Which Book is the best(Game Engine's)

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    • How about all three ? If not possible, i'd say the third one, but thats the only one i've read myself. However, I do want to know the fascination with developing game engines all the time, the way I see it, a game engine is developed through useful and reusable components from various games.. a game framework (which I would say is the one employed in GCC) is a more accurate a approach to generalizing and abstracting common game elements. But heck, maybe I'm just too lazy to build one.

      Anyway, yes.. couldn't hurt to read a variety of different topics, GameDev has a few nice ones, and some books on DirectX and OpenGL wouldn't go a miss, I'd say.

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

    • I am reading the first one now, just a caution, it is a good book, but if you are new to programming then don't use it as your first book (or even first engine book). I am finding it is more of a supplementary book.
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    • Game Coding Complete lol
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    • Hah I'm glad SOMEONE said something....
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot
    • 3D Game Engine Design is an updated and a bit more detailed version of 3D Game Engine Architecture by David H. Eberly.

      I would suggest getting Gregory's Game Engine Architecture and Eberly's 3D Game Engine Design. The Game Engine Architecture is not necessary as the 3D Game Engine Design already contains what the former has. But if you have the money it wouldn't hurt getting all of them.

      You probably won't find yourself sticking to just one book. For me I keep on jumping back and forth between GCC, 3DGED, GEA, and Jason Zink's DX11 Rendering book to match and reinforce a particular subject i'm currently working.

      After finishing the GCC book, you would pretty much have a general understanding on how a game engine works though. So your next step would probably be to do some research on what other amazing engine components or systems that other people or studios made to aid their game development process. This leads to Jason Gregory's GEA book.

      The GEA book, for me, is more of a reference or a survey of what other systems, technologies, and tools are there that other people or studios developed for their engine. This book, unlike GCC, is not a step-by-step guide to teach you how to create this and that but rather just an overview of other technologies out there. So GEA was more of a "vacation" for me to take a break from intense crazy coding from the GCC book. It gave me a birds eye view on what else are there besides from the systems you already have from GCC.

      Lastly, Eberly's book is somewhat like the GCC book. Only minus the fun and easy to understand that GCC has. Eberly's book delves deeper into the nitty gritty technical and mathematical details to his engine components. aka the dry and boring stuff. Don't get discouraged in this book though. All the things he covers is very important especially the graphics and geometric operations which you'll need in advanced subjects in your engine's development.

      So if you really need to know which one is next I would loosely suggest:
      1. GCC
      2. GEA
      3. 3DGED

      What you'll probably end up is reading just a few chapters of GEA then move to 3DGED then back to GCC then back to 3DGED then GEA depending on your particular interest and subject you're currently working on.
    • I ready about 2/3s of Game Engine Architecture before losing it!! (but it was actually a good thing because it forced to me to buy another one...GCC4 to be exact) It was awesome but was a little dryer than GCC4 and from what I remember a little more advanced. Re-reading GCC4 now then I'll probably buy it again, both are very good
      -bullgoose
    • Honestly, if you're new to programming, I wouldn't jump into another book for a while. You should make a few games and really digest the information in GCC before moving on. A classic newbie mistake is to buy a bunch of books and read through them without writing much code. You won't actually learn anything. It's best to find one book and really devour the content. Then use that knowledge to build 20 games.

      -Rez