Advanced 3D Game Programming with DirectX 10.0 (Wordware Game and Graphics Library)

Advanced 3D Game Programming with DirectX 10.0 (Wordware Game and Graphics Library) | Peter Walsh | Great encapsulation

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Advanced 3D Game P...

	Advanced 3D Game Programming with DirectX 10.0 (Wordware Game and Graphics Library) Peter Walsh Wordware Publishing, Inc., 2008 - 552 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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This update to the best-selling Advanced 3D Game Programming with DirectX 9.0 focuses on developing cutting-edge games with DirectX 10.0 Graphics. Designed for experienced programmers, this book covers Direct3D, DirectInput, and DirectSound, as well as artificial intelligence techniques, client/server networking, multithreading, and scene management. The book includes many sample applications that target specific algorithms. Full source code is provided for all the examples and for the client/server networked 3D first-person game that brings together many of the techniques discussed in the book.

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Great beginner's book

So, the title of this book is "Advanced 3D Game Programming With DirectX 10.0", which seems to imply that the text is designed for intermediate/experienced programmers who want to up their skills to the next level. This book isn't really "advanced" at all -- it's an introductory DirectX/game programming book. So, keep that in mind if you're looking to buy this.

However, if you're an experienced C++ programmer, but you're a newbie to DirectX game programming, then this book is absolutely perfect. It covers DirectInput -- teaching you the fundamentals for programming input in your game in a very straightforward non-pretentious manner. Direct3D, typically daunting to newbies, is given a very lucid, clear, and succinct treatment. Walsh also covers more advanced topics like scene management (in truth, he glosses over it, so you'll need to do additional reading elsewhere, but it's a good start...), pixel/vertex shaders, and several cool graphics techniques (pre-computed radiosity was especially cool).
Walsh also covers the rudiments of network and sound programming, so your game will be "complete".

I guess what I like most about this book is that while it's not too in-depth with regard to any topic, it goes over the basics of all necessary game programming topics, so that you can start writing basic games immediately (full games, mind you...not just a flyby through a room of cubes). It's a great fundamentals book that, if you read and understand fully, will allow you to transition relatively painlessly to more advanced books/techniques.

While I was tempted to give this book 4 stars for the misleading title, I simply cannot find it within myself to give a book that is so good at what it does lesser than a 5.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, "where do I go next after this book?", here's a list of what I'm using as a hobbyist graphics/game programmer...I hope it helps:

- The ShaderX series (advanced real-time graphics topics)
- GPU Gems series (more advanced, scientific real-time graphics topics)
- "3D Game Engine Design" by David Eberly (great book that teaches you how to design a professional quality game engine)
- Real-Time Rendering, 2nd edition (all the real-time graphics considerations and algorithmic fundamentals are here)
- Game Programming Gems (these are like the ShaderX/GPU Gems, only for general game programming, including math, sound, input, graphics, scene management, etc.)

I hope this review helps anybody interested in becoming a game programmer!

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Great encapsulation

This book explains every part of directX10 and even helps you make a small game engine. Great code encapsulation using classes and catching errors.
One needs to know pretty well C++ to understand all the things explained and used.

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