Just got an email about game programming books, a very popular question I get:
Hey John, I’ve mailed you before but I doubt you remember; with that said, I love your games! Always have, always will. I’ve done a bit of game programming with some beginner’s languages like GML and many versions of BASIC, but I’d really like to learn C. I have one question: I’ve pretty much learned all there is to make console applications, which is all I can find tutorials for. Where can I get some info on basic graphics programming? Just drawing/manipulating bitmaps or pixels, something like that.
Thanks!
-Jake
Here’s what I would recommend with just a quick search on Amazon: Beginning Game Programming by Michael Morrison.
Now, I haven’t had to read a game programming book in about 22 years but this one seems pretty solid with good reviews. Sure, some of the reviews might be by the guy’s mom and friends but how else can you tell if it’s good unless you try it yourself?
I’m sure some of the readers here can recommend other great books – that’s what this section is for!
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This seems a good book because it doesn’t leap straight into DirectX or OpenGL, and wisely covers the Windows API – which one should really learn before those two APIs.
However, if the guy hasn’t done C or C++ before hand then I would have recommended SAMS Teach yourself C. It spends three weeks teaching C, then a bonus week looking at C++ and Java. I think if one put both these books one after the other they would have a perfect solution.