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Aimed at the working Visual C++ game developer, 3D Game Engine Design provides a tour of mathematical techniques for 3-D graphics, and the source code that's used to implement them in state-of-the-art video game engines. If you work in the game industry (or would like to), this book will serve you well, because it delivers excellent best practices for algorithms and programming techniques that'll help your software keep up with the competition.
This text is a virtual encyclopedia of expertise that's based on the author's own work and research in the gaming industry. It provides the mathematical notation, algorithms, and C++ code (on the accompanying CD-ROM) that are needed to build fast and maintainable game engines. Early sections start with the basics, with the math that's used to work with common 3-D objects (like spheres and boxes). Highlights include a high-powered review of quaternion algebra--in many cases, the preferred way to transform 3-D data.
The chapters on graphics pipelines explain the math that's behind representing and rendering a 3-D world in 2-D with intervening effects like lighting and texture mapping. A variety of current algorithms are provided for representing 3-D scenes, efficient picking (which allows a programmer to determine the object in a 3-D world that has been selected), and collision detection (in which objects collide virtually). In the game software of today, curves--and not individual triangles or polygons--often are used to represent 3-D objects. Algorithms that are used to turn curves into rendered surfaces are provided, too.
Later sections look at the current thinking about animation techniques for characters (including key frames, inverse kinematics, and skinning (in which digital skin is fitted over digital bone to create more realistic-looking movement)). How to represent terrain inside virtual worlds also is explained. The book closes with excellent material on such cutting-edge special effects as lens flare and projected shadows, which can add an extra level of realism to a video game. An appendix examines guidelines for designing object-oriented game software in C++.
Filled with mathematical insight and expert code that puts each principle or algorithm to work, 3D Game Engine Design provides an expert view of what goes into building a state-of-the-art game engine. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered:
- Mathematical methods and sample source code for 3-D game development
- Geometrical transformations
- Coordinate systems
- Quaternions
- Euler angles
- Standard 3-D objects: spheres, oriented boxes, capsules, lozenges, cylinders, ellipsoids
- Distance methods for a variety of shapes
- Introduction to the graphics pipeline
- Model and world coordinates
- Projecting perspective
- Camera models
- Culling techniques
- Surface and vertex attributes
- Rasterizing
- Efficiency issues for clipping and lighting
- Hierarchical scene representation, using trees and scene graphs
- Picking algorithms for a variety of 3-D shapes
- Collision detection for static and dynamic graphical objects
- Oriented bounding-box (OBB) trees
- Basics of curves and special curves (including Bezier curves and various splines)
- Curves (generating surfaces from curves by using different techniques)
- Character animation, using keyframe animation and inverse kinematics
- Skinning
- Geometrical level of detail considerations
- Techniques for generating game terrain
- Spatial sorting and binary space partitioning (BSP)
- Special effects: lens flare, bump mapping, volumetric fogging, projected light and shadows, particle systems, morphing techniques
- C++ language features for effective object-oriented design
- Reference to the numerical methods required for game mathematics
Book Description
A major revision of the international bestseller on game programming!
Graphics hardware has evolved enormously in the last decade. Hardware can now be directly controlled
through techniques such as shader programming, which requires an entirely new thought process of a
programmer. 3D Game Engine Design, Second Edition shows step-by-step how to make a shader-based graphics engine and how to tame the new technology. Much new material has been added, including more than twice the coverage of the essential techniques of scene graph management, as well as new methods for managing memory usage in the new generation of game consoles and portable game players. There are expanded discussions of collision detection, collision avoidance, and physics all challenging subjects for developers.
* Revision of the classic work on game engines the core of any game.
* Includes Wild Magic, a commercial quality game engine in source code that illustrates how to build a
real-time rendering system from the lowest-level details all the way to a working game.
* Fully revised and updated in 4 colors, including major new content on shader programming, physics,
and memory management for the next generation game consoles and portables.
Customer Reviews:
Poor pseudo-code.......2007-05-16
This book is fantastically comprehensive, though I bought it more for the CG algorithms than anything else.
My biggest gripe is with the pseudo-code. My C++ is not great, but I can get by - I found the code in general under-commented for a textbook. If you were writing software, it might be fine, but the purpose of the code is to explain the algorithms, and to work in concert with the text, which it does not. Furthermore, I found the text did not fill in the holes - I was left to try to figure out what Eberley was doing by going through the code. Possibly if I had read the whole thing through from cover to cover things would be clearer.
If you're just looking for an algorithm reference, you could do better.
VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!.......2007-01-14
Are you a professional or student working in game development? If you are, then this book is for you. Author David H. Eberly has done an outstanding job of writing a second edition of a book which focuses on the design of the scene graph management system and its associated rendering layer.
Eberly, begins this book by discussing the details of a rendering system, including transformations, camera models, culling and clipping, rastering, and issues regarding software versus hardware rendering and about specific graphics application programmer interfaces in use these days. In addition, the author discusses rendering from the perspective of actually writing all of the subsystems for a software renderer. He also takes a look at the essentials of organizing your data as a scene graph. Then, he focuses on specifically designed nodes and subsystems of the scene graph management system. The author then looks at some general concepts you see in attempting to have physical realism in a three-dimensional application. Next, he discusses a lot of mathematical detail for much of the source code you will find in Wild Magic. Then, he takes a brief look at the basic principles of object-oriented design and programming. The author continues by discussing memory management. Finally, he takes a look at a handful of sample shaders and the applications that use them.
This most excellent book is very much enhanced, describing the foundations for shader programming and how an engine can support it. Perhaps more importantly, the book is the most comprehensive reference available for the development of shader-based 3D graphics engines!
This book is not about "Game Engine Design".......2006-09-26
This book is not about "Game Engine Design" -- it's about algorithms that you may come across when writing a 3D game engine. There's very little treatment of "engine design" in this book.
Even though the title is misleading, it's still a great book if you're looking for a reference on 3D game engine algorithms.
Good, but not what you might expect.......2005-04-16
I read this a few years ago, and have referred back to it many times, but I only recently realized that I neglected to write a review of it.
This book is well-written and contains a lot of useful information. The author is one of the few people qualified to write a book of this nature, and he has done an admirable job. That said, the title is pretty misleading, since the book has very little to say about the design of a game engine. Instead, it focuses on implementation details and the math involved with them. Topics covered include geometrical methods, the graphics pipeline, tree-based scene graphics, intersections, collision detection, curves and surfaces, animation, terrain, spatial sorting (quad/octrees, portals, BSPs), special effects, object-oriented infrastructure, and numerical methods. The author doesn't gloss over anything, providing detailed mathematical derivations of how things work.
Unfortunately, the math is so heavy that unless you're already pretty familiar with the subject matter, you'll probably have a hard time with the book. Therefore, I think that the target audience is much smaller that the group that would be attracted by the title.
If you're involved in game engine development or just want to deepen your knowledge, I think you'll appreciate the fact that the author doesn't pull any punches. Otherwise, you'll probably be more interested in the author's new book 3D Game Engine Architecture, which was recently released.
Book Review.......2005-02-08
I have spent the past four years studying game development and have read many books on the subject. The technologies utilized in game development are extensive but most can be grouped into a small list, which is rendering, animation, modeling, collision detection, collision response, artificial intelligence, audio processing, input management and network communication. This book only contains technologies related to rendering, animation, and collision detection.
Eberly gives an in-depth look to game development and provides adequate solutions to every problem introduced. He does not cover every possible way each problem could be solved nor does he spend a lot of time introducing and defining each problem. Instead he assumes the reader has a general understanding of the problem and gives a quick review followed by one or two detailed solutions using the most common techniques. Eberly's writing style makes it easy to follow the accumulation of segments to the final solution. His math notation on the other hand was confusing at times. A few places he supplemented words with mathematical notation and allowed the math to do the explaining, which made it seem like he was unable to put it into words.
I have found this book to be very useful and have added it to my reference library of game development, but I would not recommend this book to someone just starting to study game development. For a reader to glean anything of use out of this book he would have to be experienced in object oriented programming, have a basic understanding of 3D rendering technologies and have a working knowledge of calculus and linear algebra.
Book Description
Dave Eberly's
3D Game Engine Design was the first professional guide to the essential concepts and algorithms of real-time 3D engines and quickly became a classic of game development. Dave's new book
3D Game Engine Architecture continues the tradition with a comprehensive look at the software engineering and programming of 3D engines. This book is a complete guide to the engineering process, starting with a walk-through of the graphics pipeline showing how to construct the core elements of 3D systems, including data structures, the math system, and the object system. Dave explains how to manage data with scene graphs, how to build rendering and camera systems, and how to handle level of detail, terrain, and animation. Advanced rendering effects such as vertex and pixel shaders are also covered as well as collision detection and physics systems. The book concludes with a discussion of application design, development tools, and coding standards for the source code of the new version of the Wild Magic engine included on the CD-ROM. Wild Magic is a commercial-quality game engine used by many companies and is a unique resource for the game development community.
*CD-ROM with the complete C++ source code for Wild Magic version 3, a commercial-quality game engine for Windows, Linux, and OS X.
*A comprehensive, practical guide to all the steps necessary to build professional-quality real-time simulations with just minimal mathematics required.
*Emphasizes the application of software engineering principles and describes the architecture of large libraries.
Customer Reviews:
Good software engineering book.......2006-01-03
Well, needless to say, Eberly rocks. This is a great book on game engine architecture - even though it's less mathematically intensive than Eberly's other books (which, for many, is a good thing), it has a very good coverage of software engineering aspects of game engines, as it explains in detail how (and why) the WildMagic engine is organized. Do keep in mnid, though, that the book's purpose is not teacing how to develop games or algorithms for that - it's a software engineering book, and a good one at that.
Acceptable book with some significant failings.......2005-11-09
This is an acceptable introductory book for the architecture of an AAA-quality game engine, under the consideration that it has so little competition.
The most significant criticism I have of the book is its repeated digression of topics into a documentation of the Wild Magic engine. If you intend to use the Wild Magic engine, I highly recommend the book, but for anyone not using it, this book saves far too few pages for discussions of general engine architecture.
For example, the entire second chapter is basically a documentation of the basic types defined for the Wild Magic engine. If you are architecting a large scale project, you do not want to start the discussion with talk of a smart pointer class. Or an array class. Unfortunately, this is exactly how the book begins.
Throughout the book, the reader is constantly forced to shift through documentation for each Wild Magic class. While the author does use the engine to illustrate points, often the point is so heavily mixed with the documentation that it is tedious to pick out the general discussion.
My secondary criticism of the book is that too many words are used in specific (but uncommon) ways - making it hard to follow at times. The sad part is that the author acknowledges this for some words (which helps the reader) but fails to for others. An example of the latter is when the author concedes that he uses the word `animation' to mean any event that happens over a period of time. You will not find that definition in any dictionary, but at least he specifies his intent, which is slightly forgivable. What is not forgivable is the other phrases/words that are not acknowledged as being uncommonly used, such as `world bounds' and `local bounds'. Too often I found myself carefully following discussions not because I found the material difficult, but because I needed to extract the context for which the author is using a word or phrase. In this sense it makes it hard for anyone to simply use the book for reference purposes.
This book deserves three stars because it is a good (although sometimes short) treatment of the many subjects that are part of a 3D game engine. It loses one star for trying to combine two related, but what should be separate discussions - general engine architecture and documenting Wild Magic. It loses another for being overly verbose and dry (see my secondary criticism). It has so few competitors that you might just have to accept its failings and shift through the material to dig out the general architecture nuggets that are dispersed throughout the book.
3d Game Engine Architecture.......2005-06-03
The title says everything, this book treats most aspects concerning game engine design architecture and programming. Although not focusing in the next generation graphics architectures and shaders, it does provide an excellent basis for core engine and underlying graphics architecture design. General programming topics such as memory layout and shared object references are also discussed. A great book for begginers and a nice reading for professionals.
Best documentation for a software architecture ever written?.......2005-04-26
I don't know if this book the best documentation of a software architecture ever written, but its gotta rate up there. Probably its only rivals would be some of the foundational papers about the design of UNIX.
Why are there so few good contenders? Well, the genre of documentation for software architecture is a demanding one, because you need to master of so many skills in order to do it right. What makes it even harder is that the codebase is always changing in response to bugfixes and enhancements, which puts the documentation in continual jeopardy of drifting away from the codebase it describes.
Yes, this volume is a bit more plodding than Eberly's usual effortless writing style, but remember, he's documenting a software architecture, which is an inherently plodding task. Its ploddinghood is therefore a feature, not a bug. Moreover, he is never gratuitously plodding.
f you want to be a great documentor of software architectures, then pay close attention to the techniques Eberly uses here. Notice how, by casting the documentation in a tutorial form, he simultaniously makes it (1) a much more interesting read, and (2) makes it a dual-use document, invaluable both to newbies getting up to speed and to old pro's wanting to refresh their memory.
Budding game engine developers will find this book invaluable, but they are not the only ones who would benefit from reading it. This book could be profitably used in a general software architecture class, as an example of how to really document a software architecture.
In addition, a game engine's architecture is a superset of many other software architectures. For example, someone who is building a large-scale CAD system, or an EDA package, or an event-driven simulation package, or a physics simulation package, would also save themselves from many unanticipated "gotchas" by giving this book a close read.
Finally!.......2005-04-17
One of the criticisms I had of Dave Eberly's previous 3D Game Engine Design is that it didn't really say much about how to design an engine. Rather, it focused mostly on the programming/implementation details, which was disappointing to some. This new book is what many people expected from the older book.
In this book, the author walks through the design and architecture of a 3D game engine, using his Wild Magic engine as an example, but also drawing on his experience developing NDL's NetImmerse. Throughout, he describes why each design decision was made, and in many cases alternative solutions are discussed as well. This isn't just a high level discussion, however, as ample source code, figures, equations, and sample applications are included to get you started with implementation.
The topics covered include the core engine systems, scene graphs, renderers, cameras, LOD, animation, terrain, special effects, physics and collision detection. Numerous sample applications and tools are also included. Dave's writing style is clear and minimally conversational, and he's kept the math to a minimum, making this a remarkably easy read.
This isn't a complete treatment of a game engine, since some important topics (e.g. scripting, audio) aren't included, but the material it does cover is worth it. Whether you're currently working on a game engine, planning to start one, or just want to have a better understanding of how they work, you'll be happy with this book.
Book Description
Ultimate 3D Game Engine Design and Architecture teaches how to design and create a video game engine that can be used to create gaming applications on the PC. Written for beginning programmers, beginning game developers, and those aspiring to get into the fi eld, the book covers the various systems and processes that go into a complete game engine, with an emphasis on architecture issues. The book focuses on building a complete game engine, including graphics, physics, programming, audio, AI, data structures, memory management, and more. The sample engine is called the Building Blocks 3D Engine and it's designed to give you the basics of each system that you can build from to create your own engines and games. The technologies used include OpenGL, C++, and the Windows XP, MacOS X, and Linux operating systems. This cross-platform approach makes the information and techniques easy to apply to any type of project. The book is broken into five main parts, beginning with introductory material, the engine core, input, sound, and networking systems. Next comes graphics and environments, including the rendering system, the drawing of static models, and more advanced rendering topics such as level of detail, scene graphs, graphical effects, resource management, and scene management for environments in general. In the third part, Physics, AI, and Scripting are covered. The custom physics system is detailed, along with point masses and soft bodies. A variety of AI techniques are covered next, followed by scripting-- command, property, and compiled scripting. In the fourth part the engine is ready to use for the two demo applications you'll create-- a black jack game and a 3D walkthrough using a portal rendering system. In the final part, you'll review what you've done, what you could do, and what resources you might need in the future to enhance your game engine.
Customer Reviews:
Sub-par and Somewhat Disappointing.......2007-09-09
I purchased this book in hopes of learning how a game engine worked; and while I did not come away with nothing, I did not gain much from this book.
The tutorials and ideas presented in the book are helpful, I must admit, but they are geared entirely around building someone else's engine - not a very intuitive or personal learning experience.
I do not recommend this book.
An OK first book on the subject of game engine design.......2007-02-07
This book does an OK job of walking through the basic anatomy of a game engine. You won't have anything too complex at the end of the day, because at only 500 pages, this allows only roughly 50 pages per chapter. Imagine trying to get everything you need to say about game physics in 50 pages! What was David Eberly thinking when he wrote that 800 page book on the subject? The book walks through the basics, adding features to the game engine as it goes, while never going very deep at all into any one subject. It's a good first book on what the skeleton of a modern game engine looks like, but you'll almost need a separate book to match the subject matter in each chapter in this book if you intend to put meat on those bones. On the plus side, the author uses standard C++, making the code easy to read and understand. Also, this is one of the few books on game engine design that mentions network programming issues and audio along with all of the 3D graphics issues. Another plus is that several of the chapters include student exercises, making it a good textbook choice in a class on basic game engine design. One odd thing the author does is that he continually uses UML diagrams in the book. Beginning game programmers need to focus on engine architecture and not get befuddled with software engineering issues. In general I thought the author's figures subtracted more than they added to the understanding of the book and its subject matter. The following is the table of contents:
Part 1 INTRODUCTION TO GAME ENGINES
1. Introduction to Game Engines - a "flyover" of the entire book including coding conventions used.
2. Engine Core - A discussion of data structures used, memory allocation and file I/O, and timing utilities - the basic workhorse elements of the engine.
3. Input, Sound and Networking - A long chapter that includes a look at the XBox 360 and XInput. OpenAL, which is a free API for 3D audio, along with XACT, which is Microsoft's cross-platform audio creation tool,are discussed for adding audio. Finally, networking with sockets is discussed.
Part 2 GRAPHICS AND ENVIRONMENTS
4. Rendering Systems - Includes a basic math library as well as a discussion of geometry primitives, shaders, and texturing.
5. Rendering Scenes and Scene Graphs - Describes the scene graph and how to work with it. Talks more about special effects than the more important subject of Level of Detail. Geometry sorting and culling is also discussed.
Part 3 PHYSICS, AI, AND SCRIPTING
6. Physics - Newtonian physics and games are discussed some, but there is a relatively long discussion on cloth simulation, which seems odd.
7. Artificial Intelligence - Barely touches the surface of the subject. It mentions path finding, finite state machines, and scripting, but not in near enough detail to be helpful.
8. Scripting - A very general chapter on this subject, and all too short.
PART 4 DEMOS
9. Game Demos - Discusses two demos using the engine - "Black Jack" and "The 3D Walkthrough Demo". A pretty good chapter.
PART 5 GAME OVER
10. Conclusions - A short and very general discussion of how the engine might be improved.
Appendix A. Additional Resources
Appendix B. Additional Tools
Appendix C. About the CD ROM
This is an OK first choice on understanding the basics of game engine design, just don't expect to walk away an expert after reading it.
Writing a Gaming Engine from Scratch.......2007-01-22
At the heart of any complex computer game there's an engine that handles the actual stuff you see on the screen. This book is on programming such an engine. It isn't a beginners book. You should have a pretty good knowledge of programming in C++, some concept of file formats, graphics design, and so on.
The layout of the book is to build a working engine. It is neither the most simple, nor the most complex but is a solid foundation for understanding what such an engine entails and can form the foundation upon which the engine can be customized and expanded to fit your needs.
There are several reasons for reading this book:
You may want to build your own engine
You may want to work for an engine company
You may be thinking of using a commercially available engine and want to know more about what's in them.
Or whatever?
Gaming engines are among the most complex probrams being written today. This book should be viewed as a basic introduction to how they are written. The CD supplied with the book has several ancillary packages as well as the full source code for the engine being developed in the book.
Book Description
Developing your own 3D game engine can be a demanding task. If you're up for the challenge, then "3D Game Engine Programming" is ready to take you through each step. All you need to begin is a working knowledge of C or C++and basic knowledge of the DirectX and Direct3D interfaces. With these skills behind you, you're ready to tackle the mathematical concepts and API-independent interfaces that will add up to your working game engine. This book takes you beyond simply building your game engine, showing you how you can apply it to implement a network deathmatch first-person shooter. You'll also cover additional tasks such as implementing a level editor to build your own 3D levels from scratch with a graphical user interface.
Customer Reviews:
Overall, a very decent book.......2007-09-18
I've been going through this book like a madman the past few days. I really am enjoying it. It is a little old, considering that it is from 2004 and he generally uses VS 6.0 (though makes reference to VS2003). Most of the stuff is still very relevant. He wants to take you through creating a semi-independent API for your engine (though he uses a lot of Direct3D programming).
A word of caution though: this book is full of techanese, which tends to deter newbies from learning C++. There were a few places where I got lost, and had to look things up. This is definitely not a newbie book, though you definitely can review the sourcecode included with the book instead of reading it. Most of the code is pretty self-explanatory if you are somewhat familiar with 3d programming.
Great book though. Cheers to the writer.
Its an OK buy.......2007-07-22
This book has lots of great information in it. You can easily learn a great deal about 3D graphics and what it takes to create an engine. However, one of the major drawbacks is that the engine doesn't compile. Which, in my luck, has been typical of computer book. But reading the books for the concepts are great.
Build an industry standard game engine.......2006-06-11
The book is unique in that it does exactly what it says it will do. Be warned however that as the book states it is not for beginner programmers who are new to Direct3D or new to C/C++ programming. However if you are familiar with the language and the API but never quite grasped the concept of fitting together all the components neccasary to make a 3D game engine then this really is the right book for you. There is not another book around as of this review that tells you bit by bit how to build a game engine and not only any game engine but a game industry standard engine the way the professionals build them.
There are a few version issues with the code on the DVD-ROM supplied. However this is always an issue if you are an intermediate programmer and familiar with C/C++ and a popular IDE then to be honest the minor issues should not be too much of a problem for you. Plus the author has even got a support website and he answers emails.
Well worth the money !!
THe author should learn how to program first!.......2006-02-13
C'mon - at least get a CD with examples that actually compile! If he were a programmer working for me, he'd get fired. Save your money, and you can buy mine as used for 1/2 price.
OK, but still needs work.......2004-12-21
The book does provide a basis for understanding a 3d game engine but it leaves out pieces in its tutorials, which would fine execpt that the book is written in "step-by-step tutorial" style. If you actually follow the book as a tutorial and code along, nothing will compile. If you use your head a little, though, you can figure out the missing features on your own, either by reviewing the material on the cd or by googleing. All in all, I found the book to be OK but i am still looking for someting better.
Average customer rating:
- Not a good product
- Excellent Book
- Talented Programmer, Poor Book Approach
- serious problem in writing style.
- Pompous.
|
Real-Time 3D Terrain Engines Using C++ and DirectX 9 (Game Development Series) (Game Development Series)
Greg Snook
Manufacturer: Charles River Media
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Focus On 3D Terrain Programming (Game Development)
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Advanced Animation with DirectX (Focus on Game Development)
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ASIN: 1584502045 |
Book Description
With recent advancements in programmable 3D rendering hardware, game developers can create engines capable of making complete outdoor landscapes. Many of today's popular games include entire outdoor environments, but making these environments realistic and fast is a challenge for even the best programmers. Real-Time 3D Terrain Engines Using C++ and DirectX 9 is written to help make the process more efficient, and to bring new programmers into the field of 3D computer game programming. The book is dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of programming a popular 3D engine type - the "Real-Time 3D Terrain Engine." Throughout the book, the focus is on the essential topics of outdoor terrain rendering. So whether you are new to 3D engine programming or a seasoned veteran, Real-Time 3D Terrain Engines Using C++ and DirectX 9 will teach you how to use the latest advancements in hardware-accelerated rendering, and provide all of the tips, tricks, and ideas you need to build your own, complete 3D terrain engine. Skills Needed: It is assumed that you are familiar with C++, Direct X, math, and geometry and that you're ready to move into 3D engine design and real-time terrain visualization.
Customer Reviews:
Not a good product.......2006-09-13
Although the author may be a good programmer, I wouldn't recommend his book.
Excellent Book.......2006-06-17
There are a great many terrain rendering white papers and other resources available online. Greg Snook's book helps you to take a lot of that information and put it together into a workable terrain engine. If you just picked up a compiler yesterday, or don't know the difference between an x-axis and a z-axis, this book isn't going to help you. While he does offer some primer material, the focus of the book is on the terrain engine.
This isn't a hand-holding book, either. Snook explains the topics at a level that is understandable and digestable. It's not abstract, like white papers, but neither is it paint-by-numbers. If you are the sort of person who requires step-by-step code samples, this book is beyond your level. Snook knows what he is talking about and he explains it well.
Each topic is covered in detail. When examining the terrain rendering algorithms, Snook discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each. He spends whole sections explaining error metrics and split levels. Never have I seen a book that covers terrain rendering in such detail. It's well worth the price you pay for it.
I know that some people like code they can just copy and paste. Most example code that accompanies a book is just that and, usually, isn't at all optimized. Often error handling is left out "for clarity". Snook takes no short cuts. This terrain engine he developed isn't just a bunch of example code, it's the real deal. Studying some of the support code, such as the resource system, is a lesson itself. There is much to learn from this book and the Gaia engine beyond terrain rendering.
Talented Programmer, Poor Book Approach.......2005-03-02
While I do not doubt that Gregory Snook is a very talented programmer, the code shown in this book and on the accompanying CD are proof enough, I believe that this book is of no use to anyone except for the most experienced professionals who have weeks of time to burn learning about Terrain Engines. I am not the most experienced programmer, having only worked with C++ and DX for 4 years now, but the problem with this book is not in complex concepts, but in content. All of the fundamentals of creating and rendering terrain are covered, but the example code and the engine (Gaia) on the CD are overly complex for any sort of educational book. Possibly every single library that Snook referenced has special wrapper functions and classes around them, making an examination of any code snippet next to useless unless the reader has spent days going through dozens of wrapper classes learning all of Snook's syntax. While I do enjoy owning this book as a conceptual reference, I am afraid that it is next to useless as an aid in practical programming scenarios.
serious problem in writing style........2005-02-02
I'm not a native english speaker. But I used to live in US for a while. And also Andre Lamothe's books make big senses to me.
With this background, I conclude that the author of this book doesn't know how to explain something. For example, while explaining quadtree, he doesn't talk anything about setting up quadtree for a terrain data. Instead, suddenly he talks about moving objects around quadtree. Even worse, that moving objects around quadtree doesn't make any sense either. Even worse, he says "oh my terrain engine works". I really don't know what he wants to show us.
It's almost like "focus on terrain ..." book written by a high school kid.
I'd rather dig internet for terrain handling algorithms than buy those two books.
Pompous........2004-11-11
Beware purchasing this book. It's written in such a way that only makes sense if you wrote it, particularly the code (a maze of jargon completely lacking in any clear explaination). And believe me, sticking with it until you can understand it does NOT help. Not only are the methods overly-complicated, they are also piss-poor in terms of performance and flexibility. Three months later, and I'm still angry I bought this book.
Book Description
Simulating physics helps cutting-edge games distinguish themselves by making virtual objects behave as we expect them to in the real world. Physics engines are the software programs that run these simulations. Building an engine is difficult, however. There are a large number of new developers (and hobbyists) coming into this market who need help through this complex process. Current introductory books are inadequate; they don't bring enough real-world programming experience to the task. There is a need for an introductory book on game physics with solid coding guidance but which limits the math content. Ian Millington brings his extensive professional programming experience to this problem. He has developed games since 1987, has studied AI and mathematics at the PhD level, and founded Mindlathe Ltd., a company that designed and built commercial physics engines. Physics Engine Development carefully describes each step in the creation of a robust, usable physics engine. It introduces the mathematical concepts in a clear and simple manner, keeping to high school level topics and building a physics code library as it goes. Each new concept is explained in diagrams and code to make sure that even the most novice of game programmers understands. The companion CD-ROM includes the source code for a complete physics engine of commercial quality. This book will serve as a introduction to more mathematically advanced books on game physics, such as Dave Eberly's Game Physics.
* Uses only high school algebra
* Shows how to build a complete system based on professional principles
* CD-ROM with C++ source code for a full commercial-quality physics engine
Customer Reviews:
Good principles and gives you a feel for the workings :).......2007-06-26
I found it a good read, and you can in most cases get a feel for what the writer is trying to achieve....he puts across the basic principle and then goes into a few ways of how you would compensate for such things, such as wobbling on the ground, multiple collisions etc. i.e. Introducing a few bodges etc to get a realistic look...rather than follow the maths to the letter.
Its not what I'd call a basic book which usually cover a lot of spheres and single point collisions, but then its not as advanced as eberlys....its a good intermediate book...definetly worth a read if your new to physics.
Happy coding =)
Awesome Book!.......2007-05-13
The book gives you step by step code on how to create a simple physics engine.
Good introduction to physics programming, but not much else.......2007-03-25
This book serves as a good introduction to many topics one would fine useful for implementing a physics engine. The writing is very clear, and even a high school student with a good background in mathematics shouldn't have much difficulty comprehending most chapters. Professional developers should probably just stay clear of this book, and go straight to Dave Eberly's "Game Physics." Don't expect to find a robust physics engine in this book either. All demos are pretty rudimentary, poorly organized and even buggy. Nevertheless, true beginners should still find the code easy to read and understand.
Book Description
Microsoft DirectX is an advanced suite of multimedia APIs built directly into Microsoft Windows operating systems. DirectX provides a standard development platform for Windows-based PCs by enabling software developers to access specialized hardware features without having to write hardware-specific code. DirectX was first introduced in 1995 and is the recognized standard for multimedia application development on the Windows platform.
Introduction to 3D Game Engine Design Using DirectX 9 and C# will illustrate the process of creating a simple 3D game engine. During this process many facets of the DirectX 9 software will be demonstrated. The C# language is used to show the power of developing a game using a Rapid Application Development (RAD) language. During the course of the book, readers will learn to develop an off-road driving game that brings such features as management of large scenes, environmental effects, and physics into play.
Download Description
Introduction to 3D Game Engine Design Using DirectX 9 and C# will illustrate the process of creating a simple 3D game engine. During this process, many facets of the DirectX 9 software will be demonstrated. The C# language is used to show the power of developing a game using a Rapid Application Development (RAD) language. In the course of the book, readers will learn to develop an off-road driving game that brings such features as management of large scenes, environmental effects, and physics into play.
Customer Reviews:
Code Does not Compile.......2006-06-07
This was a total waste of my money. If you plan on compiling the code then dont purchase this book. It will not compile and they have known it for a while. But refuse to release a code update.
If you dont believe this visit the Apress website. They know the code is bad.
Not an intro book........2006-05-23
If you're looking at engines like axiom, ogre, irrlicht, etc... and wondering how they do that... THIS is the book for you.
Just make sure you've read at least an intro c# book and 1 or 2 direct3d books.
I'm loving this book, I've read 1/4th of it over the period of my workshift... just can't put it down.
Things like octrees were completely confusing me, and lynn does a great job explaining it.
-1 star for not doing an octree implementation instead of a quad tree (so far... i haven't read the whole book yet), oh and i saw a "GOTO" statement in his code, which always urks me in OOP.
A godsend........2006-05-03
For those who have already had an introduction into DirectX, this book is a godsend. If you know a little bit about DirectX and are ready to take the next step in designing your own engine this is the book to get. Just for the engine structural knowledge I have gained from reading this book it was well worth it, and that's not including all of the implementation examples it gives you, such as Terrains, Meshes, Cameras, and Particle Effects to name a few that I liked. If you don't know anything about DirectX, this book will probably be hard to follow. If you do know DirectX then this book will be very easy to follow. What isn't in comments is explained enough (in my opinion) in the paragraphs preceding each class and method. If you are still having trouble understanding this book then I would recommend reading an 'Introduction to DirectX' book, not an 'Introduction to Game Engine Design USING DirectX' book. All in all, this book was extremely worth it. The author definitely has experience in this field. The book's title may be deceiving to some, if you only read the first and last couple words and skip the 5 words in the middle. The previous reviews were incorrect about this book. If you have a little bit of understanding of DirectX, and would like to see how to implement some elements of a game, like the ones i mentioned previously(and there are more than that), then definitely buy this book.
Misleading Title.......2005-08-12
This book is not an introduction to DirectX, D3D, or C#. It is a very high-level introduction to game engine design. One could almost gain as much from saying "Compartmentalise your objects" several times a day.
The title implies that it will give you some help understanding how DirextX and C# work together to create a game engine. This is false. There is a lot of uncommented code in this book (half the first chapter of 26 pages is uncommented code). The explanations given are abstract to the point of being worthless to someone who truly needs an introduction, giving only light glances at the example code. It is impossible to get a clear picture of everything involved.
There are doubtless those for whom this book is the perfect level of abstract discussion. However, I believe this is the exception rather than the rule. Highly not recommended.
Could have been better, but not bad for what it is........2004-09-14
Lynn T. Harrison, Introduction to 3D Game Engine Design in C# (Apress, 2003)
The main problem with Lynn Harrison's book is that, well, the code doesn't compile. Which isn't his fault; Microsoft made some changes in the version of the DirectX Software Development Kit that came out just after the book's release that compromised the code. But nine months go by, and no code update? Not a promising sign.
That aside, this is a lucid, easy-to-understand book about, well, 3D Game Engine design. There could have been clearer explanation in some places, and it should have been noted at the start that the book wouldn't be presenting the code in an order the reader could type it in himself (typing in book code will beat downloading it from the website, where learning is concerned, every time). But getting past those minor problems, this is a quite workable piece of writing, and anyone who's been programming in C# for a few months should know enough to get the hang of the basics, and be able to pick up the rest from the book itself. Recommended. *** ½
Average customer rating:
- OK for an overview of basic 3D game engine design
- Great but don't expect to create unreal engine..
- Total, Utter, Crap
- Good 3d engine is very useful into embeded system
- It is a good book
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Building a 3d Game Engine in C++
Brian Hook
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc (Computers)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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3D Game Engine Design, Second Edition: A Practical Approach to Real-Time Computer Graphics (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology)
ASIN: 0471123269 |
Customer Reviews:
OK for an overview of basic 3D game engine design.......2006-01-29
This is a very old book using very old technology. The author is using raw C++ code and some assembly language to demonstrate a 3D game engine which he calls AST3D. At this point in time, you should not buy the book expecting to extract the code intact and have a state of the art 3D game engine. However, since the code is not wrapped up as part of a larger more complex programming library, the code snippets in the book are very readable and therefore useful as pseudocode to understand the components of a game engine at a building block level, and some of the more basic algorithm information is still useful too. The problem is that modern in-print books on 3D game engine architecture are usually so wrapped up in some very complex code library that it is hard to get a good handle on how to write an engine and the design decisions involved. That is why this book is still useful. The most useful chapter in the book is chapter 16, "The View from the Top", in which the structure of the 3D game engine is explained in text and in block diagram form, referring back to topics in previous chapters. There is a complete code listing in the back of the book, so even if the diskette is missing from your used copy, you can still go through the code and get an idea of what you would need to have in your own game engine. Just don't pay any more than a used-book price. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents so I do that here:
1. An Approach to Games Programming - Designing Real-Time Interactive Games;The Main Loop; Real-Time Interactivity; Fun: The Golden Rule of Programming
2 Graphics in Two Dimensions - Basic Raster Graphics Theory; Basic VGA Theory; The VGA Class; The ASTPallette Class; Debugging with Dual Monitors;
3. Fixed Point Math - Why Fixed Point Math?; What is Fixed Point Math?; The ASTFixedPoint Data Type; Mathematical Operations; Function Call Overhead and Borland C++; Why not a C++ Class?;Cumulative Error;
4. 3D Graphics Primer - 3D Coordinates; Coordinate Systems; Math Classes; Transformations; Trigonometry; Projections;
5. Optimizing By Design - The Main Loop; Event Driven Programming; The Graphics Pipeline;
6. Organizing Your Data - The C++ Language; The AstObject Class; Object Definitions; The AstWorld Class;
7. Input Devices - The Generic Input Device Class; 2D Input Devices; The Thrustmaster Cockpit System; Keyboard;
8. Hidden Surface Removal - Types of HSR; Backface Culling; Depth Sorting; The Z-Buffer;
9. Drawing and Object - Transforming from LCS to CCS; Projecting the Vertices; Drawing the Triangles;
10. Shading - Fundamentals; Flat Shading; Gouraud Shading; Flat versus Gouraud;
11. Texture Mapping - Linear Interpolation; What is a Texture Map?; Drawing a Texture Mapped Triangle; Loading Textures from a Disk; Room for Improvement;
12. Environmental Effects - Depth Cuing;
13. Simplifying for Speed - Object Culling; Distance Abstraction;
14. Collision and Boundary Detection - Object Collisions; Boundary Collisions;
15. Automatons - Implementing Automation; Timing and DoSomething(); Automatons in AST3D;
16. The View From the Top - Overall Structure of AST3D;
17. Advanced Topics - Custom Hardware; Multiplayer Games;
Great but don't expect to create unreal engine.........2005-03-13
I bought this book many years ago because a friend of mine was going to buy it and asked if he should order one for me too. Yeah sure, why not. At that point even 2D game programming was a challenge for me, so I never read the book.
Now about 5 years later, and after reading "3D Math Primer for graphics and game Development", I wanted to apply some of my new knowledge, to show a simple filled cube on screen.
I started reading the book. Brian Hook at the time had a 486 and the OS was dos. The book does not explain OpenGL or Direct3D. It is completely software 3D. I like this fact. I don't expect to use the result for anyting other than knowledge. I want to know how 3D works under the hood, before I try OpenGL or Direct3D.
The examples are very easy to follow. I have now achieved to show a spinning cube on the screen which was my goal and I'm looking forward to read on and apply texture mapping.
Conclusion:
Great book if you know matrices and vectors but have no clue about how to apply it to programming.
Great if you only expect the book to help you with the first few steps into 3D programming. Don't expect to create Unreal engine or something like that.
I give it 3 stars. Maybe it deserves more but still, it IS dated and I'm taking this into consideration as well.
Total, Utter, Crap.......2005-02-10
Back when I was a lot younger I had just enough money to buy a single programming book. That didn't happen very often. Long story short ... I bought this completely worthless book. This is absolutely the worst programming book I've ever seen.
Brian Hook decided to print out his retarded cousin of a "game engine" and sell it to the unsuspecting. After all, how else was he supposed to make any money from this Cleveland Steamer of an engine.
Only buy this book if you intend to coat it in dog feces and fling it through Brian Hook's living room window.
This guy makes Andre Lamothe looks like the kind of guy that DOESN'T walk around all day in a Blade outfit.
[...]
All of the articles written by Brian Hook are rated the lowest of any on the page.
Good 3d engine is very useful into embeded system.......2004-12-22
Tell you 3d thory and 3d texture mapping.
you must use BC++4.5(under windows98 ME)to compile and link it.
The whole code can help you building your own 3d system.
If you are 3d programmer ,must buy it...
It is a good book.......2001-01-27
I purchased this book in 1995 when I was migrating from C to C++. Stepped through the code in the debugger, and put it aside, as it was for DOS, and I wanted to have a real Window, not DOS screen. Later, with Charles Petzold's "Programming Windows" help, I ported 3D engine DOS code to Windows31 and it worked, but I have to adapt it to the Windows events/kbd/mouse processing. Now in 6 years I recompiled the Windows 31 version on Windows 2000 Advanced Server in VS.NET Beta1 - it compiles and runs(!). I am learning C# these days, and will try to re-write Brian's engine in C#. My point is that the ideas of 3D engine experssed in this book are fundamental, as they are absorbed from the knowledge of many talented people named in the book. The bulk of engine design and the code is solid, it just takes time and patience to gain necessary experience to understand the engine, adopt it to the event-driven model, and move it to the platform of your choice. Overall book is worth the money spent for those who want to learn the core of 3D programming.
Average customer rating:
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Creating Game Art for 3D Engines
Brad Strong
Manufacturer: Charles River Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1584505486 |
Book Description
Learn how to create commercial-quality game art and make it come alive in a 3D engine! "Creating Game Art for 3D Engines" is the ideal guide for the serious student or aspiring animator who wants to learn how to create and successfully export game art, from simple shapes to full-blown characters. Using Autodesk® 3ds Max® to generate models and animations, and Torque as the 3D game engine, the book provides step-by-step instructions on how to model, unwrap, texture, rig, export, and script all of the essential art assets required for a game. Unlike other books that cover only art creation, Creating Game Art for 3D Engines teaches you how to create art specifically with the game engine in mind. All of the principles and techniques are universal and can be applied to any 3D software or game engine. Get ready to make your game ideas a reality! On the CD: -Sample characters and weapons -Sample pickups and script files -Screen captured movie tutorials -Trial version of the Torque Game Engine
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