Diana recommends these fine books

Diana's Little Bookstore

Books on Game Programming

The problem with books on game programming is most of them were written by people who have never written a game in their lives. The exception is mine, of course. Still, people who study game programming without actually writing games sometimes have a more broad knowledge than those of us who spend our time focusing on getting a particular game out. A few years ago, there were virtually no books on game development available. Now there are dozens. Some are better than others. These are my picks.

	Windows Game Programming for Dummies Andre LaMothe I haven't read this one, but Andre Lamothe is a good looking guy who writes a lot of books, and my reports from Amazon.com indicate people are buying this one. Go figure. If you want to be a dummy too, buy the book. Windows Game Programming for Dummies

	Teach Yourself Game Programming in 21 Days Andre LaMothe Who are you kidding, Andre? Nobody teaches themselves game programming in 21 days. It's a good thing you're such a good looking guy, because your book titles are starting to bug me. This book and the "Dummies" book have possibly the most offensive titles of any game programming books. But they apparently contain useful information, because people keep buying them. And I have to admit, Andre is a talented writer. Teach Yourself Game Programming in 21 Days

	Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus Andre LaMothe, John Ratcliff, Mark Seminatore and Denise Tyler This is the book that came out around the same time as my book and killed my sales. Oh well. I have to admit Andre, John, Mark and Denise did a pretty good job on this one. And what I said before about book authors not writing games doesn't apply to at least two of these authors. John Ratcliff, in particular, is known for his submarine simulations for Electronic Arts. This is an enormous book, it covers a lot of issues. Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus

	Black Art of Windows Game Programming Eric R. Lyons This book primarily covers Windows 3.1 and WinG. It might be a bit dated in today's environment. Still, it is an interesting book with lots of good ideas. Includes a chapter on 3D programming with OpenGL. Black Art of Computer Game Programming

	Cutting-Edge 3D Game Programming with C++ John DeGoes John DeGoes is the well-known and well-liked sysop of the CompuServe Game Developers forum (GO GAMEDEV). Ted referred to this book a lot when adding 3D support to Fastgraph. Heavy on theoretical knowledge, useful and thorough. An excellent addition to your bookshelf. Cutting-Edge 3D Game Programming with C++

	Windows 95 Game Developer's Guide Michael Morrison and Randy Weems This book saved my butt when I was trying to figure out MidiStream programming. Really. I'm serious. My butt. Windows 95 Game Developer's Guide

	Game Developers Marketplace Alex Dunne, Ben Sawyer, Tor Berg Alex Dunne is the editor of Game Developer Magazine. Ben Sawyer is just guy who hangs around with game developers and then writes books about their stuff. I don't know who Tor Berg is. I haven't read this book, but it has my name in the index, so it can't be all bad. Game Developers Marketplace

	Action Arcade Adventure Set Diana Gruber This is my book. It covers tile-based side-scroller games under DOS. The genre is a bit dated, but I think this is the only book that covers this topic. It includes a practical, real-life game programming issues, including those important but often overlooked utilities: tile editor, tile ripper, sprite editor, level editor, palette editor, etc. Also includes code for mode X scrolling and sprite animation. Since I am a "real" game developer, I talked about practical issues like working with artists and marketing your game. My book is different. You should read it. Action Arcade Adventure Set

	Here are some books I haven't read that look interesting. Some of them show up on my weekly reports from Amazon.com, so you might want to check them out. Windows 95 Games Programming (Stan Trujillo, Al Stevens) The Game Developer's Guide to Online Resources (Joe Gradecki) Netwarriors in C++ : Programming Multiplayer Games for Windows (Joe Gradecki, Mark Andrews) The Awesome Power of Direct3D/DirectX - The DirectX 5 version (Peter J. Kovach) Black Art of 3d Game Programming : Writing Your Own High-Speed 3-D Polygon Video Games (Andre Lamothe) Building a 3d Game Engine in C++ (Brian Hook)