No comments about Learning Autodesk Maya 2009 The Special Effects Handbook: Official Autodesk Training Guide.

No comments about Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals Official Strategy Guide (Brady Games).

2 comments about Caesar IV (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. As a frequent player of strategy games, I have enjoyed user guides such as this one to enhance my gaming experience. I recommend them.



2. I haven't had a chance to play this game as much as I would like, but the guide has been helpful in gettiong me over rough patches.

5 comments about Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar - World Companion: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. The LotRO World Companion is probably the single most useless book I've ever purchased. Every single item in the game is included, but they are all listed by name in alphabetical order. This means it's impossible to look up weapons or armour by the level; it's impossible to look up creatures based on their level or by the areas in which you'll find them; it's impossible to look up quests based on the level. It's almost as if the authors merely took a computer database and just transposed it directly into the book.
   
   Also, there are no hints in the book. The only information it gives is what can be found in the game, and the game is actually more helpful than the book, in that it gives you a context from which you can better figure out where to look for creatures etc.
   
   Altogether this book is a complete waste. It's so poorly laid-out that I doubt I'll ever be able to get any useful information from it. I urge players to avoid this one like the plague.



2. i was in fact a little confused when i found out that this book served better purposes in the fire place than anywhere else... i wonder what in the world were the people at prima thinkin when they cuncocted this book..
   
   "oh hey guys lets make a book that repeats everything that states word for word everything in the game and make all the other info in it completely useless to the point that we only make money off the pre-orders because the poor victims can't read the book for themselves at the time.".. maybe it went somethin like that i'm guessing?
   
   sounds about right anyway.. anyone that wanted to make a couple hundred bucks could of done this by taking nearly thousands of screenshots and putting them in photo shop and they could of duplicated this book on their own at a cheaper cost for the exact same info.. i'm done ranting .. i feel as though i've wasted time and money...



3. Too bad there's no rating for zero. A great mass of info, designed to emulate an PRG players' guide, organized not by race, class, zone, or level, but alphabetically. Info in the book appears to come verbatim from the game itself, which is often, by the nature of the game, cryptic -- hence the need for a guide. This is a recap, not a guide. The book lacks the one thing that might have given it a redeeming value -- quest hints. There are none. I've done far better in the advice channel. I've considered asking for a refund based on uselessness.



4. This book has numerous lists about monsters, quest, feats, and etc. The tips for the quests are quick one liners, if you need more than that you should look elsewhere for the FAQs and etc.
   
   The book is cool for experience rewards, traits, deeds, quick info on monsters. However this book contains no maps to go along with these quests, areas or hints. This is a giant LOTRO index and nothing more.



5. This book could almost be rated 0 stars... HOWEVER, the only useful thing I found is the Quest Chains where it tells you what quests are available to you at what levels, and what is before or after each of those quests chains. It also tells you the difficulty of the quest. Also, one thing that is good is that it tells you the monster and enemy type and its location. That is only useful for hunting and doing deeds. However, everything else is horribly placed.
   
   Why in the world would PRIMA, a well know company that does guides, do such a horrible thing. If I was to be the last one editing it, I'll be throwing it in the trash and tell them to redo it.
   
   First off- anything dealing with items such as jewelry, armors, weapons are all listed in alphabetical order, which makes no sense at all. Why the heck would you mix staves and swords, to daggers and bows altogether? I had to go page by page just to look at the possible way to build my character only to get a migraine that it is annoying and undeveloped well. If I am to tell you, I'd say to buy the digital copy (if you are desperately in need or want this volume) that you can download, at least that way you can try to copy and paste the whole thing and short it in Excel yourself into categories. Again- why go through all that hassle when the guide is supposed to have it all done for you?
   
   As for jewelry, how stupid is it to tell us the level and rarity of it, but not the bonuses and stats it gives like the armors and weapons do? The book is entitled on the back that "With this guide your knowledge will be complete" however it helps with little knowledge.
   
   There are some sections such as quests that are not even completely written. It just gets cutoff. I don't know how they missed it, or if they just did not care thinking no one will notice it...
   
   Overall for what this book is worth (and not worth), I highly recommend you not getting it. I give it 1 star, and to me, seriously I have had it for over a month and hardly ever use it since Vol. 1 is more useful in many, if not all, cases.

1 comments about Game Graphics Programming.

1. Any college-level library strong in games or graphic programming needs as a basic, foundation reference Sherrod's GAMES GRAPHIC PROGRAMMING, a weighty, 644 page volume with accompanying cd-rom which offers techniques transferable to any programming language or operating system. From coverage of complex lighting and gaming techniques to the basics of game graphics, shading, and special effects, this comes from a university graduate in the Computer Information Systems program who has himself authored many games and graphics books.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

2 comments about Unreal Tournament 3 Signature Series Guide.

1. This is a beautiful guide that is pretty well-laid out. However, it's got more extraneous info than anyone could really use given the nature of the game, which is "in your face" action. If you want to know all of the damage points your weapons can inflict or how much damage your armor can withstand, this is the guide for you. Information about the single player campaign is scant. I liked the descriptions of each weapon, but you can probably get enough info from the instruction guide that comes with the game. It's not really what I was expecting, which I guess was more walk-through help. However, since the single player campaign is almost non-existent in the game, it stands to reason that this guide wouldn't have much info on it. Again, the pictures are great and it has voluminous amounts of info about damage points. It's just that I probably will never use it since the game is all about online multiplayer, and you really don't need a guide for simple balls to wall action.



2. Unreal Tournament guide will always be helpful in playing the game whenever I can get it. Until then it helps to get know the weapons and vehicles.

No comments about Essential XNA Game Studio 2.0 Programming.

3 comments about Killer Poker Online, Vol. 2: Advanced Strategies for Crushing the Internet Game.

1. I read a lot of poker books and a lot of the information in these books is repetitive. This is not the case with Killer Poker Online 2 by John Vorhaus. Vorhaus takes a more cerebral look than some other books that focus on technical analysis. This book is more about the philosophy and psychology of the online poker table than the other books I have read. Some of the concepts and information in the book I already subconsiously knew, but Vorhaus fleshed them out and made me think on a deeper contextual level.
   
   I like best the section on heads up play. I think it is better than Harrington's HU strategy(HOH Vol 2). I love playing heads up and I can thank Vorhaus for improving my HU game light years.
   
   This book will stay part of my poker library for years to come, along side the Harrington On Hold'em Volumes, Phil Gordon's Little Green and Little Blue Books, Brunson's Super System 1 & 2, and Caro's Book of Poker Tells. I am also planning to read Vorhaus's other poker books.



2. Killer Poker Online Vol. 2 was to be the redeeming value of this two part series. Most would expect that since the original book, "Killer Poker Online" left a lot to be desired, and focused on just about everything but actually playing, that this latest endeavor would expand upon the apparent foundation that Vorhaus was attempting to define previously. Unfortunately, we just get mostly more of the same useless information.
   
   The major flaw with this book is that it provides little insight into how to actually win big pots, lose small ones, and "crush the internet game". To make matters worse, some of the advice about actual play which is given has been routinely dis-proven via real life examples. For instance, Vorhaus mentions that Sit-n-go tournaments should be utilized for entertainment only, in that trying to build a bankroll via this method is hazardous. He further mentions that Sit-n-go tournaments require more luck than skill.
   
   The problem here is that many online regulars play only Sit-n-go games, and many famous, world renowned players found their way to stardom by focusing on Sit-n-go style games. But then to contradict himself, Vorhaus mentions that regular, multitable tournaments are your best bet. Any poker regular understands that multitable tournaments require luck as a prominent variable in your play. I don't understand how Vorhaus would consider luck to be too big of a factor in sit-n-go play, but not one in multitable tournament play. On top of that, at the final table in a multitable tournament the play is almost identical to sit-n-go games with the exception that not all players will begin the final table with the same amount of chips. Where are we to get this final table experience if we don't play sit-n-go games, especially considering that one position apart at the final table can be thousands, or even millions of dollars in payout differences?
   
   His advice on cash game playing is limited, and mostly focuses on the philosophy of getting a big pot when you have a big hand, or folding your cards before you commit too much of your money with a losing hand. This is common sense stuff.
   
   But sadly, most of the book involves the same type of "advice" given in the first; which is to talk about things outside of the game. Telling readers things like, "don't play tired", "don't play distracted", or "don't play with the TV on" all make sense and are worthy of mention, but I fail to see why they should be reiterated to the point of consuming a large percentage of the book.
   
   Advice on booking is reiterated here as well, which is keeping track of other players' habits. This is good advice and should be stressed because most players will not do this, even those that agree that it would give their play an edge. With online poker however, unless you are playing very high limits where you regularly (on a daily basis) play the same people over and over, you rarely see the same person twice. This becomes especially true when considering that a single poker site may have tens of thousands of players in your limit range, and you play at 3 or 4 different sites on top of that. Not to mention, it doesn't serve much purpose to keep track of play styles if you don't know which strategies to use against such playstyles. Vorhaus successfully convinces the reader of the advantages of booking, while simultaneously failing to teach the reader what to do with his findings.
   
   Something quite disturbing to me is that Vorhaus does spend quite a bit of time explaining what you shouldn't do, rather than what you should. He presents problems without solutions, and quite honestly gives more advice on how you can lose money than how you can make money. Any fool can go to a poker table and lose money, we don't need to learn that. While some may point out that examining mistakes is important in learning to avoid them (something I do not disagree with), it serves no purpose if a lesson isn't learned from it. For example, let's say I'm faced with a situation where big money could go either way on a big hand. Rather than simply understanding how I could lose big, it would be nice if a potential error was followed up with a practical solution or approach. So I know how not to lose big money on a hand, but do I know how to win big money on a hand? It seems to me a more productive approach to teach me the right way to do things, rather than teach me the wrong way to do things and then expect me to figure out an alternative.
   
   To be honest there is no substitute for experience, and I think we know that holds true with just about anything. Getting experience in online poker is expensive though, so books are a good way to offset that cost by giving insight and helping to develop your game faster. Unfortunately, this book won't do that for you, unless of course you didn't know that distractions can make you lose focus. If you have absolutely no clue as to what online poker is, then this book comes highly recommended, otherwise you'll get a better return on your money elsewhere.



3. I received this book as a Christmas gift from my brother who knows that I like to play online; my first impression was "Oh no, not another poker book...and worst of all, this one looks like a gimmicky attempt to address online poker rather than live casino play." I wondered whether it would teach me anything new, or whether it was simply going to be one of the dozens of books out there that have a simple preflop chart, and advocate a no-frills tight and aggressive playing style. I must say I was pleasantly surprised -- Vorhaus has clearly done his homework and understands that online play requires a markedly different approach than playing live. I (like many others) used to place too much emphasis on "reading people", which is of course impossible when playing online. Not having that tool at my disposal made me delve deeper into the mathematics and probability of poker, and I think ultimately has made me a much better player, both live and online. I think truly appreciating this book requires enough humility to "unlearn" the strategies that you've become accustomed to while playing live -- Vorhaus discusses a lot of sit-and-go and multi-table tournament play (maybe because that's what you see most on TV) but I wish he had devoted a little more space to cash games.
   
   Now for my constructive criticism: I can empathize somewhat with Vorhaus, because it's admittedly hard to write a book about online poker with a long life-span because the state of online poker changes so rapidly...for example, online play today looks substantially different than in 2004 (what some would consider to be its "glory-days"). The average online player today is better-educated, tighter preflop, and trickier post-flop. I think a lot of poker authors a few years ago got away with writing books advocating a simple tight and aggressive strategy, which was good enough to beat the average player back then, but at present might only be enough to turn you into a break-even player. But what I think Vorhaus COULD have included in his book -- or at least what I'd like to see published in SOME contemporary poker book -- is a description of the add-on software programs that have become more or less essential to optimize your online play. PokerTracker, PokerAce HUD, datamining tools...all of these I would consider to be a "must" for anyone wanting to get serious about their online game. Would it have been so hard for Vorhaus to at least pay lip service to these tools...? Sure, they may be outdated 3 or 4 years from now, but they've been the "gold standard" for the past few years, and I think any book about online poker wanting to present a complete picture of the online game requires a section explaining these tools and how to optimize their use. I guess one thing Vorhaus couldn't have foreseen was how the U.S. legislation in the Fall of 2006 would change the online poker scene forever...I think a lot of American players erroneously came to believe that the law made playing poker online illegal...when NOTHING could be further from the truth. It simply made it more difficult to deposit from the U.S., but there are still plenty of ways to fund accounts at the US-friendly poker sites. THe PokerSavior website has an oft-updated list of sites that continue to serve the U.S. market and the most frequently-used deposit methods at each. I think a book about online poker written today would look very different than Vorhaus' offering, although I will admit that his is one of the few to specifically address some aspects unique to online play...I've seen a few other books for sale that purport to discuss online poker, but they're simply poorly-written attempts to cash in on the online poker boom, and don't really offer anything new. Vorhaus' book doesn't fall into that trap, and I think it's a worthwhile investment for any online player.

5 comments about Breath of Fire III: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. It didn't help me very much, but that may be coz I'm the best B of F-player ever known to humans..... So long buddies! "Tifa"



2. The Book Had Alot of Deatail on the Masters and Where to Find the Brood Stones. It Was so Helpful.



3. In the guide there was a great amount of mistakes. But even with them it still included all the necessary information.



4. THIS BOOK HELPS GREATLY IF YOUR HAVING A PROBLEM THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU ON THE GAME! :)



5. I don`t know what to say? It is a good book. After all this book is only guide for this game.

5 comments about Macromedia Flash MX Game Design Demystified.

1. I have read this book but it got really complicated towards the 300th so page so make sure u know good maths and have a good grip of Flash MX ActionScript.

   Otherwise, this book is pretty good.




2. I'm a graphic designer with a little bit of scripting knowledge from director. I've made quite a few simple games in director and was looking to jump into actionscripting because of its web friendliness.

   I understood everything for the first couple of chapters but from then on I got more and more confused. This book jumps in the deep end and unless you've got a good head for mathematics/programming I'm guessing that most people will find themselves lost.

   If you're looking for books to help you learn actionscripting from the start. I would recommend buying 'Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training from the Source' and 'actionscript for flash mx' together, both of which I found to be excellent.




3. This is a very interesting book from quite a number of angles. The book is strong on discussing Flash centred technique, good on algortihmic tradeoffs but possible a little limited in in its key example. It will definitely help Falsh developers do better. The author is honest about the limitations of Flash as a game developmnet tool. The bottom line is that Flash is good a tightly defined games where some tradeoff with real-time interaction is allowable, but don't expect tthe full functionality (or speed) of a conventional games engine. There is a wealth of useful information in the book. If you have any handle on programming and Actionscript you will gain a lot more by taking timeover this book. The coding is good, and the algorithms are actually meaningful and useful. The author is clear about strengths and limitations of his approach A very rare characteristic of games books.



4. Let me begin by saying that I consider myself an intermediate Actionscript Programmer and have created several games with Flash, anticipating this book would assist me in my ventures.

   At first glance this book seems terrific. You get a large collection of games that vary in genres. Even more appealing is the multiplayer game support.

   But when you read more into you discover in the first chapters, most of it is understandable (even the physics and trigonometry) but even with your first game, you can run into troubles. I purchased this book interested in the multiplayer games. I had never done anything with this genre and wasn't sure how players could connect with one another. I discovered how its done, but the games are written with the author's program, Electroserver. This didn't bother me except that the demo included on the disk can only support five members at any one time. A little investigation on the site and I became more disappointed. To have the minimum on the license is 50 people for a whopping $299. Also the Tic-Tac-Toe example is a free download off this page. This made me wonder if the author was filling blank pages.

   The book has its high points, especially the pinball and platform game. It also has its low points, such as the rapid bombardment of Actionscript (as someone else put it, little fluff), as well as the electroserver problem.




5. This is it! Just about any question you could ask about game programming with actionscript in Flash is here. Starting with a design and math primer (for those of us who didn't pay that much attention in math), this book covers gaming physics, tile-based worlds, isometric games, excellent collision detection and pathfinding algorithims like A*, artificial intelligence, creating graphics, playing with sound, multiplayer games (you'll have to decide which server is best for you), and a large number of sample games and tutorials to get you started. I have never read a more thourogh work on this subject in the past 5 years. This book is not really designed for the beginner, as the actionscript is quite advanced and will require knowledge of the basics. Knowing your way around Flash is essential. The sample code is clean and very clearly explained, and Mr. Makar's style of writing is very direct (and occasionally humorous). This book is a must-have for any Flash developer's personal library.