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Newcomers DBPro Corner / By the Book (or Buy the Book)?

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Uber Newbie
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Joined: 23rd Jul 2004
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Posted: 24th Jul 2004 06:21
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Has anyone been using the DarkBasic book that's out? If so, what do you think? Should I buy it to learn DBP or just stick to the help files and the online support? Or all of the above?

Thanks,

Uber

The more I know, the less I understand.
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roswell
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Joined: 17th Dec 2002
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Posted: 24th Jul 2004 06:47
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Personally, I would say don't bother. The book doesn't go into much detail about anything, and it really stops short of 3d programming. Plus, it doesn't cover big concepts at all like the main game loop, how to design a game, etc. It's main goal is to get you familiar with some of the most common features of the language, but it doesn't touch anything else. All info contained therein is available online. IMO, a complete waste of money.

'Just one game,' they said, and started to play. That was yesterday.

Dual Athlon 2.0/1GB RAM/GeForce Ti4200-128/Win2000 Pro
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Skeletor
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Location: florida
Posted: 24th Jul 2004 07:29
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Ya I agree, I was in the bookstore reading it and in my opinion it looked like a complete waste of money (especially for 60 bucks). The book seemed like it was just trying to teach you the syntax instead of teaching you how to make a game. My advice is to just stick with the forums and tutorials on the web.

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Jerbo
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Posted: 24th Jul 2004 08:05
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Also, the book could confuse you in a way ,as it is written mainly for DBC, not DBP.
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Sir Spaghetti Code
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Joined: 12th Jul 2004
Location: Just left of Hell
Posted: 24th Jul 2004 09:41
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I would not say that the book is total trash (as I am reading right now lol), but I do understand what you mean. The reason I got the book was becasue I just did not feel like I was understanding the tutorials. I mean, yes, I got the basic idea of what was going on, but I did not understand why I was typing what I was typing. In some ways, though, I almost feel like I am more confused now! The book does cover both Db and DBPro, but i think a lot of the DBpro example programs have errors in them, or updates have been added to DBPro, as I just got DBP last week, and a lot of them don't work! Dunno...maybe my computer!
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Uber Newbie
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Posted: 24th Jul 2004 10:23
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Cool, thanks for the input, guys.

The more I know, the less I understand.
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SandraD
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Joined: 30th May 2004
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Posted: 24th Jul 2004 10:55
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Well, as is common here in the forums, most game design is a highly ellusive quality to teach, because each game is different. While I have not looked at the book in question I have read "The PC Game Explorer" by Dave Roberts, and the same condition exists in that book as is described above. Ie; they are good for building the sample game that is included with the book and *maybe* understanding how it built, but it won't help you one jot at making your own. For that, I guess it's only trail and error, plus experience, that makes it all come together.
S.

Any truly great code should be indisguishable from magic.
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Ilya
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Posted: 24th Jul 2004 12:45
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When Starting DBP, I Just Looked At The Commands.
Soon I Figured Out Why I Would Need a Main Loop.

-Ilya
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