Andre Lamothe’s books… Still relevant?

I have one of his books on DirectX and find it better as a general all in one game programming reference than a DirectX specific book. The books will still be relevant, unless you specifically want to learn a feature of a newer DirectX version. The techniques used could be adapted to any libary. The books are not bad although I have seen some people give scathing criticism of Andre Lamothe other forums.

Are you wanting to learn to use DirectX or learn to make a game? Remember DirectX is just a libary and the techniques you use to write a game will be the same whatever libary or tools you choose to use.

What kind of position are you thinking of applying for? If your going programming you want to be able to show off your problem solving and software engineering skills more than a pretty demo (not saying that a pretty demo doesn’t help, just remember it is possible to write crappy code and yet have a wonderfully polished looking demo).

Some examples:

If you are going for graphics programming, I’d guess you need to demonstrate knowledge of computer graphics theory (rasterization, colour theory, spatial partitioning, raytracing etc). I reckon that would be more important than know a grahpics engine or libary off by heart.

If you are going for AI, maybe write a good demo which shows you know how to use common AI techniques such as flocking/steering behaviours, pathfinding or FSMs. Simple graphics would work fine for something like this.

If you’re looking for a book on DirectX then Frank Luna’s book is good- Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 9.0. Its an introductory book and deals pretty much with just DirectX.

la mothe books a fantastic. ive got both of them. 2nd one is extremely advanced and definately not for the newbies out there. First one is very good for an introduction to the area of games programming. I used the first one in a few demos which ultimately lead to my job here at sega (well that an my ai msc :) ).

Frank luna’s book is also a good source of information and the structure is quite manageable. Books to stay away from include Beginning Direct3d by wolfgang engel. Its poorly written and reads like the docs with directx samples.
If i was going for one id go with la mothe. As for them being outta date, the same techniques still apply. Only difference is he used direct 7\8, which has a few differences to dx 9, but combine that with luna’s book and your set. La mothe second book is really dx independent because he’s teaching you to write a 3d api from scratch..

As for having to know dx or opengl for a games job thats a bonus but you do have to know these if your not interested in a graphics job. ai and networking require you know these areas really well. Although to do any games job you do need to at the very least know how to blit some debug text to the screen or set up a vertex buffer etc :).

ai and networking require you know these areas really well. [/quote:61345bca51]

I need to know OpenGL to do AI and networking? :P

Actually, why would I need to know DirectX to do AI, networking yeah, but I don’t see why one needs extensive knowledge of DX for AI?

OpenGL wise I’d have the say that http://glbook.gamedev.net/oglgp.asp is a very good, if slighty dated book. It was edited, but not written by LaMothe. But you can get the basics of openGL and pick up the newer stuff off web resources.

Does anyone know where you can get LaMothe’s second book cheap?

If you’re looking for a book on DirectX then Frank Luna’s book is good- Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 9.0. Its an introductory book and deals pretty much with just DirectX.[/quote:f9c032bbb3]

Yup, that one’s good and once you’ve gone through that, get the next one, think its called Advanced 3D Game Progrmaming with DirectX 9.0. Its not written by Luna though, but the cover looks the same.

La Mothe’s books are really good and really easy to read.

ai and networking require you know these areas really well. [/quote:732772b461]

I need to know OpenGL to do AI and networking? :P

Actually, why would I need to know DirectX to do AI, networking yeah, but I don’t see why one needs extensive knowledge of DX for AI?

OpenGL wise I’d have the say that http://glbook.gamedev.net/oglgp.asp is a very good, if slighty dated book. It was edited, but not written by LaMothe. But you can get the basics of openGL and pick up the newer stuff off web resources.

Does anyone know where you can get LaMothe’s second book cheap?[/quote:732772b461]

“These areas” refer to the areas of AI and Networking, why would you need to know dx????. Abit of common sense now… :P

“These areas” refer to the areas of AI and Networking, why would you need to know dx????. Abit of common sense now… :P[/quote:cb3922ff95]

I guess I was confused by the wording of your post. Wasn’t there something called DirectPlay for games networking? Not that I really have any interest in programming networking for games right now.

“These areas” refer to the areas of AI and Networking, why would you need to know dx????. Abit of common sense now… :P[/quote:746463eff5]

I guess I was confused by the wording of your post. Wasn’t there something called DirectPlay for games networking? Not that I really have any interest in programming networking for games right now.[/quote:746463eff5]

Direct play was a lame attempt at encapulsating networking fucntionality into Directx (it had nothing to do with graphics though). I think it died a horrible death. For games these days some other sort of middleware is used for this; Demonware\Quazal etc..

I have a book, Coding Complete by Mike McShaffrey, which is uses DirectX for examples. While it’s not actually teaching DirectX, it’s a great reference, and covers stuff from management, to the design, to the coding.

http://www.amazon.com/Game-Coding-Complete-Mike-McShaffry/dp/1932111751

The gems books are a little complex for a beginner, aren’t they?[/quote:f3e4d1c7e5]

You’ll find stuff for all levels in those, they are more like a collection of references than tutorial style books. They are expensive though and I don’t have my own copies, but I’ve read bits and pieces of some of them at work and they are pretty good.

Anyhow one book I’d definitely recomend for AI is (and juding by others posts on the Wordware books): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Game-Example-Matt-Buckland/dp/1556220782/ref=sr_11_1/026-1289302-7138866?ie=UTF8

I read this and learned loads. Maybe we should have a books section on this site where people could reccomend books!

The Gem books are great but more as a reference source… The one problem I find with them is that they often repeat themselves

P.J.

LaMothe’s Books (such as Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus, etc.) are timeless. His coverage of core Comp Sci material such as containers, STL, trees, and algorithms is nothing short of 100%.

Don’t get me wrong, Game Coding Complete, and the Gem’s Books, as well as anything Frank Luna writes are all great, but if you want a hefty textbook to read, and re-read, then I strongly recommend Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus.

As for cost. Well it is now free. And I don’t mean, “pirated” from the web “free.” I mean LaMothe, being the nice guy that he is, has made his book FREE, via the web.

http://www.dpfiles.com/dpfileswiki/index.php?title=Tricks_of_the_Windows_Game_Programming_Gurus:_The_Fundamentals_of_2D_and_3D_Game_Programming

You will need to sign in / register to Dave Perry Forums / Wiki, but I assure you, the book (and many more) are there.

Sensational.

Have been using Luna’s book for the last 3 months its a great start at D3D, the advanced book in that series is good too(writen by a fella Walsh I think).
On another note the best book I’ve read this year has to be Erik Bethke’s book Game Development and Production, excellent insights to the whole development process in the industry.

You gotta love eBooks!