Alrighty, before I dive deep into learning programming (summer is coming up) I''d like some input.. I have browsed around a few books, which I own, and I have a copy of VC++ 6.0 Standard, which is my compiler of choice. The books I currently have in my posession are: "Sam''s Teach Yourself C++ in 24hrs" and "Sam''s Teach Yourself VC++ 6.0 in 21 Days: Complete Compiler Edition" (I have the Standard VC++ 6.0 Compiler as well).. So I guess my questions are: Which books do I buy? Are the one''s I have now sufficient to get me on my way (already understand a signifigant amount of content, but havent read them cover-cover)? Just some suggestions and input will be gretly appreciated, I have no problem picking up another book or two for the summer, and will have 8+ hrs a day to focus on this. Thanks -Trace

A good aspiring game programmer book is "Tricks of the windows game programming guru"

If you want to side with the "elite" side, eventually pick up the following:

OpenGL Programming Guide / Red Book
OpenGL Reference / Blue Book

quote: Original post by masterg
A good aspiring game programmer book is "Tricks of the windows game programming guru"

This I have heard a few times now.. Anyone care to provide a brief synopsis of what this book covers?

Also, if anyone would care to catch me on AIM, please do so (SmartTron2000)..

-Trace

It has a lot of good stuff. Some of the topics include:

- Basic windows programming (creating windows and such)
- Windows GDI graphics
- DirectX (including DirectDraw, Sound, and Input)
- Bitmap Loading
- 2D Transformations
- AI
- Pathfinding
- Physics modelling

There''s some other stuff as well. Not all of those topics are covered in depth, but they are to some degree. Most of the book (about half, maybe more) is devoted to DirectX programming. Very useful, I highly recommend it

It starts with an introduction to Win32 programming. Just enough to get you up and running in Windows. It then moves onto DirectDraw. Most of the book deals with DirectDraw, graphics wise. It then touches on DirectInput, DirectSound and DirectPlay. It finishes off with some chapters on AI and math and physics. There is also a companion CD which includes a bonus chapter, all the source from the book, 2 e-books and a whole bunch of articles(around 40). Plus there is some demo software. It only comes with DirectX 5 though, so you have to go to Microsoft for v7 or 8.

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Make it work.
Make it fast.

"Commmmpuuuuterrrr.." --Scotty Star Trek IV:The Voyage Home

Aighty.. I think I''ll go ahead and pick it up before summer begins..

Will this book and the two I currently have be enough to give me a good start and last me the summer working hard all day (hahahahah.. well sem-hard )

-Trace

Two summers ago I read that book, and once I had done that I made two games. I had no experience writing games or any sort of "advanced" software before I read this book. I would definitely say this will "be enough to give *you a good start", but it probably wont'' last you all summer.

Elmers, if you know absolutely nothing about programming then don''t get that book yet. Get "Sam''s Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days". The other book presumes you know how to program somewhat. You have to crawl before you can walk. Just my 2 cents.

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TOTWGPG will give a good grounding in game design/programming, but it WON''T give you a good foundation in general programming (that''s not it''s intent). The college textbook I used in my first year of programming was "C How to Program" by Deitel and Deitel. It''s a pretty good book and now also includes sections on C++ and Java.

I''ve never used any of the Sams "in 21 days" books and I''m not knocking the book, but it''s impossible to REALLY learn how to program in just 21 days. It took me about 2 years and 4 courses to really start understanding what I was doing (I''ll be a 2nd year Senior this coming Fall). Just have patience, work hard on it, and most importantly program, program, program!!! Programming is an art that you can only get good at by doing a lot of it.

Good luck! If you have any more questions just post ''em.

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quote: Original post by Chem0sh
TOTWGPG will give a good grounding in game design/programming, but it WON'T give you a good foundation in general programming (that's not it's intent). The college textbook I used in my first year of programming was "C How to Program" by Deitel and Deitel. It's a pretty good book and now also includes sections on C++ and Java.

I've never used any of the Sams "in 21 days" books and I'm not knocking the book, but it's impossible to REALLY learn how to program in just 21 days. It took me about 2 years and 4 courses to really start understanding what I was doing (I'll be a 2nd year Senior this coming Fall). Just have patience, work hard on it, and most importantly program, program, program!!! Programming is an art that you can only get good at by doing a lot of it.

I understand TOTWGPG wont give me a foundation in general programming.. I guess what I wanna know is if it'll be of any use to me this coming summer.

As for learning C++ in 21 days, I know thats impossible, and have no intent of "learning" that quickly. Again, what I really would like to know, is if TOTWGPG will be of any use to me this coming summer.

Thanks
-Trace
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EDIT: Another note I just thought I'd bring up is that I'm very fimiliar with the structure of a C++ program, as a I used to write a few games for a Ti-89 using TIGCC which is a C code compiler for the calc. Just something I'll thow out there..

[edited by - ElmersGlue on May 29, 2002 6:50:50 AM]