3D Game Engine Programming [With CDROM]

by Stefan Zerbst and Oliver Düvel

"Thomson Course Technology PTR"--T.p. verso.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592003516
• ISBN13: 9781592003518
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Course Technology
• Length: 860 Pages
• Weight: 3.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.1" x 7.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Overall, a very decent book

I've been going through this book like a madman the past few days. I really am enjoying it. It is a little old, considering that it is from 2004 and he generally uses VS 6.0 (though makes reference to VS2003). Most of the stuff is still very relevant. He wants to take you through creating a semi-independent API for your engine (though he uses a lot of Direct3D programming). A word of caution though: this book is full of techanese, which tends to deter newbies from learning C++. There were a few places where I got lost, and had to look things up. This is definitely not a newbie book, though you definitely can review the sourcecode included with the book instead of reading it. Most of the code is pretty self-explanatory if you are somewhat familiar with 3d programming. Great book though. Cheers to the writer.

Build an industry standard game engine

The book is unique in that it does exactly what it says it will do. Be warned however that as the book states it is not for beginner programmers who are new to Direct3D or new to C/C++ programming. However if you are familiar with the language and the API but never quite grasped the concept of fitting together all the components neccasary to make a 3D game engine then this really is the right book for you. There is not another book around as of this review that tells you bit by bit how to build a game engine and not only any game engine but a game industry standard engine the way the professionals build them. There are a few version issues with the code on the DVD-ROM supplied. However this is always an issue if you are an intermediate programmer and familiar with C/C++ and a popular IDE then to be honest the minor issues should not be too much of a problem for you. Plus the author has even got a support website and he answers emails. Well worth the money !!

Fantastic Basis -- Covers all the bases!

Stefan Zerbst's 3D Game Engine Programming is a 850-paged guide to constructing a modular, functional video game engine. This reference was one of the biggest reasons I became confident that I could complete a project of my own and has helped me tremendously in the design and building of an engine based upon the fundamentals of the ZFX Engine. Even though the book does not go into detail and provide the code to all the bells and whistles of a commerical engine, it certainly outlines the basics and even provides code for testing. (I personally liked not having everything provided so that I could add my own features with a more personalized touch). Have no fear: all the basics are there to build off of! In particular, the text guides the reader through the concepts and code needed to construct an engine that has the ability to support both DirectX and OpenGL (though DirectX is the main focus in the text), Vertex and Pixel Shaders (which is a big plus in upcoming game graphics!), and networkable players. In addition, the book brought extra possibilities such as Non-Player Characters, AI, and other various effects to the table for the reader to take note of where they could be added on to the engine. More importantly, he did do an excellent job of keeping these options (and more!) open without forcing his more ambitious readers to reprogram half the engine. A very important thing I felt was the key to why I liked it some much was the fact that I understood how the components of the engine worked individually and as a whole to construct a functional game when I had finished the book. So many times have I read a programming book cover to cover and then still be lost on how everything fits together outside of the demos provided in the text-- but this book was NOT like that at all. The concepts were presented clearly as well as explicitly outlined within the code. However, I will note: this book is not for the faint of heart or for the inexperienced programmer. (Hopefully the size scares the aforementioned away in a direction to seek some more practice before coming back to this fantastic reference.) There is a LOT of code and while the text does take care of the graphics, DLL loading, and algorithmic aspects to a FPS game, the book does treat the reader as a programmer and not a novice. One last, important feature is the Level Editor that is developed along side the engine (that's right! you build a level editor too!). This chapter (14) is certainly one of the most useful parts of the text and is where a lot of key concepts come together. So, if you are looking for a book that hits the ground running, providing a complete archive of source code and demos in an effort to construct a comprehensive game engine: this book is for you!

Great book, with publisher mistakes

First of all - this book isn't for someone, who wants to get started with C++ the first time. You should have known, how to code a DX-Init-Routine or a basic windows application. But you won't start trying to code games, if you don't know, won't you? ;) The book is a great source for advanced coders and easy to understand. Nearly every small detail is well explained by Mr. Zerbst. He covers MME, SSE and Shaders, as well as Character Animation and skeletal systems. The worst thing you could say about this book, is that the CD is crap. It seems that the publisher did not reviewed it or anything like that. But Mr. Zerbst knows about this subject and has a good update page for any problems. So you will get support :) And honestly - you want to code, or? So why do you need a CD? But after all... it's a great book with well explained details and nice topics.

Its about tools not games

In my opinion the most important thing to know about this book before purchasing it is that you will not learn much about game programming. This book is about building tools like a big game engine or a level creation tool. That is refreshingly different from most other books out there which only treat game programming and tie all the graphics rendering code directly into their demo programs. This book does always separate the demo projects from the graphics engine, the audio engine, and the network engine. Now I learned how to write reusable code that does not need to be changed for different projects. That is what I wanted from this book. The broken CD-ROM is of course a bad thing. But with the online updates the problems are fixed. I'm happy with this book and learned a lot from it.