Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus-Advanced 3D Graphics and Rasterization

Okay, maybe not the best book in the world. But it does do exactly what it says it is going to do, plus Andre Lamothe both knows what he is talking about, and presents all of the information in a logical and easy to understand way. A must have for all learning game programmers. After you read this book (which takes awhile) everything that you would need to know to write a full fledged 3d game is in your head. Long yes, but that is because the collosal amount of information in it. The CD contains source code for everything in the book. So not just do you have an explanation, but you have samples to play around with and learn from. Great book! But I would advise first reading his first book in the series, Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus, and then just skip the first three chapters of the 3D game programing, that way you get the whole deal. I have read both books and have made several games using his information.

This book rocks. It teaches you how to program a software 3D graphics engine from the ground up. Notice I said create a software graphics engine and not how to use hardware API to create an engine. This book doesn't cover the hardware 3D APIs, Direct 3D and Open GL. It shows how those libraries were created. With this knowledge learning any 3D API is greatly simplified because you have an idea of what is going on behind the senses. The math necessary for 3d graphics is introduced with a no nonsense approach which ignores theory and concentrates on application. Math covered is 2D, 3D Coordinate systems, Very basic Trigonometry, Vector operations, Matrix Operations, Introduction to Quaternion, and some basic calculus. If you're not already at the college math level then you may need some supplementary material in this area, but this is not the book's fault it is simply that nature of 3D graphics. Bottom line if you want to work with 3D graphics you'll have to get a handle on the math and this book gives you a good guideline for which areas of math are important. The optimization chapter is worth the price of the book alone, honestly. The author explains SSE, and shows how to use many tools which can track down the slow areas of your code. He explains how to use the Intel C++ compiler which integrates itself directly into the Visual C++ IDE. The compiler that generates the fastest code is Intel's compiler which makes sense considering they make the Chips!. If you already consider yourself really good with 3D graphics do yourself a favor and go to a bookstore and thumb through the optimization chapter. A few words of warning however. If you don't consider yourself a very good C/C++ programmer then you will be lost. If you can not create a simple windows application using the Win32 API then this book is probably a little too advanced for you. (...) If you look these over and have a good idea of what is going on and want to learn more about 3d graphics then this is THE book.

In his latest book, "Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus," Andr? LaMothe develops a 3D software engine by adding new functionally sequentially through each successive chapter. The book is a little over 1600 pages, comes with a companion CD and retails for $59.99.Writing a graphics engine in software may not seem all that sophisticated, but it is an excellent way to approach computer graphics. By having to write specific functions that are typically abstracted by a platform specific API (i.e. DirectX), LaMothe focuses on the underlying theory and provides the reader a conceptual framework that is easily adapted to various targets as need arises. While this book is the second volume in the Tricks series, having read the first book is not essential. To handle the 2D graphics, audio, and input, LaMothe starts off with the engine developed from the first book with DirectX 7 - and builds the 3D software engine on top of it (through the course of the subsequent chapters). The first section introduces DirectX, the basic game structure, and the previous library's functional interface. In order to maximize time (and pages) building the new 3D engine, LaMothe abstracts the DirectX and Win32 code by encapsulating the computer interface to a set of three libraries to handle window construction, input, and audio. The book adequately describes the basic foundations necessary to use DirectX and Win32 without dwelling on many of the specifics. The main objective is getting to the 3D portion of the book and a "black box" approach is best for the platform specific wrapper code.The second section begins with linear algebra and trigonometry. The math section spans over one hundred pages and forms the basis of the math library described in the subsequent chapter. Having most of the fundamental groundwork in place, LaMothe begins to develop the pipeline for the 3D engine. From the local to world transform to projection, the sub-steps necessary for rasterization are well detailed and described. In order to read external model data, several functions are developed to parse the output of the modeling tools included on the companion CD. By the end of the section, the engine is able to render in wire-frame.After having the basic engine in place, the book really takes off. LaMothe starts the third section of the book adding critical enhancements: lighting, texture mapping, clipping, and a depth buffer. Starting with the mathematical background, each topic is thoroughly explored then the functional changes to the engine API are presented. LaMothe writes in a clear and sometimes too familiar fashion. The book reads as though LaMothe is speaking directly to you while transcribing his thoughts to the page.In the final section of the book, LaMothe tackles several advanced graphics topics: perspective texture mapping, spatial partitioning, shadows, and animation. The visibility chapter is particularly strong with an in-depth look at Binary Space Partitions (BSP

I want to make it clear to all that are potentially buying this book. Tricks II is about SOFTWARE algorithms and rasterization. There is NO coverage of Direct3D, OpenGL, etc. If you're interested in learning about APIs then this is the wrong place. If you're interested in learning about HOW TO DO IT from plotting a pixel to Quake II technology then this book will show the way. I can say that there is nothing like this on the market, and probably never will be. The amount of time needed to illustrate multiple 3D engines, and technologies, build the demos, and try and make it fun, and engaging is simply too time consuming. I wrote this book for myself, when I was learning 3D graphics all I had was the BIBLE "Computer Graphics - Principles and Practice" which is fantastic, but lacks implementation, and practical examples. Thus, my goal for Tricks II was to re-create the algorithmic and mathematical vigor of Principles, but with a more grounded, and practical approach with real-time considerations. I personally guarantee you won't be dissapointed, the demos are very cool, and good starting points for a number of games types from; space, indoor, water, road, and fighting -- But, once again, if you want to learn boring APIs and not understand the fundamentals of 3D graphics, then don't look here! :)Andre'

Simply put, this book is amazing. I'm a 3D game programmer myself, even written a couple books on the matter (*cough* Focus on 3D Terrain Programming *cough*). I've read just about every major book on 3D graphics and a heck of a lot of books on game programming, and I can safely say that this is THE best of both worlds. I've never seen a book this thorough before in my life. Andre, who I know from personal experiences as a great guy, really shows his incredible knowledge of 3D graphics, and even game programming in general. It's nice to be able to read through an explanation and think "wow, this guy definately knows his stuff inside and out".Absolutely great work. I know it was a long time in the writing, but, from my point of view at least, it was very much worth it. Don't listen to the nay-sayers that throw this book off the mark due to it's lack of using Direct3D or OpenGL. This book teaches you what's most important about 3D graphics: THE THEORY! How are you supposed to program 3D games by solely knowing how a 3D API function changes a scene? You can't. You not only need to know how the function changes the scene, but WHY it works the way it does and, some times, how it can be improved.If you're a beginner lost in a 3D void, this is definately the book for you. However, it's almost more important to note that if you're an intermediate programmer who has EVER wondered about the "why" behind 3D graphics, then this book is also definately for you. Just buy it.