Best book for learning Win32 API i''ve seen is:

"Windows 98 Programming: From the Ground Up" ... by Herbert Schildt ... very clean ... strucured and good explanations ... you will only use the first 1/3 of the book .. cause the rest is useless to a game programmer .. but the first third is GREAT! .. you will feel completely confident making a Windows skeleton .. and doing really simple windows apps without ANY wizard or libraries ... very nice

For learning beginning DirectX ... you still must get the very outdated book:

"Inside DirectX" ... published by microsoft .. it''s VERY cleanly organized and you can read the first chapters and skip to whichever sub area you want (DirectDraw DirectSound .. etc...) It uses DirectX 5 .. but for getting into the system it''s good ... you''ll have to unlearn the details later when you go to DirectX 8 ... but at least you''ll understand what the refs mean when they say "you no longer do this .. instead you do this ..."

And remember ... All DirectX versions contain all older versions .. so you can write DirectX 5,6,7 programs (I use DirectX 6 primarily ... with some new 8 components as I learn them) ... even with just the DirectX 8 SDK installed.

I STRONGLY recommend the following 2 books as ESSENTIAL for developing you fundamental programming skills on your own ...

"The C++ Language", Special Edition by Bjarne Stroustroup
and
"Design Patterns", published by Addison Wesley

the second one is pretty advanced ... and you won''t just absorb it all at once .. it''s over half reference ... but if you read Section 1 (out of 5) ... and understand it''s basic ideas .. you WILL become a better programmer ... then you can master various actual patterns as you need to use them ... and you will constantly evolve ... i''ve had it for 3 years now ... been using it in practice for over 2 ... and i STILL pull it off the shelf when i start designing a new program or module ... just in case i''m forgetting a simple solution ... Best thing about it is the front cover gives a 1-3 sentence decription of EVERY pattern in the book ... and what page it''s on .. so you flip the cover .. find the pattern, go right to it! ... AMAZING.

Also ... as you get better you''ll eventually want a good STL book ... but there are many ... so just use the STL section in the stroustroup book for now ... then get a book when you get more money ...


So all in all ... I think you need TWO books to start with ... Windows 98 Programming and The C++ Language ....

THEN when you can do windows skeletons ... get a DirectX book (about 2 weeks to 2 months from now) ....

THEN when you mastered the basics of WinAPI ... pick up Design Patterns .. and STL whenever you want .... these should all be purchased in the next 6 months or so ... but will server you well for 1-2 years at least (the C++ and Patterns books for as long as you do C++ and/or object oriented programming) ... the DirectX ...

That schildt C++ ref is really good too ...

good luck

Ok, I've taken many days to think this through. I've placed an order for 'Windows Game Programming Gurus'. Will be nice to learn a little Win API and DirectX while I learn how to make window's games (regardless of how basic it may be ). Cant wait to see just how much I can do with my creative mind once I get through it successfully.

I'm thinking that once I have a VERY firm grip of what 'Windows Game Programming Gurus' teaches, and make a few small games to ensure myself that I am learning as intended, I'll go to another more advanced book. 'Isometric Game Programming' seems like the PERFECT step for me, when I reach that point. I'm a huge Iso game fan, and this is just perfect. I actually dislike most 3D games because it seems like the games I preffer are best done in 2D, and in many cases, the games I like in 3D would be better in 2D (IMO of course). I have no interest really to bother with 3D until I master the 2D fun to my own satisfactory level

As for whats after that, I'm not entirely sure. It'll more then likely be based on what I feel I need to explore. If I feel I need more knowledge in DirectX, I'll look into 'Inside DirectX'. I've decided that I want to go with DirectX 100% for the Game development tools it seems to offer (Direct Input, Music, etc) that is all in one "place". OGL is just graphics, and worth pursuing once I feel ready.

If I feel I need to learn more Win API to improve my gaming development to my style, I'll look into 'Programming Windows' or 'Windows 98 Programming from the Ground Up'.

Nice little bonus, I'm on my last semester of HS, and thanks to the 'For Beginners' link on Gamedev.net, I went ahead and got brochures from both DigiPen and FullSail which offer a GREAT deal of game development courses. Been hearing good in terms of getting a Proffesional game programming job after attending one of these schools, and I even heard Game Companies hire straight from them! So this may be my best direction to my goal of developing games as a proffesional (opposed to having it as just a hobby).

Once again, thank you all for the responses and I'll be doing my best to make the best of it Till my book arives, I'm going to be brushing up on the more complex C++ topics like Linked-Lists that I haven't using in a rather long time.


P.S. I made sure to order Guru's by using a direct link to the book to Amazon from gamedev.net and will make sure I do so with every book. My only real way of supporting the site

Edited by - SirSmoke on September 8, 2001 5:24:23 PM