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Mickey Kawick
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Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DIRECTX 6.0 (Wordware Game Developer's Library) 3rd Printing Edition

by Mickey Kawick (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
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 game design strategies along with programming code.
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  1. ISBN-10
    1556226446
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1556226441
  3. Edition
    3rd Printing
  4. Publisher
    Wordware Publishing, Inc.
  5. Publication date
    March 25, 1999
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7.5 x 1.5 x 9.16 inches
  8. Print length
    712 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using MS DirectX 6.0 should probably be read by any aspiring C/C++ game developer for its real-world perspective on the process of designing successful strategy games. Filled with tips on what works and what doesn't, this book not only provides a perspective on the working lives of game programmers, but it also shows how to simplify working with DirectDraw and DirectSound--two important parts of Microsoft's DirectX game platform--using the author's custom C++ classes.

The most interesting aspect of this book has to be its real-world insight on the realities of game development from someone who's been there. (As the author notes, a game programmer's lifestyle offers plenty of challenges, insane work schedules, and, of course, potential rewards.) Early chapters sketch out the game development cycle, from initial idea to proposal, and then onward to staffing, project scheduling, coding, and testing. (If anything, these chapters will demystify how some of your favorite games were designed.)

The heart of this book is the author's C++ framework that simplifies DirectX programming using DirectDraw (for 2-D graphics) and later, DirectSound (for sound). The author presents his own code and classes for essential aspects of DirectDraw programming from drawing shapes and images to creating professional animations. Additional sections cover the fundamentals of building strategy games (where players command armies, for instance, and place them on various tiles, or game terrains). There's much expert knowledge here on writing games in this vein, but the principles of animation--plus the reusable C++ code that simplifies DirectX--will certainly justify the price of this book.

Written for the C/C++ programmer who wants an introduction to game programming, this is actually more than a technical book. Besides a good introduction to DirectX, this text provides a nuts-and-bolts perspective that shows how some of today's successful games are designed and coded. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Real-Time Strategy game basics, gameplay, design and project management for games, programming style and tips, Windows programming fundamentals, design documents, the development cycle, macros and data types, DirectX and DirectDraw basics, bitmaps and color modes, drawing lines, rectangles, images and clipping, text output in DirectDraw, loading graphics files, LLE compression, animation overview, AI and characters, animated backgrounds and effects, landscapes, game interfaces, objects and creatures, pathing (BFS, DFS, and A* algorithms), DirectSound.

From Library Journal

Kawick, who has worked on a number of game titles, assumes the reader is wildly interested in real-time strategy (RTS) and real-time tactical (RTT) games and has a strong working knowledge of the C++ programming language. This is not a simple introductory guide, as he covers everything from graphics to artificial intelligence and tile management to game engine design. While useful to advanced-level programmers, the book will also attract ambitious novices who want to learn how to design games.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wordware Publishing, Inc.; 3rd Printing edition (March 25, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 712 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1556226446
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1556226441
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.76 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1.5 x 9.16 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

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3.4 out of 5 stars
24 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Yuanzhen Hu
    4.0 out of 5 stars The book teaches you how to design your code instead of how to write them. Recommended for intermediate developers.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I am a amateur game programmer trying to create a RTS-ish game out of Flash AS3. I don't find any of the huge chunks of codes in this book helpful at all so I just skipped through all of them, and quite a few chapters talked about really ancient stuff such as how to employ DirectDraw and DirectSound.
    That being said, it doesn't mean this book is not of value today. You don't get to hear developers of really famous games(like Age of Empires) talking about how they did their jobs in a everyday basis, do you? Seriously, even a simple interview can get me super excited and now you got an entire book dedicated to that, for only around $1(I bought a used one but its condition is as good as freshly printed, and a lot of sellers are selling at this price), and that's just gold! It's the methodology and ways of thinking that matters the most and you can really get tons out of it, especially for amateurs like me who only had a vague idea of many frequently covered concepts in game programming.
    Before I found this book I did search a lot on the Internet trying to find a thorough tutorial on RTS making, and to my surprise there really isn't any. I found some forum posts and wikis that sort of scratch the surface but that's about it, nothing like this book. It's not for beginners though, as I said it's mainly the philosophy of game developing you gotta learn from it, not how to write game code from scratch, although some algorithms such as pathfinding are covered. But definately recommended for intermediate learners, minus one star for the obseleteness. Besides, some of the author's opinions are hilarious albeit somehow radical.
    One person found this helpful
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  • cchilds@writeme.com
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for any game programmer's library.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 1999
    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 Manager
    This section shows how to build a drawing manager.
    13. Loading Graphics
    This sections talks about the issues of loading graphics, and introduces a graphics manager. This book will talk primary about the Targa file format. The graphics manager can handle other formats, but you will have to get another book on graphic formats and do the work yourself.
    14. The Black Space and the Wild Void of Life
    This section will cover the LLE compression format and how to draw and clip with LLE.
    15. Animation
    This section covers the basics of animation and how to include it into your game.
    16. The Landscape
    This section covers several different ways to represent tile-based world.
    17. The Interface
    This section will talk about a lot of the areas needed for creating a user interface to your game.
    18. Objects and Creatures in the World
    This section covers defining an entity, creature definitions, and memory management.
    19. Pathing
    This section discuses different algorithms and structures for determining how to find a path in your game world.
    20. Direct Sound
    This sections covers some details about DirectSound.
    Summary:
    This book covers a lot of different areas in order to create a game. This is a good book for experienced programmers who would like to try their hand at writing Windows games using DirectX. This is not a stand-alone book though. It briefly discusses many advanced topics, which the reader will have to go and do more research on. Likewise, this book only covers the amount of DirectX to create the different managers without going into deep detail about all the other areas of DirectX. All in all, this is a very good book to add to any programmer's library. And if you have never attempted to write a game before, this is a must have to start your library of computer game programming books.
    21 people found this helpful
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  • Scott Johnson
    1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book ever
    Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2003
    Verified Purchase
    I can't believe how bad this book was. It gives simple concepts and then beats them to death with pages and pages of code. The author only touches on the truly difficult problems and refers the reader to web sites for the real material. He fills the pages with endless prose containing little substance.
    I bought this used for $5 and I paid too much.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • M D
    3.0 out of 5 stars Jumpy and opinionated
    Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2001
    Verified Purchase
    Beginners, don't pick up this book to learn from! This book is poorly organized, jumping from topic-to-topic. It's a little discouraging for the beginner to pick up a book and see the chapters go from an introduction to a header file full of physics equations. Then it goes on to describe a typical schedule of a programmer, then it goes on to describe topics without much explaination. It's also discouraging to be in chapter 3 and see text referring to a description in chapter 18.
    If you have an advanced knowledge of C++ you may be able to get through this book with a LOT of patience.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Jo Arild Tønnessen
    2.0 out of 5 stars This is a typical Bla, bla, bla book..
    Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2000
    This could of been a good book. If all the samples worked. And if he cut down on all the bla,bla about different game types and added some good programming samples. Before I started to read this book I read DirectX Complete (by Michael D. Root, James R. Boer; Paperback) which is a well structured and good (beginners)book ( in this book you learn something new about games on each page..). In Kawicks may learn something about RTS after 200 pages of reading. The lack of good programming samples and to much bla, bla makes this book a total waste to buy.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Robert Street
    4.0 out of 5 stars Decent
    Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2000
    Verified Purchase
    This is an excellent introduction to the difficulties and concepts involved in the creation of RTS/RTT games. It is not a book on how to write games in DirectX. It is not a book about DirectX. The book's stated goal is to describe the process by which RTS/RTT games are created. The author accomplishes the goal with success. While several topics are covered in detail (the path finding section for example), most topics are left alone for further research by the reader as there are well known, well respected books covering these topics (tile sets, resources vs. expenditures, threat levels vs. defensive capabilities, etc.). If you want a book describing how to create a RTS/RTT game, this is a good book. If you need a book on how to code, go elsewhere.
    8 people found this helpful
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