Advanced 2D Game Development [Paperback]

Great book if you've already read begining game programming 2nd edition. It goes into more advanced topics compared to the first book, and gives you some better structure to get your games developed quicker, with reusable code.

The book even includes a surprise bonus- a chapter on adding some 3d models and different types of rendering to your 2d games!! One great reason for this is that 2d is 3d in directX- looking straight down at the 2d plane. DirectDraw was taken out years ago, and many books don't explain this as well as this one.

The game takes you through developing a complete 2d engine with audio, input, animation and scripting! Using the engine you should have a much easier, and quicker time creating 2d games, since all the basic stuff is done in the engine.

I would definitely recommend this to someone trying to learn better techniques after learning the basics from the first book(or web). Since most people want to go 3d as well, he does include code to import 3d models, set up camera and lighting, so you could use this as a starting point to develop further in 3d, or just add some 3d effects into your 2d game.

Author doesn't spend much time horsing around with a lot of code, but explains the new stuff as it is added. He also has his own forum which is very helpful- And as is normal for a forum, research your questions first.
Great book to be able to re-use code and develop games quicker if you haven't built many/any engines before!

Since there is no Table of contents listed here, here it is:
1. Building a 2D game Engine
2. 3D rendering
3. 2d Rendering
4. Animation
5. Input
6. Audio
7. Entities
8. Fonts
9. Physics
10. Math
11. Threading
12. Scripting (using Lua)
13. Games

This is a fabulous addition to the Beginning Game Programming, Second Edition by the same Author. The main reason why I purchased this new book was because of his fantastic teaching style and the speed at which I progressed. Most books are so dry that you need to dip them in water or literally smack yourself with them to stay interested. In the end, you are left with gaps in your knowledge and most of the time cant get out of your own way. Which leaves you more often than not back looking for another text.

After finishing the first book, I had the complete confidence to create a couple of 2D games on my own and a better picture of how to use the API . It was definitely money well spent the first time around. This second title ups the ante and is now the spring board for developing a complete and powerful 2D engine from scratch with the focus being engine design & architecture. By the end of the read your confidence and ability to create just about any 2D game of choice should easily be within your reach.

Being that this is an advanced title, I would suggest getting the Beginner companion to this text mentioned above as this makes for an excellent reference and starts off at a joggers pace if your a beginner. Intermediates can still benefit from the text because good 2D information and techniques are hard to come by.

Jonathan seems definitely dedicated to the genre and the results of both books reflect best of breed IMO. Going from beginner to intermediate/advanced very quickly is highly likely armed with both at your side. Highly recommended.

Lastly, as a bonus the author is totally accessible and is fully immersed within the game development community with his own forum. This is not a forum just for the book but a fully dedicated community for game programming in general. Having access to the author along with updates and tips to the engine developed within the book makes the price a steal.

Why are you still reading this? Buy it already.

As for the negative reviews, game programming isn't for everyone or maybe your just too advanced? Although, it would help if "someone" actually "read" the book and not skimmed through it.

So if your looking for an "Easy Button" you might want to try Staples.

I did not read the first book in the series and I mostly bought this book as a reference for the techniques he was using in engine design. That said, the book is a fantastic and fast overview of doing 2D rendering in DirectX. It expects you to know a lot ( just like any other 'Advanced' title would ) and moves quickly. I found a couple of chapters to be extremely useful: the chapters on Sprites, Threading, Audio, and Scripting. Although the book is very brief on these subjects ( especially threading ), it does give you a lot to go on. I would definitely suggest this to anyone looking to make a more advanced 2d engine, but if you're looking for a book on advanced 2d game techniques, this isn't the one- This book is based on engine design.