1 comments about SMARTLAB Challenge: Weird and Gross (Smartlab).

1. At first, my nephew was of course more interested in his video games and other high tech xmas gifts, but once he cracked weird and gross open, it was THE HIT of the holidays...suddenly his older sister wanted in, the whole family was playing along. As the kids headed upstairs for bed all we could hear was, "I get the challenge tomorrow!" "No, I get it!". Smashing success.

No comments about Diablo II Ultimate Strategy Guide.

No comments about The Scorpion King(TM): Sword of Osiris Official Strategy Guide.

1 comments about Super Mario Advance Official Pocket Guide.

1. The guide was pretty much perfect! What can I say? Probably what could've helped it was that it could have been in color (I know its a pocket guide but still...), but in the end I know it would make no difference. But some of the maps would've been clearer if the guide was in color.

   What I like about the maps is that they are taken straight from the game and not handdrawn. Oh well, the guide was good, giving a great walkthrough. It also covers the classic super mario bros game so its great when you have to go somewhere and yout can't bring in this huge book (ie. Versus Books and Prima) when you can easily put it in your pocket and then take it out whenever you need it.

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming with DirectX in 21 Days (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. *** First of all Matt Weisbard, I'm afraid that the correct spelling is "grammar", NOT "grammer". ***
   I agree with Matt Weisbard, the book doesn't dive into advanced topics. This book is suitable for beginners and intermediates.
   Included an RPG game on CD-ROM.



2. this book does not provide a proper grounding of information for directX. when typing in source code from the book i find that i haven't seen or learned about most of the code yet. i end up having to figure out most of the language by myself through experimentation. if you are a beginner, stay away from this book because it is very confusing and irritating. I have read this book and found i couldn't really program a game. if you are an intermediate level, then you will just get confused from the frequent jumping and going suddenly to an advanced level. if you are an expert, this book won't help you as it doesn't teach you much more that basics-inter. i had to buy a second book to learn directX since this one was pointless. dont waste like $30 on this book. GET A DIFFERENT BOOK.



3. This book is good for a beginner-intermediate programmer. Don't get it unless you have a solid understanding of C++, Visual C++, and basic Windows programming. The author uses pretty good humour to keep you amused enough to read more. I enjoy reading it.
   
   A programmer that is 11 years old that is not the fat soul who climbs in through the chimney on Christmas Eve, but has a good understanding of C++.



4. I must say that this book is totally for newbies in DirectX. One who has no idea of anything about DirectX is encouraged to read this book. The sample game used in the book is more or less similar to those old classic 2D game (remember zelda? but it's JBookman).
   
   In this book, you learn the basic of setting DirectX application, loading surfaces, textures onto triangles, etc...
   
   Like I said if you're a layman in DirectX, you'll be fascinated from what you learn in this book. But you won't learn 3D games here.



5. This book shows the reader how to create a simple 2D RPG engine. Though it is written in DirectX, the code is easily portable. I actually wrote my own version in SDL with relative ease. Though DirectX is in the title, the book isn't really about DX, it's more about developing 2D RPGs, similar to the classic game Ultima.
   
   While there is some technical stuff relating to DX, it's fairly simple and by no means exhaustive. The majority of the book is about building the RPG engine, not DX.
   
   I had a great deal of fun building the engine as I progressed through the book, and I'm not even that big on RPGs. My only caution is this: The book is a good book, but it's not for everyone. Someone looking to code the next Quake should wake up and smell the coffee--there's no book out there that can teach you how to become a professional game programmer.
   
   Hobbyists should love it, I know I did.

No comments about Star Wars Galaxies Map Atlas (Expanded) (Prima Official Game Guide).

1 comments about Final Fantasy XII: The Complete Guide.

1. When it comes to strategy guides, no company does them better than Piggyback Interactive. Based in the UK, Piggyback rarely sends strategy guides to the states. When you get one, though, you're glad. These are detailed like no other guide you've ever seen. Their Final Fantasy XII guide is just as detailed.
   
   At over 300 pages, this is Piggyback's biggest guide they've ever done. This tome is packed with more information than any other Final Fantasy XII guide you can find.
   
   It takes a long time to jump into the walkthrough in this guide. It begins with the game basics that take up a ton of space. Mostly because it doesn't just get you adapted to the controls, but Final Fantasy XII's combat system. Giving you the run down on everything, including Gambits. Not only do they explain Gambits but they offer some pretty good examples of how to set them up. Using this guide you'll be able to set up a well balanced party. It helps to see just how good the gamebit system can really be. It'll also give you the low down on every character. Showing how much they'll level up and what some of their stats will be between certain levels. Just the same, this is the only guide that goes in depth on all the guests that'll join your party and let's you know what their gambits are.
   
   Afterwards we get into the staddard items list for weapons, armor etc. Again, incredibly detailed but also helping you make sense of what everything means and how it is you'll be able to hit an enemy a series of times. After that, there's the bestiary. Separated by area, it's a helpful tool. Also showing you who your friend is. But beyond that, the game shows every Rare Game monster you can think of.
   
   After all this we finally get to the walkthrough. It's spoiler free and details an optimal route through each section, while having lettered callouts on the map. Therefore, if you see "A" on the map, then look to the "A" section and read what you have to do. The walkthrough also details every extra as it comes up, pointing out that that's the best way to do them. Even if you decide not to do them at that moment, the "Extras" chapter will direct you to any page in the walkthrough that details a quest. It's a highly detailed walkthrough. If there was any complaint, it would be that boss strategies aren't detailed enough, nor does the guide provide you with enough screenshots. Don't think this means for a second this walkthrough won't help. It definitely will. It's far better than the BradyGAMES guide, but there are some things they might mention that you might need a screenshot so that you can figure out just what they're talking about.
   
   With all the information packed into this guide you'd think page flipping would be a problem. It isn't. At the very back, there's an index that pinpoints you to everything the guide has. The guide is also spoiler free for anyone who is curious.
   
   Piggyback has done it again. Crafting a guide that isn't just there to get you through the game, but helping to make sure you conquer it and leave no stone unturned. Piggyback hasn't just created a guidebook. They've created a friend.

No comments about DAFFY DUCK THE MARVIN MISSIONS (SUPER NINTENDO GAME CARTRIDGE_ (DAFFY DUCK THE MARVIN MISSIONS (SUPER NINTENDO GAME CARTRIDGE_, DAFFY DUCK THE MARVIN MISSIONS (SUPER NINTENDO GAME CARTRIDGE_).

3 comments about Devil May Cry: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. I think its clear now that I'm a player's guide freak being that I love them and have one for every game that I own. Anyway in comparison to VERSUS BOOKS and BRADYgames this guide is mediocre to poor.

   The guide covers the game okay. Yeah it has all those items and secret missions covered and it has those fantastic 3D maps that tell you where items are located and such but as far as that goes, THE WALKTHROUGH IS DOWN RIGHT HORRIBLE!!

   While maps are nice eye candy (yes I like maps just as much as the next person) to look at the walkthrough is not informative enough, and is very disorganized. Again as with VB the guide is too thin. Its like 80 pages long! Not much to get from that. Even if the VB guide was just as thin that one covered EVERYTHING where as this guide DOES NOT!!!

   This guide is mainly for those who just want to get down the point and go! It completely leaves out some secrets, and you find yourself asking "What in the hell are they talking about!?"

   In other words, I'd check out the guide from VB or BradyGAMES and give this a pass unless you're very desperate to get through the game.




2. This review was helpful to me. I was able to beat the game without it, but after I had already beaten the game, I wanted to get the stradegy guide to find any secrets I missed. It turned out there were THREE stradegy guides, and I could only find the Prima Games one. I'm normally a Brady Games Dan Birlew type of guy, but I couldn't find that one, so I just got this one. Now it told me where all of the blue orb fragments and red orbs and all the other colored orbs in the game I missed. It was fairly descriptive on where they were, and I was able to find them ok. It also gave in depth descriptions on tactics for beating bosses. I had already beaten the bosses, but the second time through the game, the tactics helped me beat them with less fault. The maps were very detailed too. It even had a moves reference card to refer to that you could pull out in case you forgot a move and didn't feel like going through the start menu. Now the 2 reasons I gave it a 4 instead of 5 is because of the fact that it only covered one mode of gameplay, the normal mode, while it hardly said anything about "Legendary Knight" Mode, "Dante Must Die!" Mode, "Easy Automatic" Mode, and "Super Dante" Mode. It also didn't describe the characters to where you could grow to like them in a way that would get you excited to learn more about them through the game which to me, is a MAJOR thing in a stradegy guide. To other people, it might not seem that big, but in a stadegy guide, it's the little things that make me happy. I did learn to respect Dante greatly, but the way they described him in the guide was just sort of tacky. Well, all in all, I liked the guide from Prima and it helped me out a lot. I never got to compare it to Brady Games or Versus Books Guides, but I would recommend this guide to anyone I knew who needed help with the game.

   ~Eric




3. If you like help, this is the book to buy. This game doesn't really require alot of help, except for the "secret missions." You may find some things you overlooked, or you may get the most out of the game by using the stratagies presented. Not a bad buy, Well written and detailed!

5 comments about AI Game Development: Synthetic Creatures with Learning and Reactive Behaviors (New Riders Games).

1. Since even random Italians from Chivari can use their "freedom of speech" to post defamatory review about books they obviously don't own, it seems only right that I should use my right of response as the author.

   The book does come with source code, part of an ongoing open source project in game AI. The SDK with the book has in fact hundreds of C++ files demonstrating each technique in practice. Links to the website are given almost every chapter, so a genuine reader would hardly miss them. You can even get the framework supporting the book freely over at http://AiGameDev.com/.

   As for shallow reviews of AI techniques, I guess you'd have to ignore the fact that the book is recommended reading - if not required - in already 4 Universitiy courses on Games & AI in the UK and America.

   One of my main focuses when writing the book was to bridge the gap between theory and practice, academia and industry. The book covers a lot of ground, but also leaves the reader room to experiment and try out the ideas in practice. You'll get as much out of the book as you put into it - so reading it might be a good start for Riccardo.

   A tutorial series entitled 'Exercises in Game AI Programming' has just been launched based on the book. You can find it over at http://AiGameDev.com/ also. Decide for yourself!

   Alex Champandard




2. This book is the only book of it's kind with the Game AI content in the world at this point (late May 2004). So if youre interested in Game AI it's the only book you can get, however it is poorly written, has mistakes, typos, and insufficent description of the FEAR platform that is required for you to be familiar with if you want to understand the content of the book thoroughly. This view is maintained by my peers, tutors and lecturers in the University i go to which is currently using this book as a guide to our game devalopment unit (because its the only one of its kind).

   I can't help but feel that the book was kinda rushed and was not properly/thoroughly proofed read by the editor. I am confident that a lower priced 2nd edition with all the mistakes taken out would be really appropriate and appreciated by game AI interested people. If not some one else should become the 2nd person in the world to write a book on this subject: Game AI.

   The author should be a little self critical and make a 2nd edition and make us all happy instead of living in denial and giving him self 5 stars. Dont see how he can improve on him self without being self critical. We are all greatful here in my University for his initiative in inventing the first book on game ai but were also all very frustrated when strugling to asimilate it's content.

   Also a great deal of the SOURCE CODE did NOT WORK. Some of them did, but a large fraction of them DID NOT work as expected from the book.

   Granted some chapters that covered basic principles were easy to follow but some intermediate chapters really made me frustrated as i re-read them again and again to try and understand a concept but continue to fail unless i label certain sentences as mistakes that were worded wrongly or backward etc.

   I was going to rate this book 2 stars because i felt that some chapters were well written and covered the content well, but since so many people already gave it an unrealistic score of 5 stars (perhaps a conspiracy by the author's friends) i have decided to compensate for this and lower my rating to 1 star.

   Hopefully this will balance out the scoring to a fair and realistic level that it deserves.

   David Ong, Australia




3. This is truly a unique book, there is no other text available at the moment which covers the material that Alex covers in this book. If you're looking for an introduction to a lot of the major concepts in AI, then this is the book for you. As for the people saying the code is useless, its more likely that your programming skills are lacking. I used Alex's FEAR SDK to write an agent for use in my own research, and the product was again unique. Alex is not only a talented writer and AI expert, but also an excellent programmer.

   If you are interested in seeing something before you buy this book, check out ai-depot.net, also having read Alex's research paper for his masters I can confidently say that Alex is one of THE authority on these subjects!

   So check out the book already!




4. This book is good in the sense that it sheds some light on how to apply many well-known algorithms (such as neural networks) in games, but it doesn't go very deep in any of those techniques, leaving the reader to understand many details only by reading the provided source code.
   
   Some chapters, such as the ones on genetic algorithms, could have some improvement and more practical examples.
   
   It is good as an introductory book for someone who already has notions of AI algorithms, though. For anyone looking for a deeper coverage of algorithms, I'd suggest the book "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach" by Stuart Russel.



5. There are conceptual books and there are hands-on books. This is serves me as a reader more as a conceptual one, especially when compared to "Programming Game AI by Example " by Mat Buckland, which has quick and fun examples. It's difficult to read for the casual reader. BUT, this does not mean, that it is a bad book, by no means, when I need new ideas for AI, I come back to this one and get new ideas, as it covers all techniques that I could think of, which should make it a good reference for the serious reader. The whole library behind it shows, that the author has invested much effort in this. So my final recommendation is to buy it together with Mat's book as both together make a nice team, especially so as Mat's book is easier to understand.