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Title: Game Architecture and Design: Learn the Best Practices for Game Design and Programming by Andrew Rollings, Dave Morris ISBN: 1-57610-425-7 Publisher: The Coriolis Group Pub. Date: 18 November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $49.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (60 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: fun read, but mostly shallow
Comment: This book is a little unusual in that it claims to cover very technical topics while reading more like a light novel. While it was still interesting, it's of the 'read once and forget' type, i.e. I do not regularly get this book out for reference like most of my other technical books. It's biggest problem is that it tries to cover too much ground in too little space (~700 pages) - there is no way to deal with the whole process of developing a commercial quality game in a single book. As a result the author only briefly touches on many topics which would have been better left out for more in-depth coverage from other books. For example, management, architecture design, design patterns and testing each require a book for themselves, rather than a short and superficial one chapter treatment. What's left is a lot of stating the obvious (breaking news: testing is good!) and a lot of personal opinions. While the chapters on design are quite readable, by their very nature they deal with lots of 'religious' issues, and although the author tries to be careful I sometimes felt offended by his preachy tone. I sometimes got the feeling the author had a somewhat ivory-tower, disconnected from reality view on many of the topics, especially the treatment of 'software factories' sounded utopian. The book also features lots of useless diagrams and code snippets of varying quality, which are, presented in isolation, again useless. The highlights are probably the 'case-studies', small anecdotes, scattered throughout the book. In summary, the book is like the internet: an ocean of information but mostly only knee deep.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent book, goes beyond hacking
Comment: ** This is not a code-monkey book. ** If you're trying to figure out C++ inheritance or Direct 3D, you've got the wrong book.
This is a book that goes above and beyond the simple act of coding a game. It dares to say that there is more to writing a game than sitting down and hacking something out in an hour. The book makes the revolutionary statement that software design should be a professional undertaking, not just something on a napkin.
There are excellent articles on game theory, design strategies, and gameplay balancing that I have never seen in another game book. I have bought a lot of game programming books along with software methodology books, and I rank this one as one of the best in both categories. It is definitely the only game design book I have found that is deserves that title.
Yes, the book does include a section on managing a team...let me tell you, a lot of so-called managers could use to read this section. And personally, if "Joe Programmer" is so offended by that section, I hope to never have to work with him.
Rating: 5
Summary: High-quality game design book
Comment: This is a very good book on game design, covering topics from concept to execution. You may hate Mr. Rollings at first for his often-contraversial opinions. For example, he doesn't approve of RPGs because they're all about the story, with no gameplay (he also calls them remakes of Dungeons & Dragons).
This seems positively shocking at first; I've been playing RPGs for years and have always enjoyed them. But then I got to thinking: what would games like Chrono Trigger be without the story and RPG-style stats and level-building? Think about it: the slow battles would be unbearable; there would be no purpose to them. You'll realize he's right eventually.
There are some things I still don't agree with. For example, he doesn't like games that allow you to save. He seems to dismiss them because of the possible idiotic approaches developers could take. Also, he makes so many references to Grim Fandango that he may drive you nuts.
But these are small problems. Overall, this is a very good book and I would recommend it to everyone who wants to get into the games biz.
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Title: Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus (2nd Edition) by Andre LaMothe ISBN: 0672323699 Publisher: SAMS Pub. Date: 15 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $59.99 |
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Title: Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design by Andrew Rollings, Ernest Adams ISBN: 1592730019 Publisher: New Riders Pub. Date: 05 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $49.99 |
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Title: Game Development and Production (Wordware Game Developer's Library) by Erik Bethke ISBN: 1556229518 Publisher: Wordware Publishing, Inc. Pub. Date: 25 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: 3D Game Programming All In One by Kenneth C Finney ISBN: 159200136X Publisher: Premier Press Pub. Date: 16 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $49.99 |
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Title: Chris Crawford on Game Design by Chris Crawford ISBN: 0131460994 Publisher: New Riders Pub. Date: 18 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
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