Reader reviews

The clearest explanation of game programming I have come across.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with game programming.

Solid and well-organised. A couple of chapters dragged a little.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.

Well worth picking up if you already have the basics.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

Hard to recommend. The examples assume too much and explain too little.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. I would look elsewhere unless you have a specific reason to need this particular title.

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with workbooks.

Excellent from start to finish. No filler, no padding.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with game programming.