Well I just got the following 4 books (all brand new) for a total cost of $50. Shipping included. I bought them from the alternative sellers listed on Amazon. I didn't "need" all of them, but some were so cheap I thought "eh, why not?"
-Game Programming Tricks of the Trade
-AI Techniques for Game Programming
------------and the 2 that are applicable to my current project-------
The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5
Game Scripting Mastery (<---goes into writing your own scripting language and VM. Sweet!)
While I know a lot of material can be found for free on the internet (and I do utilize it when I have to) I just really prefer sitting down with a good book. I think the structured and progressive nature of a good book is much more akin to learning in say a classroom environment. It's often too hard for a beginner in a subject (any subject) to usefully piece together snippets of code and ideas from a bunch of thrown together internet tutorials (even the best of them are often short.)
I suppose once I've been coding for a few years it'll be much easier to effectively utilize snippets of info found on the net - but for now I want to build a solid framework of knowledge and the best alternative to having a good mentor is a good book.
-Game Programming Tricks of the Trade
-AI Techniques for Game Programming
------------and the 2 that are applicable to my current project-------
The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5
Game Scripting Mastery (<---goes into writing your own scripting language and VM. Sweet!)
While I know a lot of material can be found for free on the internet (and I do utilize it when I have to) I just really prefer sitting down with a good book. I think the structured and progressive nature of a good book is much more akin to learning in say a classroom environment. It's often too hard for a beginner in a subject (any subject) to usefully piece together snippets of code and ideas from a bunch of thrown together internet tutorials (even the best of them are often short.)
I suppose once I've been coding for a few years it'll be much easier to effectively utilize snippets of info found on the net - but for now I want to build a solid framework of knowledge and the best alternative to having a good mentor is a good book.