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Any news on when Java 1.4 Game Programming book will be out?

I tried to go to the publisher's web site, but they didn't have any information on it and it looks like the publisher (The Republic of Texas) has been sold.Does anyone know when this book will be available? I wrote to Amazon.com with this question as well.Thanks.

[286 byte] By [darrinpsa] at [2007-9-28 13:27:08]

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# 1

We called them last friday, the day it was supposed to come out, and talked to their sales manager. She said it was at the printer and would be out by the end of the month. Amazon has a description of the book up now too. nathan

nlmuenga at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

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# 2

I just contacted the publisher and they said that it is available NOW from them.

I hope that means that it is now SHIPPING from them

Here is the web site if you want to order it straight from the publisher.

http://www.wordware.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=wwpub&Product_Code=1556229631&Category_Code=WW-CB

darrinpsa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 3

An update!

The publisher sent me a coupon (after I mentioned that other on-line sources were cheaper). It is good for 30% off the retail price. I asked if it was OK to share this coupon with some other folks and said that it was, so feel free to use it.

The coupon is:

THANKYOU-WW-20051231

darrinpsa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 4

Isthat an medium to advanced book? Or good for beginners too

oo0speed0ooa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 5

I don't think so, but all I can say for sure is what I saw posted on their web site about it. Here is an overview:

Gain a solid foundation in the Java 1.4 language.

Learn key issues associated with graphics programming in Java.

Understand the importance of threads throughout all related topics.

Find out how to handle mouse and keyboard input correctly in a game environment.

Develop a reusable sound manager for your games.

Learn about animation, collision detection, and high-resolution timing.

See how to create your own in-game GUI system.

Create a solid game framework for use in your own game projects.

Learn how to develop multiplayer games in Java.

On the CD:

Java 2 SDK version 1.4.1 and the Java Runtime for the Linux, Solaris, and Windows platforms

Freeware version of JCreator

MySQL and the MySQL manual in PDF format

Complete source code listings as discussed in the book

Bonus chapter in PDF format on how to use Swing components

I seems to be pretty inclusive for both the beginner and the more advanced, but I don't have a copy in my hands yet to say for sure.

darrinpsa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 6

I brought the "Black Art of Java Game Programming" and its really hard. I'm reading that, taking java at school and reading 2 other books and I still don't understand some of the concepts of "black art" book. I'm in chapter 2 I could imagine the rest of the book. I'm learning in school in Blue J, and that was the worst. Now i'm doing textpad and I understand everything a whole lot better. But not doing applets threw me way off. Is this book going to be any better?

oo0speed0ooa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 7

I wish I knew, but I don't have a copy yet. AS soon as I get it, I'll post a quick overview.FWIW, I THINK it should be easier in that it is supposed to lay a groundwork from what I have heard.

darrinpsa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 8

does anyone have a copy yet?i noticed that the book price is 41.97$ at amazon.comdoes anyone know a cheaper place to get it from?

zuloa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 9

I get so sick of reading **** like this from newbies in this (gaming) forum

PS: you cannot circumvent the learning curve by an ambition to write the next Tomb-Raider or Doom if you don't thoroughly understand the core API, GUI-building, event-handling, OO concepts and UML - if you're VERY bright it takes about 1 year of hard work if java is your first language. And after at least 6 months you 'might be' ready to do animation, map building, multi-threading, collisions, networked applications etc.

If you think a magic 'Black Book' is going to fast-track you through this lot, then you're being naive.

Sum-shusSuea at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 10

sue is right, why waste that kind of money on a book that will confuse you? I spent $20 on "Java Programming for Dummies" and it made Java clearer than air. After I was very familiar with the APIs etc, making games wasn't nearly as difficult as when I tried WITHOUT knowledge of the

Woogleya at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 11

>> why waste that kind of money on a book that will confuse you?

My guess for an answer : There are people who would like to create a specific program but don't know how to do that. One approach would be to find example code that (a) gives solutions to the problems they cannot solve on on their own yet and (b) has a documentation that tells them why and how the solutions work. That book seems to be just that.

The more extreme the task you want the machine to perform the more difficult it is to create and implement the algorithm. "Generate, maintain and display a 3D world and let the player interact with it" seems like kind of task to me that takes ages to find and implement a solution for unless someone hands you some useful algorithms and tells you what classes are fast enough to implement them.

Zyphrusa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 12

> There are people who would

> like to create a specific program but don't know how

> to do that. One approach would be to find example code

> that (a) gives solutions to the problems they cannot

> solve on on their own yet and (b) has a documentation

> that tells them why and how the solutions work. That

> book seems to be just that.

What are the odds the book has examples for all problems? Read Sue's post, it's 100% logical. You'd do better by learning the core API first. By then you can figure out how to make a game yourself...

Woogleya at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 13

Actually this thread is a kind of synopsis for this particular forum, what do we most frequently read here? Script kiddies and wannabe muppets asking basic questions on game-featured programming when they have no grasp of the basics of the language. If they did, then they'd be enabled and know how to figure it out for themselves.

(excuse me I've just thought of a really good con by way of writing a book, back in 6 months -seeya)

Sum-shusSuea at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 14

I disagree, but only partly.

Here's why I diasagree :

What exactly is that core API? And what's so important about it? If it is the standard set of clases provided by the jre : No, you don't have to know most of them to write Java programs. You'd be surprised if you knew how few of the jre classes I know, and I've managed to write Tube Blazer.

I think you have to learn something else to write programs : Todays computers / operating systems all implement the same key concepts (variables, pointers, tasks, interfaces ...) and you find the very same concepts in almost every programming language. Once you've grasped them and how to use them in a given family of programming languages, you can start using one of the languages from that family. Looking up specific classes / commands is in theory no more challenging than looking up words for a foreign language you are basically able to speak. In theory, because with a natural language you can use a word from your own language as a reference or a word of similar meaning to find the foreign word. If finding the right commands for implementing something was that simple, noone would need programming books for specific parts of a programming language - the language documentation would explain it all in a form that was easily accessible.

Here is why I agree :

If you read a book and you don't understand the concepts it is based on (the Black Art book is a good example from this thread) you won't understand it, unless the book explains them to you. I also agree because when writing your first programs you make a lot of mistakes and you learn how to find mistakes. Without that ability trying to write large programs is frustrating and/or hopeless.

Zyphrusa at 2007-7-12 9:27:17 >

# 15

Todays computers / operating systems all implement the same key concepts (variables, pointers, tasks, interfaces ...) and you find the very same concepts in almost every programming language. Once you've grasped them and how to use them in a given family of programming languages, you can start using one of the languages ..."

No conflict at all here core API /core of understanding ('cept I'd add algorithms in there, especially an ability to figure out your OWN, defines a programmer form a wannabe) - its the same.

I think the ambition to want to write your own games for a young person must be a terrific motivator and java is an excellent language choice for this, even if it is your first language. I just keep reading similar stuff over and over - how to animate a sprite? - how to rotate an image? - how do collisions work? - even how to keep a score/-write to file!

Increasingly java is peoples first language choice - either self taught or (more likely) its imposed at high school /college /university. People need to realise that the ability to configure eg: animation with collisions for a pool game takes time and guess what? - black book, or pink book, or green checkered book with smiley faces, there are NO SHORTCUTS.

Sum-shusSuea at 2007-7-18 21:02:18 >

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Any news on when Java 1.4 Game Programming book will be out?

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