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Massively Multiplayer Game Development
 
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Massively Multiplayer Game Development [Hardcover]

Thor Alexander (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Price: CDN$ 92.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
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Product Description

Book Description

A comprehensive collection of articles written by some of the industry's best MMP developers. Includes information on design, architecture, customer support; and details on database techniques and game systems. CD-ROM includes demos and source code from the book in C++, Python, and Shockwave. Written in an easy-to-read, outline format.

About the Author

Thor Alexander (Austin, TX) has been working in the game industry for over ten years and recently founded Hard Coded Games. Prior to starting his own company, he was the senior AI programmer at Electronic Arts and Xatrix Entertainment, and a founding member of Asgard interactive and Harbinger Technologies. His multiplayer game development experience includes Ultima Online II and Valhalla’s Gate, the World’s first hyperlinked MUD. He has contributed to AI Game Programming Wisdom and Game Programming Gems 3.

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Most helpful customer reviews
Very good for game developers Sep 3 2003
Format:Hardcover
This is a very good book for experienced game developers.

If you are looking though, for a an intro text, this is not it. This is for serious programmers.

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Mixed Bag Mar 25 2003
Format:Hardcover
I have very mixed feelings about this book. While it presents a wonderfully broad discussion of MMOG development and is chalk full of ideas that you can use in development, it is at the same time often incomplete. The problem is not in the desire for the sections of the book to more deeply discuss their subject matter, but more due to the fact that the sections often fail to fully describe even what they are attempting to talk about. Included source code is fairly sparse making it difficult to discern what the authors were reaching at even when he provides UML (minus complete descriptions). At least one python project fails to work at all and there is no information for corrections on the Charles River Media web site.

So, do I recommend this book? Yes. Knowing the book as I do now, I would still have purchased it, however this may be one that you want to look through somewhat carefully at a local bookstore prior to purchasing. Expect to have to expend considerable effort when developing code based on portions of the book as you will progress along merrily based on the descriptions only to hit a roadblock in the code based on an incomplete or completely missing description of a critical portion of the topic. This book is definitely for already competent developers/designers, though you should already be prior to attempting to craft a MMOG anyway.

This book will likely float between 2 and 5 stars depending on the reader.

Best of luck to all!

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:  8 reviews
55 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Mixed Bag Mar 25 2003
By Jeffrey Thompson - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I have very mixed feelings about this book. While it presents a wonderfully broad discussion of MMOG development and is chalk full of ideas that you can use in development, it is at the same time often incomplete. The problem is not in the desire for the sections of the book to more deeply discuss their subject matter, but more due to the fact that the sections often fail to fully describe even what they are attempting to talk about. Included source code is fairly sparse making it difficult to discern what the authors were reaching at even when he provides UML (minus complete descriptions). At least one python project fails to work at all and there is no information for corrections on the Charles River Media web site.

So, do I recommend this book? Yes. Knowing the book as I do now, I would still have purchased it, however this may be one that you want to look through somewhat carefully at a local bookstore prior to purchasing. Expect to have to expend considerable effort when developing code based on portions of the book as you will progress along merrily based on the descriptions only to hit a roadblock in the code based on an incomplete or completely missing description of a critical portion of the topic. This book is definitely for already competent developers/designers, though you should already be prior to attempting to craft a MMOG anyway.

This book will likely float between 2 and 5 stars depending on the reader.

Best of luck to all!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A thoughtful compendium of wisdom Mar 10 2005
By Evan Sims - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
A fascinating book that compiles an array of essays by professionals in today's MMO industry. Each chapter brings something new and unique to consider: from the database to the game engine, costumer service to the network protocols, AI factions to interface design. However, some of the topics are so broad and complex the authors really have no chance of leaving you with a sense of satisfaction when their time is up- moving from topic to topic each chapter, you often feel the essays are left open and incomplete. Even so, the issues discussed are very important to consider, and rarely have I seen them covered in other books on the subject. Definitely an interesting read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
MMO encyclopedia Feb 20 2006
By Kosmyq - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Thos book is a collection of wisdom, aimed to provide an overall view of what you need to consider to write your own MMO. There is no code and the articles do not go too deep, which is not a bad thing, because they provide easy to understand contents. So before writing any code, read a related article, avoid pitfalls and only then start writing. I have been reading this book for several months, over and over and I still love it. There is no need to read the articles in any particular order and each reading session can be as short as 30 min. and still provide good knowledge to you. This book is a must have on your bookshelf if you are serious about MMO games and use other people's knowledge to shorten you own development cycle. I like it so much, I just bought the 2nd edition, which looks very promising, too. And dear author(s), if you write a book with a framework, I'll buy that one, too, without any doubt.
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