Is this book for me?

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    • Is this book for me?

      I am about 20% into this book, and I am questioning whether or not it's for me.

      I've been in web development for almost 10 years, and I am getting extremly bored with it. I've always wanted to make games, but the dread of my daily job has finally got me to look into it.

      Having read a few chapters, I am surprised that the book hasn't even demonstrated a simple "hello world" in Direct X. Don't get me wrong, I am learning a lot (and realizing that I really need to learn C++). But I am wondering if this is not exactly a beginner book.

      Should I stick with it?
      Would it make more sense for me to advance my C++ knowledge beyond my college computer science courses?
      Will I know how to write a simple game by the end of this book?
    • RE: Is this book for me?

      It really depends on your goal. Do you want to get into the indie world and do it as a hobby, or are you trying to be a professional game developer?

      The book teaches you about architecture, which most books tend to ignore. All of the techniques were used in actual games. There's no simple Hello World app anywhere; the whole book is about building up the engine.

      If you're not yet comfortable with the basics of rendering something on the screen or are getting overloaded with all the content without seeing any results, it might be worthwhile to download DirectX and pick apart some of their tutorials for a while. This will sharpen your C++ skills a bit as well give you some instant feedback. Even better, it'll probably raise a few questions in your head.

      In fact, I think that's a really good idea. I would try building a really simple game in C++ using sample code from DirectX as a starting point. Maybe try something like Tank, or Pong, or Tetris. Better yet, try making all three. You'll learn the basics pretty quickly. Hopefully this will get you asking questions about how architecture works, where to abstract, etc. It should also help ground the stuff we're teaching in Game Coding Complete.

      [Edit]
      Oh, I forgot to answer your last question. By the end of the book, you should have enough knowledge to write a simple 3D game. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should download the source code and get it up and running. We made that sample game using the techniques in the book.

      -Rez
    • If you decide that you really want to know more about DirectX, then I hear the books by Frank D. Luna are pretty good, and tend to get recommended a lot over on Gamedev.net

      I would suggest messing around with the DirectX SDK tutorial examples first, to make sure that's even a route you want to pursue. I've personally only ever messed around with examples and the SDK tutorials, which has been sufficient for my needs. Granted i'm never going to make the next Crysis quality graphics pipeline with that basic knowledge. ;)
    • DirectX is good to know, but you don't have to go too deeply unless you want to be a graphics programmer. I've only ever written DirectX code once in my whole career, and have only written graphics code maybe three or four times. Even on a medium-sized game, you usually have a graphics specialist who handles 90% of the graphics code. I would suggest learning enough to do what you want for your own games and ignoring the rest. My own game engine is 2D for that exact reason.

      -Rez
    • @Kl1X, thanks. I'll pick up that book.

      @rezination I live very close to Bethesda Softworks, so I've been looking at their job openings. I would love to be able to qualify for the Game Programmer position, but the requirements are quite vague.

      I know that I stand the best chance by actually having a demo to show, since I have no prior industry experience. So, I am trying to figure out what skills I need to build a demo. I think it would be great if I can build everything from scratch, inlcuding the engine and the graphics code.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by SleepyWalrus ().

    • Yeah, that's very generic. There's no shame in using an existing engine, but building your own is better. Just don't go crazy trying to build the perfect demo. Make something fun, technically interesting, and complete. 3D is not required. Remember, there aren't any entry-level AI, graphics, physics, or other positions. Entry level for a programmer is just a programmer. You won't do specialized work (with the exception of UI, which is often given to the juniors).

      -Rez