Tricks of the Game-Programming Gurus (ISBN 0672305070)

Where once I was blind, now I can see!:
After reading this book cover to cover, I felt confident that I could both grasp and program the essentials of what went into a game from the DOS-era. Though familar with C, it took two months to read the volumous book, but it really is a delight to read. The code is commented superbly (after a while, you almost don't even have to read the code to understand it) and I would recommend running the conveniently provided demo *.exe files for each example to get a better idea of how it works after reading each one. The first few chapters on I/O and 2D and the later chapters on AI and interrupt handling provide more than enough to begin programming your own games using C in DOS (DJGPP compiler is great for this - the web of course provides the rest). The chapters on 3d ray-castering, etc, provide a good understanding for how Wolf-3D might have worked, but falls slightly short of Doom. This is not such a bad thing if you are new (as I was) to games programming. Less forgiving though, was the disappointment to find that after reading the whole book, the final chapter does not deliver on coding a 3D game with monsters, etc. I can understand that after the effort of all the previous chapters with their carefully-coded examples, the author may have been keen to finish the book, but it was like a finishing a game without a "Hey you just won now watch this ultra-cool sequence" ending. That aside though, this is an exceptional book for beginners to game programming. After reading it, you will be able to look at any game and start to see the cogs ticking behind the scenes. If nothing else, it will give you an appreciation of the programming effort put into games. For those seeking instant gratification with Windows/directX games, this book can be skipped. But for those with an interest in learning games programming, I couldn't think of a better place to start.

Superb.:
Although dated now, this book is still one of the books I love the most in my collection. Lamothe starts in each chapter with a new topic and gradually solves the problems as they arise with summaries and other notes. A basic knowledge of C and how to work computers obviously will stand you in good stead but even an amature, with determination can pick this book up and really learn from it. Lamothe tends to spring little details on you at the last moment so be sure to read every chapter at least twice. As I said it is a bit old but helps you understand the basics of the VGA card mode 13h, yadda yadda.... Graphics and all other games aspects are covered, even 3D has a little coverage. The Video Games Industry is an impossible thing to follow as advances are every where and a new book is an old book overnight but Lamothe has made a brilliant stab at this.... and succeeded.

A Great book:
I thought this book was good. It was easy to understand and it didn't bore me. The only problem I had was that before I bought the book I didn't know that you had to know C. So then I had to buy a book to teach me C. Other then that I thought the book was good. But if you don't know C then you should read Absolue Beginner's Guide to C, then Teach Yourself C in 21 Days. Then you should know C good enough to get this book.

It's a good introduction.:
Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus is a good introduction to creating 2D games for the PC. The techniques used describe the standard DOS libraries for the C programming language. The demonstrations are very thorough, and the descriptions are well written and easy to understand. New concepts, such as fast-drawn pixels, lines, sprite animation, and sound, are learned with ease. This book isn't a walk in the park for the novice, however. Although the descriptions are thorough, the authors expect the reader to have some understanding of 'C' and general programming concepts. The chapter on artificial intelligence contains more theory than demonstration. For someone designing a standard, DOS 2D game engine, I would recommend another Andre LaMothe book--Teach Yourself Game Programming in 21 Days. If you're more interested in what the concepts mean and how to perform tasks, this book is great. Where "Teach Yourself..." is more of an instruction manual, this book is more of an encyclopedia.

The coolest author!!! A world of discovery...:
This is the best introduction to DOS games programming there is. And this author knows how to get your attention. It is a world of discovery into the art of plotting pixels in video memory to create graphics, animation and 2D games. It teaches you to program your sound card, joystick and other I/O devices. The examples are in C, not C++; so they are easily digestable. No 'hidden' classes to decipher - you get everything straight. I really enjoy reading the book and I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn to program games.