Reader reviews

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The chapters on game design are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

This is the one to get if you are serious about game development.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

This is the one to get if you are serious about graphics & gpu.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. The chapters on graphics & gpu are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.