Forum Discussion
3D Game Design Books
Hello all, first off, I apologize if this topic has been brought up in the past, if so, please scold me I and I will continue my search else where, but I'm looking for some development advice.
My trade is in software engineering, Backend database modeling, client-server interactions, security enforcement, front-end UI design, stuff like that. With modern client-side frameworks AngularJS and Ember. Suffice to say, I have a fairly good grasp of software development. When I have absolutely ZERO understanding of whatsoever is 3D graphic design, nor game development.
I of course could whip together a full client-side javascript game such as checkers, or pong if I wanted to, but it's all from my software development background. Some of the most relevant books I've read when it comes to coding was the book "Code" (if you haven't read it, it is amazing, it literally takes you from electrons to x86 architecture step by step). And stuff like the Head First series (Java, JSP, etc).
What I am DYING to know, is what would be some really good FUNDAMENTAL introductory books that can give me a foundation for 3d game design, something that can give me the full scope of where 3d design began, to today. I am incredibly grateful to any of you who can point me in the right direction. Thanks!
My trade is in software engineering, Backend database modeling, client-server interactions, security enforcement, front-end UI design, stuff like that. With modern client-side frameworks AngularJS and Ember. Suffice to say, I have a fairly good grasp of software development. When I have absolutely ZERO understanding of whatsoever is 3D graphic design, nor game development.
I of course could whip together a full client-side javascript game such as checkers, or pong if I wanted to, but it's all from my software development background. Some of the most relevant books I've read when it comes to coding was the book "Code" (if you haven't read it, it is amazing, it literally takes you from electrons to x86 architecture step by step). And stuff like the Head First series (Java, JSP, etc).
What I am DYING to know, is what would be some really good FUNDAMENTAL introductory books that can give me a foundation for 3d game design, something that can give me the full scope of where 3d design began, to today. I am incredibly grateful to any of you who can point me in the right direction. Thanks!
6 Replies
- Real Time Rendering is a nice book.
It might not go as far into the history as you might want, but it teaches you the basics behind a lot of 3D rendering techniques and the graphics pipeline.
I too have kind of the same background as you do and was looking for a book to kick me off and this pretty much sounded like *the* book, at the time. Maybe someone more experienced in the craft will give you better suggestions. :) - Not really "game design" but this book may be of interest.
Game Coding Complete by Mike McShaffry:
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Coding-Complete-Fourth-Edition/dp/1133776574 - Gah, the infamous cybereality replied to my first topic on Oculus VR, it's a sign!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giJ7ocgIp-Q&feature=youtu.be&t=19m27s "cybereality" wrote:
Not really "game design" but this book may be of interest.
Game Coding Complete by Mike McShaffry:
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Coding-Complete-Fourth-Edition/dp/1133776574
Bought it just now."cybereality" wrote:
Not really "game design" but this book may be of interest.
Game Coding Complete by Mike McShaffry:
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Coding-Complete-Fourth-Edition/dp/1133776574
That book appears to be on Safari books online. Does anyone else use Safari books online? I've found that it's been great. I've gone from knowing nothing about 3D game development, programming and 3D modelling to knowing a little bit more than nothing in just over a year. It's expensive but it's nice having access to so many books.- Books are a great resource for sure! I would recommend you download Unity to have along side your reading material. That way as you progress in your reading you can test the knowledge you gain at the same time. It will make the process more fun and I think it will help you learn better! Unity can be downloaded for free here:
http://unity3d.com/unity/download
http://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/
http://answers.unity3d.com/
For modeling I'd suggest Blender it will also come in handy as you read so you can test different ideas as you read about them:
http://www.blender.org/download/
http://www.blender.org/support/tutorials/
With your software engineering background, the books, Unity and Blender at your disposal I'm sure you'll progress rather quickly! God Speed!
