Foreword
I remember first falling in love with computers back in 1983 while programming
Logo on an Apple IIe (thanks, Woz!). The sense of power I got from that experience
was very addicting and mind-shaping. The computer would do whatever I told it. It
didn’t get tired after countless repetitions or question my reasoning behind having it
perform any particular task. The machine just did it. I owe much of my career to that
experience, the movie War Games, and an author by the name of André LaMothe.
I bought my first book by André LaMothe, Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming
in 21 Days, back in 1994. It had never occurred to me that people could make a career
out of programming video games. It was then that I saw the connection between my
love for programming and my addiction to video games. Who would have ever
thought that all those hours of playing Galaga could now be considered research?
André’s writing and teaching style inspired me and gave me the confidence to believe
that I could program video games. I remember calling him up on the phone (I still
can’t believe he actually talks to people and gives out his phone number) and asking
for his help with a simple program I was making for my physics class based on his
gas model demo. I couldn’t get the program to work. Well, he instantly reviewed my
program and in seconds said something like, “Rich, you’re killing me, you need to put
a semicolon at the end of each line!” Well, that was it, and my first game program
was up and running.
A few years later, I had the pleasure of working with André on a video game called
Rex Blade as the tools programmer and a level designer. It was a tremendous learning
experience for me. We worked amazingly hard (André is a slave driver), had a lot of
fun (going to movies, gun shooting, skiing, and a lot more—can anyone say, “Desert
Eagle 51 caliber”? <GRIN>), and ended up with a 3D interactive video game trilogy.
We took Rex Blade from the concept to the shelves in an unbelievable six months
(Rex would make an interesting postmortem to be sure). Working on Rex taught me
what really went into making a real video game, and working with André showed me
what it really meant to work around the clock—and I do mean around the clock. I
thought he was kidding when he said he worked 100+ hours a week!
There are few areas of software engineering that push the limits of the hardware, the
software, and the programmer himself as much as game programming does. There are
so many intricate pieces that have to work together perfectly: math, physics, AI,
graphics, sound, music, GUI, data structures, and so forth. This is where Tricks of the
Windows Game Programming Gurus proves itself to be an essential tool in the art of
programming the video games of today and tomorrow.
This book takes you to the next level in game programming technology. The artificial
intelligence coverage alone is enough to make your mouth water—the demos are
killer. Where else can you get detailed coverage of fuzzy logic, neural nets, and
genetic algorithms and how to apply them to video games? The book also takes you
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