The perfect book.
by Craig Giannelli · in Technical Issues · 06/04/2001 (10:45 am) · 8 replies
I had nowhere else to post this.
Is there a book on game programming DirectX7 or better, that goes through the process from beginning to end. Not just some lame wrapper functions then send you one your way style.
essentially I'm looking for a book that..
- Covers 3D game design concept.
- The beginning, initialization routine, sound, graphics, control...
- 3D graphic formats (meshes), .x, .md3 blahh...
- building your models with a 3D program (not hand coding the mesh) Truespace exports directly to .x format.
- texturing and lighting (using the mesh format chosen).
- Animation, skinning, Kinematics...
- Physics, collision detection, movement, particles, gibbing ...
- world building. taking all you learned and putting it into a tangible playable world.
Ok, so this wouldn't all fit into one book, but perhaps a series. I'd pay money for a good series. From start to finish of some cheesy game to get me on my way to bigger better things. So far I've gone through quite a few books, "Game Programming gems" is by far one of the best, but it's in the form of separate articles. "Advanced 3D game programming in dx7" is a decent book, as it tries the start/finish of game design. And code dumps, lots of in game code dumps explaining why it's being done ... I don;t know, but when learning to program I like the code right there in the book so I can type it in myself make lot's of mistakes and try to debug it without the books help. Not some reference in the book saying "It's on the CD" like Andre Le'Moth's new series.
ok, this turned into an I want this in a book, more so than a "is it out there?" like I wanted. But if there's any existing books people would recomend feel free.
thanks.
Is there a book on game programming DirectX7 or better, that goes through the process from beginning to end. Not just some lame wrapper functions then send you one your way style.
essentially I'm looking for a book that..
- Covers 3D game design concept.
- The beginning, initialization routine, sound, graphics, control...
- 3D graphic formats (meshes), .x, .md3 blahh...
- building your models with a 3D program (not hand coding the mesh) Truespace exports directly to .x format.
- texturing and lighting (using the mesh format chosen).
- Animation, skinning, Kinematics...
- Physics, collision detection, movement, particles, gibbing ...
- world building. taking all you learned and putting it into a tangible playable world.
Ok, so this wouldn't all fit into one book, but perhaps a series. I'd pay money for a good series. From start to finish of some cheesy game to get me on my way to bigger better things. So far I've gone through quite a few books, "Game Programming gems" is by far one of the best, but it's in the form of separate articles. "Advanced 3D game programming in dx7" is a decent book, as it tries the start/finish of game design. And code dumps, lots of in game code dumps explaining why it's being done ... I don;t know, but when learning to program I like the code right there in the book so I can type it in myself make lot's of mistakes and try to debug it without the books help. Not some reference in the book saying "It's on the CD" like Andre Le'Moth's new series.
ok, this turned into an I want this in a book, more so than a "is it out there?" like I wanted. But if there's any existing books people would recomend feel free.
thanks.
#2
the Sams Directx Book, serious waste of cash. (thankfully it was free .pdf with the kit) I typed in all the code line for line from the book which thankfully had complete code dumps. The code didn't work. Went out bought the book to get the CD with source code. That suff didn't complie. to get it all to work right I had to edit the CD source with snipets from the book. Looks like the CD was from a much older book.
The Sams Windows programming book I liked. I might go out and buy it someday.
Didn't read the Physical book that came with the kit. Though it looked interesting, skimmed it.
I wish the kit was more expensive, had printed documentation to genesis 3D and some better stuff. I've been on the quest for a good book for years. Aside from Deitel/Deitel C++ how to program, it's my favorite book.
A decent 3D engine with full source code can be found at http://www.radonlabs.de/. It's an in development engine for a commercial game. It's good but the entire source is in German. Not that I mind since they are Germans but I can't speak/read german yet. Only downside.
I just can't wait for the perfect collection and Andre LeMothe's series is a step closer. Though each book is an individual entity. I'd like a series that goes from the initail design concept to the final product. A 5 book series perhaps.
06/04/2001 (4:54 pm)
Bought that kit about 6 months ago. Not sure if it was verion 4 or earlier. The genesis 3d engine and tools are cool. But I want to do all this from the ground up at least once. Just to get the feel. Though I am really bad at math now adays. the Sams Directx Book, serious waste of cash. (thankfully it was free .pdf with the kit) I typed in all the code line for line from the book which thankfully had complete code dumps. The code didn't work. Went out bought the book to get the CD with source code. That suff didn't complie. to get it all to work right I had to edit the CD source with snipets from the book. Looks like the CD was from a much older book.
The Sams Windows programming book I liked. I might go out and buy it someday.
Didn't read the Physical book that came with the kit. Though it looked interesting, skimmed it.
I wish the kit was more expensive, had printed documentation to genesis 3D and some better stuff. I've been on the quest for a good book for years. Aside from Deitel/Deitel C++ how to program, it's my favorite book.
A decent 3D engine with full source code can be found at http://www.radonlabs.de/. It's an in development engine for a commercial game. It's good but the entire source is in German. Not that I mind since they are Germans but I can't speak/read german yet. Only downside.
I just can't wait for the perfect collection and Andre LeMothe's series is a step closer. Though each book is an individual entity. I'd like a series that goes from the initail design concept to the final product. A 5 book series perhaps.
#3
The book is a good read, and the ebooks are helpful... Wish the DX book went into details a little further in some areas though...
Definitely worth the investment though :)
06/04/2001 (9:39 pm)
It should have come with a 3D model editor...The book is a good read, and the ebooks are helpful... Wish the DX book went into details a little further in some areas though...
Definitely worth the investment though :)
#4
06/05/2001 (3:28 am)
Yes, the kit was decent. For $45 you can't really expect the godsend of useful information. The directx book was rather useful in the fact that all the code was busted and took some thought as to how to debug and get it all working. In the end I could say i did learn from the DirectX book, although 60% was on directdraw. I thought the DX eBook was recreating Double Dragon.
#5
Something like DOOM would be even good. Imagine having a tutorial walking you through the C++ code and explaining the purpose each step.
Then a walk through on a game engine for textures, mad design, placement of monsters, collision detection, character movement etc...
Even a few basics on 3D modeling just to make a simple monster in the game.
If you come across a kit like this let me know!
06/05/2001 (4:59 pm)
I know what you mean about a step by step process. The C++ .pdf is nice and I am learning. I was hoping that after I completed it there would be a tutorial on making a game from start to finish.Something like DOOM would be even good. Imagine having a tutorial walking you through the C++ code and explaining the purpose each step.
Then a walk through on a game engine for textures, mad design, placement of monsters, collision detection, character movement etc...
Even a few basics on 3D modeling just to make a simple monster in the game.
If you come across a kit like this let me know!
#6
06/15/2001 (8:29 am)
Th Genesis engine has a HUGE community behind it and is wwhere I got started learning about video game design - there are some very good tutorials done by members of the community that take you through step by step adding new features etc...the best ones are called ProjectX and ProjectZ in my opinion - they begin from initializing the engine to adding cameras, maps, objects, physics etc...really good stuff - but you won't find it in any book...do a little research in the forums for Project X & Z and you'll come across some really good learning tools.
#7
06/15/2001 (8:52 am)
Thanks for the Genesis3D info. I recently decided to give the Engine another try a few days ago.If you have any links to the Step by step tutorials that'd be great, as I've found almost no use for the official documentation. But i do like it's modeler and animator tools that it comes with. It's helpful.
#8
06/15/2001 (9:57 am)
Genesis looks like a very capable engine, but WildTangent had purchased it months(?) ago. There's an open source movement, I believe, that uses the old genesis. I can't recall the name to that though. I think there's a link from the Genesis website. 
Scott Picco
It includes a book: Game Design, Secrets of the Sages, 2nd edition
Introductory Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 Software
Sams Teach Yourself C++ 6 in 21 days (in .pdf format)
Teach Yourself Direct X 7 in 24 hours (in .pdf format)
Genesis 3D SDK 1.1 3d engine and level editor that supports Direct 3D and 3Dfx glide drivers ( kind of a low end V12 engine)
Microsoft DirectX 7.0 SDK 2D and 3D graphical development libraries
Shadow Realm Model Animator (Import 3D mesh, create skeletal structure, animate and export)
I'm hoping there is some kind of tutorial with some of these items because most of this didn't come with instructions.
I wouldn't even know where to begin with the 3d engine.
Anyway if you need more info let me know.