The Shining Source

Hi Programmers,

I stumbled across a book some time ago and finally managed to read parts of it last weekend and I really can recommend it to any programmer tho the example programms are mostly written in C++.

It's called Game Programming Gems (link is for the german Amazon but the review is in english anyway) and is part of a series of books (recently part 4 was released).

All of them include articles dealing with a variety of game programming topics from general stuff to Graphics and AI. Most of the articles are well written and due to their short length (5-20 pages) they get straight to the point. I enjoyed reading it tho some of the articles due to their variety. Some are rather "open your mind" kinda type (like one about Network protocols - you can't discuss this topic in 5 pages...tho they still try), some are nifty tricks (like one about the best use of the C++ assert statement ) and rather deep articles (bout KI and Graphics).


All in all I would say if you are a (experienced) C++ programmer this book is a must have. BTW if any of you is interested I might send him some kinda example chapter .....  ya know what I mean:D
I myself bought it because they released it in German - and if they translate a book dealing with such a topic it is usually a must have

If you ain't  sure if it's your cup of tea you might want to read the gamedev.net reviews:
http://www.gamedev.net/columns/books/bookdetails.asp?productid=59

do you know if it is 4 volumes or 4 issues? (ie - should I buy number 1 or 4?)

it's really 4 volumes - so you should probably buy the first one.  Nevertheless this might also depend on your interests:

• Game Programming Gems 1:

http://www.charlesriver.com/toc/gamegemsTOC.html

• Game Programming Gems 2:

http://www.charlesriver.com/books/GGIITOC.pdf

• Game Programming Gems 3:

http://www.charlesriver.com/toc/gamegems3toc.pdf

• Game Programming Gems 4:

http://www.charlesriver.com/titles/gamegems4.html[/list]


As you can see the books deal with a variety of topics and due to that they lack a bit in depth coverage tho you can implement all ideas presented after reading the article.
In addtion to that the main AI author also published a AI in depth series (AI Game Programming Wisdom, also at charlesrivers). - so if that is rather your cup of tea you might prefer to get that one.

Here's one from me: (graphics programming black book - Michael Abrash)
http://www.byte.com/abrash/
And the source code:
http://199.125.85.76/abrash/code.zip

I realise this is a bit on the late side, but I remembered this excellent book that both Ty and I read. It's called "The Indie Game Development Survival Guide", and I can heartily recommend it. It's got chapters on everything from organisation and planning to team management and the eventual selling of your game. It's a well-written book and one I think all Shining developers would enjoy. The Amazon page is here.

BTW, there free version of the above:
http://www.dvara.net/HK/gpbb.asp

I browsed through Programming Gems 4 the other day, but only a few topics really interested me so it wasn't worth shelling out for. Still, the articles are very in depth and well written. Certainly gives you a lot to think about.