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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.81526
EAN: 9781592003839
ISBN: 1592003834
Label: Course Technology PTR
Manufacturer: Course Technology PTR
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 752
Publication Date: 2004-06-17
Publisher: Course Technology PTR
Studio: Course Technology PTR
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: An excelent learning tool.
Comment: Harbour presents everything in a simple manner with very little presumptions. He provides useful information on entering the game industry and making money from your games. Although the cd can have some trouble installing, it still makes for an exceptional learning tool.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: a pretty good book
Comment: I think this is a great starting point for someone who already knows the basics of c++ and wants to learn the allegro library. The examples are pretty good and progress in a logical way.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I would advise against it
Comment: I first would like to say that this book is most definitely not for people with no programming experience (but you could have figured that out from the rest of the reviews)
I work at a video game studio as a scripter and am working my way up to become a programmer. I picked this book up a while back and just got around to opening it a few weeks back. The first section of the book was excellent in helping me understand the programming concepts used in video game development. But only because I was able to identify the absurd amount of syntax errors in the example that a beginner wouldn't.
I only had this book on my desk for two days before I was shamed into putting it far back in one of my drawers. It seemed that every programmer who noticed this book had something bad to say about it. Criticism of the choice to use DirectX to teach beginners how to program graphics have been the most popular. That is why I can't say anything about the book's effectiveness past the first section (so that's what gets 3 stars).
The review below entitled "A note from the author" below is from the author of the second edition about the second edition, mistakenly put on the first edition's page. That one sounds better but considering the author can't even do a shameless plug for his own book correctly... I wouldn't risk it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: software did not work
Comment: first, the book was great . organized in text book fashion it would be great for a high school level course on game programming. Well organized and an easy read. The quizzes at the end of each chapter make for a good way to make sure you understood the material. (Note it Is not a reference book.. It is a tutorial)
What it is not, is a course on programming in 'c/c++' be warned. you either need to program in 'c' or be taking a course in 'c'. this is quite a departure from the first edition. This is explained in the books description so it is not false advertising or anything but unless you program in `c' or perhaps have a beginners `c' tutorial book you might get lost.
for me the problem is/was the software on the disk did not work on any of my computers. If you have access to a working c/c++ compiler this is not much of a problem, if not then it will be. about a dozen calls to the publisher remain un answered..
for the price the book is worth it. but if your new to programming and do not have access to your own compiler you may not get much use out of it.
one final thought. the book teaches the game engine allegro. It teaches only the 2d controls and functions - which I think is fine.. Allegro has tons of 3d functionality.. you will want to get a supplemental guide for this. One thing I disagree with the author on is that the trend in gaming is to 3d and that should have been explored.. Perhaps material for a third edition or an second course.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very informative
Comment: I bought this for my 15 year old son. He says it is very informative.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Create your own high-caliber games with some of the same tools used by professional game developers! If you have a working knowledge of C or C++, then "Game Programming All in One, 2nd Edition" can get you started on your journey. It uses hands-on projects to explain each new subject and includes many sample programs to reinforce the material in each chapter. Begin by learning about cross-platform game programming, writing code that will run under Windows®, Linux®, Mac OS® X, and many other systems. Enhance your skills by working through the core features of the Allegro game library and writing code to load images, manipulate sprites, scroll the background, use double-buffering, read a joystick, detect collisions, and implement other core features of any game. You will gain experience by creating a complete game and adding features to it in each new chapter. You will also learn how to write a scrolling platform game and a vertical shooter.
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