Special Effects Game Programming with DirectX w/CD (The Premier Press Game Development Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Mason Mccuskey
Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $15.00
You Save: $44.99 (75%)
New (4) Used (9) from $4.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 600982
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 960
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.4 x 2
ISBN: 1931841063
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.8167768
EAN: 9781931841061
ASIN: 1931841063
Publication Date: December 1, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Excellent condition. We ship ordersdaily.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Ever look at a really cool effect in your favorite game and wonder "How in the world did they do that?" This book teaches you the skills that you need to create effects that are just as awesome as the ones that first amazed you. New to DirectX? Don't worry! There are plenty of tips that will bring you up to speed quickly. Already an experienced programmer? Get ready to create some amazing effects that will get people hooked on your game! An entire section on 2D special effects shows you how to use your 3D card for effects like transitions and image warping. If it's 3D effects that you're after, this book has everything that you need to create cool effects like explosions, water, and magic spells. "Special Effects Game Programming with DirectX" is the next step in transforming your game from an application to an experience.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
Still helpful as a tutorial on special effect algorithms November 24, 2007
It's very hard to find accessible books on visual effect algorithms these days. Everyone just expects you to buy the latest software and pull down the appropriate menu and not worry about the math. For those of you who want something between yet another book on basic computer graphics and inaccessible tomes on visual effects that are written by academics for academics, this out of print book fits the bill. The DirectX info is probably largely out of date, but the last half of the book on special effects is done in language-independent way so that it serves as a tutorial on algorithm details regardless of what language you are working on. The book is written so that you can skip to the special effect you are interested in and get a well written and well illustrated short tutorial on most of the basics - lens flare, clouds, fire, water, lighting, etc. Since the book is only sold used, make sure you get a copy with the CD because there is a wealth of material on it including complete code. The book really isn't a standalone anything, but it will make a good complement to the other books on game/special effects programming you have in your library even at its advanced age.
 My new favorite book, move over tricks! July 5, 2003
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book covers an amazing amount of material with a fun, down-to-earth writing style.I mostly referenced this book for specific effects as I needed them, each chapter is kind of like a stand alone tutorial, very easy to follow and actually implement in your own code. You can make a 3d game with this, I did.
GOOD BOOK! May 24, 2003
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
But!!!
alot of mistakes!
all the code is wrong!
you need to look at the examples on the cd to be able to run even the first program.
this is the ONLY disadvatage...
everything else is GREAT!!!
you should buy the book if you are intrested in RPG.
it explain preety good about almost all you need, except meshes...
but Jim Adams got another new book about meshes and skeletal animation.
buy both of them :)
enjoy
 Another PrimaTech Blunder December 22, 2002
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
Every book in the prima tech series, this one included, spends an unnecessary amount of pages on the basics that you learn when you first start programming. I knew all the basics that are talked about for 100s of pages in these prima tech books after reading my very first book on game programming, titled "Windows Game Programming For Dummies" by Andre LaMonthe. Prima Tech has been complained about by a huge percentage of people for not putting enough of what the book title suggests into thier books, while putting way too much about what their book title should imply that the readers already know. Those things include: Win32 API basics (such as making a window, menus, buttons, dialog boxes, and a half a dozen other things), introduction to COM architecture, introduction to DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectInput, DirectPlay, DirectX Graphics, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.... When someone like me wants to buy a book that focuses on Special Effects programming, why should I have to expect 500 pages of useless information that I learned 25 books ago, and expect only 300+ pages of actual content. And none, and I do mean NONE, of the prima tech books actual "content" goes beyond the classification of BASICS. Most basics can be figured out by the programmer, advanced topics, yeah the ones programmers actually buy the books for, are almost never covered.However, the two best books by far in the Prima Tech series are "Multiplayer Game Programming" by Todd Baren and "Programming Role Playing Games with DirectX" by Jim Adams. If you combine what you learn in those two books, you will have enough knowledge to construct a Direct3D application, like an RPG, that has multiplayer support. Todd Baren's book even covers MMORPGs like EverQuest, Anarchy Online, Ultima Online, & Asheron's Call. MMORPGs are some, if not THE, most popular PC games on the market right now.
Not bad........... December 6, 2002
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is halfway decent. It reminds me a lot of back in the day programming little tricks in dos to make cool effects on the screen. Actually, it reminds me a lot of my high school computer science class when I already knew the language, so the teacher let me sit and make a graphics demo to teach the graphics portion of the class. I made a whole ton of demos of neat little tricks that were simple to do but had a good effect.That is what this book is like. You get a few neat tricks, but the problem I have with this is the same as all the others: too much beginner garbage. On top of that, the content does not allow you as much room for expansion beyond what it gives you. Bottom line: It's a buy next to many of the other books out there. But it's still not near the top dog, Programming Role-Playing games with DIrectX by Jim Adams is the best one.
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