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Build Your Own PC Game in Seven Easy Steps : Using Visual Basic
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Author: Scott Palmer
List Price: $39.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0201489112
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co (18 December, 1995)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 129,802
Average Customer Rating: 2.45 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 1 out of 5
Better tutorials can be found for free on the 'net.
I picked up this book thinking I'd be able to make the simplist of games. I was wrong. This book dumps alot of code at you in big klumps and mainly teaches stuff how to organize the game, instead of game-specific stuff. The BitBlt and MCI stuff is nice, but most of it can be found on the web.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Not what you will expect
If you can see the cover of the book at the top of this page, It includes a picture of a 3-Dimentional castle. Immediately, you'd think you can jump into the fine arts of "NEXT GEN" gaming. Not so. With this book, you will jump into the fine arts of "TEXT ADVENTUREs", which is mostly the main topic of this book. Although Text Adventures have their element of fun, these days you'd probably want graphics, right? Oh, sure this book gives some info on graphics, you can find the same info on the web. I'd recommend this book for people who are familiar with VB, and want to "Get Started" with game programming. Otherwise, keep looking.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Good for Beginners
I'm part way thru the book, and so far its good for beginners. Even tho it is dated (1996), most of the concepts are valid. As a programming teacher, one thing does irritate me: the persistent misuse of the word "programming" when the author means coding. Programming is creating the logic, coding is translating that logic into code. Many students come into class able to code, but almost none come in able to program -- that is, create the logic. They think sitting down and making spaghetti code is programming. The author, as many authors and teachers do, promotes this confusion with his misuse of terms. This lapse makes it so much harder for novices to learn to program. But I was glad to see him emphasize "plan", even with the terms confused. Otherwise, good book for basic game concepts.
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