List Price : $59.95 Price : $17.65
Product Description
Delving into the concept of real-time strategy, this guide includes practical, hands-on programming and use of artificial intelligence; a unique graphics engine developed by the author; and multiple game design strategies along with programming code.
Amazon.com Review
Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DirectX 6.0 should probably be read by any aspiring C/C++ game developer for its real-world perspective on the process of designing successful strategy games. Filled with tips on what works and what doesn't, this book not only provides a perspective on the working lives of game programmers, but it also shows how to simplify working with DirectDraw and DirectSound--two important parts of Microsoft's DirectX game platform--using the author's custom C++ classes.
The most interesting aspect of this book has to be its real-world insight on the realities of game development from someone who's been there. (As the author notes, a game programmer's lifestyle offers plenty of challenges, insane work schedules, and, of course, potential rewards.) Early chapters sketch out the game development cycle, from initial idea to proposal, and then onward to staffing, project scheduling, coding, and testing. (If anything, these chapters will demystify how some of your favorite games were designed.)
The heart of this book is the author's C++ framework that simplifies DirectX programming using DirectDraw (for 2-D graphics) and later, DirectSound (for sound). The author presents his own code and classes for essential aspects of DirectDraw programming from drawing shapes and images to creating professional animations. Additional sections cover the fundamentals of building strategy games (where players command armies, for instance, and place them on various tiles, or game terrains). There's much expert knowledge here on writing games in this vein, but the principles of animation--plus the reusable C++ code that simplifies DirectX--will certainly justify the price of this book.
Written for the C/C++ programmer who wants an introduction to game programming, this is actually more than a technical book. Besides a good introduction to DirectX, this text provides a nuts-and-bolts perspective that shows how some of today's successful games are designed and coded. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Real-Time Strategy game basics, gameplay, design and project management for games, programming style and tips, Windows programming fundamentals, design documents, the development cycle, macros and data types, DirectX and DirectDraw basics, bitmaps and color modes, drawing lines, rectangles, images and clipping, text output in DirectDraw, loading graphics files, LLE compression, animation overview, AI and characters, animated backgrounds and effects, landscapes, game interfaces, objects and creatures, pathing (BFS, DFS, and A* algorithms), DirectSound.
Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DIRECTX 6.0 (Wordware Game Developer's Library) Reviews
Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DIRECTX 6.0 (Wordware Game Developer's Library) Reviews
| 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:  Revising my review after being contacted by the author., By A Customer This review is from: Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DIRECTX 6.0 (Wordware Game Developer's Library) (Paperback) This book covers some advanced topics not necessarily suitable for beginning Visual C++ programmers or avid real-time strategy game players looking to assemble a RTS game of their own based on this book. The author's insights into the gaming industry are very interesting, as are his comments on the development of Age of Empires, which I found fascinating. I wrote an e-mail to the editor of WordWare Publishing, and she forwarded my message to Mickey Kawick, who then contacted me about the problems with the source code. The original code does NOT compile under Visual C++ 6! You must get an updated copy of the code that was included on the CD, or else you will have a frustrating time getting it to compile correctly. Mickey sent me an updated copy of the library for Visual C++ 6 and the samples compiled successfully. Since a large portion of my previous review was based on my frustration with the source code, I must amend my comments and say that the author was very kind... Read more 13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:  Misleading title......, By A Customer This review is from: Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DIRECTX 6.0 (Wordware Game Developer's Library) (Paperback) I found some good things in this book i've searched for, so it's not all bad , the iso drawing routines, the raised tile code, but i was hoping the book would work up to developing a game engine and mabey even a small game... Like andre lamoth book's do.. No luck, the book throws all the code on the cd clumped together, some topic's arent even covered!! Like fine cordinate tile based scrolling, these are simple thing's that should of been covered.. I think alot of the book has too much code in it as well, seemed to be trying to fill pages??.. Most of this info is available on the net, or if your looking to learn DX and make a simple game in the process, get Game Programming for Dummies by Andre Lamoth, much much better book, as far as developing a game engine and learning DX in the process... Mickey if ya write another book, stick strickly to the topic make it all about RTS programming take the user's step by step and make a small game with them as you go, this is the best... Read more 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: Good Book, Could Have Been Better, By This review is from: Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DIRECTX 6.0 (Wordware Game Developer's Library) (Paperback) I agree with everyone who said this book could have been much better. It is an average book until chapter 13, then it becomes a great book. If he had compressed some of the earlier chapters, he could have put in so much more. I would have given this book a rating of 4.5, but I rounded up.What this book is: This is an advanced book. It has tons of code snippets, and more ideas on how to expand and personalize the code. It has a few chapters that could be shorten or taken out completely, namely the first 8 chapters, except chapter 5. These chapters have a lot of ideas, but if you are familiar with games and/or programming, you already know a lot of it. Chapter 9 briefly describes DirectDraw, for more see a differant book (I have found Windows Game Programming for Dummies good), but it doesn't claim to be a DirectX tutorial either. Chapter 10 has some good stuff on drawing lines and rectangles, not used too much in RTS games though. Chapter 11 teaches font... Read more |
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