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Game Programming Gems 2 [Hardcover]

Mark DeLoura (Author)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 575 pages
Publisher: Charles River Media; 1 edition (July 26 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1584500549
ISBN-13: 978-1584500544
Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 19.2 x 3.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 1.3 Kg

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #301,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Book Description

Blazing through the excitement generated by the first volume, Game Programming Gems II is here with an entirely new set of innovative ideas, techniques,and algorithms. Game developers of all levels will find insightful tips and tools from this unique collection.Written by game programming experts,each contribution provides a hands-on solution to a programming problem, or a creative method for reducing programming time and redundancy. Edited by Mark DeLoura,Editor-In-Chief of Game Developer magazine and a group of top-notch area editors,this collection covers the major topics needed to develop a state-of-the-art game engine and provides all new coverage of audio issues. From animation and artificial intelligence to Z-buffering, lighting calculations,weather effects, curved surfaces, audio tools,multiplayer Internet gaming, music and sound effects, all of the major techniques needed to develop a competitive game engine are covered. All of the source code for each algorithm is included and can be used by advanced programmers immediately.For aspiring game programmers,the text for each algorithm explains the algorithm in detail, gives suggestions for beneficial modifications and optimizations, and includes references to related material.

About the Author

Mark DeLoura (San Francisco, CA) is the former editor-in-chief of Game Developer magazine, and a former software engineering lead at Nintendo of America, Inc. He has also worked independently as a game developer and has written for a number of industry publications.

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10 reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars

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Most helpful customer reviews

Not just for games Dec 8 2003

By Mr T. Lambert

Format:Hardcover

You don't have to be programming a game to find the gems like the ones for rendering and geometry useful.

To get a feel for the quality of the gems I looked at the gem on "The Parallel Transport Frame". I'd encountered this problem myself when trying to get VRML extrusions to work properly. VRML extrusions use Frenet frames so fail when the curve has an inflection. I came up with the same solution as the one described in this gem, and I'm sure many others have reinvented this particular wheel. The gem accurately describes the problem and solution and if I'd had it while I was messing with VRML extrusions it would have saved me some trouble.

Recommended.

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Decent; significantly better than both Gems1 and Gems3 July 20 2003

By John Doe

Format:Hardcover

I have already exterminated in my reviews here Gems1 and Gems3; now I gotta say something about this one: it is, believe it or not, much better than those two. Although not entirely devoid of pretentious sermonizing about "patterns" etc., this book offers a highest content-to-bs ratio of all three in the series; the articles are actually interesting, stimulating, and useful. When I say "useful" I mean applicable even outside the games development. There's some sound in the book, a lot of interesting math-related things, AI, a few curious assembly tricks ("stack winding"), good bibliographies (the only part that's good in all books of the series) -- all stimulating and suitable for borrowing in many design contexts. This is the only book in the Games Gems series that is suitable for purchase blindly off the net.

One thing (ultimate nitpicking) that's still annoying about it is writing style, replete with failing diction and humourless -- for example, the authors thoroughly earnestly call their little essays "a gem", as "in this gem I'm going to cover this and that". Of course, a "gem" is not a technical term, it's a normal English word, and it either means a real gem, or a metaphor for something of extremely high value. And so it appears that the authors have an a-priori huge opinion about their work. Which, in addition to being inappropriate (judgement of this kind is better left to the reader), is not what they mean. They simply mean "this article". Speaka Englisha? Anyone? Editors? Hello-o.

OK, having thus satisfied my deep-seated hatred of self-satisfied geekdom with their attendant lack of feel for words, I end my review on a positive note -- it's a decent book.

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Good reference and guide May 3 2003

By Geoffrey Zenger

Format:Hardcover

Game Programming Gems 2 is a collection of short articles detailing various aspects of computer game design. Personally, I found the first half of the book to be very helpful while the second half, on rendering and audio techniques, was too brief and lacked the depth to be of much use. However, the first half, covering general game programming technique and mathematics has proved very useful to me in my amateur game programming endavours.

Pick up this book if you are looking to add to your reference collection however, due to the nature of the articles and due to the price, you might find yourself heading to the library to pick up this book. In the end, a solid addition to a programming library.

Note:
I am an amateur game programmer, not a professional
In addition, many of the articles are not relevant only to games.

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Most recent customer reviews

Good resource.

An excellent resource for the times when you encounter problems you diddnt know existed.

Published on July 25 2002 by Joakim Karrstrom

For the beginner...

If you are new to game programming, I don't recommend buying this book. You'll probably get frustrated. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2002 by Dennis H. Shimkoski

ridiculously amazing book for the game developer

This is an incredible book that covers topics ranging from text parsers to audio engines. It also comes with a cd so I can put the great text parser in my game without typing a... Read more

Published on Jan 28 2002 by Michael Delp

definitely worth the money

Like the first volume, Game Programming Gems 2 features an exceptional collection of articles written by a knowledgeable group of authors, most of whom are well-known and... Read more

Published on Nov 21 2001 by Dave Astle

The best EVER

The biggest source of knowledge in game development, condensed in more than 70 useful chapters and pratical examples. Don't miss to have in your personal library.

Published on Aug 20 2001

Great book, just missing a few things...

I like this book a lot, though it isn't quite as good as the previous edition (partly because the first one was great)

This book didn't have any real networking tips, which in... Read more

Published on Aug 8 2001 by J. GOLDSHLAG

just great!

I'd like recomend this book to everyone, who is interested in game programming and esp. to those who has the fisrt book. Read more

Published on Aug 4 2001