Reviews (26)

Good book
If you are wanting to make your own games you absolutely need this book.
Very Poor
This book has a lot of problems. The code is buggy. The structure of the book makes little sense, and will gloss over many important things. The writing style is difficult and vague. I could not recommend this book any less.

Stay away... there are better ways to learn...
I should have examined this book more closely before purchasing. It's not a learning tool, most of the chapters focus on following directions with no real explanation why. Needless to say this will leave people out to sea when it comes time to fly solo.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer games    4. Computer graphics    5. Computer software    6. Computers    7. Computers - Languages / Programming    8. Programming    9. Programming Languages - General    10. Video & Electronic - General    11. Computers / Entertainment & Games / General    12. Image processing: graphics (static images)   

Reviews (1)

Good, but missing a few things
This is a very good guide in terms of breaking down what you need for the various rankings and the location of the Memory Capsules.If you're only interested in completing the main game this is the book for you.However, I was a bit disappointed to see that it doesn't really discuss the Extra Missions.It tells you what they are and what you need to do to unlock them, but zero specifics.While some of the missions are pretty easy and need no explanation, others can present real challenges (especially for those of us who normally play mainly RPGs, not shooters); they're certainly harder than the game's normal mode. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Games    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Games/Puzzles    4. Role Playing & Fantasy - General    5. Video & Electronic - General    6. Games / Video & Electronic   

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Reviews (9)

Valuable content from all perspectives
I've read both this and the ExtremeTech "Hacking Google Maps," and both have their place, but I found this one to be much more valuable.
VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Google Maps Hacks: Tips & Tools for Geographic Searching and Remixing (Hacks) (Paperback)
Where are the basics?
The collection of apps here are fascinating. But I looked for a tutorial telling me "this is how you embed a map, select several points of interest, and label them.". It was not visible. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. General    8. Internet - General    9. Computer / Internet    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    11. Computers / Internet / General    12. Digital mapping    13. Geographic information systems    14. Google (Firm)    15. Search engines    16. World Wide Web (WWW)    17. google maps hacks ajax xml points search geography latitude longitude geocoding online mapping   

Reviews (7)

It's a supplemental guide, not a stand-alone strategy guide
This book doesn't give as much information as the actual thick FFXI Strategy Guide. Heck, it's not even a strategy guide to begin with. It's a book that contains many of the maps of FFXI, both cities and dungeons. Take note, "many of the maps". There are a lot of missing maps and areas for some oddball reason.
Inexcusable; Brady should be ashamed
Do not waste your money on this steaming load.Not only is it missing a TON of maps (CoP zones, I can understand.. but no Boyahda, Quicksand, Onzozo, etc.?); for the maps it does have, that's just about all you get -a map.There's a little info on some NM pop locations, but that's it.This guide doles out useful information very sparingly.Not a single damn coffer pop location.
Good, but not great.
This atlas, in my opinoin, is pretty good, but not complete at all. It does give you a lot of maps, but only the ones you start off with, or can buy/quest - none from coffers. (Maybe with the exception of Castle Zvahl, I can't remember how you get that map)It does give you a fairly accurate list of monsters and nms along with reccommended levelsand some pop locations. Also, it does have maps of towns with some usefull NPC locations. So, if your a beginner, I would definetely reccomend it, since it can get you around for quite a few levels, but the more experienced players don't really need it, unless they really want to save a few gil by not buying maps. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Computers - Games    3. Games    4. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Video & Electronic - General    7. Video & Electronic - Sony PlayStation 2    8. Video games    9. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (9)

I love this book.
This is my first time to write this kind of review, therefore, I don't know how to do a good one. But what I can say for this book is it is easy to follow and the method of modeling that I have learned from it is very useful. If you can follow the tutorials patiently, you can gradually build a very good foundation of your modeling skill. ^-^.. I am looking forward for the next edition.

One of the best books for character modeling, rigging and animation
1)This book highlights some important issues in modeling & rigging that no other books bother to emphasis.
Not just for games, but aimed at beginners
This is a good book.I was hoping for some much more indepth technical information.This is a great book for starting into maya, and character creation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Animation    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Programming Languages - General    7. Video & Electronic - General    8. Computers / Computer Graphics / Game Programming    9. Image processing: computer animation   

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Reviews (11)

Far better than any other book on this topic
This book is miles ahead of other Java gaming books...For one thing, this is an excellent book in its own right.For another, the other existing books on the topic suck.
Somewhat Disappointed - But hopeful for a second edition
This is the first time I've been disappointed by a book published by O'Reilly. There are, in my opinion, quite a few things wrong with this book. I'll mention a few.
Best book I've seen on the topic
I went through a few books on java game programming before I got this one and I must say that by fair its the best.I have a few years experience with java and wanted to make a few games for fun and this book gave me all the information I needed to get started.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Programming Languages - Java    7. Video & Electronic - General    8. Computer animation    9. Computer drawing    10. Computer games    11. Computers / Languages / Programming    12. Computers / Programming Languages / Java    13. Java & variants    14. Java (Computer program language)    15. Programming    16. game programming, Java, J2ME, 3D, 2D,multiplayer, fractals, Andrew Davison   

Reviews (2)

The Frontier of Game Design
As game budgets get fatter and the profile of the medium gets bigger, a whole new audience will exist with a demand for games that involve meaningful social play and interesting characters. While the techniques and concepts laid out in Dr. Isbister's book are useful for improving the fiction of games, in the form of writing, audio and character art, an experimental designer can infer some groundbreaking mechanics from this text. I'm personally working on an experimental indie game that hinges on inter-character drama, and Dr. Isbister's ideas have served as one of my primary sources of inspiration.

Not fair!
Last review wasn't quite fair.I know the author, and I can tell you that the delays in shipping are entirely due to the publisher and are not the fault of either Amazon or Katherine Isbister.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer games    5. Computers    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. Design    8. Psychological aspects    9. Social aspects    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    11. Image processing   

Reviews (34)

Common sense distilled
This book is a nice collection of what should be common sense rules (obviously common sense is not so common, as the examples of actual web sites in the book prove). I would assume that it would be most beneficial to a beginning designer, although it's a book everyone involved with web design or programming should browse through every now and then.

A complete waste of time for anyone in the industry.
I received zero (0) value from this book, and I can't figure out why anyone would recommend it. I kept waiting for something to learn, but alas, there is nothing but common sense included in this book. To say nothing for the fact that each page contained about 2 paragraphs of text (an image caption) with an image showing Good or Bad examples. What a waste of money, time, and energy. Unfortunately the individuals behind 37 signals had just enough clout to get a book published and have caused me to look elsewhere for authors/teachers. NOTE: their software at 37signals.com is great, but even their own blog is hard to read. Overall a major disappointment. NOTE: absolute beginners may find a 1 star value out of this book. However, 30 days on the job will teach you everything here.

Too much emphasis on error reporting/recovery
The sub title of this book should stop at "How to Improve Error Messages".The focus of the book is on recovering from problems, either from user input or from the system.That's all well and good and their ideas are fine.However I was hoping they'd spend some time talking about how to lay out your forms so they are mor effective and less likely to cause problems for the user in the first place.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Design    7. Internet - General    8. Internet - Web Site Design    9. Networking - General    10. Web sites    11. Computers / Internet / General    12. Image processing: graphics (static images)    13. Internet   

Reviews (42)

Great book to get started. Clear and Concise
I started DirectX programming recently. This book brings you upto speed very fast. It is well organized, written well, and is kept very simple. It's objective is to teach concepts and how to program specific concepts is C++. The examples and straightforward and illustrate whats in the text very well.
Very easy to follow
This book is written very well, and it is written in a way that allows the reader to follow without getting lost in the terminology.Everything is explained very well.I use the book constantly as a reference when programming.Pick this book up if your serious about learning DirectX.

Great Book -- Misleading title. :(
While I agree with all the other reviews on how this book is EXCELLENT for learning the introduction (and some advanced) concepts and applications of Direct 3D it is severely lacking one thing: game programming mechanics.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer games    5. Computers    6. Computers - Games    7. DirectX    8. Programming    9. Programming - Software Development    10. Video & Electronic - General    11. Computers / General   

Reviews (10)

A plethora of information
Confused about AI? Get this book! This is a nicely bound reference library with a large variety of techniques and algorithms. Lots of useful tips
It's hard to find good information about game programming and design.The trouble is that people working in the industry have an incentive to keep their techniques secret -- they don't want their competitors to learn them.The people who aren't in the industry can write about games but don't have the experience to back it up. The most complete, the most usefull resource...
This is the best book in my library.Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence - General    2. Computer Books And Software    3. Computer Games    4. Computer Programming    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Design    8. Games    9. Programming    10. Programming - General    11. Programming - Software Development    12. Video & Electronic - General    13. Artificial intelligence    14. Computers / Entertainment & Games / General   

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Reviews (9)

Photoshop Cookbooks
I really am enjoying all of the Photoshop Cookbooks.They have clear, easy-to-follow instructions to achieve interesting and varied effects.Very user friendly....

Bakari Chavanu's MyMac.com Review
Cooking with Photoshop
I never knew you could do that!
I don't know if you have noticed, but O'Reilly has been putting out some amazing Photoshop books lately.I'm quickly becoming a big fan of their Photoshop Cookbook series, of which this book is a part of.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Graphics - Design    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    4. Computers - Desktop Publishing    5. Photo Techniques    6. Photography    7. Techniques - Digital    8. Techniques - General    9. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    10. Computers / Desktop Publishing    11. Digital techniques    12. Image processing    13. Photography / Techniques    14. Photography/Techniques - Digital   

Editorial Review

Python may not be the first language you think of when you consider computer games, but it's surprising adept at tying together elements of game systems and not at all bad for the implementation of games in its own right. Read more

Reviews (7)

Very good introduction to game coding
I know Python pretty well and I find that it is often an excellent way to quickly explore new programming concepts.Python is so powerful that you can quickly get a feel for the subject by coding a bit.At work, you may have to use a different language, but at least you will know the subject.That's how I got to understand XML and unit testing for example.A good book always helps the process though.
I just love it ...
When I buy a book with source code I first run the examples and then I start reading, so I followed all the installation steps and every single example worked nicely so. The book is clear, concise, fun tu read and I do recommend it fully. If you are serious about writing your own online game and learning Python, get this one. It 's worth the money.

Great introduction - terrible support
I fully agree with an earlier reviewer of this book. I am only through to chapter 6 after getting it last week and it is a great introduction. However all the examples do rely on the author's own Python user interface library which does not work.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer games    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Programming    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Programming Languages - General    9. Programming Languages - Python    10. Python (Computer program langu    11. Python (Computer program language)    12. Art / Graphic Arts    13. Programming languages   

Reviews (38)

Ignore the bad reviews
I wasted a lot of time sifitng through faqs on the internet before I got this guide.This guide has EVERY single item, power, monster, treasure chest location etc...This guide is the definitive resource for this game's secrets.If you have the game, this is a must-own.

Lot's of pictures and one useful map.
I haven't bought a stategy guide in years, so maybe it's just come to this, but when I pay for an official game guide I kinda expect everything to be in there.If I didn't want spoilers I wouldn't have bought the guide in the first place.
Guide??? Riiight
I admit, I havent baught a game guide in a looooong time...
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Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Computers - Games    3. Games    4. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Video & Electronic - General    7. Video & Electronic - Sony PlayStation 2    8. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (6)

Book is more for Beginners
This book was somewhat of a let down for me since I thought it would focus more on intermediate/advanced digital character design techniques using Photoshop CS. Most of the book is aimed for the beginner (or pre-beginner). However there are a few usefully chapters near the end for more advance graphic professionals.

Good book for digital painting
Ive done just about everything else with photoshop and wanted a good book on digital painting so I could use my traditional art skills in that way.Its a good amount of content for the price and it has some really nice tips on creating your own brushes.The tutorials are pretty much step by step, although a little more info would have been nice.A lot of the process depends on your own ability and experience with the pen and tablet.So, overall I'd say its a good resource.

Take a Class in Digital Character Painting and Design
This is one of the best books on digital painting and character design that I have found. Most computer painting books deal with digital filters and special effects but this book is truly like taking a class in digital character painting with Adobe Photoshop CS.
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Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop    2. Adobe Photoshop (Computer soft    3. Adobe Photoshop (Computer software)    4. Art & Art Instruction    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    7. Computer Graphics - General    8. Computer graphics    9. Computers    10. General    11. Techniques - Painting    12. Art / Graphic Arts    13. Photoshop   

Subjects:  1. Games    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Games/Puzzles    4. Video & Electronic - General    5. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (1)

The State of the Art as it Exists Today
Computer gaming continues to grow at a very rapid rate. In fact much of the development of the new higher speed chips and of course the high performance video cards are being driven by the needs of the gaming people.
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Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer games    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers    7. Computers - General Information    8. Design    9. Programming    10. Programming - General    11. Video & Electronic - General    12. Computers / Entertainment & Games / General    13. Software engineering   

Reviews (3)

Not very deep
I found the guide disappointing.It reads like an expanded manual rather than a strategy guide.It doesn't hesitate to tell you the history of the various units and weapons, but it is lacking in actual strategy-- the very reason why I purchased the "Official Strategy Guide".
Total waste of $20
I would just like to add another voice to the one below which I completely agree with.He has pretty much summed it up.I just want to stress that the multiplayer maps are covered in one page each with absolutely no useful strategy.To be fair there are some very very general strategies but nothing specific and absolutely no maps to explain these strategies.How can they get away with trash like this!

Useless and highly inaccurate
The descriptions of units are worthless, virtually the same as in the manual. Very obvious points are made about unit abilities, mostly a rehash of info in the manual. Several facts are simply wrong. There is a ton of historical info on the real-world counterparts of all the game units.
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Subjects:  1. Games    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Games/Puzzles    4. Interactive & Multimedia    5. Role Playing & Fantasy - General    6. Video & Electronic - General    7. Computer games    8. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (12)

Best OpenGL Book Ever (not counting the sequel to this book)
While all the information in this book can be found free on the net, (nehe.gamedev.net would be an excellent resource and is even mentioned in the book), the book combines all that knowledge into one location with each topic thoroughly covered in an easily accessible way.
Microsoft specific treatments are pragmatic
Some reviewers have remarked that the book concentrates overly on OpenGL running on a Microsoft operating system. But most of the text on the usage of OpenGL is quite independent of the OS. And the passages specific to Microsoft are a reflection of the market reality on the desktop. I considered Astle to be quite reasonably pragmatic in offering the latter advice.
Beginning? Yeah Right...
This book is utterly useless for both a beginner like me, and someone who knows C++ well. All it does is explain what each function does rather than teaching you how to use it. In the 2nd chapter alone, there's a 200-line program of all OpenGL functions that you're expected to understand by about 3 pages of explanation. I'm a beginning programmer who knows a lot about C, but not everything, and this book isn't helping me at all. Also, I can tell that it doesn't teach you much, as the end of book game example is slow and buggy. Go learn C++ then get an online tutorial or reference page, don't waste the money on this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer games    4. Computer software    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. OpenGL    8. Programming    9. Programming - General    10. 4GLs (fourth generation languages)    11. Computers / Entertainment & Games / General   

Reviews (6)

Great graphic maps
I really do like this guide book the maps are really helpful.As well as the instructions for the boss fights.You will really find this book useful.

Kingdom Hearts chain of memories guide review
It helped dramatically and I found it to be really well done and very helpful in explaining the different cards and what they truly did....... Also its a good thing to have when deciding on going through the game and what world cards to use....although I was already half way through with the game when I had it.....It was still nice and helped me with my other half decisions....

perfect product
when i bought the item i opened the box and the book included everything it said. Also it was in perfect condition-no dented corners or riped pages-. when i used the book it it included all the secret items in the game. if you are a kingdom hearts fan i suggest this book to you. perfect product ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Games    3. Computers - Games    4. Games    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Video & Electronic - General    7. Video & Electronic - Nintendo    8. Games / Video & Electronic   

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