3D Game Programming for Teens |  | Author: Eric D. Grebler
Publisher: Course Technology PTR
List Price: $29.99
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Seller: b5b
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 634541
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 440
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 159200900X
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.81526
EAN: 9781592009008
ASIN: 159200900X
Publication Date: May 18, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"3D Game Programming for Teens" is a comprehensive, step-by-step introduction to 3D game programming for both teenagers and non-programmers. Organized into three parts, the book begins with an introduction to the game development industry, the game development process, and game engines including WildTangent. Part two covers JavaScript and Web programming and illustrates multiple concepts including variables, loops, and arrays. The final part of the book brings all of the concepts learned together, as you incrementally build a 3D game as each skill is introduced. "3D Game Programming for Teens" assumes no prior programming experience and focuses on teaching the basic skills needed to build a simple 3D game. Once you have mastered the basics, you can apply each skill to more complex game engines and game building. Helpful definitions, examples, sample code, and a hands-on tutorial approach make the book a simple yet complete introduction to 3D game programming.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
A Good Choice For The Right Audience June 20, 2009
Bruce Kirkpatrick (the worktable on my boat)
The intended audience for this book is someone with an interest in Video Game programming with possibly a bit of previous programming experience in any language.
I would imagine that the series title "for teens" is a marketers idea of a synonym for "for dummies" or such. In any case the book does deliver in that the style is light, the learning curve very reasonable, and a substantial amount of material is covered. The author does a very good job of isolating the concept being discussed at each point in the text and in the related code examle presented.
On the downside, there are a small number of problems with the example code (about 5), and I also thought that the start of each example project that started in the middle of a chapter could have been hilited better. These points are a little picky so I only dinged it one star.
While the author could have gone into more depth topics, there is really nothing that could have been cut from the book without harm so more depth would have meant a larger and most likely costlier book. As it is, the book provides a solid enough foundation for an interested reader to extend the concepts to more complex projects.
While C++ or C# might be a great destination for someone with aspirations of being a professional game programmer, the learning curve on those languages is far steeper than the Blitz Basic used here, and the game design concepts one would aquire using this framework will come much faster and be quite transferrable.
For someone at the level of "a little bit of programming experience or ready for a small challenge", this is a fine selection.
If you feel you are beyond this and are looking to jump into a C flavor game environment, I would check out the just released: Microsoft® XNA® Game Studio 3.0: Learn Programming Now! (Pro - Developer) by Rob Miles.
The author also has a free downloadable C# tutorial pdf book that can be accessed through his website verysillygames.com which is outstanding.
If you want to start at a more introductory level I would suggest: The Game Maker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners (Technology in Action) by Jacob Habgood, Mark Overmars, and Phil Wilson - a book that is, in my opinion, simply the most well crafted instructional book of any kind I have ever read.
Bruce Kirkpatrick
MCSE, MCSD, MCDBA, MCT, OCP, iNet+, Network+, Security +, A+ ... and so on
 Not worth it -- learn C++ instead. December 13, 2007
Derek D. Rumpler (Somerville, OH USA)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I initially approached this book with much enthusiasm. The author is a very engaging writer, intermingling an otherwise boring subject with much humor.
However, this book is not really all it is cracked up to be. For starters, the book deals with a little known 3D game engine based in BASIC known as Blitz3D. For those interested in pursuing a career in game design, C++ is the standard, not this obscure programming language which few know about.
The book contains a fair amount of typos, some even in the programming code itself. In the section on audio, the author forgets to add quotation marks around an audio file name. I wondered why my program didn't start, as I copied his code line-for-line, and had to gruel for four hours before I finally discovered the result. A beginner to programming languages shouldn't be forced to figure things out on his own, as the user is often left to do. This may not be the author's fault, but his copy-editor should have been fired.
The book delves a little bit into 3ds Max and Corel PhotoDraw which actually are industry standards. It should be commended for this (hence the reason I gave it two stars). However, it touches on them only briefly. The section on 3ds Max is incredibly vague. 3ds Max has a very detailed and thorough GUI (graphical user interface) and it can be fairly difficult to find things without more detailed instructions (preferably with pictures, as there are few in this section). Likewise, the author often copy-and-pastes information from previous exercises in Corel PhotoDraw. What you actually get is a rehash of what you already just read, down to the same file names, instead of focusing on what the section should ACTUALLY be about.
This book had the potential to be better, but a large part of it was sloppy editing. However, I think the name "3D Game Programming for Teens" is a misnomer. Perhaps a better title would be "Blitz3D For Teens" (you could even drop the "For Teens" part and call it "How To Program in Blitz3D"). If people want to learn how to program real 3D games, I'd suggest learning C++. It is not that difficult if you put in the time and effort.
However, if you are fine with making sub par games, then I'm sure there's a better reference. In fact, the free package of Blitz3D comes packed-in with programming tips and examples to practice with. But be prepared to spend $100 to make larger projects. The free package only allows files up to a certain size; another reason to consider C++ because it is virtually free if you get the correct compiler.
 Fun and Entertaining October 21, 2007
Martin Berger
This book was easy to read and understand. Lives up to it's intended purpose, which is to teach the basics of 3D game programming. I liked the fact that the CD contains a demo copy of Blitz3D, which, does not time out. It also contained lots of demo code, that you can study, and other useful software for creating graphics and 3D models. Buy this book along with Maneesh Sethi's "Game Programming For Teens" and you will have a solid foundation to build on.
Great book for novice programmers! March 9, 2007
Andreas Lundgren (Umea, Sweden)
For a long time i've been looking for a book that offers a good, easy-learning hands-on approach on Blitz 3D programming, and this is it! The book is very versatile since it is not only focusing specificly on coding, but also what's the essence of a good game. It gives a brief history of gaming history, telling you what it takes to make you a successful game programmer and how to bring your own ideas to life. After reading this book there is one thing that i feel that i would like to see, a follow-up! This book left me craving for the learning of some more advanced programming techniques since it tend to be overexplicit to some extent (which actually is a good thing if you are REALLY new to programming!). Nonetheless, if you want to learn how to be a successful programmer, regardless of your present programmings kills, this book is definitely a good start. Every game-programmer can read this book and learn something new, and they will have a enjoyable time doing so!
 Learn Basic programming concepts before reading this book. October 14, 2006
Sheryl J. Brown
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
In my opinion, this book is very out of order. The author teaches you concepts about 3D programming, before he acually tells you the basics about programming. So throughout the whole book, you don't understand why or what you are typeing. I was able to understand the book very well, only because I have been programming for a bit already. If you'd like to learn basic 3D programming, this is a very good book. Just read a few other books about programming before you read this. It will make understanding this book much easier. I'd recommend "Game Programming For Teens 2E", it's the first programming book I read. And that book is very well put together, unlike this one.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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