 |
||||||
| Home >> Book Reviews >> Visual Basic Game Programming For Teens | ||||||
 |
Visual Basic Game Programming For Teens Review
User Submitted Visual Basic Game Programming For Teens ReviewsMay 8, 2008 Agree with the last review Ok, yes, 2005? VB6??? Are you aware that Microsoft has discontinued selling and supporting this software?? This software was first published in 1999!!! Find a book that is using a little bit more of state of the art technology. This one is a waste of time and money. April 12, 2007 I have been looking for a book like this, a VB.Net perspective Overall I find this book good at what it advertises to be, a tour through the process of making a DirectX game in VB that would be very interesting and appealing to a novice programmer (teen). The game is a simplified 2d rpg/adventure game, called `Celtic Crusader'. While functional, in the interest of simplicity and time by the author's own words it isn't a fully featured game, it lacks features such as character inventory or network play. If you are looking for detailed information on DirectX, this is not the book. This book does not explain the DirectX methods used, or even display their signatures, it just tells you what the routine you are coding does as a whole, and gives you the code. I currently work in VB.Net, but I am experienced in the last few incarnations of VB, so the conversion of the provided code examples into VB.Net is not much of a problem. I would say someone familiar with VB.Net but without experience in VB6 will not have much problem; in fact the DirectX method calls in VB.Net are more logical than in VB6. For example d3ddev.Present(ByVal 0, ByVal 0, 0, ByVal 0) becomes d3ddev.Present(Handle.zero,Handle.zero, 0, Handle.zero) If you pay attention to the intellisense balloons then the DirectX method calls are fairly easy to figure out. The author doesn't fully qualify all his references, so be aware and supply the appropriate qualifacation for the constants. Be sure to Imports DxVBLibA For example d3dpp.SwapEffect = D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD becomes d3dpp.SwapEffect = CONST_D3DSWAPEFFECT.D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD The VB side of the code is the same (an If-Then is still If-Then) except that you will need to recognize form events as such by their names instead of their handles keyword. The DirectX8 for Visual Basic type library reference is still available with DirectX9.0c in VB.Net (just look under the Com tab when adding the reference) and seems to work fine in XP (I have tried it on 3 different machines.) I have not worked through the entire book yet, but so far I have not had any problems with compatibility. This book is thinner than the typical programming book (tome) you normally find. It leads the reader directly through the creation of this adventure game, cutting out many side details as mentioned earlier. However, I find it delivers enough to create a decent working game, and a nice resource for a programmer looking for straightforward code examples. September 3, 2006 VB6 is alive and well! Don't believe those that tell you VB is dead, vb is still alive and well! Just look at Microsoft Access 2003(A database program)when you build advance coding in it you are using vb language,even in the latest Access edition, VB is still there. Just visit your local book store, you will still see VB books out there. Another proof that VB is still alive, look at many E-commerce shopping carts, many of them are build in VB, and they are functioning with great precision. The book is intended for the teenager that wants to explore programming in a fun, and easy method, and Vb can deliver that without advance codes that will make a teenage kid left in the dark. It will give them the opportunity to learn to write simple executable codes, once they do that, then they can move on to Vb.net or C++. And with that, the author would accomplish his/her mission, and that is teaching a young mind. Go ahead buy the book, play with the codes, and have fun! April 17, 2006 Good Book Just started programming and VB seems like a good place. Johnathan rambles on a bit to much about maps but I learned alot. Rich D March 26, 2006 VB6 DEAD ? Helloooo! VB 6 is dead! <--------- You are in denial. First off VB will never leave you in the dry. 1. VB is owned by Microsoft and will never be ported to Linux or Mac. 2. VB has continued to have new releases. 3. C++ uses directx just like the rest of programming languages for games. 4. VB dominates in database programming. [MMO] Game DataBase! 5. It is possible to code in VB, that can run faster than C++. 6. Most people who bash VB do not know how to code in it and claim it to be for beginners when they only seen the dev. Fact is VB can do anything C++ can if you know how to code it. 7. So i say read and know what you are talking about before shooting off at the lips about something you have no clue about. Try looking at the development and then retract your comment. March 1, 2006 It is a book about DirectX 8 you VB6 Basher The VB6 basher above ignores that fact that VB6 isn't dead especially to those who already know it - did our compilers stop working when Microsoft stopped supporting it? Did they ever REALLY support it? Remember, VBA6 is still the core of Office 2003 and unless MS wants to break the entire financial industry it will be around for a long time. If you know VB6 this book is a great way to quickly introduce you to DirectX and take advantage of its graphics capabilities. I could already program conventional apps in VB fairly well (newsreaders and such) as well as make API calls to do things VB won't do on its own but had never worked with Bitmaps and Sprites. If this sounds like you this book is just what you need to gain an understanding of 2D techniques. The book took me a weekend to finish and I had already begun extending his sample code before finishing chaper2. Don't listen to cynical VB bigot amazon trolls. The book was worth the money. -M November 5, 2005 Visual basic 6 in 2005? How can a book published in 2005 be about Visual Basic 6? Helloooo! VB 6 is dead! Not supported anymore. Learning it now is a total waste of time, even for a teen. The author should have written a game programming book in VB.NET 2005, but I guess he, not being very young, is still stuck in his old habits and doesn't t have the proficiency to do it. Don't waste your time with stuff that belongs to the past, especially if you are young! And just to confirm this, you VB6 dinos who are defending this book, a new edition is coming out now (2007) finally dealing with VB.NET. Wonder why if VB6 is so alive and well.... Anyhow, better late then never! March 4, 2005 Book information From the publishers Web site: Features # Full of hands-on practice with quality source code # An excellent addition to the "For Teens" line as Visual Basic is a popular, easy programming language making it ideal for the teens audience # Has dual appeal to the up and coming young game enthusiast who wants to get into game programming, as well as the beginning computer programmer who wants to learn how to write games # Focuses on beginning topics, but does delve lightly into advanced subjects in such as manner that a complete beginner will be able to understand it. Table of Contents PART I: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED WITH VISUAL BASIC CHAPTER 2: YOUR FIRST DIRECTX PROGRAM CHAPTER 3: DESIGNING THE GAME PART II: CREATING AN INTERACTIVE GAME WORLD CHAPTER 4: CORE TECHNIQUE: DRAWING BITMAPS CHAPTER 5: LEVEL EDITING WITH MAPPY CHAPTER 6: THE BASICS OF TILE-BASED SCROLLING CHAPTER 7: SCROLLING THE GAME WORLD CHAPTER 8: ADVANCED SCROLLING TECHNIQUES PART III: THE PLAYER'S CHARACTER (PC) CHAPTER 9: CORE TECHNIQUE: DRAWING SPRITES CHAPTER 10: CORE TECHNIQUE: ANIMATING SPRITES CHAPTER 11: CORE TECHNIQUE: USER INPUT CHAPTER 12: WALKING AROUND IN THE GAME WORLD CHAPTER 13: CORE TECHNIQUE: DRAWING TEXT CHAPTER 14: CORE TECHNIQUE: COLLISION DETECTION PART IV: NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (NPCS) CHAPTER 15: CREATING THE CHARACTER CLASSES CHAPTER 16: ADDING NPCS TO THE GAME WORLD CHAPTER 17: TALKING WITH NPCS CHAPTER 18: ENGAGING IN COMBAT WITH NPCS PART V: FINISHING TOUCHES CHAPTER 19: ADDING SCENERY TO THE GAME WORLD CHAPTER 20: CORE TECHNIQUE: SOUND EFFECTS CHAPTER 21: CORE TECHNIQUE: BACKGROUND MUSIC APPENDIX A: USING THE CD-ROM February 16, 2005 Learn VB and then Use This Book to Build a Game There are quite a number of books on game programming. Most of these are on more advanced topics, covering the design of much more complex characters, much more complex games. Instead this book is aimed at the teen who has an interest in game programming. It makes the presumption that you know at least the fundamentals of Visual Basic. What the author says is: Read the first couple of chapters. Try what the book says do, and if you're not lost you know enough. If you are lost, then go back and read one of the more introductory books on VB. The emphasis here is to use the rather high level VB programming language and get a game created. This way the teen reader is made productive almost immediately and is much less likely to lose interest. The game being programmed is a 2-D Role Playing Game involving the invasion of England by Vikings. This is significantly less complex than a 3D game, but the resulting game is still fun to play. Because of the need to know VB, this book has to be classed as intermediate level, but the game programming aspects are aimed at the beginner. For more Visual Basic Game Programming For Teens reviews click here.
|
|||||
 |
|
|
||||
| Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Advertising | Contact Us | ||||||
| ©2005 Book Savers, All rights reserved. | ||||||
and Preschoolers