3d Games:Volume 1: Real-Time Rendering and Software Technology Vol 1: Real-time Rendering and Software Technology (Hardcover)

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Product Description
This is the first academic games programming book/CD package that is expressly written for new degree courses in 3D-games programming. Authors introduce the theory behind the design of computer games and detail advanced techniques used in the industry.
 
Students will be able to develop their own games within the game 'skeletons' accompanying the book, and will learn how to program complex games. This book could also be used for a more standard undergraduate 3D graphics programming course, with the games context being highly motivational.
 
This book is a comprehensive treatment of current 3D games technology, including:
* Theoretical foundations
* Classical 3D graphics
* Real-time rendering technology
* Dynamics
* Collision detection
* Artificial Intelligence
* Image-based rendering
* Multi-player technology
* Software technology
* Engine architecture
 
The text is written around an actual engine that implements most of the described techniques and accompanies the book on a CD-ROM. Readers can try out their own ideas by writing source code and can experiment with existing demonstrations by writing or altering plug-ins. 
 
The supplied engine features are:
* BSP/PVS render management
* Light maps for static geometry
* Diffuse and specular (hardware) vertex lighting for dynamic objects
* Volumetric fog with fog maps
* Detail textures
* Multi-texture support
* Collision detection
* Dynamic lights
* Dynamic Shadows
* Physically based animations
* Animated meshed
* Tri-strips and fans
* Subdivision surfaces
* 3D sound support
* Complete plug-in directed

From the Back Cover
This book is a comprehensive treatment of current 3D games technology. It concentrates on-
· real-time rendering, or the necessary enhancements of 3D graphics to enable rendering at interactive rates;
· topics from other areas such as AI, physics and collision detection, that are used in games;
· the software technology of games - engine architecture and multi-player technology.
The text is written around the engine Fly3D (included with a full SDK on the CD) that implements most of the described techniques. Readers can try out their own ideas by writing source code and experiment with existing demonstrations by writing plug-ins and altering existing ones. You can even develop your own game.
Features of the game engine include-
· BSP/PVS render management
· Light Maps for static geometry (pre-computed lighting with soft shadows)
· Normal maps (dot product texture blending) for dynamic objects
· Diffuse and specular vertex lighting for dynamic objects
· Volumetric fog with fog maps
· Detail Textures
· Multi-texture support
· Collision detection
· Dynamic coloured lights with distance attenuation
· Dynamic shadows - lightmap or stencil shadow volumes
· Physically based simulations
· Animated meshes (vertex morph)
· Tri-strips and fans
· Subdivision Surfaces
· Dynamic LODs using bi-quadric Bezier meshes
· Cartoon like rendering with dynamic cartoon lighting
· Multiplayer support (TCP/IP) with client/server architecture (using DirectPlay)
· 3D sound support (using DirectSound)
· Mouse and Keyboard input (using DirectInput)
· Intel ® Pentium III vector and matrix maths optimisation
· Complete plug-in directed
· 3D Max plug-ins for export/import fly bsp levels and creating landscapes and animated meshes
· Editor with real-time preview of game (set up game and object parameters while playing)
Sections of the book have been designed to be self-contained. The areas covered are-
· Modelling and Foundation Maths
· Classical 3D Graphics
· Real-time rendering
· Control of Objects - dynamics - AI
· 2D Technology
· Software technology
CD includes-
· Full Fly3D SDK including source code for Fly3D.Alan Watt, based at the University of Sheffield, is the author of many successful books including 3D Computer Graphics, Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques and the Computer Image.
Fabio Policarpo is a software developer and founder of the company Paralelo Computacao based in Rio de Janeiro. He coauthored The Computer Image and is currently working on independent 3D action multiplayer games.

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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3 Reviews 5 star:    (0) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars A reasonable introduction to graphics programming, 21 Nov 2000 By A Customer This book provides well written explanations of key concepts of graphics programming. However, readers of the authors previous books on 3D computer graphics will notice that the majority of the illustrations and text have seemingly been 'cut and paste' from those texts. Whilst many fundamental graphics topics are explored, the depth of their explanation and discussion is often missing. One cannot help feeling that the 'games' slant to this book has been rushed and under-developed although a substantial amount of source code (in OpenGL) is provided to help grasp important principles. Overall, if you do not have any other books on computer graphics programming then this book is a good purchase. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars A good buy, but get your thinking cap on., 18 Mar 2002 By  "cpt_fruitcake" - See all my reviews If you've ever wanted to know the theories behind bump mapping, mipmapping, texturing etc then this is for you. It thoroughly explores all the background, currently used methods and algorithms. Sometimes in far more detail than us mortals really need. Be prepared for a barrage of maths I could barely follow (and I've got a maths degree!) but remember that you don't have to understand it all, just the principals. Where the book falls short, is in terms of a practical appliaction. While it does include the source code for a simple 3D engine and tutorials on how to use it. It doesn't cover much in terms of the software you'd have to use. i.e. DirectX or OpenGL. I don't regret buying it, but you will need to use it in conjunction with another reference. Hey, after reading a book this complex, the DirectX SDK seems like a piece of cake. :) Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Better than many others of this type, 27 Nov 2000 By A Customer While I agree that there are places where the book could have gone into more depth, overall its quite a worthwhile investment - AND the included source code fills in for missing book text in most cases. Compared to many other "3d games" books on the market this one is mostly meat instead of filler. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 3 customer reviews...		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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