Is anyone using Jim Adam's Programming Roleplaying Games with Directx?
Author
Hi!
Is anyone using Jim Adam''s Programming Roleplaying Games with Directx? If so how''re you going with it?
I''m finding it a bit difficult to follow and I''m using it for more of a reference than anything. So far I''ve managed to load a few meshes but that''s about it.
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Today, is a good day to code.
I used that book to launch my game development studies and I found it to be extremely useful. You should probably study it with a little more depth as it is meant to be a learning tool rather than a quick reference.
I wrote a review here back in April, but here's a brief excerpt: "This is a book written for a beginner-intermediate audience, but it's a no-holds barred game programming book so if you are a beginner be warned that you will need to give it your full attention. The book is brimming with useful information but it moves at a fast pace and demands that the reader is concentrating hard throughout."
pan narrans | My Website | Study + Hard Work + Loud Profanity = Good Code
[edited by - pan narrans on November 12, 2003 7:01:09 AM]
I wrote a review here back in April, but here's a brief excerpt: "This is a book written for a beginner-intermediate audience, but it's a no-holds barred game programming book so if you are a beginner be warned that you will need to give it your full attention. The book is brimming with useful information but it moves at a fast pace and demands that the reader is concentrating hard throughout."
pan narrans | My Website | Study + Hard Work + Loud Profanity = Good Code
[edited by - pan narrans on November 12, 2003 7:01:09 AM]
I used that and "The zen of direct3d" both from the lamothe series. While both books are informal in an atempt not to be so borring which was a refreshing change for a text book. I had a lot of trouble with errors in there example code and missing explanation to some parts of the early base code. But I was a total newcomer to any type of programing at the time. I plan to have a nother look at them soon, see if they make more sence to me now!!
Try NeHe''s directx turtorials. If there as good as the opengl ones are said to be you cernt go wrong!!
I used those books mostly as reference. The information discussed helped me build the game projects I was working on. That being said, I didn''t used to book''s engine to make a game, I just used the book to learn the concepts and ideas. So, I don''t know much about how well the code compiles directly.
Very good reference.
Very good reference.
quote:Original post by caios
Try NeHe''s directx turtorials. If there as good as the opengl ones are said to be you cernt go wrong!!
NeHe doesn''t have any DirectX tutorials. There was a NeXe (NeHe-Style DirectX tutorials) site, but it didn''t go very far (about 3 lessons) and hasn''t been updated in forever.
quote:Original post by caios
... I had a lot of trouble with errors in there example code ...
I had no problems with the source, or the updates on Jim's site.
You can't expect to get the most from the book if you work through it really fast and with no effort on your part. It is an aid to learning remember. It requires lots of your time to get good
pan narrans | My Website | Study + Hard Work + Loud Profanity = Good Code
[edited by - pan narrans on November 12, 2003 1:08:09 PM]
Author
Hi pan narrans, Dave Hunt, OneBitWonder and caios. Thanks for the reply!
pan narrans, I checked out your site, pretty cool stuff.
How did you guys study the book? Did you go through chapter by chapter and then compile the code?
I''m trying to get enough code from the book to load up a level mesh, a character mesh and then move the character around.
So far I''ve managed to load a level mesh and character mesh seperately. I haven''t managed to load them together as I''m trying to figure out how the book positions meshes. I''m having a hard time tracing the code.
The reason I''m asking is that it takes so long to follow the book and code
---
Today, is a good day to code.
pan narrans, I checked out your site, pretty cool stuff.
How did you guys study the book? Did you go through chapter by chapter and then compile the code?
I''m trying to get enough code from the book to load up a level mesh, a character mesh and then move the character around.
So far I''ve managed to load a level mesh and character mesh seperately. I haven''t managed to load them together as I''m trying to figure out how the book positions meshes. I''m having a hard time tracing the code.
The reason I''m asking is that it takes so long to follow the book and code
---
Today, is a good day to code.
I was kind of disappointed with Jim's book. It's the series's fault, not the book's. They all waste 200-300 pages on teaching stuff the readers already know. If I buy a book on how to write RPGs then I want to know how to write RPGs, not how to initialize a window and draw a cube for the 8th time! It did help DirectX click for me though. I plan on taking another look at the book if I decide to implement some kind of scripting language.
[edited by - Raloth on November 12, 2003 8:22:51 PM]
[edited by - Raloth on November 12, 2003 8:22:51 PM]
This book was the one that made direct X really click for me. It was well-written, easy to understand, and useful. I have to agree that I could have done without some of the beginning parts and much more depth on the final few chapters about the actual game design, but as a learning tool for really grokking direct x in general, I haven''t found a better book.
quote:Original post by Dave Huntquote:Original post by caios
Try NeHe''s directx turtorials. If there as good as the opengl ones are said to be you cernt go wrong!!
NeHe doesn''t have any DirectX tutorials. There was a NeXe (NeHe-Style DirectX tutorials) site, but it didn''t go very far (about 3 lessons) and hasn''t been updated in forever.
Does anyone know if there are any plans to launch some kind of NeHe Style DirectX tutorials again? I mean the NeHe OpenGL is great but it would be interesting to have the similar for DirectX. I would love to help with that but I don''t think I have enough experience for that...
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