Books and such!!!
Hey all, I was wondering. At my local Barnes and Nobles, In the CPU section, they have nearly every book (around 22) on different kind of game design books from Phyics in 3D games and Tricks of the Gurus for Windows Game programming. There were so many, and i am very new to Game porgramming. I am learning Java and C++ courses as of now. was just wondering if any of you guys could help me pick up some starting books, to help me get into the swing of things.....*sigh*
thanx ^_^
If you're looking to get into the swing of things I'd recommend starting by deciding if you want to start in 2D or 3D (I'd recommend 2D as would most I've talked to) Then you have an API choice.. if you're using java there is Java2D but in C++ you can use SDL (note I listed it first) Allegro or DirectX. (In 3D you have a choice between Direct3D or OpenGL, which is a whole different war)
http://libsdl.org
http://allegro.cc
DirectX comes in a massive SDK but your compiler may already have it installed (MSVC++)
Shameless self promotion:
I help a lot of people learn SDL, and I'm writing a comprehensive 2D engine based around SDL, feel free to email me ([email protected]) or stop by my site http://conceptofzero.net.
Well if you are just beginning game programming, I have heard that Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus is a very good book. It uses C++. If you want to learn DirectX, Real Time Strategy Game Programming in DirectX 7.0 is also a pretty good book, although it kind of gets confusing near the end of it. It is pretty good for most of the way through, however.
I also have heard that Linux Game Programming (which uses SDL...I love SDL) is very good. And just because it says Linux, dont be fooled. SDL is multiplatform and most of the examples in the book will also work for Windows.
Linux game programming is available for free (legal) online here: http://www.overcode.net/~overcode/writing/plg/
If you like it go ahead and buy it, there is also a very good SDL tutorial at http://libsdl.org
