Open Source Game Development: Qt Games for KDE, PDAs, and Windows starts with a review of game design and walks the reader through Open Source game development using Qt and KDE. From there it moves on to cover topics such as Canvas Games (2D), OpenGL (3D), graphics & sound, pathfi nding, AI, particle effects, math, and physics. All relevant sections of the book include ready-to-use code snippets that are accompanied by fully functional tutorial/example programs and extensive API documentation. The companion CD-ROM includes C++ source code for Qt applications and all of the algorithms from the text. After reading this book, game programmers will have the tools and knowledge to master Open Source game development.

KEY FEATURES * Designed as a tutorial guide for the setup of a desktop game application on different platforms such as KDE, PDAs (Qtopia) and Mac OS/Windows (Qt) * Contains step-by-step development of a fully playable desktop game and includes this game on the CD-ROM * Code snippets allow beginners in game programming and/or KDE/Qt programming to understand how to develop their own desktop game * Introduces key topics relevant for desktop games such as pathfi nding, artifi cial intelligence, multimedia, and particle effects

On the CD! This CD-ROM contains source code and documentation to demonstrate the techniques described in the book (please see the appendix for detailed information): * Example programs * API documentation for the example programs * Free tools and games * Figures in the book SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Minimum Hardware: 300 MHz processor; 128 MB RAM; 40MB disk space. Recommended Hardware: 900 MHz processor; 256 MB RAM; 3D graphics card; 400 MB disk space. Software: Microsoft Windows (98, Me, NT, 2000, XP), or Mac OS X, or Linux (e.g. RedHat or Suse Linux with kernel 2.4.x, 2.6.x or similar) with C++ compiler and Qt 3.Optional: For the KDE examples: KDE 3.x; for the Qt 4 examples: Qt 4.x; for the PDA example: Qtopia SDK 1.7.0 or higher; for the OpenGL example: OpenGL development library, drivers, and GLUT; for the OpenAL example: the OpenAL development library.

Open Source Game Development: Qt Games for KDE, PDA’s, and Windows provides beginning game programmers with a step-by-step resource to game programming. Using Linux/KDE/Qt, this book enables readers to use open source programs to develop games. The book starts with a review of game design, and walks the reader through the Open Source programs of Qt Primer, KDE, and Qt. From there it moves on to cover topics such as Canvas Games, OpenGL, graphics & sound, pathfinding, AI, particle effects, and math & physics. After reading this book, beginning game programmers will have the tools and knowledge to master open source game development. The companion CD-ROM includes C++ source code for Qt applications and all of the algorithms from the text. FEATURES: * Teaches all the key ingredients on how to develop a game, including general structure and design, pathfinding, artificial intelligence, and much more * Covers cross-platform desktop game development, so programmers can move easily from Linux to Windows to Macintosh to PDA’s * Includes a CD-ROM with C++ source code for Qt applications for the platforms KDE/Linux/X11, Qtopia/PDA’s, and Qt/Windows, as well as all algorithms from the text

Good but not too deep

See this book as a general introduction to developing games and open source software, but some definitions are often shallow and/or briefly explained. You’ll have to follow its many references to gather the whole knowledge together. Recommended for those with good skills in C++ and class programming but are willing to build some board games for fun. Interestingly, it gives some insight into AI and 3D gfx, but never deep enough for someone to start any serious project. The attached CDROM contains complete projects which does help a lot (but nothing that you can’t find in the Web).

Open Source Game Programming : QT Games For KDE, PDAs, And Windows (Game...

This book, by Thompson Learning, is an excellent book in that it not only goes into the code aspect of game creation using QT and a C++ compiler, but gives some insight into what it takes to design a particular game program solution.

However, even though it does not take a whole lot of programming experience to program a game, one does need to have at least a working knowledge of form creation using (QT or a Visual program language) and some knowledge of a C++ compiler.

Remember, to show a form it must be called by code which includes at least one (Show form) code block.

I would say the programming level needed to use this book effectively is at least advanced beginning. And I believe some experience in the Linux version of QT and the Linux GNU C++ compliler would be very helpful.

Excellent!

Well written, concise, clear -- this is book is the perfect introduction for anyone who wants to code using Qt and KDE as well as for anyone who wants to get into game programming as a hobby.

A must for Linux and KDE game developers

This book contains everything you need to know to develop game programs on Linux and the KDE desktop, with information on how to make your games portable to Windows, Mac and PDA. It covers a wide range of topics in a very clear fashion - technicalities of various platforms, use of Qt canvas 2D graphics and OpenGL 3D graphics, sound, artificial intelligence, path finding, maths and physics of games and network play, to name just a few. The references to websites and other texts, at the end of each chapter, are alone worth their weight in gold.

If only I had had this book available when I sat down to develop a game 4 years ago. I would have saved about a year of my life, which I spent finding out things the hard way!