What books/websites would you recommend to get started with game development?

Question

What books would you recommend to dive into the world of game-development?
at best no programming-language specific stuff...more about the basics(KI, Basic Code Design).

Answer 1

game development wiki

Answer 2

I recommend the obvious websites: GameDev.Net and Gamasutra.

Looking at books, I recommend Computer Games - Design and Programming (don't know the actual English title, look for Dobrovka).

Edit: Since you're from Germany, the German book title is Computerspiele - Design und Programmierung. Go for the second edition. Looks like it never has been published in English, unfortunately. Great book ;)

Answer 3

Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus by André LaMothe is ancient (talks about DirectX 8), but very good at explaining concepts. Combined with more modern documentation from GameDev.net, it's great.

I wouldn't recommend looking for very basic materials - at best, they'll be useful for a week. Just dive straight in - it's more fun too.

Answer 4

I can't recommend any specific books, but gamedev.net is an excellent source of tutorials and information. Also the wiki (Used to be GPWiki, now part of gamedev -- wiki.gamedev.net) has a lot of very good information.

The best possible way to get started in game programming is to pick a project and start working on it. I think the really important questions will come up as you work.

The only other thing I can suggest is to start with a project that is way simpler than you think you are capable of. Build from there.

Answer 5

For books, I like:

Game Coding Complete by Mike McShaffry - Great soup to nuts guide, examples in C++

XNA Unleashed - If you like .Net game programming

Game Developer Postmortems - Talks about lots of game projects and their triumphs/pitfalls, not a design book, but it gives you a better perspective on the industry in general, even if the case-studies are a little dated.

Hope that helps!

Answer 6

gamedev.net has a section on game books with reviews and ratings

Answer 7

For discussion of high level game design concepts, peruse the posts at Lost Garden. You won't find any code examples, but think along the lines of UML and various recommendable patterns.

Answer 8

I recommend Game Engine Architecture by Jason Gregory. Author is experienced game developer worked at Electronic Arts, Midway, Naughty Dog. Book provides great overview of major parts of game engine, and how they interact.