Best general game programing books

General Discussions
#1

Hey guys,

  So in general it seems like the java game books arent so great, the ones Ive read anyway. Ive been thinking, couldnt I just read a more general beginner game programming book? Arent there books that discuss various game coding topics, such as making scrolling backgrounds, tilemaps, collision, etc, etc?? Even if a book used another language, Im sure I would be able to translate it to Java code. So are there any really good, clear books like this. My current goal is 2d games but I want to learn 3d in the future. I would just love a book that explains how to create the most important parts of games. For instance I want to make a 2d top down zelda type game, but Im lost as to how to implement a level system that scrolls with tiles and all that. So any recommendations? Or is it a bad idea to use a non java book for this?
#2

The standard suggestions are:

Killer Game Programming in Java
Developing Games in Java

If I can remember the names right. It’s been a while.

KGPiJ is available as a Kindle ebook if that means anything to you.

I wouldn’t try using a book for a different language unless it were about a specific topic. In C, you would have to deal with OpenGL or some such thing. In Java, you can but don’t have to. I would suggest not trying to learn about optional information like OpenGL untill you have some solid Java experience.

#3

hi guys. first of all sorry for pushing that old topic, but i think it’s not necessary to start a new thread about that.
btw english is not my mothertongue so excuse me for all upcomming mistakes :wink:

so everywhere are those 2 book recomendet (Killer game programming and developing games in java) but they are both quite old. (released 2005 and 2003 afaik)
my question is if the books are still up-to-date? i don’t know how fast the versions in java were changing so i’m not sure won’t haveing trouble fixing old code all the time?

further advice for newer books would be nice if you have one :slight_smile:

#4

My advice is, don’t learn Java from a “game programming” book. A book from 2003 is unlikely to be all that good of an intro to java, since it’s not going to cover generics for one. 2005 might be okay, depends on the book.

Two general books I can recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-2nd-Edition/dp/0596009208
http://www.amazon.com/Java-For-Dummies-Barry-Burd/dp/0470371730

Head First Java is from 2005 but it’s still a good book. The dummies book is good now, just make sure you get the 5th edition that covers java 1.7 (earlier editions use a crappy obsolete IDE, 5th ed covers Eclipse)

Once you know Java, you don’t need a java-specific book to learn game programming. But if you are set on getting a java game programming book, I recommend this one, published in 2011

http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Android-Games-Mario-Zechner/dp/1430230428/

It’s for Android, but it teaches libgdx, which can also be used on the desktop.

#5

I agree with fletchergames, Killer Game Programming is a good book. Link here: http://fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th/~ad/jg/
I learned most of my stuff as a beginner from Java Programming: from the Ground Up.

#6

oh, i forgot to mention that i’am already used to the java-programming language.

i’ve created some small games (puzzle, jump and run) in C# using XNA 4.0. but now i’ve switched to java (because of new job opportunities) and so i want to develop some small games in java too. so i’m not a java-beginner anymore :wink:

and thx for the advice