Core Techniques and Algorithms in Game Programming Review

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(More customer reviews)This text is an intriguing kind of beast. It gives broad overviews of almost every area that impinges on game engine design, but yet avoids a lot of low level detail in maths and code that one has come to expect - perhaps wrongly? The result is that you can read this book and speak at a very high level, very comprehensively, about myriad issues affecting 3D game engine design - wihout being able to write a line of code. Yes, one could be very cynical about this style of presentation but one has to start somewhere on the learning curve. Along this dimension therefore the book is an excellent conceptual text for students. It reminds me a little in passing of the excellent Turing Omnibus but without the same algebraic grittiness.
It is a book to read before reading, say, the two volume Watt and Policarpo or Eberly's book. There is no doubt that for the student who wants a clear overview of the major current issues in game design, without the whole panopoly of algorithms, this is the best text available.
Whether the book would lead you into significant coding projects on its own, is a moot question. My personal opinion is that it wouldn't - unless you are already very familiar with the algorithmic implementations required. An ancilliary text with more DirectX or OpenGl meat would be necessary. Setting that judgement aside for the moment, it is an excellent text for anyone requiring an academically informed critique of the many design issues in game programming. Moreover it is also written to be read - a rarity in CS books these days.

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To even try to keep pace with the rapid evolution of game development, you need a strong foundation in core programming techniques-not a hefty volume on one narrow topic or one that devotes itself to API-specific implementations. Finally, there's a guide that delivers! As a professor at the Spanish university that offered that country's first master's degree in video game creation, author Daniel Sanchez-Crespo recognizes that there's a core programming curriculum every game designer should be well versed in-and he's outlined it in these pages! By focusing on time-tested coding techniques-and providing code samples that use C++, and the OpenGL and DirectX APIs-Daniel has produced a guide whose shelf life will extend long beyond the latest industry trend. Code design, data structures, design patterns, AI, scripting engines, 3D pipelines, texture mapping, and more: They're all covered here-in clear, coherent fashion and with a focus on the essentials that will have you referring back to this volume for years to come.