|
Introduction to 3D Game Programming with Direct X 9.0c: A Shader Approach (Wordware Game and Graphics Library) | 
 enlarge | Author: Frank Luna
Publisher: Wordware Publishing, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $27.26
You Save: $22.69 (45%)
New (15) Used (10) from $25.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 130818
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.4
ISBN: 1598220160
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.81526
EAN: 9781598220162
ASIN: 1598220160
Publication Date: June 25, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: N20080926074126N
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Presents an introduction to programming interactive computer graphics, with an emphasis on game development, using real-time shaders with DirectX 9.0. It teaches the fundamentals of Direct3D and shader programming, after which the reader will be prepared to go on and learn more advanced techniques. The book is divided into three main parts. Part I explains the mathematical tools that will be used throughout this book. Part II shows how to implement elementary 3D techniques, such as defining 3D geometry, lighting, texturing, alpha blending, and stenciling by using shaders and the HLSL. Part III is largely about applying Direct3D to implement a variety of interesting techniques and special effects, such as working with meshes, character animation, terrain rendering, picking, particle systems, environment mapping, normal mapping, and rendering to textures.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Fantastic at what it does do, but missing some stuff August 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In terms of learning Direct3D and HLSL, this book is absolutely fantastic, 5 stars, can't fault it.
However.
The title is somewhat misleading. This book isn't really about 3D game programming. It's about 3D graphics programming, in a games context. As some others have written, it lacks detailed info on things like how to structure your whole game to bring it all together, how to construct a proper scene graph, or how to implement other important things for a game like collision detection etc etc.
That said, you can't expect to get everything out of one book, no matter what some books try to sell themselves as. So don't let my criticism put you off getting this wonderful text! This is still my number one recommendation for anyone looking to get a D3D book! Just be aware that you're going to need other resources for things beyond the graphical side of your game. But with the amount of books and tutorials specifically for things like AI, game physics etc, and websites like gamedev.net, this is hardly an issue.
In short, buy this book, you won't regret it!
 A great intro to the world of DirectX graphics programming June 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've been programming for two years now and have relied on online tutorials and sample code for "learning" how to do graphics programming with directX. I needed a basic knowledge of 2D graphics programming for a class, but after a semester of blindly using the directX sprite drawing funtions, I decided to stop, step back, and actually understand directX from the bottom, up.
I purchased this book recently and have been working through the chapters (currently up to the first shader and effects content). I find this book to be a great way to learn to be comfortable with using directX for graphics programming (and some game programming in general with very handy sections on win32 programming for games, input, etc). Like a previous reviewer said, this book is by no means meant to be all about shaders. Instead, this book will give you a strong foundation on graphics with the API with a little taste of shaders. Im sure you could learn all of this content if you got lucky enough to find all the right well writen tutorials, but its very convenient for me to have everything I need in one book.
Recommended if:
- You have never done graphics and wish to take a directX method
- You have done graphics before and want to learn the API (makes a great reference)
- You want a complete 'beginners guide' to graphics for games and game programming with the API
Not if:
- You do not meet the author's prerequesits
- You want a book on shaders
Great for DirectX, but missing some key ingredients March 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
First, I would like to say that this book is very well written and extensive. It covers all the basics of rendering in 3D with DirectX, especially how to use shaders, which some other intro books gloss over. As each part of the D3D framework is presented the objects, settings and parameters are explained in great detail. As other reviewers mentioned, it also includes a rudimentary framework, however don't expect too much in that respect. The framework is not something you can run a game on, it exists only as a teaching tool (I'm referring to the simple framework that the examples are presented with, not the WorldWare engine).
Having said that, there are two down sides to this book. The first is that although D3D is explained in depth, it sometimes reads like Direct3D reference documentation - endless lists of parameter A does blah, blah blah, parameter B does blah blah blah. This is helpful, don't get me wrong - I just wish it was tucked away in an appendix. Unless the parameters do something surprising, I don't want the obvious explained to me. This may just be a personal preference, and you may actually find it helpful.
The second and bigger problem is that the book really doesn't address game state management or how to structure a *real world* game. It does tell you how to create particle systems, bone animation, texture effects, terrains, etc, but it never tells you how to put it all together, which is really not trivial. I wouldn't fault it for this if the name of the book were "Introduction to DirectX programming", but it's called "Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX". In my opinion, it should cover the basics of how to structure a game, which it doesn't. You *will* be able to build a game after reading this book, but I found myself turning to online tutorials for game state management and how to organize objects, which should be the first thing you learn (in my opinion).
Overall, the book has been a very important reference to me and I highly recommend it.
 Not for HLSL February 8, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is not for you if you want to learn HLSL. It explains everything regarding 3d videogame programming. The shader approach is very poor (about 30/600 pages).
Good Reference Book January 25, 2008
8 out of 14 found this review helpful
I would have to agree with the other reviewers on how great the book is; but it is a great reference _NOT_ a book to teach you DirectX9.0c. It goes very in-depth with graphics programming and I would only recommend it to professional graphics programmers. Note that this book only teaches Direct3D and _ONLY_ Direct3D, and as you know DirectX is a full featured SDK with DirectSound, DirectInput, etc. So in case you wanted a book that covers all of DirectX9.0 then look else ware.
I can compare this book to "Beginning DirectX9" by Wendy Jones and I would have to say that "Beginning DirectX9" is a better book to learn DirectX9 as a whole, and better to for a beginner to learn Direct3D. One of the biggest reasons I say this is because the source code in this book (IT3DGP) is not very clear in its implementation and doesn't match with the chapters of the book. There were a lot of topics that are referenced in the book that I would have liked to see an example of but there was NO source code. For programmers who actually want to learn what the author is writing about the source code is essential to the process.
BUY if...
...you want a reference for the Direct3D9 library.
...you are a graphics programmer.
AVOID if...
...you want to learn DirectX, and NOT just Direct3D.
...you are a beginning Direct3D programmer.
...need clear source code, which matches chapters.
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 - RailroadBookstore.com
| |
