Does any one have recommendations for java gaming books? I have no opengl knowledge although that is something i would like to learn, I have experience with both pc and android development and would like to venture into the 3d world, but the problem is I don’t want to buy books online as I think most are too complex, so does anyone have book suggestions for a person who has been learning java that is in high school and has been learning since about august? I am up for a challenge but not something to drive me insane
If you don’t know opengl yet and have only been learning for, what, 6 months, I seriously doubt moving into 3D is a good idea. If you insist however, there’s a list here: http://www.opengl.org/documentation/books/ for opengl
For most things though, I think online tutorials will suffice.
Of course I would like to learn 3d but if you think that is too complex do you have any suggestions for something more of my level?
You have a nice looking 2d game in WIP, why don’t you finish that first?
I do really want to continue with that, I suppose I am getting to ambitious here and not looking at my current projects. Well thank you. Do you have any recommendations that you think may help me with that? Or do you think i should just keep doing what I’m doing
Beginning Android Games is a book I highly recommend.
It goes from 2D to 3D and is very in-depth. One of the developers of libgdx is the author.
I did buy that book i thought it was a very well written one
If you look into the Java Gaming Resources, we usually recommend:
Developing Games in Java by David Brackeen
and
Killer Game Programming in Java by Andrew Davison
These books may be old and use Java2D, however their methods still apply and are educational for a newcomer to understand how things in games work - no OpenGL here but you should learn that later.
I specifically recommend the Brackeen book. Killer Game Programming has its flaws and one third of the book is about Java3D which is practically useless, especially today.
I should also stretch that, while some people here may recommend that you learn OpenGL, it is by no means necessary to do so, unless you want to specifically become a graphics programmer.
I have a team, we use Libgdx. We have one guy who is a OpenGL wiz and does stuff - however for a “normal” game, using Libgdx you never have to use OpenGL directly. At most you have to familiarize yourself with some OpenGL facts, how things work, but you dont have to actually code “low level”.
So not discouraging or anything, not at all. Just know: Only do it if it really interests you and/or you have benefits in reaching your goals when doing it.