- This topic has 9 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 21 years, 1 month ago by
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Hey,
I’m teaching myself DirectX, using online tutorials and the like, i’ve also ordered “game programming with directx for beginners”, though it hasn’t arrived yet, i normally stay away from the any books with idiot or beginner in the title, but this one got a good write up.
and, the online tutorials don’t go into much depth.just wondering if anybody is in the same boat as me, we might be able to help each other.
i’m going to write a starcontrol2 melee type game just for practice
(anybody remember sc2?)
hopefully with nicer graphics and a more open interface (design your own ships / weapons etc.)i’ll keep people posted if anybody is interested…
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I’m teaching myself game development too. I’m looking out for a book but haven’t decided which one to go for yet. They’re all so expensive. I’ve been into Waterstones & Hodges Figgis in Dublin and each of them have well over a hundred titles on game programming. I haven’t decided yet whether to go for a book on DirectX or not. I like those SAMS books “Teach yourself Game Programming in 24 hours…”. I had one for VB and found it good.
The amount of time I can spend on it depends on how busy I am at work though. I haven’t decided what time of game I want to do yet – I’m going to get a book and go through it first.
I’d be interested to hear how you get on and whether the book is any good or not.
Joe
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Depending on your level, “Game Programming Gems” is one of the best books out there for programming. It covers maths, AI, graphics and a lot of other areas, and comes together to provide a basic understanding of how games are written.
It is basically the best.
Dave
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With regard to learning the API, I wouldn’t go with a ‘Teach yourself blah in 24 hours’ type book, as they usually scim over the fundamental computer graphics theory (in my experience anyway). While they might help to get some nice things on screen, eventually you’ll find yourself needing to learn the theory, so why not get stuck into it from the beginning. I would recomend a book aimed at undergraduate graphics courses, these usually use openGL but the concepts are directly applicable to dx. I found ‘Computer Graphics using OpenGL’ by F.S Hill, Jr very good but there are piles to choose from.
Also, I would second Daves recommendation of the ‘Gems’ series but as supplemental material to a theory book :) Don’t forget about ‘Realtime Rendering’ too!
Eoin.
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Just a suggestion, try learning OpenGL first.
Great beginners site: http://nehe.gamedev.net/There are so many good tutorials, demoes, etc.. on the net you shouldn’t even need a book for learning a 3D API. I’ve yet to see information in a book that I haven’t been able to get off the net.
(And I’ve yet to see a book that contains all the information I’ve got from the net.)I found that DirectX was alot easier once I got to grips with the concepts of 3D, and grasping those concepts is easier with OpenGL.
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mediaeval: 74e a whip? that is exensive, i looked at their site a month or so ago, and they had this offer of all 3 books for $104 or so.
i take it thats gone then… :( it was next on my list.the books i’ve gone through so far are both of Andre LaMothes (i think thats his name, i may have spelt it wrong), the book titles are:
Tricks of the windows game programming gurus Vol1.
and
Vol2, Advanced Graphics and Rasterisation.
they’re pretty good, the first one is available in omahonys for about 55, which means amazon for maybe 50 i guess. have a look, see if you can buy 2 at once for cheaper. vol1 describes the whole game programming process, game loops, timers, 2d graphics, directx interface[or at least the concepts] (though no actual major use of it, its more of a here is what you need to know, don’t get this if you want to learn dx)and the second book is graphics from the ground up(with no api), the whole book is basically the maths you need to know, then writing a software 3d api, doing all the fns yourself. its pretty good.
but i didn’t want to make my own api, so i read the maths/graphics bit.
now i need to learn dx.
i should have that book soon (though most of the online tutorials are good, they just plain don’t cover enough when you actually sit down to write a game, at least, none of the sites/tutorials i’ve found have)there are probably loads of spelling mistakes here. im in an internet cafe and the keyboard sucks. and i couldn’t be bothered fixig them! :p
Cloud, OpenGL is kinda easier, at least initially, i had no trouble flying through most of the tutorials on nehe (i did them at the start of the summer), but i just can’t seem to find any dx tutorials of the same caliber.
anyway, that books just come in the post, initial outlook is bad!
its only like 300 pages long, so not a reference book then.
and the last 80 pages or so are an appendix, c++ primer, and a few other things.vertex and pixel shaders are in there though, so maybe it’ll turn out okay.
i’ll get back to you…
slan!
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All 3 GEMS books for $104 – what website was that available on?
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sorry i didn’t get back to you sooner mediaeval(the inet cafe close to me decided to disable cookies on all pcs, and not let anyone renable them – go figure. i couldn’t post anyway.)
i’ll have a look for the site now. -
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