professional-level experience in graphical user interface design and 2D and 3D graphics programming, as well as TCP/IP socket programming and Internet protocols. In addition, he has released the retail Pocket PC games "Pocket Trivia" and "Perfect Match". Harbour has also authored "Pocket PC Game Programming" (0761530576), "Visual Basic Game Programming with DirectX" (193184125X), "Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Programming for the Absolute Beginner" (1592000029), and "Beginner's Guide to DarkBASIC Game Programming" (1592000096), and his most recent "Game Programming All In One, 2nd Edition" (1592003834). He maintains a Web site dedicated to game programming and other topics at http://www.jharbour.com. Jonathan lives in Arizona with his wife, Jennifer, and children, Jeremiah and Kayleigh.

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