DirectX Complete

by Michael D. Root, Michael Root, James Boer

With the "McGraw-Hill Complete Series" you get 100% of what you need to deliver fully functional applications fast. You get complete coverage of technical issues from experts who understand the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0079137806
• ISBN13: 9780079137807
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
• Length: 635 Pages
• Weight: 2.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.8" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Simply a good boook on the basics of directX

This is a well-written and good book where all the code samples are written in VC++. The book also follows the object-oriented principals in a brilliant way. Other books I've read on the subject of directX programming have had code samples written in C and it has been almost impossible to reuse any of the code (C is also difficult to read). This book builds simple classes over each DirectX component. These classes are easy to read and easy to expand. Apart from a zeromemory statement that was missing on a description-structure I had no problems porting these classes to DirectX7. The book uses MFC and I really think it simplifies development. I know it's a bit slow, but I will do almost anything for some structure. ( I don't care if I loose a frame or two per second as long as it still runs on a Pentium). In my opinion if you want to program graphics C++ is the language of choice. C is too messy and hard to read. Visual Basic is messy and way to slow. This book is also easy to read. I have English as my second language and I didn't use my dictionary ones while reading this book. This book doesn't cover direct3D, but I didn't expect it either (I read other reviews before I bought It. If you didn't, bad for you). I also think people should understand that it's impossible to cover the DirectX 2d part and the 3dpart in one book (it would probably be a book with over 1200 pages). If you want to learn the basics of DirectX then >>> iDirectx = byThisBook->getGoodBook();

THE SAMPLE GAME COMPILES AND RUNS!!!

A complete DirectX game, Meteor Blast, is included with this book, and consummates the explanations throughout the book with great satisfaction. This book is VERY detailed, and covers every aspect of DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectInput, and DirectPlay needed to write a game. What it does *not* cover, as pointed out by other reviewers, are DirectX features that are not necessarily useful for writing a game. I am glad that the book does not get into Direct3D, DirectMusic, or any other API, which would needlessly complicate DirectX for game programming. I found the class libraries top notch, and was grateful that I was able to directly import the included .LIB file into my own game project, or even import the classes themselves into my Visual C++ workspace in order to inherit basic features from them for use in my own custom classes. To be honest, after learning about the operation of DirectX, I do not want to have to use the DirectX API directly! It is like the Win32 API: complicated, lengthy, and difficult to comprehend. It is good to know what is going on behind the scenes, but after that, I am pleased to be able to make use of these excellent class libraries. Unlike other reviewers, I had no problems compiling the sample Meteor Blast game with Visual C++ 6, nor any other sample program. The DirectSound samples are intriguing, especially the sample DirectSound3D example that lets you position the listener with the mouse to hear how the sound would change based upon location. All I need to use DirectSound in my own game project is included in the SDXSound class developed in this book. The ability to play a wave file and then forget about it, having DirectSound do all of the mixing is great. I don't care about the WAVE file format. I just want to play waves, and these classes are a shrink-wrap solution.The DirectDraw class, SDXDraw, is also a shrink-warp solution. I can now focus the small amount of free time that I do have on game design and programming, rather than the intricacies of yet another Microsoft API. SDXDraw includes everything you need to get a full-screen or windowed DirectDraw surface up and running, including double or triple buffering. SDXSprite inherits from the SDIB class, and has the ability to load frames from BMP images and display itself on a SDXSurface object, which is created automatically by SDXDraw. In effect, I can animate a sprite at any resolution with a minimum amount of code, and focus on GAME DESIGN rather than finicky operating system details or DirectX function calls.The networking samples are also excellent. They demonstrate how to host a game server using a simple multi-player chat program, which runs on any medium: serial, modem, network, or internet. This example, like the others, is "100% of what I need."In summary, I can use the information and source code included in this book to write a complete DirectX game from scratch in a matter of a few hours (as

The best DirectX book so far

I have to say I was very impressed with this book. Although my interest is mainly with DirectPlay. I bought this book for the main reason it was not afraid to tie MFC and DirectX together, like most other books are. There are more than enough books out there on Win32/DirectX, but only this one (as far as I can tell) that deals with MFC/DirectX.

A message from the author

One of the main purposes of this book, is to help the reader become comfortable using the various DirectX API's. This is done by using an easy to follow example based approach. Once the reader has gone through the examples and is comfortable with DirectX, a set of classes are developed to encapsulate certain parts of the DirectX API ( DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectPlay, DirectInput, and DirectMusic ) to make it easier to use. Finally, the book culminates in an arcade style game using the classes developed. This book gives a good introduction for those who are new to th e DirectX API, and provides a good reference for those who are already comfortable with it.I also want to address the comments that some of you have had over the last few weeks.1. DirectX Support for Windows NT / Examples don't work for NT.DirectX is supported on Windows NT 5/Windows 2000, which is still in beta. This book examples are targeted toward supported platforms, which include Win95/98/ (NT5 when released). These examples will not work under NT 4.2. The examples don't compile.All of these examples programs were written for VC++ 5, and compile cleanly with that version, and except for the HelloWorld example, compile cleanly with VC++ 6. With the release of VC++ 6, Microsoft has tightened up it's compiler's compliance with certain ANSI C++ specifications. So, certain statements that the compiler used to be fine with, now generate an error. For example, the statement in the HelloWorld program which reads as follows : hBrush = SelectObject(hDC, GetStockObject(WHITE_BRUSH));now generates the following error in VC++ 6:HelloWorld\HelloWorld.cpp(108) : error C2440: '=' : cannot convert from 'void *' to 'struct HBRUSH__ *' Conversion from 'void*' to pointer to non-'void' requires an explicit castTo resolve this error, explicitly cast the return value of the SelectObject function as show below: hBrush = (HBRUSH)SelectObject(hDC, GetStockObject(WHITE_BRUSH));Do this in both places, and the example will compile cleanly in VC++ 6.3. The book doesn't cover Direct3D.It isn't the intent of this book to cover Direct3D, that subject is a book unto itself. To date, I am not aware of an up to date book on Direct3D.

Excelent Book

C++, MFC and DirectX. The most powerful language ever made, with the combination of a great framework, MFC for Windows C++ programmers and DirectX, a wonderful API for multimadia applications and not only. What else do you need? Well if you belong in this category you need this book. It will go through the basics and end with the most advanced topics (exept Direct3D for which you will need another book).This one is the best! How do i know? Trust me