Windows Game Programming for Dummies?

by André LaMothe

Book Overview

The multimedia and computer-games industry has exploded in recent years. Games have gotten incredibly sophisticated--and incredibly entertaining. The programs used to create them have improved also,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764503375
• ISBN13: 9780764503375
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: For Dummies
• Length: 504 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great book, but confusing at times

Windows game programming for Dummies was the first book that I bought that taught me a little about DirectX programming. I must say, it is an excellent read and the sources and executables that the author provides are very helpful in creating a few games. To tell you the truth, this book is geared more towards beginners, like me, who just want to know what makes DirectX tick. If you're one of those "C++ Gods" that beleive they could write Quake in just a few days with a few lines of Assembly Code, then get another book. The book's only drawback is the fact that after the author explains the details of DirectX, he provides a game engine that insulates the average programmer (like myself) from having to handle the details of DirectX. This is an advantage in the fact that you can go ahead and start programming your own games quickly. However, I found myself skipping a few chapters at the end of the book to see what the new features of the engine would be and, as a result, passed off everything else as a reference. Still, this does not detract from the usefulness of the book. If I ever want to go back and write a few wrapper functions of my own to make my game programming go along a bit quicker, then I have a good jumping off place. Overall: This is a great book for the beginner.

should be 10 stars

this book is extreamly helpfull, the only downside is that it isn't long enough, and that "tricks of the windows game programming gurus", writen by the same author, has twice the number of pages (good) and 3 times the information (very good) and has tons more text on the cd (can you say Direct3D). i have read both books and they are both very very good just one has more info, so its up to you (by both) this book also has a different "full" game at the end with a contest for who can improve it the most.

Excellent introduction to DirectX programming

First of all, before buying this book make sure you know C/C++. If you know C/C++ this book is an excellent resource for beginning DirectX programmers. The book does not cover very advanced topics but it will get you going on the right track. After reading this book you should be very familiar with DirectDraw, DirectSound, and DirectInput; these skills will allow you to make rather complex applications in a short time. If you want to learn DirectX programming, this book is a great place to start.

EXCELLENT book for beginning Windows game programmers

I'm not going to bother writing another review and include all the different things that are in this book. There are enough reviews about that. As the description says, he covers the Windows basics, sound, input, graphics manipulation, AI, physics, and much more.One thing I would like to make absolutely clear. I own all of Andre's other books, and whenever I read reviews of them, they all seem to have several people saying one thing in common. Simply put, these people say "I knew NOTHING AT ALL about programming, and I read 4 pages of his book and was not able to write my own DOOM game. This book sucks!!!" COME ON PEOPLE!!! That is like expecting your FIRST EVER driving lesson to make you an expert. Or taking ONE class on auto mechanics and expecting to be an ASE certified tech. It isn't going to happen.Get real. He openly says you MUST have some basic knowledge of C. The book does not suck because some people refuse to learn. I own SEVERAL assembly language books, beginner to advanced. Most of the advanced makes no sense. Did I write reviews and say it sucks? No. It doesn't suck because I refuse to learn and expect everything to be given to me like some of these reviewers.Windows Game Programming for Dummies is an excellent book for ANYBODY new to programming. Put it this way: I have NEVER, EVER written anything for Windows. I used an old Borland C++ 3.1 for Windows compiler, took Andre's first example, changed one variable, and made it work. If it hadn't been for Andre, I wouldn't have ever tried to program in Windows.This book makes it so easy. If you have read his previous books, but gave them a bad review (for whatever reason), give this one a shot.In closing, if you are considering making the move to Windows game programming, but haven't because of all the complexity, the answer is here. If you are one of these people who say "I couldn't ever do it, it's way too hard", I said the exact same thing before I tried once, and I did it. And I had NEVER done it before.Nothing complex. No MFC, COM, OWL, or otherwise. Just the basics. And it works. Just remember that you do need to have some C (NOT C++) experience. You don't have to be an expert, but 6+ months of experience would really help. This book does not teach you C, rather, it shows you how to apply what you have already learned.

My 2nd Review of this book, it is that good.

This book is for programmers with a fair grasp of C; you should understand macros, pre-compiler directives and a little bit of Windows programming (IMHO).This book is NOT for people who do not have some programming knowledge (basic understanding of C is REQUIRED)Also this book does NOT use MFC or C++ for a very good reason. MFC adds too much overhead to game programming and since MOST games using DirectX run in fullscreen mode - MFC is USELESS for DirectX programming. C++ can also add a large amount of complexity for someone trying to LEARN game programming. While I prefer C++ myself the author chose the right language to write the samples in (why worry about inheritance relationships/polymorphism/templates etc when you dont have to :).Many 'evil' reviewers (heh how COULD you give this book a bad rating) stated that this book focuses on Windows programming too much. Believe me that is a GOOD thing. It is amazing how much code is required just to print the text "Hello, World!" in Windows. The book gives a great overview of the NECESSARY and FUNDAMENTAL workings of the Windows API. You MUST read those sections if you have never programmed in Windows. It does help. What Andre Lamothe does with the Windows API is build a game shell that handles all the Windows implementation details (messages etc), freeing you to work on game specific details and DirectX. He explains the characteristics of fonts, bitmaps and how Windows handles output using GDI (which leads to why DirectX is faster for games...read the book you'll get it :)Some people have given this book bad reviews because the code samples are not done in C++ or by using the VC++ 6.0 APP wizard etc. To those people I'd like to say that all the code in this book is EASILY portable to C++. That was part of the fun of this book for me: implementing his ideas into C++ (using ADTs etc, polymorphism woohoo). I challenge those reviewers to show me any SUCCESSFUL commercial game that uses DirectDraw/Direct3D and uses MFC. Can't find any? I suppose they are the same people who think the next great first-person shooter game should be written with Visual Basic...Also using wizards to create and maintain your code is great but NOT while you are learning a language/API. Wizards and application frameworks (MFC) can hide implementation details which doesn't help you understand the code. I like to understand what I am coding before I let a tool (VC++) help me maintain my code.When you finally reach the DirectX section you get a clear, focused discussion of the DirectX API. I have never read a book that explained DirectDraw so well. Never. If you want more of a reference to DirectX just download the DirectX 6.1 SDK and use the documentation provided, or get Inside DirectX, by MSPress (surprisingly good book on DirectX 5)C is NOT dead. C is a highly portable (though using DirectX negates that =P) language that has seen use in the most popular games, i.e. the