4 comments about Icewind Dale Official Strategies & Secrets.

1. I, much to my disgust, have used more than one or two hint books, and this one was an above average one. It had very detailed walk-through, but it's lacking a certain in-depth analysis into the side quests. It focuses on the linear story of the game instead of the much more challenging and entertaining side quests. It does, however, give a detailed description of artifacts and spells and the like and advice on how to use them. It's definitely helpful, and it will get you through the very linear story in a hurry. However, it does leave the side quests to the reader.



2. Icewind Dale will keep kids busy for a long time, and this guide is written at their level. Parents can use it to save themselves a good deal of grief when kids get stuck somewhere in the game. As a casual "tourist" player of these games, I like to be sure I've gotten EVERYTHING there is to get out of each level of play. This book did it without breaking my budget.



3. Although "Icewind Dale" comes complete with a 100+ page spiral bound book that explains everything from character stats to combat to spells, there are enough little side quests in the game that most players will need to turn somewhere for hints or help at some point.

   Strategy guides such as this one fill that role by providing detailed tables on, for example, magic items that you might encounter in the game, monster stats, and "walkthroughs" that tell you how to complete a level.

   Before you decide to buy this book, however, check out the free offerings on the Net. www.bgdungeon.com has an "Icewind Dale" section that provides you with lots of goodies, ranging from lists of magic items to walkthroughs to detailed maps of the levels. There are message boards where you can find solutions to particular problems, or get advice on dealing with monsters, or -- as will become necessary due to the numerous bugs in the game -- technical support.




4. This represents very good value. Walkthroughs are clear and very detailed. No overly cute asides or bad attempts at humor. NPC/monster descriptions are loaded with useful info. Extensive lists of magic items, etc. ... it's just all done very well.

   A special Bonus Star for bothering to spell words correctly and write as if English was their first language instead of their 41st -- way above the abysmal quality you get with most PC game hack jobs.

   Very nice job; don't hestitate to pick it up.

2 comments about Heroes of Might & Magic IV (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

1. This guide came bundled with a package set of HoMM III and IV. The most useful information it has are the tables, which are the same as what's in the manual. However, in the bundle, the manual was electronic, so it was nice to have a hard copy. Other than that, close to useless.



2. if you need this guide to be successful at the game, you might consider playing another game.

No comments about Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

3 comments about Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade Official Strategy Guide (Warhammer 40,000 (Bradygames)).

1. The guide is a good place to start. It give maps and starting locations for both the attacker and the defender. The tips are good and it does go over some of the strengths and weaknesses of the various armies. What I feel is lacking are good, solid tips and strategies. There isn't a section that details which areas are good to attack and which to bypass. There isn't a good section that goes into detail of how to fight against or with certain armies. There are some global tips to do so, but it could be more detailed. Over all I believe that this strategy guide is well worth the money.



2. Poor quality, B&W, images. Weak strategies. Threw it away!



3. I got it for $.01 (yes, that's 1 penny) at Best Buy as part of a special sale they were having that day. There were some inaccuracies in the maps, and at least one map was missing entirely, but the information they did have was extremely useful in the campaign. My guess is they were working off a pre-release edition of the game and changes were introduced after the book went to press. At higher difficulty levels, you have to get right out and take the fight to the enemy immediately, and knowing where to find him often means the difference between defeat and victory.
   What I found most disappointing was the race descriptions. The guide contains a list of unit and building stats for each race, but certain details were lacking here too. (For example, the guide makes no mention of which units are capable of infiltration and which units can detect infiltrated units.)

No comments about Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade and The Warrior's Code (Prima Official Game Guide).

5 comments about Tales of the Abyss Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guide).

1. A great help after finish the whole game for first time, now thanks o this I could get everything on my second gameplay without losing a special item or something. Indeed a great product!.



2. So far (half way through my second play) everything has been accurate.
   
   This includes details on character artes, weapons, food, items, everything in the game, really. I really like how it has sections devoted to sub events outside the regular storyline (Such as, Daath is next for the plot, but it will have a section before that outlining newly available events). It contains some boss strategies, but I didn't bother to use them.
   
   I do wish it contained some type of "upcoming sub event warning" for items that are absolutely necessary, so I don't have to run around like a crazy person looking for them, and can have time to obtain them during regular events.
   
   It's not bad to navigate, but the pages are crammed with info. Sections often start right at the bottom and continue to the next page, or awkwardly flow in columns. This is just a minor issue and not detremental to enjoyment.



3. This was a great purchase for me. I completed the game the first time through and then decided to buy this product. It was good because it didn't really give any spoilers so I could have gotten it any way. It's just a straight hint guide and walkthrough that gives you all the secrets and gives you references to the pages that it will link to later. I highly recommend this if you don't want to look all over the secrets that lie within.



4. This is an incredibly boring game, and I would
   suggest you rent it first to see if this game suits
   your style of play. It contains extremely long,
   dull conversations and the player is sent to the
   same towns/locations over and over again.



5. Tales of the Abyss Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guide)
   
   wonderful book, nice walkthrough, and gets you everything you want in the game! Don't use it if you dont want spoilers though! A perfect book for clearing every nook and cranny of the game :)!

1 comments about Spartan(tm): Total Warrior Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. This is a strategy guide. It helps guide you with strategy to play the game. If you like it then I think you ought to buy it. If you don't like it then you'd probably better not buy it. I hope this review helped.

No comments about Through Dungeons Deep.

5 comments about Practical Java Game Programming (Game Development Series).

1. Be careful of your expectations here. This is NOT a 'how to' book with 100+s pages of code samples. This is not a book in the 'java cookbook' series.
   
   What this IS is a book that describes the +/- of the java language and the JVM and talks about PERFORMANCE issues extensively. The author goes out of his way to talk about the issues surrounding the use of Hotspot VM/JIT and benchmarks with math/IO, etc.
   
   The last 1/2 of the book (maybe less) deals with some high-level understanding of rendering and collision detection.
   
   Topics include bindings to OpenGL (jogl), JNI (it's cost vs. benefits in it's use), performance of java.math and where it can be optimized, some simple treatment of sockets vs. datagram/multicast sockets, audio integration, proper use and performance with direct bytebuffers vs. java arrays (java.io/java.nio), also a little on GC collection algorithms. Also a treatment of java's +/- as a scripting language, as well as a good look at rendering and collisions.
   
   Overall a very interesting techical look at the VM and performance challenges that java as a GAME language faces.
   
   The author makes it clear that good java games can be written but good PERFORMANCE games takes an understanding of the JVM and proper code architecture that takes into account java's strengths (as oppsed to it's weaknesses).
   
   I would recommend this a a great starting point for someone interested in making good java games or just learning about java performance issues. If you want a 'cookbook' you'll need to look elsewhere.



2. Hi. First off, id like to state that I am by no means a professional programmer. I am a high school junior, who is currently working through AP computer science. I picked this book up on a trip as reading material, and it has been very informative. The code samples are extremely well written, and easy for me to follow. My only major critisim is that the printed code samples have several typos in them, but if you look through the code included on the cd, then you'll have no problems. Overall, I thought it was well worth the $36.00 I paid for it.



3. I also found this book to be disappointing. I would also agree that the author sees it necessary to discuss the techniques involved rather than talk about a technique and then present the code for that technique.
   I bought this book on the basis that it was going to be "practical" programming, i.e techniques and code, but all i found was a long winded discussion on the topic. The author does show that he has a great knowledge of java game programming but it is poorly presented to the intermediate java programmer, and not recommendable to beginners.
   
   Do not buy this book if you think your going to be getting involved with code, rather, buy it if you do not know what techniques are used in java game programming, and wish to hear a discussion on those techniques.



4. Overall I find this a good book. It has interesting discussion and introduction of several topics that interest me. However it is flawed with typos and misstatements (sometimes contradicted in the next sentence). It's also fairly out of date now (JDK 1.5 comments are somewhat out of date now and JOAL comments are a bit out of date).
   
   Pick it up at a bargain price (under $5) and I do recommend it as a good book on JOAL and several other topics of value for Java programming (not just games).



5. This appears to have been written by a Java evangelist who loves to talk shop about the ins & outs of Java programming. Unfortunately, this is supposed to be about game programming, and in that regard, I found nothing practical about it. A single chapter on 2D graphics? This book goes into great depth providing the mathematics of 3D collision detection (chapter 16), but doesn't get any further in the graphics department than drawing a few static (non-animated) Actors (i.e. "sprites").
   
   The focus of this book is off-point from the start, in my opinion. The chapters toward the end on 3D graphics provide insufficient information to build a 3D game, and yet the material up to that point is insufficient to build a 2D game. What you end up with in the end is a lot of knowledge about Java, but not a single practical program, let alone game.
   
   This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the CD includes .java and .class files, but no explanation on what to do with them (the back cover does say this is a Beginning-Intermediate book, not Advanced).
   
   The Java Developer's Kit comes with much better demos than you will find in this book WITH convenient .html files with code to run the applets, which is something these authors should have included.

1 comments about Pokemon: How To Catch 'Em All (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. I haven't gotten this game guide yet, but I saw it in borders and fell in love with it! Don't look for lame excuses for free guides on the internet! There aren't any! I've looked everywhere. One thing though, You can get Jirachi from Pokemon Channel but it doesn't say in here! don't be a trainer without this!