Beginning OpenGL Game Programming [With CDROM]

While all the information in this book can be found free on the net, (nehe.gamedev.net would be an excellent resource and is even mentioned in the book), the book combines all that knowledge into one location with each topic thoroughly covered in an easily accessible way. It doesn't try to teach you how to program C++ nor does it try to teach you 3D math fundamentals (outside of how matrices and transformations apply to OpenGL specifically). It just teaches you OpenGL. With that said, there are some bonus chapters on the CD that goes into vectors and matrix math, as well as an indepth chapter on how to work with windows. The other bonus chapters are great and worth studying as well, particularly the chapters on DirectInput and DirectAudio (though I would love to see at least some mention of alternative API's such as OpenAL). Each chapter is presented with sample code and executables demonstrating the topic covered. Chapter 13 has a complete 3D Battle Chess style chess game. It won't win any awards, but it's very cool none-the-less! If that weren't enough, there's also a Bonus game, complete with code, that while not quite as cool as the chess game, is worth studying on how the authors put a game together, complete with (very) basic AI and gives you clues and direction toward implementing your own game. Get this book and mess with the code! See what you can add to the Bonus Game! Try to make the monsters fight back, remove the double explosion sound bug (at least on my machine), make the world bigger and reduce the density of the fog, go nuts! This isn't the last OpenGL book you'll need to buy, but it certainly should be one of the first!

Prior to reading this book, my only exposure to OpenGL was through code I borrowed from people off the net. The code created a simple window and drew an object, and I would tweak the code to do what I wanted. But I didn't really know how to use OpenGL. This book helped me understand the basics of OpenGL, and it gave me enough information so that I could find additional resources to learn more. The authors have done a spectacular job of explaining technical details in a clear and concise manner.

Beginning OpenGL Game Programming is a great introduction for those with little to no experience with OpenGL. I have used it both as an introduction for a few projects I worked on as well as a refresher for a position I will soon begin. Intended for a beginner (obviously), it does a very good job of getting someone up to speed swiftly. Unlike the many other books in the field, it manages to stay at only roughly 300 pages. That the authors managed to put so much information in such a (relatively) small number of pages is impressive. The book doesn't waste time with stories and constant vernacular like "cool" and "dude" as so many other related titles do. However, while maintaining a professional feel, it is by no means a boring or a dry read. Another aspect that is worth mentioning is the quality of the code and examples themselves. While most books will build a massive, hard to follow engine, Beginning OpenGL Game Programming manages to keep it under control. Much like the book itself, the source is without unnecessary bloat. I was able to look back on any chapter and read the source without having to jump to prior chapters for code clarification or explanation. Lastly, I can say firsthand that the authors are easily reached and quite dedicated to the book. For the incredibly low price, this is a terrific bargain.

I'm not new to programming, but I am new to OpenGL. With this book I was able to get a demo to my employer to pursuade them to do our next project in 3D. Very well written and easy to understand with lots of examples. With the additional material on the cd, it's a great value too. I give this book five stars because it solved my problem for $20.

As an author, it's important to me that potential readers of this book know what they are getting in advance, so that they can have all the information they need when deciding whether or not to buy it.This book is intended for people who have some experience programming in C++ who can make a basic program on their platform of choice. Some knowledge of 3D math will be helpful, though not strictly required.This book focuses on teaching the portions of OpenGL that are relevant to game development. Topics covered include using OpenGL with Win32, states, primitives, transformations and matrices, color, lighting, materials, blending, fog, images and bitmaps, texture mapping (including mipmapping, multitexturing, combiners, texgen, and environment mapping), extensions, displaying text, display lists, vertex arrays, frustum culling, and buffers. The material is pulled together in a Battle Chess-like example game in the final chapter. The demo programs were written for Windows, but we separated the platform specific code from the OpenGL code, so they should be easily portable to other platforms.This book started out as a second edition of OpenGL Game Programming, but we decided to split it into two volumes (the second of which will be available next year). If you've already read the original book, you probably don't need this one, though you'll definitely find some useful things in it. We've reviewed everything and corrected many technical errors, as well as updating the text for OpenGL 1.5. Many sections have been completely rewritten, and we've added a new chapter and several new sections. We've also included many of the chapters from the original book on the CD, so at half the price (or less) we think it's a great value.Additional information about the book, including contact information for Kevin and myself, can be found at glbook.gamedev.net. We're committed to providing continual support for this book, so don't hesitate to contact us.