Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DirectX 6.0 [With CDROM]

by Mickey Kawick

Book Overview

Delving into the concept of real-time strategy, this guide includes practical, hands-on programming and use of artificial intelligence; a unique graphics engine developed by the author; and multiple... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556226446
• ISBN13: 9781556226441
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Wordware Publishing
• Length: 712 Pages
• Weight: 2.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Good Prep for developing a RTS game.

When I first purchased this book, as a C programmer, I had a very hard time understanding alot of the code. So I kinda put in on the shelf and went down to my local bookstore and purchased "Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days", so I could understand C classes and templates and object-oriented programming. And I recommend that if you even consider yourself a GOOD C programmer, don't get this book until you first have a great understanding of the things I listed above.The book covers many many gameplay and design topics using the DirectX API. However, if you are not at all familiar with Windows Programming or the DirectX API, I suggest you first buy LaMonthe's book, "Windows Game Programming for Dummies" or "Trick of the Windows Game Programming Gurus". These two books written by the master game programming author do a very good job explaining Windows programming and how it works with the DirectX API. Assuming that you know C++ programming, basic Windows Programming, and are familiar with DirectX, this books is a really good buy. I have yet so see any REAL books on RTS/TTS game out there and they are some of the most popular games on the market. Age of Empires, Age of Kings, StarCraft, all the Command & Conquer games such as Red Alert and Tiberium Sun, the list goes on and on. No books does a better job of covering all the major topics of progamming in this field than this one does. The reason I give it five stars is because even though it can seem complex and not well enough commented, it is still written for Windows Win32 programming using the easiest and best API (DirectX) for video games. And the second reason is because it's the only real book I have found on Real-Time Strategy. Recommended for intermediate to advanced C++ programmers only though.

Revising my review after being contacted by the author.

This book covers some advanced topics not necessarily suitable for beginning Visual C++ programmers or avid real-time strategy game players looking to assemble a RTS game of their own based on this book. The author's insights into the gaming industry are very interesting, as are his comments on the development of Age of Empires, which I found fascinating. I wrote an e-mail to the editor of WordWare Publishing, and she forwarded my message to Mickey Kawick, who then contacted me about the problems with the source code. The original code does NOT compile under Visual C++ 6! You must get an updated copy of the code that was included on the CD, or else you will have a frustrating time getting it to compile correctly. Mickey sent me an updated copy of the library for Visual C++ 6 and the samples compiled successfully. Since a large portion of my previous review was based on my frustration with the source code, I must amend my comments and say that the author was very kind and eager to help. If you have a hard time with the source code that came with the book, simply send Mickey Kawick a message. He responds to e-mail quickly and will do everything he can to help his readers. I'm giving this book a 5-star review to counter my previous 1-star review, to end up with an average of 3 stars.I think you will find this book a great addition to your DirectX programming library. Keep in mind that no single volume can encompass the complexities of DirectX and teach the basics as well as advanced topics of game programming at the same time. There is simply too much information to cover.I will state again, however, that the author is very friendly. After you purchase the book, send him a message, as I'm sure he will be pleased to hear from another reader.

Good Book, Could Have Been Better

I agree with everyone who said this book could have been much better. It is an average book until chapter 13, then it becomes a great book. If he had compressed some of the earlier chapters, he could have put in so much more. I would have given this book a rating of 4.5, but I rounded up.What this book is: This is an advanced book. It has tons of code snippets, and more ideas on how to expand and personalize the code. It has a few chapters that could be shorten or taken out completely, namely the first 8 chapters, except chapter 5. These chapters have a lot of ideas, but if you are familiar with games and/or programming, you already know a lot of it. Chapter 9 briefly describes DirectDraw, for more see a differant book (I have found Windows Game Programming for Dummies good), but it doesn't claim to be a DirectX tutorial either.Chapter 10 has some good stuff on drawing lines and rectangles, not used too much in RTS games though.Chapter 11 teaches font and text building, could have been better, but has a lot of good information in it.Chapter 12 puts 10 and 11 together in a single class for you. Could have been shortened but oh well.Chapter 13 describes how to load graphics and keep track of them.Chapter 14 has some very good stuff on blitting graphics to the screen. He teaches LLE compression which is one of the best ways to blit to the screen(compiled sprites are still a bit faster).Chapter 15 has a lot of good information on keeping track of animations.In chapter 16 He does a very good job of teaching landscape. He has a lot of good code examples, and suggestions on how we could add more to it. Chapter 17 is on the interface. Lots of good stuff in there.Chapters 18 and 19 talk about creatures and pathing. Good stuff.Chapter 20 is kind of an addon chapter. It describes DirectSound Overall, this is a very well written book by an author with a lot of experiance programming. I suggest buying it.Things i would have liked to see: More on DirectX,especially DDraw and DInput. Networking.Can you find some of this on the internet? Yes you can find some of it. I have found nothign on the internet that can compare to some of these chapters though. Buy it, its worth it.

Great Book, Not for beginners

Well, I thought I would do my part and say to the people who wrote bad reviews about this book, first, this book doesnt teach DirectX, buy Inside DirectX for that, this book teaches RTS game programming USING DX6, it USES it, it doesnt TEACH it, there's a difference. This book covers every aspect of making an RTS game like Age of Empires or StarCraft. It's an excellent book, if you are very well versed in C++ and pretty good with DirectX this is an excellent book for you. This book is EXCELLENT, you just gotta be smart enough.

A great book for any game programmer's library.

Overview: If you are looking for a book to walk you through the entire cycle of creating a game, then this is the book for you. If you are looking to learn DirectX, get 'Inside DirectX 5.2' instead. But, if you are more interested in creating games, then this book will take you through the basics of DirectX and encapsulates them into a class, or a manager has Mickey Kawick calls them, and allows you to start creating games in a relatively short time. This book covers and includes the Wordware Game Developer's Library that manages DirectX and many of the aspects of creating games. Before you get this book, be sure you know C++, some window's programming, and have a desire to write games. Summary of each section: 1. Welcome This section has the introduction and talks about different questions such as: "What is a Real-time Strategy Game", "What is DirectX", and "What is This Book About?" This section also talks about required tools, namely MS Visual C++ 5.0 and DirectX 6.0. Although, all the code is ANSI C++ and does not use the MFC framework, therefore, any C++ compiler should work with little to no changes. 2. Gameplay This section covers strategy, tactics, mood, elevation, terrain, where to build, and resources. 3. Getting Started on Your Game This section covers the design, the high-level design, the development cycle, programming and programming style, coding style, and the library. It also covers setting up the WinMain and the MessageHandler. You will see some sample code on how to create a simple window application that will be used as a template for the rest of the programs. 4. Documents This section covers the design doc and the technical design doc. 5. Development This section covers the cycle, code design, engine design, reusability, which tools to use, hardware considerations, expectations, competition and sales, optimism, backing up, sharing code and source control. 6. Standard Macros and Data Types This section covers the standard macros and data types that may be used in game programming. This file is nice to have in any programmer's library of code. 7. Background This section describes how to set up your development environment. 8. Great Ideas This section outlines the different games that are all ready on the market and evaluate them on what are good ideas and what are not good ideas. 9. Working with DirectDraw This section introduces DirectDraw and such topics as data types, broad concepts (double buffering, back buffers, blitting, flipping the screen, and GDI), color modes (8-, 15-, 16-, 24-, and 32-bit), color models (RGB, CMYK, YUV, HSV, and 15-bit vs 16-bit), and the DirectDraw class (DIRECT_DRAW_MANAGER). 10. How to Draw as Easy as 1, 2, 3 This section covers the basics of how to draw pixels and lines, as well as how to clip them. 11. How to do Your ABC's This section shows how to build an alphabet manager as well as clipping techniques for both graphics and text. 12. The Drawing Manage