Beginning 3d Programming: Book/Website Suggestions?

Question

First an overview of myself:

• Graduated almost 5 years ago w/ degree in Computer Engineering, minor in Math
• Currently attending grad school for MS in Computer Science.
• Work experience since college has been primarily VB.Net, ASP, SQL, etc, "business apps"
• Preferred C/C++, ASM, and other "lower level" languages in college, but haven't had a reason to use them much since, so I don't need an Introduction to these topics but am a little rusty with them.
• Would like to build my knowledge of how game engines work with the ultimate goal of writing my own game, etc

I'm looking for either a book or a good walk through description of a graphics engine with a primary focus on video games and the like. It can either be a website or book, doesn't really matter.

I'm currently targeting the Win32 platform so either Direct3D, or OpenGL tutorials would be welcome but doesn't necessarily have to be either of these.

I've read a few reviews for "Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus" and will be trying to acquire it. The rest of my Google searches end up with a lot of results and it will take awhile to sift through to find the gems. Was really hoping someone here might be able to shorten my search a bit.

Thanks

Answer 1

Download a copy of Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book - it's the graphics programming equivalent of Knuth's Art of Computer Programming, it's a great read, it's now free, and in spite of its age (it's over ten years old now), it's still relevant.

Answer 2

The OpenGL Programming Guide aka 'the red book'

Answer 3

Go check out Unity 3D They sell one of the best game engines available - Indie license at $200 is NOT a lot of money for what you get. Their 30 day free trial will give you time to get up to speed. Version 2.5 was recently released and their IDE finally runs on Windows! They also have slew of videos and and other resources worth checking out. Most of what you'll discover there applies to virtually all game engines in general .. .

Probably also worth checking GarageGames too as they have recently released an update of their game engine called Torque 3D.

I'd suggest you wander around gamedev.net too - lots to see and learn over at that site. Other things I'd look at include Blender and Ogre3d and C4. There's also a free version of 3ds max called gmax worth learning. Also spend some time with Google's Sketchup, cause there's a free version of that as well.

Answer 4

Here are some from my bookmarks (note however that managed DirectX has been discontinued by Microsoft):

• Direct3D, OpenGL and XNA Fieldguide
• Direct3D Tutorial
• Managed DirectX 2.0
• Rendering terrains with Managed DirectX
• Mini 3D Terrain Viewer - C#/DirectX Example

Engines:

• http://www.horde3d.org/
• http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/
• http://axiomengine.sourceforge.net/mediawiki-1.13.2/index.php/Main_Page
• http://www.opentk.com/

Books:

• 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development
• Real-Time Rendering Tricks and Techniques in DirectX
• Real-Time Rendering, Third Edition

Answer 5

I highly recommend Essential Math for Games Programmers, even if it is a bit tangential to your original request. Even with your math background you'll probably find useful material in there, and once you're armed with that, learning Direct3D or OpenGL or any other library will be much easier.

After you're a bit comfortable with the library of your choice, I'd recommend the "Game Programming Gems" and "GPU Programming Gems" series. The articles are sometimes a bit above my comfort zone but they almost always give me a good launching point into other material to read or research.

Answer 6

I could go into a long ramble (and I have on gamedev.net before now) about why writing your own 3D engine isn't as important as demonstrating how to integrate one into an app, but other than to show understanding of the techniques these are expert carefully optimesed systems these days that few get to work on.

To add to those that are already up there let me add "Game Architecture and Design" by Rollings and Morris. This isn't a graphics book but covers a lot of ground about developing games which is well worth knowing.

There are also plenty of book reviews on gamedev.net

Have fun!

Answer 7

I like Game Coding Complete, 3rd Edition by Mike McShaffry. It is a new release so I have discovered a few typos here and there.

Great overview and good examples.

800+ Pages -- Best as Reference.

See: http://www.mcshaffry.com/GameCode/